[Guest]

Assuming that baseball dosen't contract, these are how I think 2002 will unfold.

AL East
1. Yankees: Another Year, Another pennant.
2. Red Sox: With Pedro? Sure. Without Pedro? well...
3. Blue Jays: Best (and quite possibly only) team in Canada.
4. Orioles: Cal and brady are gone. So are the team's chances for immedeate success (which probably wouldn't have existed WITH Cal)
5. Devil Rays: You mean to tell me that these guys were not on the possible contraction candadate list?

AL Central
1. Indians: Cheif Wahoo MUST be smilling after all these pennants. Now for that ring...
2. Twins: All depends on weather or not the team will exist in 2002.
3. White Sox: Did Frank Thomas retire yet?
4. Royals: Love their ballpark. that's about all i have to say here.
5. Tigers: (See Royals note)

AL West
1. Mariners: Ichiro. 'Nuff said.
2. Rangers: Lucky they didn't go bankrupt after getting ARod
3. Athetics: These guys need Jason Giambi to compete.
4. Angels: (See Tigers note)

AL Wild Card: Red Sox*

NL East
1. Mets: This will be tight from April to September. Anyone could win.
2. Braves: (See Mets note)
3. Phillies: (See Braves note)
4. Marlins: Will we even see the fishes in 2002?
5. Expos: No comment

NL Central
1. Cardinals: Mac's gone, but Pujols fills that gap.
2. Astros: Still trying to figure out how to get to round two.
3. Cubs: Sosa's 4th 60 home run season. Mark it down.
4. Brewers: They could make a run for it. Just hope they don't strikeout trying (pun intended).
5. Pirates: (See Angels Note)
6. Reds: I think this will be their last year at Cinergy (new ballpark (in CINCINNATI))

NL West
1.Diamondbacks: Johnson+Schilling=hitter's worst nightmare
2. Dodgers: Was last year's run just a fluke?
3. Giants: If Bonds comes back, these guys will in second place.
4. Rockies: (See Pirates note)
5. Padres: It's going to be a long year in San Diego.

NL Wild card: Astros

World Series winner: Yankees (again)

These predictions all depend on weather or not baseball contracts. If baseball contracts, players like Vladimir Gurerro will be on another team, affecting the race in that division.

I know some of you might disagree with my standings. Fell free to express your views of 2002.

 

[Guest]

*bump*.....somebody's got ta have an opinion.

 

[Guest]

Hope the Yankees don't win it all.
Dodgers will stay in 2nd.
Angels are better than you think. Definitely not a last place team.
Most improved team so far are the Mets from what I've read.

 

[Guest]

For the Mets adding Alomar was a big plus.
It's not that the Angels are that bad , its just AL West is a powerhouse right now.

Thanks for the reply Mikel, I put more thought into this post than you would ever believe.
I needed somebody to disagree with me.

 

[Guest]

Hey cool! I don't need to type in a subject
I always give thought to my predictions each year.

I like the Angels, Indians and Yankees in the AL.
Wild Card team is the Mariners.
Mariners and Yankees in the AL Championship.
Yankees as the AL winner.

NL I like the Dodgers, Cubs and Mets.
Either the Braves or Cardinals as the Wild Card.
Cubs and Mets in the NL Championship.
Mets as the NL winner.

 

[Guest]

Cool, glad to see you registered Mikel. Welcome to DBSTalk !! I enjoyed reading your posts yesterday.

Thats a very intresting perspective you have on the Angels.Why do you think the Angles will finish first?

I like your NL picks, that could very easily pan out that way. Personally I dont follow the NL that much, I follow the AL. Living in Ohio, guess I'm partial to the Indians.

 

[Guest]

Living in Anaheim now and being a diehard Angels fan while living across the country may have something to do with it , but I really feel they have the best pitching in the division. Appier and Sele were huge pickups on a team not famous for getting pitching. Losing Hasagawa was no big loss. Mo Vaughn disrupted the team and my boy Salmon from one of my arch rival high schools in Greenway in Glendale, Arizona has me rooting for him again this year. He's got to have a better year. Kennedy and Erstad will rebound, so it has to be a good year unless injuries wreck our team. I know we are better than Texas. Oakland lost Giambi and maybe some chemistry. Only team I worry about is Seattle.

Angels choke in the playoffs (see '82 and '86 history books), so that's why the Mariners will win in the playoffs.

 

[Guest]

Thats all it takes is good pitching Mikel, as we both know.
If there pitching comes around......look out.
Hey we have Chuck Finley now here in Cleveland.

 

[Guest]

I love Finley. Even some autographs from when the Angels trained at Gene Autry Park in Mesa in the mid 80's. I live in Anaheim, my dad knows someone who works on the city council here in Anaheim. We get the suite tickets sometimes which are right above home plate and the press box at Edison. Chuck even has season tickets at Edison and we used those 2 years ago against the Red Sox . 2 years ago we see Chuck pitch at Edison up in the suite. 1st year I believe with the Indians and his 1st start. (I used to plan my Angels games to just see Chuck pitch unless it was a very good pitcher on the other team. Would you want to see the big righthander in Sanderson or McCaskill or another bad starter on the Angels?) Anyway, we are coming down the elevator after the game down to the bottom level for the fans for us to leave. Who's waiting to go in the elevator and down to the Indians clubhouse but Tawny Kitaen and the 2 kids (Tawny and Chuck are married). One of the kids are in the stroller. The fans that were in the suites are getting off and just a slight bit drunk and they just start into Tawny like you wouldn't believe. Chuck got lit up and you had to know Tawny was in a bad mood. Tawny started laying the expletives at us and then yelled at the elevator lady to take her down to the clubhouse. The few that didn't know who she was found out quickly. I'd have to say that was one of my favorite games involving Chuck pitching and I saw Chuck pitch in a lot of games for the Angels. Angels were too cheap to keep Chuck. I miss the lefty all of the time.

 

[Guest]

I was really disappointed when the Indians traded Robbie Alomar, I'm still not sure about our new Owner and General Manager.....he really cut the payroll this year.

Chuck Finley has to be one the the all time best starting left handed pitchers around, I think the Angels got the best days out of him. Chuck is a durable pitcher.
He had a rough year with the Indians last year,he had some neck problems that he dealt with on and off throughout the year. I'm pretty sure he still finished with an 8-7 year.
Last year was rough on Chuck, because he has always been an injury free pitcher, this was probably the first year in his career he had to deal an injury almost all season. I might be wrong, but I think he is 37 yrs old, I think he has 1 to 2 more years left with Cleveland.

 

[Guest]

*bump*

 

[John Corn]

*bump*