Supplies!

The baseball season is about to get under way and before I make my fearless (or fearful) predictions about what will happen this season, I wanted to talk about the team I'm picking to be the surprise of baseball in '06. The team is (drum roll please...) the Milwaukee Brewers. They play in a very competitive division that has produced the last two World Series participants from the NL (Houston & St. Louis) and the Cubs are always two healthy pitchers away from really doing some damage (unfortunately those two pitchers are Prior and Wood, who are a DL list unto themselves), but I really believe that they could squeak their way into the playoffs. They have great young talent (Weeks, Fielder), a great top of the rotation starter (Ben Sheets), Some power in the middle of the lineup (Carlos Lee and Geoff Jenkins) and a dominant closer with over powering stuff (Derrick Turnbow).

They have all the ingredients to make the leap from an 81 win team to a 90+ win team. There are a couple of factors that could derail them (Inexperience, youth, injuries), but with everything being equal, I think they have a better chance of surprising than the Blue Jays do. The Blue Jays with all the money they spent in the off-season still have to contend with the Yankees and the Red Sox, who are never ones to caught short when it comes to distributing the cash. However, I don't believe that the Cardinals or the Astros made themselves better in the off-season. The Astros offense is still lacking and they won't be able to sign Roger Clemens until June. The Cardinals look to be a year older but not necessarily better (except for Pujols, of course). So when the Brewers take control of the central, I'll be there to say I told you so. Also the Brewers are Amy Pofahl and Claire Campbell's favorite team, so how can I possibly be wrong.

Anyway, here are the picks for the season:
AL:
Yankees, Cleveland, A's
wild card: White Sox

AL Champ: Yankees

NL:
Mets, Brewers, Padres
wild card: Cardinals

NL Champ: Mets

World Series Champs: Yankees (Of course)

That's right, I'm predicting another subway series. I don't want one because Yankee fans have nothing to gain by beating the Mets and everything to lose, but that's the way I see it shaping up.

Awards:
AL MVP: ARod, Jim Thome
AL Cy Young: Roy Halladay, Rich Harden
NL MVP: Pujols, David Wright
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy, Ben Sheets

And there you have it folks, the only thing you'll need to read about the upcoming season. Please hold the applause, just throw money.