The 2004 Season ended with the San Francisco Giants taking down the New York Yankees. The 2005 season seems to be more of the same....the Yankees and Giants look to continue their success. However, rivals may crop up this time around, and nothing is for sure until September. Here is how the season should shape up in 2005. * = wild card AL EAST
1. Yankees: addition of Dotel only separates the Yanks even farther from the rest of the East
2. Orioles: young team featuring Snelling, Ozuna, Brandon Phillips puts O's in contention
3. Red Sox: veteran Kent has not appeared to drop off in production(.344, 38, 140- 2004)
4. Blue Jays: addition of ace Moss may not help:11-11 with 4.68 ERA in 2004 with Dbacks
5. Devil Rays: new OF of Alou, Stewart, Long will not keep D-Rays out of the cellar
AL Central:
1. Tigers: Beckett's breakout year in 2004(17-8, 2.91) proves he can lead young Tigers
2. Royals: Junior has reached his twilight years.....hopes to make last push towards a ring
3. Indians: Tribe hopes to continue success from 2004 (88 wins) with addition of Colon
4. White Sox: weak rotation led by Seth Etherton keeps Sox from doing damage in 2005
5. Twins: Twinkies need production from Carlos Pena (.242, 19, 52).....FAST
AL West:
1. Mariners: M's rely on pitching one more time (Moose-Mulder-Lidle) to get job done
2. *Athletics: slugger Dunn and ace Dave Williams ready to oust Royals from playoffs
3. Angels: additions of Lilly and Jacque Jones will only hurt Angels chances of wild card
4. Rangers: highest-paid player- Ty Wiggington ($1.48 million per season)
NL East:
1. Braves: Pedro, still best pitcher in baseball, will get his wins despite poor run support
2. Marlins: Prior leads strong young staff (Washburn, Penny, Duckworth) into playoff hunt
3. Phillies: young 1-2 of roa, bud smith will pay dividends for Phils this season
4. Mets: young team featuring Burroughs, Escobar, Choi still year or 2 away from contention
5. Expos: ace Pettite comes out of Colorado with strong comeback season (3.88 ERA)
NL Central:
1. Reds: Arod, Furcal, Chipper, Anderson, Gibbons make up arguably best lineup in game
2. Astros: Nomar led 'Stros to 92 wins last year, yet finished 18 games out....that may change
3. Cardinals: Thome, young slugger Borchard, Loduca keep Cards in top half of central
4. Brewers: Brew-Crew moves up 2 spots from last year led by OF of Wells, Abreu, C. Lee
5. Pirates: young staff of Van Hekken, Wayne, Seay has not improved to meet potential
6. Cubs: Bonds finishes up amazing career in last place with Cubbies and without a ring
NL West:
1. Giants: Zito and lineup featuring Pujols, Vlad, Manny once again leads to 100+-win season
2. *Dbacks: 98 wins in 2003, 91 in 2004, 0 playoff wins. Pudge, Freddy look to change that
3. Dodgers: addition of slugger Brian Giles helps out great pitching staff (Lawrence, Gagne)
4. Rockies: 1-2 of Odalis Perez, Piniero continues struggles in Coors environment
5. Padres: OF of Burrell, Floyd, Berkman can't help anemic pitching staff, led by Bierbrodt
Playoffs:
Yankees over A's (4 games)
Tigers over Mariners (4 games)
Giants over Braves (3 games)
Dbacks over Reds (5 games)
Yankees over Tigers (6 games)
Giants over Dbacks (5 games)
Yankees over Giants (7 games)
Yankees win 2005 WS
Awards:
AL MVP- Todd Helton, Tigers
AL Cy Young- Roy Halladay, Yankees
AL ROY- Cody Ross, Twins
NL MVP- Albert Pujols, Giants
NL Cy Young- Pedro Martinez, Braves
NL ROY- Mark Teixeira, Giants
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