Baseball is back!

Opening Day has arrived, and the Pirates drop a heart breaker to the hated Phillies. Still, the Pirates looked good from the mound. Eric Bedard was lights out and gave up one 7th inning run and then the Pirates threw two shut out frames from the bullpen against a very potent offense. Sure the Pirates got both their hits in the first inning and one of them was a real squib, but I feel more confident that the bats will come around against pitchers not named Roy Halladay.

Alvarez looked okay. He did strike out once, but only once against Halladay. That is a good sign, I guess. No errors from him and he helped turn a double play. The Pirates actually have lots of people to back him up this year, so I am not so worried about Alvarez. In fact, I think the Pirates have until they need to add a 5th starter in a few weeks to see if Alvarez is going to stick at the majors. If he is struggling, then he goes down to make room for a returning 5th starter, Charlie Morton. If he is hot, then expect Hague to head back to AAA. It could be Harrison, but I expect they need more back up middle infielders than corner guys. I can't see them dropping Navarro at all.

Still, it is an encouraging start. I am just as excited about watching the minors, but we will get into that another day. Today is about overall predictions.

NL East Champs: Phillies
- the rest of the division is good, but not good enough.
NL Central Champs: Brewers
- Man I hate to say it, but they are probably still the best in the division even without Fielder.
NL West Champs: Giants
- They were down last year because Posey was out. Their pitching is still good enough and their hitting gets an immediate boost with Posey back.
Wild Card: Pirates
- I am going out on a limb and saying the Pirates are going to pull it off. Mostly because of the uneven schedule. Lost of games against the Astros and Cubs, and I think the Cards are really going to struggle. Not so much because they lost Albert, but because they lost LaRussa. That is a bigger deal than most think.

AL East Champs: Rays
- Too much talent and it is not aging like the Red Sox and Yanks.
AL Central Champs: Tigers
- After last year's pitching and the addition of Prince, is there another choice here?
AL West Champs: Angels
- I don't think that this is a sure thing although they upgraded a lot. The Rangers have been very good. However, I do not think Hamilton can go 162 without a serious injury and this year with the better Angels, I don't think the Rangers can survive it.
AL WIld Card: Twins
- Another long shot. But everything went wrong for the Twins last year. Mauer, Morneau, Spam. They all look healthy again. Plus, Nick Blackburn is back and a very underrated pitcher. He is a ground ball guy and so are most of the Twins pitchers. This will be important in a division with a lot of big fly guys like Fielder and Eric Hosmer. I think they still have the best coach in baseball too. Gardinhire is able to get it done.

World Series: Rays and Giants
Champ: Rays

- I do believe this is the year for the Rays. They have great pitching, and they are finally going to put it together in the post season. They will out pitch the Tigers, who are overrated a bit because of their power. I also think the Giants have the pitching to make it all the way again. It is not as good as the year they won it all, but the Phillies are getting older. Their pitching is going to be tested in a great NL Championship match up.

Looking forward to a great season!