Revised 2007 baseball predictions

It's the All Star Break, which means it's time to revisit my predictions:

AL East: Red Sox. The Yankees' string of winning the division ends. Dice-K proves he can do it in the states.

This prediction is looking very good, I'm sticking with it.

AL Central: Tigers. Last year wasn't a fluke

Still looking good.


AL West: Angels. Why not?

I've predicted all 3 first place teams in the AL, at least through the All Star break.

AL Wild Card: Yankees. The Yankees' string of making the playoffs does not end.

This prediction isn't looking so good, and I definitely hope I was wrong... Like almost everyone, I'd love to see the Yankees miss the playoffs. Right now I've gotta go with the Indians to get the AL Wild Card.

AL Champs: Red Sox.

Sticking with it.

AL Cy Young: Daisuke Matsuzaka. Yes, he'll be that good.

He has been a good pitcher, but not Cy Young good. It's certainly looking like Dan Haren will win the AL Cy Young right now.

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez. And Yankees fans will still hate him.

Not sure that Yankees fans still hate him, but my pick is looking very good.

NL East: Mets. They'll eek it out over the Nats. By about 50 games.

The Mets don't have the division locked up by any means, but they're still the team to beat. Although they may only eek it out over the Nats by 25 games.

NL Central: Cardinals. Duh.

Folks, loyalty can only take me so far. At this point, I can't pick the Cards to win the division. They're not out of it, only 7 1/2 out at the All Star game, but the Brewers are a much better team and will win the division.

NL West: Diamondbacks. I never really know who to predict in the NL West, so this is just a guess.

Why is the NL West always so unintriguing to me? It's looking like a good race in the West, and the Padres are in first right now, but I'll stick with the Diamondbacks, just for the heck of it.

NL Wild Card: Brewers. I predicted a Brew Crew wild card last year too. Didn't happen. Maybe when it doesn't happen this year, I'll predict it again next year.

As I said above, I don't think the Brewers will win the Wild Card this year... they'll have to settle for the division. So who will win the Wild Card? Lots of teams could still do it. Probably not the Cardinals. But.... what the heck. The Cardinals will win the NL Wild Card.

NL Champs: Cardinals.

I'm making unrealistic predictions anyway, so why not stick with this one?

NL Cy Young: Chris Carpenter. Why not pick a Card for Cy Young too?

In two years of making predictions, this is clearly my worst category. Last year I picked Jake Peavy, who went 11-14 with a 4.09 ERA. This year, I picked Chris Carpenter, who got hurt on opening day and hasn't pitched since. And the kicker... You know who's looking like the Cy Young winner this year? Jake Peavy.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols. Let's make it a trifecta.

Pujols could still win it, but Prince Fielder is the obvious choice right now.

Your 2007 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals. Come on. Don't look so surprised.

I'll stick with it, but you're now allowed to be surprised, or even call me insane.