ESPN: Red Sox Overwhelming Favourites to Win World Series

Will the Red Sox be playing in the 2011 World Series? Over at ESPN, 42 of its 45 pundits say Yes!

45 of 45 (100%) pick the Red Sox to win the AL East
42 of 45 (93%) pick the Red Sox to win the AL pennant
33 of 45 (73%) pick the Red Sox to win the World Series

                     AL EAST   WILD CARD   WORLD SERIES
Marty Bernosk        Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Aaron Boone          Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Steve Berthiaume     Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Dave Cameron         Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Jim Caple            Red Sox   Rays        White Sox over Phillies
Jason Churchill      Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Tristan Cockcroft    Red Sox   Yankees     Phillies over Yankees
Jerry Crasnick       Red Sox   Yankees     Braves over Red Sox
Richard Durrett      Red Sox   Yankees     Phillies over Red Sox
Gordon Edes          Red Sox   Tigers      Red Sox over Phillies
Doug Glanville       Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Jason Grey           Red Sox   Rays        Red Sox over Giants
Steve Goldman        Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Pedro Gomez          Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Orel Hershiser       Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Tony Jackson         Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Giants
Eric Karabell        Red Sox   Rays        Phillies over Rays
Jonah Keri           Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Brewers
John Kruk            Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
David Kull           Red Sox   Yankees     Rockies over Red Sox
Tim Kurkjian         Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Keith Law            Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Andrew Marchand      Red Sox   Yankees     Phillies over Red Sox
Joe McDonald         Red Sox   Blue Jays   Red Sox over Phillies
Matt Meyers          Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Mark Mulder          Red Sox   A's         Phillies over Red Sox
Amy K. Nelson        Red Sox   A's         Braves over Red Sox
Dave O'Brien         Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Buster Olney         Red Sox   Yankees     Giants over Red Sox
Doug Padilla         Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Nick Pietruszkiewicz Red Sox   Yankees     Phillies over Red Sox
Karl Ravech          Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Nate Ravitz          Red Sox   Rays        Red Sox over Phillies
Mark Saxon           Red Sox   Rangers     Red Sox over Phillies
David Schoenfield    Red Sox   A's         Red Sox over Braves
Jon Sciambi          Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Dan Shulman          Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Braves
Mark Simon           Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Jayson Stark         Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Rick Sutcliffe       Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Matt Szefc           Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Peter Pascarelli     Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Giants
Bobby Valentine      Red Sox   Yankees     Phillies over Red Sox
Dave Winfield        Red Sox   Yankees     Red Sox over Phillies
Gene Wojciechowski   Red Sox   Tigers      Red Sox over Phillies

Other ESPN picks:

Cy Young Award

Jon Lester        22
Justin Verlander   7
Felix Hernandez    5
CC Sabathia        5
David Price        4
Clay Buchholz      1
Gio Gonzalez       1

Most Valuable Player

Adrian Gonzalez   15
Robinson Cano     12
Miguel Cabrera     4
Evan Longoria      4
Carl Crawford      3
Alex Rodrguez      3
Kevin Youkilis     2
Josh Hamilton      1
Mark Teixeira      1

Jayson Stark, on the Red Sox:

[T]hey finished second in the big leagues in runs scored last year -- and that was before they went out this winter and added Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez. So how good can this team be? ...

"Everyone in Major League Baseball has some kind of fatal weakness -- except the Red Sox," said the same GM who rated the Phillies the NL's best. "I mean, what's their weakness -- that they're not going to crush left-handed pitching? If that's the worst thing people can pick out, they're in a good place.

"They should have really good starting pitching. They should have a really good bullpen. They've got speed and power. So every other team out there has way more significant holes than they do. Look, things can always go wrong. Lester could go down. Crawford could go down. If that happens, it's a different story. But we're at the starting line. And I don't see how you can look at that team and not think they're a huge favorite."

Well, you know what? I don't, either.

They're better than the Phillies. They're better than the Yankees. They're better than the Rangers. They're better than everyone ...