Not This Year and 2006 MLB Predictions

You just gotta love Cubs fans, as seen in this recent ESPN.com article. Despite year after year of dismal Cubs baseball, they still hold hope that their beloved team will rise once again. Last year they silently believed that they would attend the big dance, this year their reasoning why they are going to the World Series is laughable. Here it is: Boston ended their 86 year curse in 2004, and the White Sox ended their 88 year slump last year, so naturally the Cubs will end their 98 years of *fill in excuse here (they'll say something about goats, and Bartman)* this year. Hmmmmm, with logic like that, who needs a healthy pitching rotation? They might have a chance at doing something if DL residents Wood and Prior could start and finish the season without damaging themselves. Here's a newsflash, "Wait 'till next year."

The Cubs aside, here are my predictions for the 2006 season:

AL East

1. New York Yankees
2. Boston Red Sox
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

AL Central

1. Chicago White Sox
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Kansas City Royals

AL West

1. Oakland Athletics
2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
3. Texas Rangers
4. Seattle Mariners

NL East

1. Atlanta Braves
2. New York Mets
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Washington Nationals
5. Flordia Marlins

NL Central

1. St Louis Cardinals
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Houston Astros
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
6. Cincinnati Reds

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Diego Padres
3. San Francisco Giants
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. Colorado Rockies

All-Star Game
AL over NL

Playoffs:
ALDS
White Sox over Indians
Yankees over A's
ALCS
White Sox over Yankees

NLDS
Braves over Dodgers
Cardinals over Mets
NLCS
Cardinals over Braves

World Series
White Sox over Cardinals