American League

American League East

I called this division the exact same way last year, and the only difference this year is that the Toronto Blue Jays were able to pull ahead of the Boston Red Sox by one game. The Red Sox free-fall started when they were swept in a five game series by the Yankees in mid-August, and then lost MVP candidate Big Papi for a week due to an irregular heart-beat. The Yankees once again are the best team in arguably the best division, and enter the postseason with the most lethal offense.

American League Central

The Twins enjoyed an incredible second half of the season while the Tigers faded. The White Sox didn’t have a terrible year, and their offense was very productive, but their pitching staff wasn’t nearly as good as it was in 2005 when they won the World Series. This division always seem to produce the surprise team of the year, and is extremely fluid, so don’t be surprised to see these standings completely different in 2007.

American League West

No team recycles productive players as well as the A’s do, constantly replacing the likes of Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and Tim Hudson, players that simply become too expensive for the A’s limited payroll, with players such as Nick Swisher, Bobby Crosby and Rich Harden. That continued success developing talent makes it difficult even for the free spending Angels to compete. No surprises in this division, at least not for me.

Wild-Card and Postseason Predictions
I picked the Yankees and the A’s to win their respective division as part of my preseason predictions, and the Twins were my Wild Card team. Picking three out of the four playoff teams isn’t bad, as I don’t think anyone expected the Tigers to emerge as much as they have (I actually picked the Tigers prematurely as a sleeper team a year ago). I picked the Oakland A’s to win the American League pennant, but it is going to be hard for me to not to pick the Twins who I believe are playing better baseball right now than any other team, or the Yankees, who are loaded with star talent.

Round One
Twins over Athletics
Yankees over Tigers

American League Championship
Twins over Yankees

MVP

A big swing and a miss on Chavez, whom I have been kind of watching for years waiting for him to truly bust out. While he is one of the better overall third baseman in baseball, he still hasn’t blossomed as one of baseball’s elite like many, including myself, thought he would have by now. This was a very tough award to hand out, since most of the contenders had teammates that were equally deserving, (Mauer and Morneau, Dye, Konerko and Thome, Ortiz and Ramirez, plus the entire Yankees lineup). The Red Sox fall crossed David Ortiz off the list, despite leading the AL in home runs (54) and RBI (137). Derek Jeter wouldn’t be a bad choice, since he certainly is deserving of an MVP at some point in his career. However, I’m bucking the trend, and picking Frank Thomas, who carried the A’s offense, particularly over the second half of the season, more so than any other hitter on any other American League playoff team.

Cy Young

This was probably the easiest preseason prediction to make, and the least surprising outcome. Santana is quite simply the best pitcher in all of Major League Baseball, and has been rock solid during his career not only pitching at home at the Metrodome, but during the second half of the season.

Rookie of the Year

Another tough category to call, and another big swing and a miss in my prediction of Brian Anderson. There were quite a few very good rookies to choose from as I have been talking about all summer. Justin Verlander gets the nod for his success while helping propel the Detroit Tigers to their surprising success this season.

Manager of the Year

Last year I predicted that the AL Manager of the Year would be Alan Trammel, thinking the Tigers might enjoy somewhat of a breakout year. As noted above, I was a year early in that reasoning, and Jim Leyland ambles home with this no-brainer award.

National League

National League East

Down goes the Braves dynasty. The Mets for once don’t let a big payroll get to their head, as the perfect blend of pricey yet productive veterans and young phenoms helped carry the Mets to the best record in the National League, and tied with the New York Yankees for the best record in all of baseball. The Phillies made a strong run at the NL Wild Card, but fell just short of the playoffs. While I picked the Marlins to finish last in this division, I knew that they would be better than what most people thought, but I didn’t think they would be as good as they actually were.

National League Central

I always try to avoid being too big of a homer for my hometown team, but I think I was blinded by the preseason excitement the Milwaukee Brewers were generating as a popular sleeper pick. The Reds seemed to have the NL Wild Card wrapped up well into the season, but faltered late in the season, hard and fast, and disappeared from the playoff picture in a hurry. The Cardinals also did their best to blow their postseason chances, giving the Astros a little bit of hope going into the final weekend of the regular season.

National League West

I thought that the Dodgers and Padres would lead this division, but I thought the Dodgers would have better talent when it was all said and done and less injuries than the ones they faced in 2005. Starters Jake Peavy, Clay Hensley, Chris Young and Woody Williams finished extremely strong propelling the Padres to win the NL West. This division can be had by any of the teams from year to year, but the Padres peaked at the right time this year, and the erratic Dodgers finished on a high note.

Wild-Card and Postseason Predictions
I questioned the New York Mets free spending, since they have been spend happy before with less than desirable results. This year they signed the right players, and were the team to beat in the National League before they lost Pedro Martinez for the rest of the year, including the playoffs. I chose the Cardinals to win the National League pennant, but I have a hard time sticking by that prediction since they limped into the playoffs and are essentially without a closer. The Cardinals and the Mets (as the NL Wild Card) were the only two playoff teams I predicted correctly, overall getting five out of the eight MLB playoff teams correct.

Round One
Padres over the Cardinals
Mets over the Dodgers

National League Championship
Mets over the Padres

MVP

A tough award to hand out two years in a row, as Pujols had serious competition a year ago in Derrek Lee & Andruw Jones. This year it was the sensational second half of Ryan Howard giving Pujols a run for his money, but unfortunately the Phillies came up short of the playoffs, while Pujols continued to carry the entire Cardinals team. If Howard wins this award, it would not surprise me, and he certainly is deserving.

Cy Young

If Peavy had pitched all year like he did down the stretch, he could have walked away with this award. The National League, unlike the American League, did not have that one no-brainer candidate. Chris Carpenter gets the call for the second year in a row by carrying the Cardinals pitching staff much like Pujols carried the offense. Carpenter finished second in the league in ERA (3.05) and tied for second in wins (15).

Rookie of the Year

2006 could go down as one of the best all-time when it comes to rookies making an impact. I’m taking Hanley Ramirez as the National League Rookie of the Year over more heralded candidates such as teammate Dan Uggla, Prince Fielder and Ryan Zimmerman. Ramirez quite simply was the best statistically across the board (first among rookies in batting average, at-bats, hits, runs, triples, extra base hits and stolen bases), while playing the most demanding defensive position (shortstop). While I’m not a big fan of older, foreign players being eligible for the award, 36-year old relief pitcher Takashi Saito had the greatest importance of any rookie to his team, stabilizing the playoff-bound Dodgers bullpen during a year in which Eric Gagne tossed all of two innings.

Manager of the Year

Willie Randolph may still end up winning this award, although I don’t think too many people give him credit given the number of big-name players on the Mets, but Joe Girardi deserves the award the most given how much the Marlins exceeded expectations. Of course Joe Girardi is no longer the manager of the Marlins, which may affect who the voters choose.

World Series: Twins over Mets
My preseason prediction was for the Cardinals to beat the A’s, and as much as I want to stick by my initial prediction, I don’t think either team is in a position to make it that far. No team is playing as well as the Twins are entering the playoffs, and I don’t see any team in the National League fighting their way past the talented Mets lineup. Championships are won with pitching and defense, and currently no playoff team is better in those two categories than the Minnesota Twins.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.