Baseball '08 Preview

By Sgt. Michael Molinaro

4th Inf. Div. PAO

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq-The boys of summer have wrapped up spring training and Major League Baseball 2008 is set to commence. This season, unlike any other, couldn't start fast enough for a sport that never seems to get away from the steroid issue. A turbulent offseason that saw more than 50 past and current players exposed as users of illegal performance-enhancing drugs, including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, and Miguel Tejada, is now in the past and its time to talk about the action on the field.

Boston won last year's World Series and seem primed to make another run. The champs didn't lose a single key player from last year's team. The key to their season will be to stay healthy and thwart off the New York Yankees in the American League's East division. The Yankees re-signed reigning MVP Alex Rodriguez after allowing A-Rod to test free agency. The Yankees will be relying on the young arms of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain to stabilize an otherwise aging rotation and bring home a 27th championship to the Bronx in Yankee Stadium's final year before moving to a new complex across the street. Toronto has the talent and may make some noise come this summer.

But both heavyweights may be trying beat Detroit come October. The Tigers were the biggest players in the offseason and traded for All-Stars Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from Florida. Adding Cabrera to an already lethal offense was a brilliant move and Willis is another young arm to go with an already-tested rotation featuring Justin Verlander and Kenny Rogers.

The Tigers will be trying to prey the division title away from the hungry Cleveland Indians, who were a game away from last year's World Series. The experience should prove to be invaluable when it comes down to the inevitable pennant chase between the Tigers and Tribe.

The Los Angeles Angels remain the favorites in the west and should have no trouble holding off Seattle.

In the National League, two teams made moves that will pay off big dividends for years to come. Let's start in the East where the New York Mets, who choked their way out of last year's playoffs after leading the division from April until the final week of the season, traded for the best pitcher in the game, Johan Santana. The two-time Cy Young award winner, who is only 29 years of age and in the prime of his career, will anchor a Mets staff that was the missing link down the stretch last year. Last year's division champs, Philadelphia, have every intention of keeping their title. Atlanta also resides in the East and has the thirst again after missing out on the playoffs last year.

The other team to make a major move was Los Angeles. The Dodgers hired former Yankee manager Joe Torre as skipper a week after the Yankees fired the future Hall of Famer. Torre is sure to install a family-first feel to the Dodgers locker room and provide a winner's attitude from the first game until the last. Managers only do so much in baseball but Torre's noted devotion to his ballplayers can only help. The Dodgers also signed former Braves center fielder and perennial gold glove winner Andruw Jones.

The west is baseball's best division, with San Diego, Colorado, and Arizona also in contention to win the division.

Then we have the central, which is again the weakest division in baseball. Chicago is the favorite going into the season and will once again attempt to break the curse of the Billy Goat. After the Cubs, your guess is as good as mine as who may win this thing. This division really stinks.

My predictions for the year go like this:

AL East-Boston NL East-New York

AL Central-Cleveland NL Central-Chicago

AL West-Los Angeles NL West-Arizona

Wild Card-Detroit Wild Card-Los Angeles

AL Champ-Detroit NL Champ-New York

2008 World Series Champion-New York Mets

AL MVP-Manny Ramirez, Boston

AL Cy Young-Justin Verlander, Detroit

NL MVP-Carlos Beltran, New York

NL Cy Young-Brandon Webb, Arizona

judythpiazza@newsblaze.com

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