Aug 31 MLB Predictions

It's late in the season, and it's a shame that it looks and feels like a good number of teams really have no chance at the postseason.  According to coolstandings, Eighteen teams have less than a 5% chance at the postseason, and the Rockies have only a 6.6% chance.

Boston is 7 games back of New York and Tampa Bay.  They need to go on a winning streak, but it looks like this season is just not going their way.  The Red Sox would compete in other divisions; they have an identical record with Texas, and the Rangers are running away with the West.

The White Sox are 4 games behind the Twins.  It'll be interesting to see if Manny can hit over .500 the next few weeks.  He's still a strong and gifted hitter.  I'm not sure of the AL Central finish, wouldn't be surprised to see it go either way, but I'm siding with Gardy.

In the National League, the Braves lead the Phillies in the East by 3 games, the Reds lead the Cardinals by 6 (!), and the Padres are 5 games ahead of the Giants, 7 games ahead of the Rockies, and 9 games ahead of the sinking Dodgers.  The Phillies are two games ahead of the Cardinals and Giants in the loss column, for the Wild Card.  The NL Wild Card race may be the most exciting of them all.

Before we get to the predictions, have you guys seen the Discover Card commercial with Peggy the customer service agent?  It's pretty funny.  Here is a write up from Lewis Lazara.

I liked the ad so much that I just asked to become facebook friends with the actor who played Peggy in the commercial, Tudor Petrut.

On to the predictions:

NL MVP: Joey Votto

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay

NL Rookie: Buster Posey

NL Manager: Charlie Manuel

NLDS
Reds over Braves
Phillies over Padres

NLCS
Reds over Phillies

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera

AL Cy Young: CC Sabathia

AL Rookie: Austin Jackson

AL Manager: Ron Gardenhire

ALDS

Yankees over Twins

Rangers over Rays

ALCS

Yankees over Rangers

World Series

Yankees over Reds