AL East Winner: Boston Red Sox (1 seed)
Clearly the best team in baseball during April. 11 game winning streak was snapped by an error with 2 outs in the 9th at 1st base. Youk will not continue to hit .450, but is the early MVP favorite. Jason Bay and Mike Lowell are doing a great job protecting the rest of this lineup. Captain Tek looks fresh coming off an abysmal season a year ago. Lots and lots of depth. Staff looks fine (Wake is dealing early, but not sure how long that will last being a knuckleballer). My only concern right now is Paps; yes he is 5/5 in save opportunities, but he’s having a 2008 K-Rod’ish season: lots of walks, some hits, missed locations frequently, throwing lots of pitches. He is getting out of jams, but I’m concerned about him if I’m a Sox fan. Yanks have no depth (even tho they’re showing signs during the 3 game winning streak), Rays pitching will come around but I don’t how consistent they will be. O’s can rake, but can’t pitch and there is no way the Jays keep throwing this well.

EDIT: I don’t know how I completely forgot to mention the Papi situation: he’s done. There’s not a lot of hope for coming around and I still are taking them to win it all. They’re that deep.

AL Central Winner: Chicago White Sox (2)
The Other Sox really like to remind people everyone that they’re still around. The division was a tossup in spring training with no real favorite, but the ChiSox have shown they can pitch and still hit. I like them to pull away from the rest of the pack in mid-July.

AL West Winner: Seattle Mariners (3)
Let’s face it: The AL West is what we thought they were. They are pathetic. I figured my Oakland Athletics would walk away from everyone if they stayed healthy. Not only have they NOT stayed healthy, they are managed by a guy who has no idea what to do in certain situations and has no clue with defensive positioning. The Bobby Crosby experiment is a joke. The Angels’ pitching staff is completely depleted and their defense is garbage which is what I expected. What’s even more sad is that Nick Adenhart was really going to be their horse this year with all the injuries. The Rangers aren’t going to score 10 runs every game, so they have no chance of winning. The M’s staff has the #1 ERA in April and they are scoring runs.

AL Wild Card Winner: Kansas City Royals (4)
This is tough. There are only a few teams in the league that have any pitching at all the Royals are one of them. Will they hit? Who knows, but I like their staff so I like them in over the Tigers/Orioles.

NL East Winner: Philadelphia Phillies (2)
They’re winning and aren’t hitting. It’s scary. The Marlins started extremely hot, but have fallen off a little. They’ll contend for sure. Mets are fun to root against because their bullpen is awful. Bravos staff are starting off silently good though; could be contender if they can find a way to score.

NL Central Winner: St. Louis Cardinals (3)
It breaks my heart to have them winning the central, but they are that good. The Cubbage have a terrible bullpen; they’re going to hit eventually, but I don’t see the bullpen holding together. The Reds are raking early, but I don’t like any Dusty Baker managed team. Pirates are still the Pirates but they have been a nice story so far. Brew Crew will rake, but the pitching is meh (Looper has been a nice surprise). Astros have gotten off to a horrible start, but the can play D. I think the Cards just stand out above the rest right now and will win the Central if they stay healthy.

NL West Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers (1)
They’re good. Really Good. They’re hitting OK and pitching OK, but still look good. The pen has been shaky and some guys still haven’t started hitting yet, but they’re still winning without everyone hitting and pitching and that’s always a good sign. The Pads have been off to a nice start; hitting well at home and pitching deep into games. Maybe they can contend all year. The Giants have been doing ok, but Bochy won’t allow that team to win. Dexter Fowler is awesome, but the Rockies wont go anywhere. Arizona sucks.

NL Wild Card Winner: Chicago Cubs (4)
The Loveable Losers have too much talent to be this bad for this long. I don’t see the pen getting completely figured out, but the pen wasn’t very good last year and they dominated the regular season. I’m liking the Pads and Mets to be there close to the end. The Marlins and Giants will contend for a good part of the season, but the Cubs will hold on.

WORLD SERIES PREDICTION: BOSTON RED SOX OVER THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS