2006 Postseason Baseball Predictions: Team Rankings
Let’s take a look at baseball’s postseason rivals and predict who will prevail when the autumn leaves fall.
American League:
Oakland A’s: They’re a balanced team with solid pitching, but they’re not particularly deep.
Detroit Tigers: Hands down, his record was the best in the majors for 85% of the season. But were they playing way over their heads? Their September record says “yes,” so I expect them to be respectable and possibly make it to the ALCS. But then they will stagnate.
Minnesota Twins: This is a surprise team that I declared dead less than halfway through the season. Who would have thought that they would get a great pitch, a timely hit, and become one of the best teams to make it to October? They have the momentum, and if they can keep it up, they could make it to the World Series.
New York Yankees: This is a deep, talented and resilient team. Battling injuries to key players like Matsui and Sheffield for nearly a full season, they made some smart trades, literally and figuratively “paying the price” to get to where they are. I’m looking for the Yanks to represent the American League in the Classic.
National League:
St. Louis: Arguably the Cardinals have the least momentum going into the postseason. Nearly outshone by the Astros on the final day of the season, the Cardinals are shaky at best. Add to this manager Tony LaRussa’s inability to win it all in past World Series chases, and he has a recipe for early tee times for the Red Birds.
San Diego: I have a blind spot when it comes to evaluating the Padres. For my money, they are so mediocre that you need to check for a pulse, more often than not. But with a winning record in 2005 of just over .500, they made the postseason, and here they are again, having improved only slightly in that percentage this year. But they are not a dominant team and unless they get ALL the breaks I see them go in the first round.
Los Angeles Dodgers: They play ball literally ten minutes from my office, so I’m not biased when it comes to the Blue Man Group. Still, you have to respect what they’ve accomplished this year, coming back from the dead, and like the Twins, they have some of the best momentum going into the playoffs, having won their last 7 games. They are the wild card representative of the National League and could literally be the ace in the deck and win the most favored player pot.
New York Mets: The Mets took the East Division crown about a month ago, because they’re a solid team. Losing Pedro Martinez to surgery won’t hurt his pitching staff, and his slugging is always a threat. Are they complacent or less sharp because they’ve been in the cat bird’s seat for so long? This is really the only drawback I can see when it comes to your club. They may have had it too easy lately and are missing their earlier sharpness and hunger.
So if I had to put up some money, I’d predict a Subway Series between the Yankees and the Mets, and I’d predict the Yankees would win it in seven games.
But out of sheer joy, I’d rather see a Dodgers vs. Yankees matchup.
Either way, we’re about to see some great baseball, so the fans will definitely win!