Merrill Park Superstar

Now that I have the regular season predictions out of the way, it only makes sense that I at least give some brief thoughts on what I think things might look like in October in Major League Baseball.

To recap, here are the teams I think will win their respective divisions (as well as the wild card):

National League East: New York Mets
National League Central: Milwaukee Brewers
National League West: Los Angeles Dodgers
National League Wild Card: Arizona Diamondbacks

American League East: Boston Red Sox
American League Central: Detroit Tigers
American League West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
American League Wild Card: Seattle Mariners

2008 Major League Baseball Playoffs
American League Division Series
Detroit Tigers over Seattle Mariners, 3 games to 1
Boston Red Sox over Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 3 games to 1

National League Division Series
Arizona Diamondbacks over New York Mets, 3 games to 2
Los Angeles Dodgers over Milwaukee Brewers, 3 games to 1

Thoughts:
I was tempted to pick the Tigers to sweep the Mariners in the division series, but the combination of Seattle’s strong pitching and Detroit’s shaky bullpen has me thinking the Mariners would pull off at least one win, and possibly two, should those teams meet in a short series. Unfortunately, it’s a bad matchup for a team built around pitching, even in the five-game series, when they’re stuck facing a lineup like Detroit’s.

The Angels losing to the Red Sox is pretty much just an October tradition at this point. No matter what improvements they make, they can’t seem to find a way to get past Boston when it counts.

Due to the rule that two teams cannot play each other in the divisional series, the second-best team, record-wise, in the NL will get stuck facing the Diamondbacks. This one was tough to call, but I have more faith in Brandon Webb in a big game than I do Johan Santana. I haven’t looked it up, so I could be wrong, but I seem to recall Webb having a lot of success against the Mets in his career. As I recall, his first big-league win came against the Mets a few years back. And he’s improved since then. (Granted, so have the Mets…) Essentially, I’m giving the Diamondbacks two games based on Webb’s presence. John Maine will probably pick the Mets up, and if Pedro bounces back, he’ll probably pick a win, as well. That makes the fifth game a toss-up, at least until you consider who’s supposed to be slamming the door for the Mets. Yes, Billy Wagner is the guy I feel will be the difference between the Mets advancing or falling short again, and that’s bad news for the likely NL East champions.

As for the Dodgers getting past the Brewers, simply put, that one comes down to pitching and playoff experience — both of which the Dodgers have more of.

League Championship Series
Detroit Tigers over Boston Red Sox, 4 games to 3
Arizona Diamondbacks over Los Angeles Dodgers, 4 games to 2

Thoughts: There’s a reason that the Red Sox are the favorites to repeat as World Series Champions. The Sox have an incredible amount of pitching, and one of the top end-game tandems in the league. Still, the Tigers have a pretty good rotation of their own, and most importantly, I’d say, is the presence of a couple of lefties. Granted, Kenny Rogers isn’t a sure thing in the playoffs, though he had a marked improvement in the 2006 tournament, but he throws with his left-hand, and that’s often all it takes to throw the Sox off their collective game. The addition of the battle-tested Dontrelle Willis could also prove beneficial to the Tigers. I’m operating under the assumption that Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya will be healthy by this time, and that will be key for Detroit squeaking past the defending champs.

I base my Diamondbacks pick on pitching. Over the course of the year, I expect that the Dodgers will be a better team. But that’s because they’re likely to be a lot more steady than the Diamondbacks. Whereas Arizona will be more likely to go on runs where they lose a bunch of games or win a bunch of games due to the team’s relative youth, the Dodgers are likely to just roll along, go about their business and win a lot of games.

In a seven-game series, though, I think the advantage swings towards the Diamondbacks, whose pitching staff seems slightly better equipped than the Dodgers to handle a big playoff run.

2008 World Series
Detroit Tigers over Arizona Diamondbacks, 4 games to 2

Thoughts: What can I say? The Tigers look to be the best team in baseball, even with the question marks. That lineup is frightening, the pitching rotation is solid, and the bullpen will probably improve as the year goes on. For the record, I’m not penciling in two wins based solely on Webb’s presence here. I think Haren will pick up a win in the series, but that Webb’s starts will be split between the two teams. I feel that ultimately, the Tigers offense will just be too much for the Diamondbacks.