Adios Spring Training

The Sports Illustrated Baseball Preview is out and they have selected the Mets as the favorites to win the 2009 World Series. This is a promising thought considering that the last two years have been abysmal for the organization and its fans.

I think the Mets have an awesome chance at winning the World Series and making the last few years seem like ancient history. That being said, the Phillies are top dog until they are taken down. I do the Mets taking them down as they did have a winning record against the Phillies last year.

Examining the roster that Omar Minaya has put together, this team is extremely well rounded. I have some concerns at certain positions but find me a team that doesn’t. It’s going to be a good year with a great team in a great stadium!

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Here are my picks for the division winners:

NL East: New York (plus pitching, defense and offense)

NL Central: Chicago (no solid competitor)

NL West: Arizona (Dodgers pitching took a big step back)

NL Wildcard: Philadelphia (too much offense and great bullpen)

AL East: Boston (unmatched depth can handle)

AL Central: Minnesota (plus pitching and defense with a solid Offense)

AL West: Anaheim (it’s the AL worst again)

AL Wildcard: Cleveland (offense should terrorize & team has two aces)

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My favorites for post season awards are as follows:

NL MVP: David Wright
Tons of rbi opportunities along with golden boy status should make this one easy. Only Pujols or Howard can take it from him.

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira
He’ll have the lineup around him to put up huge numbers assuming the pressure of New York doesn’t affect him too much

NL Cy Young: Johan Santana
This should be his fifth Cy but he was robbed by Bartolo Colon and the pen shouldn’t cost him 7/8 games again this year.

AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
He’s got the best stuff in the AL and he’ll have to bring it every time out pitching in that division.

As for the ROY and MOY, it’s hard to say who’s so I won’t even waste my time.

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Hernandez is the 5th starter thanks in part to his not imploding during spring training. The starting rotation consists of Santana followed by Pelfrey, Maine, Perez and Hernandez, who will get called up April 11th. It’s a very solid staff with a good mixture of pitching types.

The bullpen is going to consist of K-Pod, Putz, Green, Feliciano, O’Day, Parnell and Stokes. Parnell and Stokes surprised many with their stuff this spring and finalized the near total overhaul of the bullpen. It has a great mix of overhead and sidearm throwers with a lot of hard throwers. There is also a significant reserve in the minors should anyone falter.

Jerry Manuel has set the lineup with Daniel Murphy batting second. This should give him an opportunity to excel. His growth and an decent year from the Delgado/Castillo would make this an extremely dangerous lineup.

The bench currently consists of Jeremy Reed, Marlon Anderson, Ramon Castro, Nick Evans and Alex Cora. If I were Marlon Anderson, I would not miss anytime. Nick Evans has brought his power stroke to camp this year and has shown me that he belongs.

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Seeing Orlando Hudson and Will Ohman sign on the cheap really irked me. Especially Hudson, since he gives the dodgers and awesome DP combo and would've been an improvement over Castillo.

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Ya think so?

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She is sexy and I can’t wait for the first date!