Sports Bar Chat  

NL CENTRAL

1  Cubs -  Still a great offense, and still have good enough Pitching 

2  Brewers -  Will be a great team and come up just short of the division but will still make playoffs as a wild card team.  With their power in their line-up they will need their pitching to saty healthy. 

3  Astros  -  One of the best offensive line-ups in the league.  However Pitching is still a problem.  Oswalt is reliable and will stay healthy, and Backe can be very good if he can ever finish a season healthy.  Tejada will crush the ball in Houston’s hitting friendly park.  Look for the youngsters in Towles, Bourne and Pence to play a huge role in the lineup.  Will still be a tough team to beat but will still finish behind the cubs and brewers.

4  Reds -  The only reason they finish this high is because of the fall-out of the Cardinals.  If Griffey stays healty again, he will still be a ver solid hitter in the league. 

5  Cardinals -  Will be the biggest drop off team.  With makor injuries to Pujols will hurt the line-up especially since Rolen is finally healthy but playing on another team.  Pitching and their healt will still be a question mark for this team.

6  Pirates -  Its the Pirates!!! Did you really expect me to rate them ahead of anyone else in this division?

NL EAST

1  Mets -  Great offensive line-up, and had a huge offseason pick up of Santana.  Will not only win the division but will make it to the World Series.  Which kills me to say cause i still HATE Beltran!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2  Phillies -   Still going to be a very solid team but will finish second in division and come close to competing but for the wild card.  But lets not forget they are from Philly and have a tendency to find a way to choke.  Call it the curse of Santa Clause (he is coming back to screw over all of Philly’s teams).

3  Braves  -  I love the pick-up of Glavine, but his health lasting all season will be a question for me.  Even though Andruw Jones struggled last year, loosing him will take a toll on the line-up.  Will be good but not great.

4  Nationals -  New ballpark, same lousy team.  ’Nough said.

5  Marlins -  Once again they let go of their top players in the offseason.  which means they will win the World Series in 4-5 years.  Will be just terrible and will compete with the Giants, and Royals to see who is the worst team in baseball.

NL WEST

1   Dodgers  -  Great pick-up in Andruw Jones.  Don’t let last year fool you, he will be back and playing at a high level.  Maybe not as great as his MVP season, but still very good.  Injuries will be an issue and may hurt their chances.  If pitchers can produce this will be a very tough team to beat and may have a shot to go all the way, but thats a big if. 

2    Padres -  Getting Maddux will help, and hopefully they can stay away from picking up Houston’s rejects again.  Will come very close in the Wild Card race, coming up shy of just 1-3 games. 

3   D-Backs -  Still a great young tam, just stuck in a very tough division, if not the toughest in MLB.  look for Randy Johnon to struggle again this year, as he should soon retire.

4   Rockies -  True they made it to the World Series last year, but will be one of many teams lately to reach the WS and fail to make the playoffs the next year.  Again a vry solid team and will be good for a few years.  But again stuck in a very tough division.

5   Giants  -  They will eventually be begging Bonds to come back.  This team will not only struggle to win games, but will struggle to sell tickets.  Atleast Bonds will sell tickets for them.  Yes people in the Bay Area still love seeing Bonds play in person.  But it wont happen, and them winning many games also wont happen.  can easily be worst team in baseball, right along with the Marlins.

AL EAST

1  Red Sox -  Will definitely compete again at a high level and will most likely come out once again as the division leader.  But it will be another very close race between them and the Yankees.  Also look for Man Ram to have an explosive year.  Last year his numbers were still good even though it was a very down year for him.  look for him to bounce back in a big way.

2  Yankees  -  Will def compete in a tight race for division winner, but Pitching will still be an issue.   still feel Pettite will ahve a big year.  But will once again fail to win a playoff series. 

3  Blue Jays -  A decent team but will look better than what they are simply due to the orioles and Rays being in the same division.

4   Orioles -  Only reason this team wont be at the bottom of the division is because of the rays being in it.  But they did pick up some very good prospects in the Tejada trade.  Maybe in a few years if these young pitchers can produce and they could get some more offense that might be much better.

5   Rays  -  New name, to make a lousy team sound even worse.  There is nothing tough about these Rays.  But still not as terrible as the other Florida team.

AL CENTRAL

1  Tigers  -  Will be back to competing at a high level and will reach the ALCS.  Tough offense with very good pitching.

2   White Sox  -  Will be a good team and should be the 5th best team in the AL.

3   Indians -  Nothing great but nothing bad either.  Will get lost in the mix. 

4   Twins  -  Down at the bottom but wont be as bad as Rays and Royals, even without Santana.

5    Royals  -  Eh, why bother?

AL WEST

1  Angels -  Will be a solid team but not a dominant team, but will still pull out as the division winner.  But in this division thats not saying much. 

2  Mariners  -  Dont let Ichiro’s spring training fool you, he will be back at hitting at his normal high level.  Can produce runs but will give up even more.

3  A’s  -  very solid, but very young.  Give them a couple years and more experience and they will soon compete with the Angels for te division

4  Rangers -  Ok so not everything in Texas is bigger and better.  But will still be better than both of Florida’s teams.

ALDS

Red Sox over Angels -  Not much of a series will be over in 5 games.  Red Sox just too good for the Angels and will beat them all the way around.

Tigers over Yankees -  Yankees fail to win a playoff series yet again.  Get the hint, you can’t buy a championship.  But if worse comes to worse I’m sure they can sign Richard Simmons to a one day contract next March.  Hell he couldn’t be any worse than a clean Giambi.

NLDS

Mets over Brewers  -  Will be a fun series to watch.  But Mets offense and pitching just too much.

Cubs over Dodgers  -  If pitching can hold up for Dodgers they can win.  But inconsistency will still be a problem.

ALCS

Red Sox over Tigers -  Red Sox will once again prevail, as their offense will come through in tough games. 

NLCS

Mets over Cubs  -  You honestly didnt think the Cubs could end the curse of the Billy Goat did you?  Sorry Cub fans.

WORLD SERIES

Red Sox over  Mets -  In a way it pains me to say that yes the Red Sox will repeat.  Never in a million years did i think those words would come out of my mouth.  Of course the worse part about them winning will be hearing about the damn Red Sox Nation.  I’m sorry that is still a bunch of crap.  there is only one true Nation in sports and thats Steeler Nation.