2009 MLB Season Predictions – Who Will Win?

The season starts tonight when the Atlanta Braves visit NL East rival and defending World Series champions, from the City of Brotherly Love, the Philadelphia Phillies. Looking at last year before the season, some people didn’t think the Phils would win their division, let alone the ultimate MLB prize, a championship ring. People just get it wrong sometimes. However, the exercise of predictions is always a fun one to partake in, particularly for a writer that loves baseball. So, that said, below are my prognostications for the upcoming 2009 season with some brief comments for each division results. After choosing the World Series champs, I’ll predict the individual awards as well. Agree or disagree, leave a comment!

TEAM PREDICTIONS

AL EAST
1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles

By no means will this be an easy win of the division by the Yankees as I expect it to be a dogfight all the way to the end. The Bronx Bombers, Red Sox, and Rays, all have very good pitching, but in the end, I believe CC Sabathia will take the team on his big shoulders to the postseason the way he took the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008. Unfortunately, last season’s favorite story, the Rays, won’t be able to get back to the World Series, but last year’s type of performance will continue for years to come.

AL CENTRAL
1. Cleveland Indians
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Detroit Tigers

This should be a tight division as it always seems to be at some point in the season with the eventual winner almost always eventually eeking it out. However, the Indians are primed to get back on top of the division, especially if Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, and Shin-Soo Choo can stay healthy and/or come back to form. Cliff Lee won’t have the incredible year he had last year, but should still be effective and rookie Scott Lewis has a lot of people in Cleveland excited.

AL WEST
1. Oakland Athletics
2. Los Angeles Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

The Oakland Athletics will be this season’s Rays as they loaded up their offense with Matt Holliday, Jason Giambi, and Orlando Cabrera. If Eric Chavez can actually stay healthy and produce, and to some degree the same can be said of Mark Ellis, then watch out. The pitching is definitely young, but it’s young and talented with the likes of Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland, Gio Gonzalez (at some point he’ll join the starting rotation), Dallas Braden, and Josh Outman. All-Star Justin Duchscherer is out for about a month, but should be solid when he returns. Sure, it’s crazy to think such a young staff could raise their game higher and be so solid for a whole year, but who saw the Rays do what they did last year?

AL Division Series
New York Yankees over Oakland Athletics
Boston Red Sox over Cleveland Indians

AL Championship Series
New York Yankees over Boston Red Sox

NL EAST
1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Florida Marlins
5. Washington Nationals

Simply put, if the New York Mets halved their blown saves total last season, they would have had the best record in baseball. This is why the team went out and signed two free-agent closers in Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez and JJ Putz to make sure the Mets’ late inning performance is as tight as can be. The additions should be enough to put the Mets over and not choke in September. And having Johan Santana, Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran helps.

NL CENTRAL
1. Chicago Cubs
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

Will this finally be the year the Chicago Cubs win a World Series? With their strong lineup of Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Milton Bradley, and Geovany Soto, the offense should be scoring a lot of runs and if Rich Harden can stay healthy for a whole season, it’s over for the rest of the division as Harden is as good as any other pitcher when he’s able to go. Look for the Reds with their youngsters to make some noise.

NL WEST
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Colorado Rockies
5. San Diego Padres

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a lot of nice pieces in place to make a strong run into the postseason. Their pitching staff has a fantastic young duo of Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw that will dominate for years and Hiroki Kuroda is quietly productive. The offense has a good mix of young and established talent, such as Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, James Loney, Russell Martin, Casey Blake, and of course, Manny Ramirez. The Dodgers, however, will need to fight against another team with a good mix of young and established players, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

NL Division Series
Los Angeles Dodgers over Philadelphia Phillies
Chicago Cubs over New York Mets

NL Championship Series
Chicago Cubs over Los Angeles Dodgers

WORLD SERIES
New York Yankees over Chicago Cubs

PLAYER PREDICTIONS

AL MVP: Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees
AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays
AL Rookie of the Year: Matt Wieters, Baltimore Orioles

NL MVP: Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana, New York Mets
NL Rookie of the Year: Chris Dickerson, Cincinnati Reds