04 April 2004
MLB 2004 has begun, and with that, my predictions are overdue. Every spring I like to predict the order of each division's final standings, the major award winners, and records that may or may not be broken. This year, I'm adding something new: a position-by-position dream team of current players, based on recent and/or expected performance. I'll keep this short and sweet:
NL East
Atlanta Braves
Philadelphia Phillies (wild card)
Florida Marlins
New York Mets
Montreal Expos
NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Houston Astros
St. Louis Cardinals
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies
AL East
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees (wild card)
Baltimore Orioles
Toronto Blue Jays
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
AL Central
Minnesota Twins
Kansas City Royals
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Cleveland Indians
AL West
Anaheim Angels
Seattle Mariners
Oakland Athletics
Texas Rangers
The Angels are going to be very, very good this year. The Braves are going to be surprisingly good in a very close race in the NL East. The Yankees are going to be very, very expensive, and no one will be able to afford the talent necessary to beat them over 162 games; however, the Red Sox will do so anyway, just because. The Reds, Royals, and Padres will be surprisingly good, but the Cubs will prove that this is their year. And I feel bad for the Indians, but for once, the Tigers have to do better than somebody.
The Playoffs
I don't know how the Division Series will be aligned, since those rules change each year, but I'll go ahead and pick your league champions: Red Sox and Cubs. Have fun picking a winner. I'm going to predict a marathon game seven that's delayed into November, a hurricane (in Chicago), then an earthquake at the make-up game (in Boston), and then it will rain sulfur before the World Series is called off to prove, once and for all, that both teams are cursed.
Award Winners
Hank Aaron / Hitter of the Year: Albert Pujols (Cardinals) and Manny Ramirez (Red Sox)
Cy Young / Pitcher of the Year: Kerry Wood (Cubs) and Jeff Weaver (Yankees)
Rookies of the Year: Adam LaRoche (Braves) and Joe Mauer (Twins)
Comeback Player of the Year: J.D. Drew (Braves) and Jermain Dye (Athletics)
Ancient Wonders of the World: Julio Franco (Braves) and Edgar Martinez (Mariners)
2004 Dream Team
RHP:
Kerry Wood (Cubs)
LHP:
Mark Mulder (Athletics)
Setup:
Octavio Dotel (Astros)
Closer:
Erig Gagne (Dodgers)
C
Javy Lopez (Orioles)
1B
Todd Helton (Rockies)
2B
Alfonso Soriano (Rangers)
3B
Alex Rodriguez (Yankees)
SS
Rafael Furcal (Braves)
LF
Barry Bonds (Giants)
CF
Carlos Beltran (Royals)
RF
Vladimir Guerrero (Angels)
I did not intentionally make sure no two players play on the same team; that's just an interesting happenstance. Also, while no Braves appear on my primary dream team, at least three would be on my secondary team: John Smoltz (closer), Marcus Giles (2B), and Andruw Jones (CF). Also on such a secondary team would be a few Yankees: Jorge Posada (C), Jason Giambi (1B), Derek Jeter (SS), and Gary Sheffield (RF). Albert Pujols (LF) and Eric Chavez (3B) would round out the offense, and Pedro Martinez would be the righty on the mound. I don't know who I'd take as a second lefty or second setup man.
Well, this was just a frivolous glimpse at where I expect you can find success in 2004. Note that I ignored players I already know to be injured and missing significant amounts of playing time (such as Mark Prior and Nomar Garciaparra). Hopefully, they'll be back to prove me wrong!
Come back in October and see how wrong I was! Fair warning: I was incredibly accurate last year, predicting all six division winners correctly. This year, I'm hoping for more of the same!
