Our 2010 MLB Predictions

Baseball is once again alive and well in Atlanta.
After a series of seasons that saw the Braves staring at the playoffs from the outside, the 2010 campaign has all the makings of a special summer at Turner Field. The team is talented, energetic and highly motivated, perhaps more so than any team in baseball, and seems primed to make a run deep into the postseason.
If there was ever a team that had something to play for, it’s the Braves, who want nothing more than to reward manager Bobby Cox with a taste of championship champagne one more time. After 24 years and 2,413 wins as a manager (2,058 with Atlanta) Cox announced that he will retire at the end of the season. Cox piloted the Braves to an unheard of 13 consecutive division titles and brought a winning attitude to the organization. During that run, beginning with the miraculous worst-to-first season of 1991, the Braves advanced to the World Series in 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1999 and captured the World Series championship in 1995.
It’s been a long time since the Braves have danced on that October stage, and it is one they would love nothing more than to do this season. Third baseman Chipper Jones, who has played under Cox since 1993, remarked during spring training that his goal was to send his manager out in style, also adding that Cox was the only big-league manager that he has ever known and that it would be difficult to suit up for someone else. The sentiment is there and fortunately for Atlanta, so is the talent.
Just as they did during the 1990’s, the 2010 Braves are led by a tremendous pitching staff. Derek Lowe, Jair Jurjjens and Tommy Hanson give Atlanta three top of the line starting pitchers, while the bullpen, a longtime achilles heel for the Braves, has their first legitimate lights-out closer since Mark Wohlers, in flame-thrower Billy Wagner. With that kind of talent on the mound, Atlanta knows that they have an opportunity to win every night.
In addition to the emotional charge of Cox’s swan song, the Braves also received a potent shot of adrenaline from the arrival of rookie phenom Jason Heyward. Heyward began hitting lasers in spring training and has simply never stopped, and in the process, has electrified an often stale clubhouse with his seemingly limitless potential. Never has a city, or Major League Baseball for that matter, buzzed about the possibilities of a rookie outfielder since Darryl Strawberry took New York by storm in the summer of 1983. When you add all the ingredients together, it makes for a fun-filled summer in Atlanta.
With that in mind, here are my 2010 baseball predictions:
NL East – The Braves will be better and will make the playoffs, but the National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies are simply too deep. The addition of Cy Young winner Roy Halliday gives the team an amazing edge in a division that is beginning to see some separation. Order of finish: Phillies, Braves, Mets, Nationals, Marlins.
NL Central – Is this the year of the Cubs? While they seem to have lost a little bit of their identity, their pitching is better and the team appears hungry and poised to make a run at the Cardinals, who will be in the middle of the race from beginning to end. The Reds and Pirates will also be better, making this a tough division to call. Order of finish: Cubs, Cardinals, Reds, Brewers, Pirates and Astros.
NL West – The Dodgers get the glory, but the San Francisco Giants have quietly corralled the pitching boasting Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Barry Zito at the front end of their rotation. While the Rockies and the Diamondbacks have also improved, by midsummer it will be a two-team race. Order of finish: Giants, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rockies and Padres.
Wild Card winner: Braves.
NL Championship: Braves over Phillies.
AL East – This discussion starts and stops with the New York Yankees. The best in the game got better with the addition of outfielder Curtis Granderson and no team in baseball has the leadership that Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte provide the Yankees. Order of finish: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles.
AL Central – This has become one of the toughest divisions in baseball, with a logjam of teams butting heads with each other every night. Minnesota has a talented team, the game’s best catcher and league MVP in Joe Mauer and a brand-new outdoor stadium all of which spell division championship for the Twins. Order of finish: Twins, Tigers, White Sox, Royals and Indians.
AL West – This division is curious to say the least, as each team seems to have improved. Even the Angels, who have appeared to have lost everyone of value from last season’s club, added World Series MVP Hideki Matsui from the Yankees. Keep an eye on Seattle, where Ken Griffey returns for another year. Conventional wisdom says that he would not have come back if he did not feel that his team had the horses to charge into the postseason. I tend to believe him. Order of finish: Mariners, Rangers, Angels, A’s.
Wild Card winner: Tigers.
AL Championship: Yankees over Twins.
World Series: Yankees over Braves 4-2. The Braves send Bobby Cox out with a World Series appearance, but the Yankees will be too talented to be denied their second straight championship - unless the rookie Jason Heyward can captivate the nation through October. An idea that is apparently not just an idle thought.