AL East

Magic Number: 7

With a Tampa Bay loss yesterday, the Boston Red Sox climbed within 1.5 games of the division lead. The Rays have a 4 game set with the Baltimore Orioles (double header on Tuesday) followed by a 4 game series with the Detroit Tigers, while the Sox have to host the Cleveland Indians for 4 games, followed by the New York Yankees for 3. I never thought I'd say this, but Tampa is going to hold on to win this thing, but it may come down to the last day. Nothing would make the Yankees happier than going into Boston and preventing them from winning the division, and that's what's going to happen.

AL Central

Magic Number: 5

The White Sox, despite the loss of MVP candidate Carlos Quentin, have not only somehow kept their lead over the Minnesota Twins, but increased it to 2.5 games. The Twins have night off tonight, and then the show down begins with the Southsiders coming to town for a 3 game showdown for the AL Central crown. Afterwards, the Twins host the lowly Kansas City Royals while the White Sox host the Cleveland. If the Twins can sweep the White Sox, this will get really interesting really fast. If necessary, the White Sox will play a make-up game with Detroit on Monday, September 29. It will be, the Sox will lose, and the division will go to the Twins.

AL West

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, baseball's best team, wrapped this thing up about a month ago. Next!

Wild Card:

Magic Number: 1

The Sox are 7 games up on the Yankees with 7 games to play for each team. For the Yankees to make the playoffs, the Sox would have to lose out with the Yankees winning out. Not going to happen.

MVP:

Who will win: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers
Who should win: Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox

Cy Young:

Who will win: Francisco Rodriguez, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Who should win: Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians

Rookie of the Year
Who will win: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
Who should win: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

Manager of the Year:
Who will win: Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays
Who should win: Joe Maddon, Tampa Bay Rays

AL Playoffs

AL East: Tampa Bay Rays
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Wild Card: Boston Red Sox

Angels vs. Red Sox:

The match-up that everyone thought would be in the ALCS comes in the first round. Angels win the series 3-1. The Angels are awesome.

Twins vs. Rays:

The magic continues. Tampa Bay sweeps the Twins in 3 games.

Angels vs. Rays:

Sorry, Tampa Bay. Worst-to-first is a great story, but your inexperienced squad is going to crumble in the national spotlight. The Angels, who are 47-30 on the road, win it in 5.

NL East

Magic Number: 6

The Fightin' Philadelphia Phillies came back from the dead again September and hold 1.5 game lead over the New York Mets. The Phils host the Atlanta Braves for 3 followed by the lowly Washington Nationals for 3, while the Mets host the Chicago Cubs for 4 followed by those pesky Florida Marlins for 3. The Phils are too hot, and the Mets bullpen is just plain terrible. This will be over before the weekend.

NL Central

Like the Angels, Chicago has already clinched their division by pounding the floundering Milwaukee Brewers last week.

NL West

Magic Number: 5

About a month ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers were 3 games back of the Arizona Diamondbacks, had a losing record, and were in the midst of an 8 games losing streak. Since then, the Dodgers are 16-6, including a 5-1 record against Arizona. The Diamondbacks are still in this thing at 2.5 games back, but it's not going to happen. They stink.

Wild Card

Magic Number: 6

With the New York Mets ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers by 1.5 games, it's still anybody's race. The Mets have a tougher schedule with the Cubs and the Marlins remaining on their schedule, but the Brewers have to face the Cubs to end their season (with the Pirates before that). Will they be able to beat up on the Cubs to make the playoffs? Will the Cubs give their players a few days off? This will be an interesting one, but with Ben Sheets getting hurt, the Brewers just don't have enough fire power.

Don't be suprised, though, if the Florida Marlins make a run at this thing. They need to win out, which will include a sweep of the Mets.

MVP

Who will win: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
Who should win: Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

Cy Young

Who will win: Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks
Who should win: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

Rookie of the Year
Who will win: Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs
Who should win: Geovany Soto, Chicago Cubs

Manager of the Year:
Who will win: Lou Pinella, Chicago Cubs
Who should win: Lou Pinella, Chicago Cubs

NL Playoffs

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central: Chicago Cubs
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers
Wild Card: New York Mets

Cubs vs. Mets

The Cubs are just too good, and the Mets bullpen is just too week. The Cubs take it in 4.

Phillies vs. Dodgers

In August, these two teams met 8 times. The Dodgers swept the first 4 games, with the Phils sweeping the final 4. Both team can hit, so this series will go to team with the better bullpen. The Phils will take it in 4 games.

Cubs vs. Phillies

The Phillies took the season series against the Cubs 4 games to 3, but 3 of those games were in April (the Phils took that series 2 games to 1). In late August, the two teams split a 4 game series in Chicago. There are only 4 teams in the majors who have a winning record on the road, and the Phils and Cubbies are two of them. While I think the Phillies are capable of winning this series, their bullpen is worthless if they can't get a lead early. The Cubs offense and starting rotation will just be too much as they take it in 6 games.

World Series

Angels vs. Cubs

Cubs fans have been waiting for this day for 100 years, and they can keep waiting. The Angels are a prototypical American League team with a lot of pop, but are capable of playing small ball like a National League team. They're just, well, too good. Sorry, Cubs fans, but it's not your year. Again. Angels win in 6.

Go Phils.