The first half of the MLB season is in the books and now we prepare for the second half of the season.
There were some surprises in the first half of the season – the Mariners were a huge disappointment and have basically given up on this season by trading away Cliff Lee (at least they still have Felix Hernandex) and the Padres have been a pleasant surprise in the NL West led by [should have been] all-star, Mat Latos and a stellar pitching staff.
Some things have not been a surprise – the Yankees are playing well and looking like they can possibly repeat as World Series Champions and Strasburg was worth all the hype.
With all that, the remainder of the 2010 MLB season is sure to be a good one. Here are my predictions for how the season will end (teams crossed out are my original predictions that have changed):
AL EAST
1. New York
2. Tampa Bay (Wild Card)
3. Boston
4. Toronto
5. Baltimore
AL CENTRAL
1. Detroit Chicago
2. Minnesota Detroit
3. Chicago Minnesota
4. Cleveland
5. Kansas City
AL WEST
1. Seattle Texas
2. Los Angeles
3. Texas Oakland
4. Oakland Seattle
NL EAST
1. Philadelphia Atlanta
2. Atlanta (Wild Card) Philadelphia (Wild Card)
3. Florida New York
4. New York Florida
5. Washington
NL CENTRAL
1. St. Louis
2. Milwaukee Cincinnati
3. Chicago Milwaukee
4. Cincinnati Chicago
5. Houston
6. Pittsburgh
NL WEST
1. Los Angeles
2. Colorado
3. San Francisco San Diego
4. Arizona San Francisco
5. San Diego Arizona
PLAYOFFS
ALDS
New York over Detroit Chicago
Tampa Bay Texas over Seattle Tampa Bay
NLDS
Philadelphia over Los Angeles
St. Louis over Atlanta
ALCS
New York over Tampa Bay Texas
NLCS
St. Louis over Philadelphia
World Series
New York over St. Louis
AWARDS
AL MVP – Mark Teixeira (NYY) Josh Hamilton (TEX)
AL ROY – Desmond Jennings (TB ) Brennan Boesch (Det)
AL CY Young – Felix Hernandez (SEA) David Price (TB)
NL MVP – Matt Kemp (LAD) Albert Pujols (StL)
NL ROY – Jason Heyward (ATL) Steven Strasburg (Was)
NL CY Young – Tommy Hanson (ATL) Ubaldo Jimenez (Col)
Do you see the 2010 MLB season playing out differently? Let me know in the comments
