Who's Going to Win Each Division?

[JTWood]

Pitchers and catchers report to some organizations exactly two weeks from today. I think that means it's safe to start guessing at who we think is going to come out on top at the end of the season. So, I guess I'll be the first to throw out my prognostications. Be gentle...

National League
West - San Francisco
Central - St. Louis (but it will be a lot closer than the last two years)
East - New York (or anyone except the Braves... please)
Wild Card - Braves (Okay, I can't leave them off. I mean, what's the playoffs without the Braves?)

American League
West - Angels
Central - White Sox
East - Yankees
Wild Card - Blue Jays

[j24jags]

its very early but...
NL
West-Padres again
Central-Cards
East-Braves (I hate to say it but they always do...)
WC-Mets

AL
East-Yanks
Cent-Indians
West-Angels
WC-Rangers

[eftda]

West - San Francisco
Central - Cubs (by 1 game)
East - New York
Wild Card - Cards

American League
West - Angels
Central - Indians
East - Yankees
Wild Card - Rangers ---- YES I SAID THE RANGERS

[Another Blown Save]

AL
East: New York Yankees
Central: Chicago White Sox
West: Oakland Athletics
WC: Boston Red Sox

NL
East: Atlanta Braves
Central: St. Louis Cardinals
West: San Francisco Giants
WC: Los Angeles Dodgers

[Amazinz]

AL
--
East - Yankees
Central - Indians
West - Texas
WC - Blue Jays

NL
--
East - Mets
Central - Cardinals
West - Giants
WC - Braves

[bleach168]

My guess is that it will be the same 8 teams as last year.

I know, not a bold prediction, but probably better than most.

[Tavish]

Anyone who is picking the Rangers to make the playoffs want to give some reasoning behind it? Millwood, Eaton, Padilla, Loe, Dominguez as a rotation doesn't really seem like much of an improvement over Rogers, Young, Park, Astacio, Dreese. The staff should be better but I just don't see it as a big enough of an improvement to close the gap.

Maybe I'm just skeptical after being burned by picking them to win the Wild Card last season, but this is a team that finished 16 games back of the Divison Winning Angels and Wild Card Red Sox last season and I'm curious if people are picking them expecting dramatic improvement or a serious falling off from the other contenders.

[djacks]

AL:

East - Yankees
Central - White Sox
West - A's
WC - Red Sox (very tight race between NY, Bos, LA, and Cle)

NL:

East - Braves
Central - Astros
West - Giants
WC - Cardinals (tight race between StL and NY)

[GotowarMissAgnes]

One of the first projections I've seen based on Primer's ZiPS and a DMB simulation of 100 seasons:

<pre>
High Low
Team W L RF RA DIV WC DIV% WC% Made% Missed% Wins Wins
American League
East
Boston 92 70 879 740 76 6 76% 6% 82% 18% 105 77
New York(A) 85 77 821 786 14 16 14% 16% 30% 70% 99 70
Toronto 83 79 748 740 9 14 9% 14% 23% 77% 99 65
Baltimore 73 89 733 809 1 1 1% 1% 2% 98% 89 54
Tampa Bay 70 92 711 827 1 0 1% 0% 1% 99% 85 59

Central
Minnesota 86 76 719 674 38 9 38% 9% 47% 53% 100 70
Cleveland 84 79 775 732 23 7 23% 7% 30% 70% 102 70
Chicago(A) 82 80 746 727 20 4 20% 4% 24% 76% 103 68
Detroit 82 80 764 760 19 5 19% 5% 24% 76% 95 68
Kansas City 65 97 680 829 0 0 0% 0% 0% 100% 86 44

West
Oakland 96 66 767 617 88 6 88% 6% 94% 6% 109 79
Los Angeles(A) 85 77 722 691 7 23 7% 23% 30% 70% 100 68
Texas 80 82 800 812 3 7 3% 7% 10% 90% 94 65
Seattle 79 83 710 750 2 5 2% 5% 7% 93% 94 60

National League
East
New York(N) 90 72 782 702 53 14 53% 14% 67% 33% 105 72
Philadelphia 89 73 751 676 38 22 38% 22% 60% 40% 105 75
Atlanta 81 81 736 734 8 8 8% 8% 16% 84% 94 68
Washington 75 87 683 735 2 0 2% 0% 2% 98% 89 59
Florida 70 92 645 737 0 1 0% 1% 1% 99% 86 57

Central
St. Louis 96 66 768 628 79 10 79% 10% 89% 11% 109 82
Chicago(N) 85 77 735 696 8 15 8% 15% 23% 77% 100 72
Pittsburgh 82 80 711 707 8 9 8% 9% 17% 83% 96 65
Milwaukee 80 82 704 716 5 4 5% 4% 9% 91% 97 63
Houston 74 88 682 757 0 3 0% 3% 3% 97% 89 59
Cincinnati 69 93 760 870 0 1 0% 1% 1% 99% 85 53

West
Los Angeles(N) 87 75 748 701 59 5 59% 5% 64% 36% 106 71
San Francisco 83 79 732 716 28 6 28% 6% 34% 66% 98 68
Arizona 77 85 729 771 7 1 7% 1% 8% 92% 95 63
Colorado 76 86 787 842 2 3 2% 3% 5% 95% 90 65
San Diego 75 88 675 718 5 1 5% 1% 6% 94% 94 61
</pre>

[Ender]

ZIPS projections are terrible year after year, not sure why people put so much value in them, they are PECOTA with half the variables included... anyway here are my predictions.

AL East - Yankees
AL Central - Indians
AL West - Oakland
WC - Red Sox


NL East - Braves (sorry mets don't have the pitching)
NL Central - Cardinals
NL West - Giants
WC - 2nd best team in central, its really up for grabs between Astros, Brewers, Cubs... I'm going to take my Homer pick and go with Brewers.