Sports editor Tracy McDannald, assistant sports editor Daniel Ramirez and staff writer Matt Moreno share their thoughts on 2009 Major League Baseball season, including how the local Southern California teams will fare.
TM: Is the AL West even in question at all?
DR: No, the Angels are going to win the [AL] West — guaranteed.
TM: Yeah, Oakland will have Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi and all those guys shipped out by the All-Star break.
DR: The Angels may flounder a bit at the beginning … [but] I think their offense will produce this year even after losing Mark Teixeira. Maybe not to New York’s level, or those other big ballclubs, but their offense will produce.
TM: My only real concern is the playoffs — can they hit in the postseason?
MM: I think they need to do whatever they can to avoid Boston [in the playoffs] — lose games [on purpose], whatever.
The Manny-effect — will it wear off?
MM: I think the Dodgers are going to win the [NL] West.
DR: You sir, are incorrect. The Diamondbacks are going to take the West because of their pitching staff. They have a perennial Cy Young candidate in Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, and Jon Garland. Strong pitching beats strong hitting.
TM: Yeah, I think the problem the Dodgers have is their pitching staff. Who do you have? Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Randy Wolf? There are talks of bringing Pedro Martinez back to Los Angeles, but even that wouldn’t work.
MM: But their lineup is good though. They have Orlando Hudson instead of Jeff Kent.
DR: Their pitching sucks. No way they’re making the playoffs.
On the other coast …
TM: How about the AL East. Who’s in who’s out? I have Tampa Bay winning the East, the New York Yankees winning the Wild Card and Boston not making it.
DR: Why don’t you have Boston making it?
TM: [John] Smoltz isn’t coming back for a while, Brad Penny — I don’t think he’s the same guy that started the All-Star game a couple years ago — and then you’ve got the whole David Ortiz thing: Is he healthy? Also, he doesn’t have Manny Ramirez in the lineup to protect him. Every little thing counts in that division.
DR: They still do have [Kevin] Youkilis, they still have Jason Bay.
MM: They didn’t win the division last year and now, the Yankees are better than last year.
TM: And the Rays are not afraid of Boston, they proved that for 162 games last year.
MM: And the Yankees are just another team to compete with.
And the winner is …
DR: I’ve got the Angels over the Cubs. I think the Cubs are going to go deep because of their pitching staff but not win the World Series.
MM: I’ve got the Phillies [losing to the] Angels. I just think the Phillies have something to get back there again.
TM: I’ve got the Cardinals against the Angels, with the Angels winning in six games.
DR: Is St. Louis’ pitching staff deep enough, though?
TM: The bullpen is the big question. I think their starting pitching is OK. They’re going to be relying on a rookie [closer] — I think it’s Jason Motte. He pitched a couple games last year and had 16 strikeouts in 11 innings. He’s supposed to be their closer in the waiting. Getting the ball to him is the big thing. If they can acquire one reliever at the deadline, they’ll be set.
Sports staff picks
Sports editor Tracy McDannald, assistant sports editor Daniel Ramirez and staff writers Matt Moreno and Tucker Savoye predict the 2009 Major League Baseball season division winners and awards.
AL East – Tampa Bay (Tracy), New York Yankees (Matt, Daniel), Boston (Tucker)
AL Central – Cleveland (Tracy), Minnesota (Matt, Daniel, Tucker)
AL West – Angels (unanimous)
AL Wild Card – New York Yankees (Tracy), Tampa Bay (Tucker, Matt), Boston (Daniel)
ALCS – Angels over Tampa Bay (Tracy), Angels over New York Yankees (Matt, Daniel), Boston over the Angels (Tucker)
NL East – New York Mets (Tracy, Daniel), Philadelphia (Matt, Tucker)
NL Central – Chicago Cubs (unanimous)
NL West – Arizona (Tracy, Daniel), Los Angeles (Matt, Tucker)
NL Wild Card – St. Louis (Tracy), Philadelphia (Daniel), New York Mets (Matt), San Francisco (Tucker)
NLCS – St. Louis over Chicago (Tracy), Chicago over Los Angeles (Tucker), Philadelphia over New York (Matt), Chicago over Arizona (Daniel)
World Series – Angels over St. Louis (Tracy), Boston over Chicago (Tucker), Angels over Philadelphia (Matt), Angels over Chicago (Daniel)
AL MVP – Mark Teixeira (Tracy, Daniel), Evan Longoria (Tucker), Josh Hamilton (Matt)
NL MVP – Albert Pujols (Tracy), Manny Ramirez (Daniel), Geovany Soto (Tucker), Hanley Ramirez (Matt)
AL Cy Young – Scott Kazmir (Tracy), Francisco Liriano (Tucker), CC Sabathia (Matt, Daniel)
NL Cy Young – Johan Santana (unanimous)
AL ROY – David Price (unanimous)
NL ROY – Cameron Maybin (unanimous)