Playoff Predictions Surely to Wrong:
Anaheim vs. New York (A)
Despite Anaheim now officially having the best catcher in the league, and a pretty good offense, New York just has a BETTER offense. My biggest worry is that Anaheim will issue a lot of walks, while New York draws a ton of walks (and doesn't strike out a ton). Losing Williams hurts NY but maybe a guy who had nearly a 1.100 OPS in AAA will help. Verdict: Yankees in 5
Oakland vs. Baltimore
Normally I'm saying Baltimore just flies through the postseason, especially when I'm not around. But they had chinks in the armor and Oakland can match with a great offense and two aces up front in Yu and Manrique. Both teams have good pens too. This should be an absolute war. Verdict: Oakland in 7
Philadelphia vs. San Francisco
The super underdog has a good track record in this league. Not going to happen this year. I have no idea what Philly has and I'm not wasting my time looking, but San Fran is well built. Ichiro really aligned their lineup in a perfect manner, I can see the offense by itself carrying the team far. Verdict: San Fran in 4
Los Angeles vs. New York (N)
In a postseason full of monster lineups, New York excels with pitching and defense. It really hasn't worked out in the playoffs, yet. But, there is no Jose Rijo to worry about. The mets still have a solid and productive enough lineup. Despite having the 3rd best ERA and pitching in a canyon, the Dodgers only a have a few scary pitchers and one of them had a down year. Jones missing an early start may just be the difference. Verdict: Mets in 6
Oakland vs. New York (A)
The way to beat New York is to get into their pen, cause they have the worst looking pen (ratings-wise). Other than that, they don't have glaring weaknesses. For Oakland, it's trying your luck past Darvish and Manrique in the rotation. These are both very good looking teams, but in the end, there's only one. Verdict: Oakland in 6
New York (N) vs. San Francisco
Can I just point out that this looks like a pretty damn, epic playoff this season? Gut thought is, despite the great offense, I think this is the year that the Mets' pitching comes out on top of everyone. But this will be another war. Verdict: Mets in 6
Oakland vs. New York (N)
I don't remember who won the world series, nor care. But I was looking at some things and just noticed Oakland's defense. Jackson, Kuenn, Reedy, and Lynch accounted for 89 errors.. by themselves. That could easily end up being the difference here (or any series before, I need to look closer at stuff more). Verdict: Mets in 5