What about the rest of the league?

By Sam Fran Scavuzzo
Collegian Editor
March 28, 2007

Winter finally is over, and the air is ripe for some leather and pine tar. America’s national pastime kicks off next week and brings forth with it tons of meaningless predictions. Let’s see how much I can get wrong by July:

N.L. East: As much as my heart wants to pick the Phillies, my head tells me otherwise. They may have addressed their starting rotation problem, but the bullpen will keep them from taking the crown. The Mets’ white-hot offense (with the addition of Moises Alou) will sustain them long enough for Pedro Martinez to return.

N.L Central: It’s hard to pick against the world champs, and I’m not the one to do it. The St. Louis Cardinals didn’t lose anyone important, and the Houston Astros (Andy Pettite, Roger Clemens?) did. Watch out for the more powerful (Alfonso Soriano, Cliff Floyd) and healthier (Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Derek Lee, Carlos Zambrano) Cubs. Still, Pujols, Carpenter, et al will be enough for the Redbirds.

N.L West: This division, as it was last year, will be wide open and close. It will not be the whipping of the Senior Circuit, as all five teams have grown in experience and talent. Arizona’s and Colorado’s home-grown talent is starting to blossom, while San Diego’s has already ripened. At the end of the season, though, the Los Angeles Dodgers will stand alone. Led by Nomar Garciaparra, Jeff Kent, Derek Lowe, Jason Schmidt, Juan Pierre, Takashi Saito and a cast of others, Grady Little’s Dodgers will win the West.

N.L. Wild Card: The Phillies may not have enough to best the Mets, but their 13-year postseason draught will end in 2007. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Freddy Garcia, Jimmy Rollins and Cole Hamels are too talented to stay out of October.

A.L. East: The best addition Boston could have made to its bullpen was keeping Jon Papelbon out of the starting rotation. The Red Sox didn’t stop there, though, and added one of the league’s top set-up men, Brendan Donnelly, as well as former Mariner starter Joel Pineiro. I hate all those fake bandwagon jumping Red Sox fans, but Terry Francona has a talent-rich and deep team. Manny Ramirez, Coco Crisp, J.D. Drew, David Ortiz, Julio Lugo, Mike Lowell and Curt Schilling: need I even mention Daisuke Matsuzaka? The Blue Jays and Yankees aren’t slobs, but Boston is too good this year to be caught.

A.L. Central: Were the Detroit Tigers a fluke? I think the state of Michigan would disagree, as would Jim Leyland. Their October run aside, the Tigers are a legitimate team. Any club with Justin Verlander as a fifth starter is worth its weight in gold. I would like them better with a little more bullpen depth, but with Ivan Rodriguez, Kenny Rogers, Magglio Ordonez and newcomer Gary Sheffield, I like these Tigers a lot. My apologies to the White Sox and Indians.

A.L. West: OK, so last year Felix Hernandez didn’t light the world on fire as everyone thought he would. Sure, Kenji Johjima didn’t reinvent the position of catcher. And, yes, Jarrod Washburn and Richie Sexson had subpar seasons. I don’t know why, but I like this Seattle team. Mike Hargrove has won before, and free agent additions Jose Guillen and Jose Vidro can’t hurt. The Angels, Rangers or Athletics could easily win this division…so if they do, disregard the previous paragraph.

A.L. Wild Card: It was nice last year not having both the Yankees and the Red Sox in the postseason, but I don’t think that’s going to happen again. Alex Rodriguez and Joe Torre have something to prove. Having a healthy Hideki Matsui back and a more relaxed Bobby Abreu for a whole year should prove divisive. Also, the Yankees have a veteran bullpen featuring Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Myers and, lest we forget, Mariano Rivera. Derek Jeter is money down the stretch.

MVP: I can be a homer sometimes – Ryan Howard repeats. In the junior circuit watch Matsui tear it up with more protection around him than Dick Cheney.

Rookie of the Year: In the A.L., experts are predicting Royals 3B Alex Gordon to be the next George Brett. If I were in Kansas City, I’d take David Bell at this point, but Gordon seems to be it. Troy Tulowitzki won the Rockies’ Spring Training MVP award and beat out Clint Barmes as their starting shortstop. Tulowitzki was Colorado’s 2005 1st round pick, and he debuted with the club last year. Coors Field will do wonders for his rookie statistics.

Comeback Player of the Year: I’m sticking with my Seattle pick and going with 1B Richie Sexson. The former 40-homer slugger brought his average up to .264 last year after a terrible first half. Look for this Mariner to improve on that and return to his Milwaukee form. 2007 marks the continuation of Barry Bonds’ quest to break Hank Aaron’s record. A healthy year should have him producing numbers like .300 and 30 HR again.

Biggest Addition: Alfonso Soriano signing with the Cubs brings balance, power and speed to their line-up. When one of the league’s stars moves around, it’s always a big addition. Also, Barry Zito should overcome his troubles and make a splash in the neighboring bay city after leaving Oakland.

Worst Addition: Randy Johnson to Arizona. He is not their missing piece, and the Diamondbacks only took unnecessary salary and gave up young talent. Gavin Floyd to the White Sox doesn’t make all that much sense either, as the Phillies got an all-star starter in return.

So that marks my picks for this year. As last season proved, surprises always occur, and a team like the Cincinnati Reds could win the World Series. All the same to you, I’d like to see a parade down Broad Street with Chase Utley hoisting the trophy up high.

scavuzzos1@lasalle.edu