Pre-Season Prognostication

NL East: The Philadelphia Phillies have a lot of firepower this season, including shortstop Jimmy Rollins. They'll need it to keep the Braves in line.

AL East: Picking this winner is like picking the Best Soundtrack Oscar winner. Sure, there are contenders, but as long as John Williams is live, he'll win the award. As long as the New York Yankees are in operation and George Steinbrenner keeps sacrificing young virgins underneath Yankee Stadium, they'll win the division. (C'mon, Toronto, prove me wrong.)

NL Central: The safe bet is the St. Louis Cardinals. The outside bet is Houston, if Roger Clemens decides to roost there after May. Whichever team raises the Central flag, it won't be my beloved Cubs. The team is simply not moving forward, and will be lucky to finish above .500. Thanks, Tribune Company!

AL Central: The Chicago White Sox may not repeat as World Series champions, but they will repeat as division winners. The Twins will only miss out on the division title by a couple of games, and will wind up as the AL Wild Card representative.

NL West: The hardest division to pick, because the talent level is lower across the board than any other division in baseball. However, with Grady Little building the team back from the ashes, give me the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles.

AL West: As much as I want to pick the Rangers... as much as I want to drink the last sip of Jon Daniels Kool-Aid... as much as I want to look at the rotation... I can't pick against the California Angels.

MVP: Rangers 1B Mark Teixeira
Cy Young: Twins hurler Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year: Seattle catcher Kenji Johjima
Manager of the Year: Nationals skipper Frank Robinson
Comeback Player of the Year: Jeff Bagwell (sentimental pick, because I want to see him beat the "insurance" scam the Astros are trying to run)