PREDICTIONS

 

    Here is the final installment of Blue Jays Preview 2009;  My predictions:

 

AL East

1.  New York Yankees (94-68) — Hopefully Burnett becomes his old self, but I still think the Yankees are the team to beat.

2. (Wild Card)Boston Red Sox (91-71)- They still have great pitching and a lethal batting lineup

3.  Toronto Blue Jays (89-73)- Yes, I think the Jays are going to finish third.  Our pitching will sort itself out and hopefully guys like Wells, Hill and Overbay bounce back from off years (or injuries).  Who knows, maybe we can challenge for the wild card.

4. Tampa Bay Rays (85-77) – Yes, they will fall back this year.  I’m not saying last season was a fluke, but sometimes there are growing pains.

5. Baltimore Orioles (61-101)- The lowly Orioles will be the rest of the AL East’s whipping bird.

 

 

As for the Jays themselves…………….

 

Name           GP  AVG HR RBI SB  OBP

Vernon Wells   150 .312 25 104 17  .368

Alex Rios      161 .308 16 71 44  .399

Scott Rolen    125 .265 12 68 11  .354

Aaron Hill     155 .290 22 88  11  .365

Travis Snider  131 .265 21 79  7   .325

Lyle Overbay   140 .268 17 85 4  .344

 

Pitching

Name           GS/GP    W   L  SV  ERA

Roy Halladay   35       23  4  0   2.38

Jesse Litsch   33       14  10 0   3.45

David Purcey   31       16  9  0   3.39

B.J. Ryan      68       6  2  45  2.12

 

I know that some of these stats are pretty bold, but I did say at the beginning of my Blue Jays Preview that I would be positive.

 

Here are my predictions for the rest of the baseball world.

AL Central                  AL West

1. Minnesota Twins        1. LA Angels

2. Cleveland Indians      2. Oakland A’s

3. Detroit Tigers         3. Texas Rangers

4. Kansas City            4. Seattle Mariners

5. Chicago White Sox

 

National League Predictions

 

NL East                   NL Central

1.  New York Mets        1. St. Louis Cardinals

2.  Philadelphia         2. Chicago Cubs(Wild)

3.  Atlanta Braves       3. Milwaukee Brewers

4.  Washington           4. Cincinnati

5.  Florida              5. Houston

6. Pittsburgh

 

NL West

1.  Arizona

2.  LA Dodgers

3.  Colorado

4.  San Francisco

5.  San Diego

 

 

AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox

NL Wild Card: Chicago Cubs

American League Championship: Los Angeles Angels over New York Yankees

National League Championship: New York Mets over Chicago Cubs

 

WORLD SERIES: NEW YORK METS OVER LOS ANGELES ANGELS

 

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez

NL MVP: Albert Pujols

AL CY YOUNG: Roy Halladay (of course)

NL CY YOUNG: Dan Haren (Arizona)

AL Manager of the Year: Ron Gardenhire (Twins)

Nl Manager of the Year: Tony LaRussa (Cardinals)

 

 

I guess we’ll see how close my predictions really are.