I'm not here to talk about the past

I know nobody really cares, but whatever, I do one of these almost every year. Here are my picks for the baseball season...

AL East
Boston Red Sox (98 - 64)
New York Yankees (90 - 72)
Baltimore Orioles (81 - 81)
Toronto Blue Jays (75 - 87)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (62 - 100)

I'll probably end up being wrong, but it feels damn good picking the Yankees to not make the playoffs. They've got a hell of an offense, but no bench and I think their pitching will fall apart. And Steinbrenner won't be able to buy the team back into contention at the trade deadline because they don't really have anything to deal. The Red Sox should dominate the division, especially once their rotation get healthy. If the Orioles had better pitching (or, more accurately, any pitching), I'd be tempted to put them at #2. Sosa will have a big year and Tejada will contend for the MVP. Toronto will continue to struggle, but I like Halladay to make a comeback. Tampa Bay will be a good punching bag for the rest of the division and that's about it.

AL Central
Minnesota Twins (91 - 71)
Cleveland Indians (83 - 79)
Detroit Tigers (75 - 87)
Chicago White Sox (73 - 89)
Kansas City Royals (60 - 102)

The Twins should walk away with the division again this year as the White Sox will take a tumble and I think Cleveland and Detroit are both still a year or two away from contending. If Santana stays healthy, I could see him taking the Cy Young again easily. Magglio Ordonez will have a big year back for the Tigers, although unfortunately that means they'll have to eat the rest of his huge contract. I don't think the Tigers owner cares, though, since he's been willing to spend tons of money to win with the Red wings in the NHL. Combine that with some good young pitching and they could surprise people in years to come. The White Sox will succeed in their pledge to play "small ball" and will get small results. Definitely a dumb strategy for a team playing in a hitter's park like Comiskey.

AL West
Oakland Athletics (93 - 69)
Los Angeles Angels (91 - 71) *Wild Card
Seattle Mariners (80 - 82)
Texas Rangers (72 - 90)

The A's could completely tank this year with their revamped rotation and I'm sure plenty of people would love to see that happen, but I don't think it will. The Angels look pretty damn good too, so I see both teams making the playoffs despite this being the strongest division in the AL. The Mariners will improve this year, but not enough to contend. I don't see the Rangers' pitching repeating their success of last year, so they'll bring up the rear despite their offensive strength.

NL East
Philadelphia Phillies (95 - 67)
Atlanta Braves (92 - 70) *Wild Card
New York Mets (83 - 79)
Florida Marlins (80 - 82)
Washington Nationals (65 - 97)

The Phillies should win this division. Last year, their rotation fell apart and their manager drove the team into the ground. They didn't do much to improve in the offseason, but they did fire Larry Bowa, so that should help. The Braves shouldn't do as well as I'm predicting but, well, they're the Braves. The Mets did a lot to improve this year, but I don't think Pedro will hold up under pressure in NY this year. I do like Beltran, though, so if the team does better, I think he's an MVP candidate. The Marlins could be a factor too. I don't see the Nationals doing anything, however.

NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals (97 - 65)
Chicago Cubs (88 - 74)
Milwaukee Brewers (83 - 79)
Houston Astros (83 - 79)
Pittsburgh Pirates (75 - 87)
Cincinnati Reds (70 - 92)

I'm not as high on the Cardinals' pitching as most people are, but their offense is awesome. The Cubs, on the other hand, are the opposite. The difference between the two teams is that the Cards' offense shouldn't have too many problems staying healthy, while the Cubs' pitching is already hurting. I'm picking the Brewers as the team that will surprise people this year -- I like the pickup of Carlos Lee and Ben Sheets is terribly underrated. The Astros will tank this year after losing Beltran. The Pirates and the Reds will battle for the bottom of the division.

NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers (90 - 72)
San Diego Padres (89 - 73)
San Francisco Giants (81 - 81)
Arizona Diamondbacks (70 - 92)
Colorado Rockies (65 - 97)

Probably the weakest division in baseball, especially now that Bonds is out for who knows how long. My pick of the Dodgers over the Padres is only because I think Paul DePodesta will take after Billy Beane and add the talent at the trading deadline he needs to win the division. The Giants are too old to do anything this year and I don't see the Diamondbacks' offseason moves putting them back into contention.

Playoffs:
ALDS:
Red Sox over Angels in 4 games
Twins over Athletics in 5 games

ALCS:
Boston Red Sox over Minnesota Twins in 5 games

The Red Sox pull it out again, although without the Yankees to contend with, they have a much easier time in the playoffs than last year.

NLDS:
Braves over Cardinals in 5 games
Phillies over Dodgers in 4 games

NLCS
Braves over Phillies in 6 games

It pains me to pick the Braves here, but they have the pitching to win short series. Also, I'm a Phillies fan and therefore doomed to see my team beaten by their closest rival.

World Series:
Red Sox over Braves in 5 games

This is a pretty easy one -- the Red Sox have the best team in baseball this year. Now that the curse has ended, winning again shouldn't be much of a problem.

AL MVP: David Ortiz
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana
AL Rookie: Dallas McPherson

Ortiz won't be the best player in the league (that honor goes to either Tejada or Vlad Guerrero), but he'll get the MVP votes because of Boston's big year -- watch as the media's bias shifts from the Yankees to the Red Sox. Santana seems like a lock for the Cy Young, assuming he doesn't get hurt. The ROY is sort of a shot in the dark -- it's always a tough award to pick.

NL MVP: Albert Pujols
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
NL Rookie: Gavin Floyd

Pujols is the obvious choice, and for good reason, although if the Mets do well this year, Beltran could win the award (undeservedly). Pujols is a legitimate triple crown contender, assuming his foot problems don't get to him. Peavy is helped by the Padres success -- Ben Sheets will probably be the best pitcher in the NL, but his team won't get him the wins. If Floyd lives up to expectations and if he can stay in the rotation and if the Phillies do well, he'll win the Rookie of the Year. But that's a lot of ifs.