MLB Playoff Predictions
 

Lets get on record here.




I'm really feeling a Phillies vs Twins World Series and it would also probably be the coldest MLB games ever played.

AL

The Twins just seems so poised to step up and go to the Series right now. They've really been under the radar as far as contenders go. Great batting. Pitching does enough. I'm really looking forward to Liariano's playoff start against the Yanks. He has a shot to set a tone that could last to the Series.

I just dont see it with the Yankees this year. They dont have the killer instinct they had last year. Once you get past CC, do they really trust Burnett? Yuck! Phil Hughes? I love Hughes, but i think he's out of his element ( DONNIE YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT! ).



Rays should beat the Rangers. I mean, the Rangers have Cliff Lee and a bunch of average pitchers in there rotation.


So ...

ALCS

Twins vs Rays

ALCS Champs - Twins


NL


Phillies vs Reds will be a red hot series. Aside from the Cubs, i've seen more Reds games then any other team. Bronson Arroyo is a sneaky good starter on this team, the two Roys and a red hot Cole Hammels is just too much for the Reds. Plus i think the Phils bats are alot hotter right now then the Reds. Phillies should take this pretty easily.

Giants vs Braves. Pitching again is a big thing for me here. The Giants have a great pitching staff. There bats are actually swinging pretty well right now. The Braves are very young. Hudson isnt going til the 2nd game. I know its Cox last year, but i dont think that emotional lift will be enough to beat the Giants.


NLCS

Giants vs Phillies

NLCS Champs

Phillies



World Series

Twins vs Phillies. Out of all the teams i've seen this year, the team that's looked the best to me is the Twins. There pitching doesnt blow anyone away, but its sufficient. There bats are fantastic. They dont have a ton of power, but the manufacture runs at a workman like rate. They have patient hitters in there lineup. And you need patient hitters to beat the two Roy's. I think this is the Twins year. I've loved this Twinkie team all year long. I think they gut out a 7 game series against a very game Phillies squad.


World Series Champions

Minnesota Twins

The AL is definitely wide open this year. Last year you definitely got the feeling the Yankees were a step above and this year I don't feel like any of the 4 AL teams really stand out. Hence why I went with the homer pick and chose the Yanks.

No team in the AL really has amazing pitching. Looking through some stats Minnesota has Liriano and Pavano, NY has CC, Pettitte and TB has Price and Garza. After those guys the rest of the rotation has average starters. Texas actually has quite a few guys having good seasons though. Lee, Wilson, Lewis and Hunter all have been good this year.

Even with all that, I really feel like (much to the delight of a lot of people) that it'll be Yankees/Phillies again.

NY beats MIN. TB beats TEX.
NY beats TB.

PHI beats CIN. SF beats ATL.
PHI beats SF.

NY vs. PHI again. I think the Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt trio is too much. Even as a Yankee fan I can see that Philly has the best shot at winning this.

...last year the Yanks won with basically just CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte. This year Pettitte has been hurt, BUT, he always turns it on in the postseason, so, you never know.

Hamels isn't always ON for the Phillies, so it MAY come down to Halladay/Oswalt vs Sabathia/Pettitte...

...I'll take Halladay/Oswalt, only because Pettitte isn't SURE to be healthy. BUT, if he IS, then it's anybody's series. These two teams are pretty evenly matched, as they were last year, too.

I think Pettitte is ready. And we all know CC is ready. I think the only things stopping us is our bullpen and our situational hitting. We can not give the other team opportunities by leaving the bases loaded inning after inning. If our hitting comes through and our bullpen is good then we have a real fighting chance.

Yankees/Phillies again.... As a Bluejays fan, I'd love to see Halladay get his World Series, but The Yankees are The Yankees and I see them coming out on top again......

<font color=goldenrod>NLDS
Phils over Reds in 3 :(
Giants over Braves in 4

ALDS
Yanks over Twins in 4
Rays over Rangers in 5

NLCS
Phils over Giants in 5
Yanks over Rays in 6

WS
Yanks over Phils in 6 (Halladay is at like 300 innings at this point and it finally takes its toll)

Praying to the baseball gods for any matchup other than Phils/Yanks again. It should lead to some damn good games but I wouldn't be able to get into it.</font>

NLDS
Phillies over Reds in 4
Braves over Giants in 4

ALDS
Twins over Yankees in 5
Rays over Rangers in 4

NLCS
Phillies over Braves in 6

ALCS
Twins over Rays in 7 (In one of the all time great series)

World Series
Twins over Phillies in 6

...losing home field advantage throughout the playoffs is really going to test them, though...

Yeah, I know. But the Yankees know about the playoffs. Perhaps this is a test they can handle. But, I am also okay if the Yankees don't make it past the first round. I have kind of been expecting that. As long as Rays/ Phillies don't win I'll be fine.

Truth be told I would love either the Reds or the Giants to take the trophy if the Yankees don't. Something tells me the Reds have a better chance then the Giants.

...I'd mark out if the Twins or Rangers won it...a completely different team then we're used to seeing. The Twins haven't won since the Kirby Puckett era, and the Rangers have never won it, I think.

SPOILER- Yankees win.

I hate the White Sox, so go Twins. But as said before, its the Yankees and they win. Rays over Rangers, and the Rays and Yanks continue their fued.

Giants over Braves, Phils over Reds and we have a 2008 rematch of Rays and Phillies, Phillies coming out on top again.

American League
1) Twins over Yankees.
New stadium might be the wildcard to the whole series and eventually Twins going to win a series over the Yankees.
2)Rays over Rangers.
Rays might have been slumping to the playoffs but very dangerous with base stealing and getting hits to create runs.

National League
1) Phillies over Reds.
Phillies too powerful right now although very rarely does the #1 seed in the NL make it to the WS last few years.
2) Giants over Braves.
Braves got very lucky to get the wild card since the slumped badly in the final month.

ALCS - NLCS
1) Rays over Twins.
This probably ends up as the more entertaining and longer series than the NLCS due to both teams having good pitching and good hitting.
2) Phillies over Giants.
Phillies too strong in pitching while the cold weather might play a bigger factor in this series compared to the ALCS

World Series
1) Phillies over Rays.
Rays have the advantge in base stealing and hitting while Phillies have the advantage in pitching. Pitching always triumphs hitting so Phillies win but in a 6-7 game series.

I would be happy about this if any team other then the Phillies won. I kinda like the Yankees chances here. No, AJ Burnett No, Javy Vazquez as the starter. Apparently they are aiming for another 3 pitcher playoff team with CC/ANDY/Hughes. That's a pretty good solid 3. Can't compare to the Phillies of course, but if they can pitch the way they did this season/Andy's Healthy (And he says he's "Ready to go")/ pitched the way they did in the playoffs last year then I like their chances.

But, I'd be happy either way but I would be happier if the Phillies don't win.

ALDS
Yankees over Twins in 3
Rays over Rangers in 5

NLDS
Phillies over Reds in 5
Braves over Giants in 3

LCS
Yankees over Rays in 7
Braves over Phillies in 6

World Series
Yankees over Braves in 5

No way the Twins win without Morneau. They can't compete with the big bats like the Yankees, Philiies, and Rangers.

Twins were 49-29 after Morneau went on the DL. They can handle it.

I don't know if they can even compete with the Rays. That's 4 teams right there that I don't think they can compete batting wise.

You guys are nuts. Twins were 5th in the majors in runs scored, 3rd in avg, 2nd in OBP, and 5th in OPS. They play small ball better than any other team in the AL.

And when you talk about just starting pitching...

Yankees: 72-50, .258 BA, 4.35 ERA, 470 ER, 500 R, 352 BB, 753 K, 8 SHO
Twins: 73-50, .272 BA, 4.17 ERA, 461 ER, 479 R, 233 BB, 706 K, 13 SHO

So outside of the higher batting average against and strikeouts, it seems to me like the Twins actually have BETTER starting pitching this season than the Yankees did.

NY vs PHI.... NY wins World Series again

The Yankees ERA is up a bit because there was a point in the season when their Bullpen sucked.

I'm hoping for a Rays/Phillies World Series. Phillies for the win (Roy Halladay)

I'd be happy if the Twins won, the Rays won, the Rangers won. Wouldn't bother me if the Yankees won.

I'd be happy if the Phillies won, the Reds won, Atlanta or the Giants won.

- There are no teams this year that I'd be upset about winning. Less happy for some than others.

The east two teams I'd like to see are the Giants or the Yankees. But even then, would be ok in my books.

I'm also pulling for the Phillies due to Roy Halladay.

I think it would also be nice to see a new dominant MLB franchise...one that could potentially be the next dynasty. I don't follow baseball much, but it seems like the Yankees are always the team to beat even if they aren't winning World Series'. Since Toronto probably won't be a contender any time this century, I wouldn't mind seeing Philly become the new 'alpha' team of the MLB.

Interesting that nobody even had either team in the WS, let alone guessing both.

I had hoped for Twins/Reds, expecting Yanks/Phillies, and got Rangers/Giants.
Pretty happy with the matchup though.

Gotta go for the Rangers, but it's cheating to put in a "prediction" at this point.

Gotta save that for the World Series Predictions thread.

For Vlad, Hamilton and Nolan Ryan's sake I hope the Rangers win

I enjoy Hamilton as a player, but I can't stand hearing about him. I think it's great that he got clean and found happiness somewhere, but the praise gets to be a bit annoying. He never should have been there in the first place. I suppose it's not all on him, since that's what the coverage chooses to harp on, but sometimes it goes from being a baseball broadcast to an episode of 700 Club.

Cliff Lee is a beast and I would be happy to see him win a ring. Same with Lincecum too, though.

I think they should give CJ Wilson more credit for never doing drugs in the first place.

straight edge means he's better than you

Nobody mentions how Ron Washington got his shit back together and led the team to the WS. He deserves some press.

I'm awesome. I didn't say the Rangers would be in the playoffs, but I did say it'd be great if they won it, so...

The World Series has started and now we can't do predictions. We dropped the ball

Giants will win.