Predictions

Yeah....open mouth insert foot. I might break these down a bit, but for now - here we go:

OVerall impressions - Less impressed with this lineup than last year. There is less versatility, but more potential pop. I don't beleive for a second that Milton Bradley will start more than 100 games or that Aaron Miles will have anywhere near the production of Mark DeRosa. I do however think that having Fontenot at second closer to full time will be a benefit. The bullpen is also weaker overall, but not bad. So, without further ado, lets get into it.

Total wins - 94

1st NL Central by 5 games

Team Batting Average - .264

Milton Bradley games - 96

Fukudome games - 100

Rich Harden Starts - 24

Rich Harden Starts of 7+ innings - 5

Over/under 200 innnings for starters -
Dempster - over
Lilly - over
Zambrano - over
Harden - under
Marshall - under

No surprises there.

Home Runs -
The Hoff - 13 9
Bradley - 25
Lee - 20
Ramirez - 33
Soriano - 35
Fontenot - 23
Soto - 19

Yes, Fontenot will have more home runs than Lee.

Starters ERA - 4.25
Relievers ERA - 3.85
Marmol ERA - 2.49
Gregg ERA - 3.15

Runs Per Game - 4.89
Runs Allowed Per Game - 4.35

One Run games W - 59%

Home Wins - 52
Road Wins - 42

This is based on nothing except gut. We'll see.

Coming Soon...

You're not really considered a sports writer unless you do this. Somehow it defies all logic and reason, but it's gotta be there. Mostly, I think, just so people can make fun of you in 6 months. But who am I tro argue with convention...

Predictions and over/unders for the upcoming season.

Whoa boy...

Bracket Challenge

So, MLB.com has this bracket challenge and while I know zilcho about the AL, here are my picks -
Divisional -
Brew/Phil - Phil in 4. This is to account for 1 Sabathia game.
Cubs/Dodgers - Cubs in 3. As much as ESPN hates the Cubs and despite John Kruk's prediction that the no-no completely screwed Zambrano, I think he steps up. This is OUR series boys.
Rays/Twins or Sox - Rays in 3 - Doesn't matter who wins that crappy AL Central, they really have no place here...
BoSox/Angels - Angels in 4 This one's a tough call, but I figure BoSox can scrap one win before going away and leaving us all in peace. Beckett's injury doesn't help.

Cubs/Phil - Cubs in 6. While the Cubs have home field advantage, I don't see them beating the Phils more than once at home, so I'm banking on Dempster and Z shutting them down here, winning one on the road of the three, then winning once more at home. If it goes to game 7, I'll poop.

Angels/Rays - I think this is where the Rays fold. I've got the Angels in 5, thinking the Rays can manage one win. But mostly I think the Angels offense, pitching and closer are just too much for the Baby Rays.

World Series -

This is mostly a vanity pick. I've got the Cubs in 6. How this is all gonna play out, I have no idea, but I have to believe that this is the best Cubs team in decades and if it ain't won this year, I'm not sure how many other chances we get. So, this one is a complete flyer judging from the facts, but there ya go...

off day...

So the Cubs put the cap on a nice series yesterday. I just love it when the opposing team boots a ball and we turn it into 5 runs...And Chris Carpenter left the game on a medical...Hello Mark Mulder - where ya been? If that's not enough to drive the final nail into the coffin, I don't know what is...

So the Brewers won today - a-holes. The Diamondbacks picked up Adam "Dunn hit ball with little stick!!" (It sounds a lot funnier when I _say_ it, but anyway. Do they really think Dunn is the answer? Nothing against the guy, but boy oh boy, I hope the Dodgers don't have anything planned for October - they'll be busy. At least for 4 games while the Cubs wipe the floor with them. I'm factoring in one loss since we did split the series in LA this year.

Following that, if I had to pick the Phillies/Marlins/Mets vs Brewers, I'm going to have to go Brewers. History has proven though that we can beat them. It'll be an interesting series. I'm thinking Sheets v Zambrano, Sabathia v Harden, Parra v Dempster and with all the extra off days the networks throw in, prolly Sheets v Zambrano again. Or possbily Lilly v Busch? Not even sure where the Brewers rotation depth goes after Parra. We'll see...

I don't even know enough about the AL to make any predictions...