2008 Season Predictions

So the All-Star game and the Home Run Derby are over and we have made it through the most boring day of the year for American sports (the day after the All-Star game).  It is this time in the season where we start getting a sense of how the season will come to an end and when struggling teams realize they need to change their pace if they have any hopes of playing in October.

Although we're already past the halfway point in the season, we have reached the unofficial midpoint, a time where second half predictions need to be made.  So here they are ladies and gentlemen, my predictions on how the 2008 season will conclude.

AL East Champ: Boston Red Sox (Wow it makes me sick to admit this.)
AL Central Champ: Chicago White Sox (It's a real tough call between them and the Twins so I feel it comes down to the stronger bullpen.  The nod goes to the Sox.)
AL West Champ: Los Angeles Angels (Not much of a surprise as they are clearly more superior to the rest of the teams in the division.)
AL Wild Card: New York Yankees (That's right, THE New York Yankees. Top to bottom they have one of the best teams in the MLB and as soon as they start playing together they will succeed.)

NL East Champ: New York Mets (Who? The...the...the Mets? Oh yeah I remember them.  The Mets are finally playing like they were supposed to and it shows as they are now only 0.5 games out of first.  Expect Johan Santana to finally start pitching like Johan Santana in the second half.)
NL Central Champ: Chicago Cubs (The Cubs pretty much have the division locked up.  The Cardinals have been a nice little story, but come on, they are not a playoff team.)
NL West Champ: Arizona Diamondbacks (Honestly, who cares who wins the NL West.  The division is a joke.  For crying out loud, the 3rd place team is 15 games under .500 and are only 7 games out of 1st place.  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?  So it comes down to the Dodgers and D-Backs.  Andruw Jones is the Dodgers' number five hitter and is batting .164 with 2 HR and 10 RBI.  Because of that, they do not deserve to be called a playoff team.
NL Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies (Don't worry Phillies fans, I didn't have you completely falling off the face of the earth, just minorly collapsing in the NL East.)

ALDS: White Sox over Red Sox (The battle of the Sox is going to prove to be a great series.  The pitching staffs are even, but if the Red Sox don't get David Ortiz back by the playoffs, the advantage goes to the White Sox.)
ALDS: Yankees over Angels (Finally the Yankees will beat the Angels in the playoffs.  Seems like it would be the first time ever.)
ALCS: Yankees over White Sox (Let's be honest, the Yankees are the better team.  From 1 to 9 in their lineup their team is much stronger.  The Sox pitching is clearly more dominant but the Yankees make up for it with the advantage they have in hitting.)

NLDS: Cubs over Phillies (This will be a very, very good series but the Cubs will reign superior.)
NLDS: Diamondbacks over Mets (In the battle of the two worst teams in the 2008 playoffs the Diamondbacks will outlast the not so deep Mets team.)
NLCS: Cubs over Diamondbacks (No explanation needed.)

World Series: Cubs over Yankees (Yankee Stadium will close with a bang.  Unfortunately it will be the bang of the bulldozers and they lose the 2008 World Series to the Cubbies.  By the way, this will be the first World Series victory for the Cubs in 6,381 years.  Way to go!)

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton (Not much of a risky pick but I think a guy who could possibly win the Triple Crown and who has numbers at the All-Star break that most players dream to have in an entire season is the front runner in MVP voting.)
AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee (It's a really tough call between Lee and Justin Duchscherer.  Duchscherer has a ridiculous 1.82 ERA but Lee is just above him with an ERA of 2.31.  So when it comes down to it, the numbers that will stand out are wins, losses, and strike outs.  Lee is on pace for more wins, less losses, and has twice as many K's as Duchscherer.  For that reason, the advantage goes to Lee.  I also picked Lee because I didn't want to have make numerous attempts at spelling that Oakland A's pitcher's name again.)

NL MVP: Lance Berkman (I could literally copy and past what I wrote about Josh Hamilton under this section because Berkman will win the MVP for all the same reasons.  And not to mention, he also has 15 stolen bases.  Where did this sudden speed come from?  He has more stolen bases now than he's ever had in one whole season in his entire career.)
NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum (This is going to be a really tight race between him, Edison Volquez, and Ben Sheets.  But when it comes down to it, I don't see Volquez keeping up these same numbers and you never know when Sheets is going come down with a bad ear infection again or some other freak injury that will sideline him for a few months.)

Well there you have it folks, my official predictions of how the 2008 season will wrap up.  Post a comment a let me know what you think.  Tell me if you like my picks or if you think I'm a complete idiot.  Thanks for reading!