NL Predictions!

Today I will be making predictions for the National League. Feel free to post your own.

National League:
East Winner: New York Mets Central Winner: St. Louis Cardinals
West Winner: LA Dodgers Wild Card Winner: Chicago Cubs

NL MVP: Albert Pujols (St. Louis Cardinals, 1B)
NL Rookie of the Year: Cameron Maybin (Florida Marlins, CF)
NL CY Young: Johan Santana (New York Mets, SP)

NL HR Leader: Prince Fielder (Milwaukee Brewers, 1B)
NL AVG Leader: Lance Berkman (Houston Astros, 1B)
NL RBI Leader: David Wright (New York Mets, 3B)

NL Wins Leader: Johan Santana (New York Mets, SP)
NL ERA Leader: Johan Santana (New York Mets, SP)
NL Strike Out Leader: Johan Santana (New York Mets, SP)

NL Comeback Player of the Year: Chris Carpenter (St. Louis Cardinals, SP)
Watch out for Huston Street (Colorado Rockies, CP) Troy Tulowitzki (Colorado Rockies, SS) Bronson Arroyo (Cincinnati Reds, SP)

Three Players to Watch:
Daniel Murphy (New York Mets, LF)
Brandon Moss (Pittsburgh Pirates, LF)
Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals,SP)

Outside Chance:
The Cincinnati Reds have a very solid, young core group of talent. With Jay Bruce and Joey Votto leading the offense and Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto leading the pitching staff they have all the makings of a sleeper team in the NL Central. Surprisingly this teams chance of making rely on the veteran in the pitching staff versus the young guys. If Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harrang can produce the way they did a couple years ago this team is not only a playoff team, they may have the best rotation in baseball.

All signs lead to Jake Peavy being traded by the 2009 trade deadline. There is an outside chance he is still a San Diego Padre at the end of the year and it all hinges on whether or not Chris Young can have a good year. If he can put up solid numbers behind Peavy that could give the Padres something to build on and they may choose to keep him.

Breaking News!

The Detroit Tigers announced this morning that they have released future Hall of Famer Gary Sheffield (OF/DH) when he was just one home run shy of becoming the 25th player in MLB history to hit 500 home runs.

Sheffield says that he is still in excellent shape and insists that he can still play the outfield if a National League team were interested. With 500 home runs on the horizon he could be an interesting pickup for a team that needs help selling tickets and some offense. He says that he prefers the Rays. Look for the Marlins, Blue Jays, Padres, Astros, Giants and perhaps even the Pirates to get involved.

Chipper Jones Sign Extension

Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves have signed a 3 year extension. The deal will take the two parties through 2013 and will be worth more then $40 million.

Trevor Hoffman Injured

Word out of Milwaukee Brewers camp is that Closer Trevor Hoffman will start the season on the disabled list. My speculation is that Charlie Villanueva will serve as the Closer until Hoffman returns.

Phillies News

We found out today that Cole Hamels (Philadelphia Phillies, SP) will not be ready for opening day. I suspect that he will miss two, three starts maybe. Don't be afraid to draft him in fantasy leagues because of this injury. Word out of Phillies camp is Joe Blanton is going to be the opening day starter.

Quick News

Just thought I would mention some things I saw today. The Tampa Bay Rays released Morgan Ensberg today after he hit .227 in 50 plate appearances this spring. Also Marcus Giles of the Philadelphia Phillies and David Newhan of the Huston Astros were released.

On a side note it appears that Brad Wilkerson (Boston Red Sox, OF,1B) will not make the team, and he will probably choose to become a free agent.

2009 Predictions!

Today I will make my beginning of the year predictions for American League. Feel free to post your own predictions.

America League:
East Winner: Tampa Bay Rays Central Winner: Cleavland Indians
West Winner: L.A. Angles Wild Card Winner: Boston Red Sox

AL MVP: Grady Sizemore (Clevland Indians, CF)
AL Rookie of the Year: David Price (Tampa Bay Rays, SP)
AL CY Young: Josh Beckett (Boston Red Sox, SP)

AL HR Leader: Josh Hamilton (Texas Rangers, CF)
AL AVG Leader: Coco Crisp (Kansas City Royals, CF)
AL RBI Leader: Mark Teixeira (New York Yankees, 1B)

AL Wins Leader: Chein-Ming Wang (New York Yankees, SP)
AL ERA Leader: Josh Beckett (Boston Red Sox, SP)
AL Strike Out Leader: Felix Hernandez (Seattle Mariners, SP)

AL Comeback Player of the Year: Andruw Jones (Texas Ranger, OF)
Watch out for: Hideki Matusi (New York Yankees, DH/OF), Brad Penny (Boston Red Sox, P), Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners, DH)

Three Players to Watch:
Carlos Gomez (Minnesota Twins, CF)
Nick Markakis (Baltimore Orioles, RF)
Brett Gardner (New York Yankees, CF)

Outside Chance:
The Kansas City Royals have all the makings of a playoff contender. A lot of people don't like the moves that they did this winter, I am not one of them. I think Coco Crisp and Kyle Farnsworth will flourish in a small market like they did once before. Mike Jacobs adds power to the middle of a lineup that really needed it. The key to this teams success is going to be starters Zach Greinke and Kyle Davies if they can live up to there potential and put together strong season look for this team come October.

There is also a chance that Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox continues to come into his own and put up tremendous numbers. Look for him to be in the running for the AL home run lead and possibly the AL MVP chase.