Dan Lee Predictions: American League East-Yankees Central-White sox & Twins fighting for it West-Seattle Wild Card-Red Sox & A's will keep it close National League East-Braves Central-Cardinals West-Giants Wild Card-Mets

2002 standings prodictions
by Dan Lee

American League
From all the offseason moves and spring training reviews, here are my takes on the 2002 season.

The Yankees are loaded and stacked this year. They will have the most wins in the American League and in their division.
Here's why:
They already have one of the best bullpens in baseball. They have two solid setup men with Stanton and Medonza, Now, they add Steve Karsay into the mix which makes them more deadly! Rivera is still the best closer in the business. They have six solid starters in their pitching rotation, and if one of them would go down, they could replace them with the extra starter. So their pitching is better than last year! A Perfect move by Cashman. On offense, Jeter will be healthly from his leg injury so expect a better season for him. Giambi and his big bat will do wonders. Plus adding Ventura, White, And Vander Wal to their lineup will produce a lot of runs. They have the second best offensive lineup in the American League behind Texas. They will be the top seed in the East as well as the American League. Tampa Bay, Toronto, & Baltimore will have mediocore seasons. Boston will have a chance for the wild card race, if they players are heathly.

In the Central, The Chicago White Sox and the Twins will be flip flopping for the number spot. It will be interesting to see who wins the division, it will be a close race. Cleveland should be third. Kansas City and Detroit will have their usual winless season.

Out West, I have Seattle on top. The Seattle ballclub always found a way to win last few seasons. First they lose Griffery Jr., but A Rod was there to take the challenge. Then when he left for Texas, Ichiro Suzuki and his MVP season. This year, not a lot of changes in their lineup. They kept Boone and much of their offensive is still the same. But do not expect big offensive numbers like they had last year. Much of their success was cause of the bad pitching they faced with the Angels & Rangers. Both teams have improved their pitching dramtically so Mariners offense will be down. But they should still pull out in the West.

Oakland will be going for the Wild Card. But they will have to fight Boston to get it. They lost Giambi and Damon in one season and they replaced them with Justice and a rookie Carlos Pena. That wasn't the kind of replacements I was thinking about. But they still have the best pitching rotation in American League so it will be their pitching that gets them to the Wild card Hunt. Texas has the best offense in baseball. Even the National League teams can't top this lineup. However, their pitching still needs improvement. Chan Ho Park will have a 20+ win season but the rest of the four starters are not solid starters. The bullpen is improved since last year but still average at best. They will be fighting for the third spot with the Angels.

National League
Braves were not as busy as the Mets this offseason but they made one of the best trades. Gary Sheffield for Brian Jordan, & Perez?? Wow, L.A. got robbed! The Mets may have improved their offense but the Braves aren't too bad either. But I give a edge on the Braves cause they have a better pitching staff than the Mets. Leiter seems shaky this year, and Pedro Astacio has a injury almost every year. Let's face it the Braves main weapon is pitching and they still have it with Greg Maddux (14-9, 3.20), Tom Glavine (12-9. 3.79), Kevin Millwood (11-10, 3.65), and John Smoltz (36 saves). Compared to newcomers Pedro Astacio, Shawn Estes, Mark Guthrie, Saturo Komiyama, and Dave Weathers. I give the Braves pitching a edge here and pitching wins ball games not offense. Phillies and Mets will flip flop thoughout the season for the second seed. The Marlins have a great pitching staff! They have solid young pitchers in their rotation but they lack the offense. Other than Floyd, who will produce RBI's??
They will be a suprise team this year but their offense is a big minus.
Expos will have their usual dissappointing season.

The Central will be the most interesting division in baseball. The Cardinals should win the division. They ranked third in scoring and their pitching staff could challenge for the league ERA title. They lost Big Mac but replaced him with Tino Martinez who has a ton of World series experience and a solid veteran player who will get the job done. Their bullpen was their weakness last year but they added Jason Isringhausen as their closer. So expect a small margin of error from this team.

The Astros lost Moises Alou (.331, 27 HR, 108 RBI last year) and Vinny Castilla (.270, 23 HR, 91 RBI in 122 games in 2001). OF Daryl Ward and 3B prospect Morgan Ensberg are expected to replace them and they have the talent to do it but its early. They still need the playing time and experience. The Cubs have added Alou to their lineup. The big trio of McGriff, Sosa, and Alou will revamp their offense. The pitching starters of Wood and Lieber will keep them in the Wild Card spot. Their bullpen is weaker than last year but they have a top rated farm system to find their replacements. The Reds, Pirates, and Brewers lack the pitchers and offensive firepower to get in closing range of the first three Central teams. The Cubs, Astros, Mets, & Dbacks will fight for the playoff spot but I give the edge to Mets. After you get past Wood and Lieber, the Cubs pitching is compareable to Texas. Yes, its that bad. The Mets have a better rotation, bullpen, & offense than the Astros. So in the end, I pick the Mets.

In the West, I give it to the Giants. Why? Last year was the only year that most of their players were heathly. The Dbacks are one of the oldest teams in baseball, for the past few years their ballclub was full of injuries. If two or three of their starting players get injuried, this ballclub will fall short of any playoff hopes. As history has shown, the odds of their players staying heathly all year are slim. Matt Williams already went down in Spring Training. Plus the Giants were only two games behind Dbacks last year. They might have lost Kent, but they still have Bonds and Aurilia. They also added Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Reggie Sanders. Jason Schmidt, Russ Ortiz, Livan Hernadez are solid pitchers who will get the job done. I dont even have the Dbacks as a lock for second place. The Dodgers, Rockies and Dbacks will keep it close for second place. If Brown, Ashby, Hideo Nomo, and the new guy Kazuhisa Ishii stay healthly they may have a great rotation! The Rockies are known for their offense, they added new pitches last year with Hampton and Neagle. But their season was dissappointing, expect a better season this year. Padres have a ton of talent but they're young and need experience. Give them two years.