Time For Some 2011 Mlb Predictions
The sun is breaking out from behind the winter clouds, the snow is starting to melt bit by bit and around the country, major league baseball fans are settling in for another year of action. It is time to dust off the baseball hats and get out the peanuts and cracker-jacks, as the world readies for another year. And that leads, as always, to a set of mlb predictions for 2011.
Of course, the San Francisco Giants finally won a title in taking the 2010 world series championship. It was their first since moving to the west coast more than 50 years ago, and with a starting pitching lineup that includes Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain, they have to be considered prime favorites for 2011.
But the Giants will certainly have a few hurdles to get past before they raise another trophy. The Philadelphia Phillies have a pitching staff that may be as good, if not better, than the one in San Francisco. Names life Roy Oswalt, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt are back, and Cliff Lee has returned to the Phillies after some time with the Texas Rangers.
Managers are big names in the National League. One big name that is gone is in Atlanta, where Bobby Cox has finally stepped aside in Atlanta, replaced by Fredi Gonzalez. And the National League Central is littered with top skippers, including Tony La Russa in St. Louis, where the Cardinals have some of the best fans in the game, and are always one of the teams to beat. And in Cincinnati, Dusty Baker manages a Reds squad that was 20 games above the break even mark last year, and he is looking for a repeat.
The conversation in the American League, as always starts in the East, where the Yankees and Red Sox head into another season as the number one rivalry in all of sports. New York still has Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia. Names like that, and of course they will challenge to win it all. The main question for the Yankees is if they have enough starting pitching to hold up all year long .
Of course the Yankees primarily are concerned with just being better than Boston. The Red Sox missed the playoffs in 2010, but they still have David Ortiz to drive in runs, and Joe Girardi is still about as good a manager as there in the game.
The Texas Rangers captured the American League title in 2010 and they have the offense to do it again, but as always the questions surrounding the Rangers have do with pitching and heat. Can they hold down the hitters from around the league, now that Cliff Lee headed back to Philly, and can their squad go another long summer in the Texas heat without wilting before October.
162 games per team, all spring and summer, major league baseball will dominate the sports headlines for the next six or seven months. No lockouts here to annoy sports fans. It is all baseball on-field action, all the time.
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