2010 MLB Predictions: Where I discredit myself by going on the record

These are my predictions for 2010 over at the Baseball Bloggers Alliance. I've thought about these predictions in excruciating detail and in October, I'll either sing my own praises and rub it in the faces of all who'll listen...... or I'll retroactively delete the post.
Let's go.....

NL West

1. Dodgers
2. Giants (Wild Card)
3. Padres (83 wins)
4. Rockies
5. D-Backs

(I probably effed this up by undervaluing the Rockies and overvaluing the Dodgers. However I stand by my assertion that the Padres will win 83 games and finish in 3rd place....and that's all that matters!)

NL Central

1. Cardinals
2. Brewers
3. Cubs
4. Astros
5. Reds
6. Pirates

(As sure as the sun sets in the west and checks to the IRS  are being cut in mass around this time, the Cardinals will win the central behind another powerful year by their man-purse carrying first baseman. That's right.....I've said it before....I'll say it again.....Albert Pujols carries a purse. I've seen it.)



NL East

1. Phillies
2. Braves
3. Mets
4. Marlins
5. Nationals

(Do you want to know why the Phillies will win both the NL East and the World Series? They're good. Next prediction....)

AL West

1. Angels
2. Rangers
3. Mariners
4. A's

(The Angels always win it, c'mon now. Know why? Their manager was a catcher. Catchers are smarter than the rest of  us.)

AL Central

1. White Sox
2. Tigers
3. Twins
4. Indians
5. Royals

(The White Sox are pretty loaded. Of course, Jake Peavy will probably come down with an ailment of some sort, thus damaging the Southside's hopes.)

AL East

1. Yankees
2. Red Sox (Wild Card)
3. Rays
4. Blue Jays
5. Orioles

(With the deep pockets in the AL East I feel sorry for the fans of the bottom three teams [see: fans who don't have annoying accents].....except the Orioles.....I feel sorry for their fans because their owner is an idiot.)

World Series
Philadelphia Phillies defeat the New York Yankees in 6 games
(Phillies, yes! Yankees, no! Screw the Yankees. See..... fans on the West Coast don't carry a regional bias like the eastern media elites. I included to eastern seaboard teams. A lot more integrity in these parts!)


Rookies of the Year
Brian Matusz AL (Orioles)
Stephen Strasburg NL (Nationals)
 (I'm going to be honest......these guys both played college ball in San Diego so I know they are good....I know they are rookies.....I haven't paid attention to the teams back east so closely that I would know their rookies......I'm going with who I know..........Do I have to edit that whole "integrity" bit?)

Managers of the Year
Mike Scioscia AL (Angels)
Charlie Manuel NL (Phillies)
(Easy! Phillies are winning the series so the nod to Manuel and Mike Scioscia wins the AL West again with a team that doesn't have the resources of the Yankees.....although I just Googled it and the Angels' payroll is pretty high. Why can't San Diego replicate that? Man....!!!)


CY Young
Jake Peavy AL (White Sox)
Roy Halladay NL (Phillies)
(I've always thought that if Jake Peavy had a nice offense, one in which he did not feel as though he needed to be perfect every time out, he could do GREAT things on the mound. I think we'll see it this year. It should also be noted that the AL has a DH so the Sox won't have to fret over Jake tearing ankle ligaments running the bases......which is nice. With Halladay......well you can't win a WS without a big gun. Roy Halladay will eat up the NL this season)


Relief Award
Mariano Rivera AL (Yankees)
Heath Bell NL (Padres)
 (Rivera will have a lot of opportunities and Heath Bell will be even more efficient than last year.)

MVP
Mark Teixeira AL (Yankees)

Chase Utley NL (Phillies)
(A comfortable-in-the-Bronx Teixera will destroy that silly little bandbox of a park. Utley will do the same in his bandbox to the south.)


Do we need to even bother watching the games, now? I did the heavy lifting for you so feel free to begin a new hobby in lieu of watching baseball this summer. I'd go with surfing or a martial art. Your choice.

Venable Makes Contact With Pujols' Man Purse carrying Arm

When I was watching the Padres play the Cardinals on Saturday night I took note of a particular play involving Albert Pujols and the Padres' Will Venable. Venable had hit a hard grounder to 1B and Pujols fielded it cleanly, decided to make the play on his own, and ran towards first.....but he did not run that fast. As he crossed over the bag a blazing Venable burst threw the picture nearly beating Pujols for an infield single. Two things struck me about this play:

1. How hard Venable had run out what seemed to be a routine grounder which in my opinion is a good thing. With all due respect to the best player on our team (Adrian Gonzalez), he rarely runs hard on ground-balls. Effort is good.
   
2. The second thing was how I really felt that had Pujols been just a split second slower in getting to the bag he genuinely would have deserved to get knocked into next week. You can't lolly-gag through the baseline when your opponent is playing for a job next year. Whatever.....there was no harm so there was no foul....I went to bed.

Now on Sunday afternoon I abandoned the game after Caesar Carillo loaded the bases a second time but upon checking in on the final I saw that there was a bit of an altercation that had taken place. Low and behold.........Pujols and Venable. Will Venable running out a grounder, ducking his shoulder a bit to absorb the tag and then getting the stare-down from King Albert. I watched the video and it's one of the most innocuous bits of contact I've seen between players. I saw Everth Cabrera destroy Cardinal SS Brendan Ryan in trying to break up a double play, and in my opinion, Cabrera had slid too far out of the baseline. Ryan said nothing about it.

Here is an excerpt from padres.com regarding the Pujols/Venable incident:

About the only fireworks came in the sixth inning when Venable topped a ball down the first-base line that St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols picked up and tagged Venable as he ran by. After the play, Venable turned around and saw Pujols staring at him.

"I asked him what his problem was. Anytime that someone stops to stare at you ... you're wondering what his problem is," Venable said. "I certainly don't care enough about Albert Pujols to continue with anything that might cause friction. It's not that big of a deal, just a lot of nothing."

Pujols, apparently, saw it differently, claiming Venable more or less threw an elbow into him as he passed.

"He did. Last night he tried to run me over like he was playing freaking football. A play like that, you don't try to run people over. Next time, if I would have known, I would probably hit him in the face with the glove, tag him right there," said Pujols, who earlier in the game hit his 40th home run of the season.

"He did it last night, and today again, he threw an elbow. And he was out by a lot. It wasn't necessary, even to avoid a tag. The ground ball that I had, what is he going to do? Try to knock the ball out of my glove? Last night he jammed my wrist a little bit and tonight he tried to throw an elbow. That's pretty stupid."

Venable denied trying to throw an elbow to disrupt the play.

Are you seriously crying about this Albert?

I generally like Albert Pujols. The only thing I've really heard bad about him (I think it was him) is that he tends to eyeball umpires a bit when he gets a strike call against him; kind of a "Do you know who I am? If I didn't swing it's not a strike!", air about him. His above quotes make him sound like a crybaby. Grow a pair and go after Venable if you think he was trying to hurt you. Don't give a man the ol' "Do you know who I am?", stare. You're asking for a fight then.

Good on ya Will Venable. Keep playing hard. Don't take sh*t from anyone especially Albert Pujols

"Fu*k Albert Pujols and his man purse!", said Will Venable (or something to that effect)

Video of Sunday afternoon incident [Padres.com]

Pujols with the sacks full in 2009

Albert Pujols with the bases loaded in 2009:

1. 9 ABs
2. 7 Hits
3. 5 HRs
4. 24 RBI

Really? Shouldn't he be getting the free pass with the bases loaded? Unconventional to be sure but it's not without precedent....Barry used to get the IBB.

Those daring managers still in business?

Editor's Note:
As always, when discussing Albert Pujols, I'd be remiss if I did not mention that I saw him walking in the Gaslamp back in 2006.....he was carrying a Louis Vitton man purse.....the most dangerous hitter in the game.....man purse.