A New Empire?

If anyone is actually paying attention they may wonder why I am making the jump from the NL to the AL without making a pick for the Wild Card. The reason for this is mostly that as futile as it is to make picks in general, Wild Card picks are a completely different level of futility... at least in the NL (the AL has traditionally made it easier because most just pick whoever they didn't pick to win the AL East, but that won't necessarily work this year). So, I am putting off the Wild Card picks until last, perhaps I'll just give a rundown of the major contenders for the race instead, we'll see.

So, while I put off the hardest picks I will instead make what is the easiest pick in my opinion: The American League East. This is both the division I've given the least thought, as well as the one I most hope to be wrong about as I pick the Boston Red Sox to start a streak of their own a year after ending the Yankees consecutive division title streak.

A team deserves respect after winning the World Series. The Red Sox are the Champs until someone can knock them off, and with a pool of young players among their core who might just play at a higher level this year than they did last year there's no reason to pick against the boys from Fenway.

Granted, they only won the division by 2 games last year, which wouldn't have been enough if it weren't for the Yankees struggles to find a pitcher with an unprecedented rash of injuries early on. But the bottom line is that the Sox did what they needed to do to win, and the Red Sox have made a habit of doing that while winning two World Series Championships in four years.

There are certainly some question marks with youth at key positions in the rotation as well as the reality that Josh Beckett has to defy odds to put up another season as statistically impressive as last year. I didn't list Schilling's injury as a factor because I don't think it will weigh too heavily when all is said and done. Yet, while these questions are legitimate the Yankees and Blue Jays have even more question marks; with the Yankees relying entirely on mostly untested youth in their rotation and the Jays needing to prove themselves as a serious threat before they can be seen as such.

So, while I hope to be wrong, I pick the Sox to win the AL East.




NATIONAL LEAGUE
East: New York Mets
Central: Chicago Cubs
West: Arizona Diamondbacks

AMERICAN LEAGUE
East: Boston Red Sox