Division Series Previews

I'm tired & want to get to bed, so this is going to be short & sweet...

First off, I want to congratulate myself, because I picked 5 of the 8 playoff teams this year. Only picks I got wrong were AL Central (i took Minny), NL East (i took Florida), & NL WC (i took Philly). Still 5 out of 8 is a hall of fame batting average, so I'll pat my own back.

And so we're clear on one thing, way back in March when I didn't have a website like this to document all my crazy predictions, I took the Angels over the Cardinals as my World Series pick. I'm not backing off that now, no way.

Padres vs Cardinals

There are a dozen or so teams who deserve a playoff spot over the San Diego Padres, unfortunately for them, they're at home right now, concentrating on their fantasy football leagues. The Padres may be the worst playoff team of all time, and yet, they are so much better then they played this year. With Jake Peavy, this team could easily win 2 games. That leaves three others, two of which are at home, and are also winnable.

Unfortunately for them, the wild card came out of the central, so they have to play the central champs, the Cardinals, who are the NL's best team, without a doubt. Match this Padres team up against the Braves or the Phillies, and they can win the series. Against the Cardinals, they don't stand much of a chance, as Chris Carpenter neutralizes anything Jake Peavy brings to the table.

Cardinals in four.

Braves vs Astros

This is going to be a great series. There aren't many people who thought either of these teams had a chance to make it to the playoffs this year. But great managing combined with timely pitching & hotshot rookies have lifted both of these teams to contender status, and here they sit against each other for a second straight year.

The Astros big 3 pitchers this year are arguably the greatest 3 pitchers for any one team in any one season ever. With these guys rolling, the astros can win any best of 5 series, against any team in the league. The spacing of days off in this series allows the Astros to move Brandon Backe into their bullpen, which could use the help, and pitch Roger Clemens & Andy Pettite twice in the short series, if necessary.

On the other hand, the Braves don't have the pitching they once did. Interesting decision by Bobby Cox announcing that Tim Hudson would take game one, and John Smoltz game two. Nobody can say anything about Smoltz, not after he came out of the bullpen this spring and immediately tripled his workload, pitching 230 innings. But now you have to wonder, did he push too hard to fast? Is he now worn out? It looks that way, and it seems Bobby Cox thinks so, too. Why else would you put your ace as the #2 starter in the series? Clearly Cox doesn't think Smoltz can pitch twice in 5 games, if necessary, so he sets up Tim Hudson to take the mound in games one & five. If Smoltz really is fading, that's bad news for the Braves. They need him & Hudson to be lights out if they have any chance of winning this series.

Astros in five.

White Sox vs Red Sox

Of the four AL playoff teams, these are easily the worse two. It's a shame that one of these two teams will get to play in the ALCS while one of the yankees & angels will be sitting at home. But, that's the way it has to be, so no point in complaining about it anymore.

The White Sox were a great team, during the first 100 games of the season. But when you limp into the playoffs (nevermind that 3 game season ending sweep) with a final record over your last 55 games that is worse then the Colorado Rockies, things aren't going you're way. Luckily for them, they're facing a team that is playing just as bad, the Red Sox.

The Red Sox had a 4 game division lead on September 9th, and still couldn't hold onto it. Sure, 4 games may not sound like a whole lot, but in 20 games time, to blow a 4 game lead is impressive, in the wrong sort of way. Their bullpen is bad. Their rotation is in shambles. And 6 of their regular batters don't scare anybody.

But they have two things Chicago doesn't... playoff experience, and David Ortiz batting in front of Manny Ramirez. The Red Sox caught a second wind this past weekend, as much as I hate the sound of that. They got into the playoffs, took two of three from the yankees, and because of a wacky tie-break system that no baseball fan even knew about, they got to avoid the Angels in the first round.

I'd look for this team to start rolling asap.

Red Sox in three.

Yankees vs Angels

This is going to be without a doubt the best series of the first round. The Yankees are the hottest team in baseball, but they're still a team surrounded by question marks & fill-ins whose deals with satan are about to expire. But, they are still the Yankees. And the Yankees win in October, it's what they do. Or at least, it's what they did up until November 4th, 2001.

The Angels, on the other hand, have the best player in the league, Vladimir Guerrero (no disrespect to Papi), and they have a true ace in Bartolo Colon for the first time in a long time. Oh yea, and Steve Shields to Francisco Rodriguez is the best 8th-9th combo in all of baseball.

One other thing they have... homefield in this round.

Now, I'm tired, and don't really feel like breaking this entire series down. Plus, I fear if I actually broke it down, I'd find out that realistically there is no way the Yankees lose this series. But if I picked the Yankees, that would be going against my Angels-Cardinals world series prediction, and I can't do that. So as much as it pains me to do this...

Angels in Five.