MY 2009 MLB PREDICTIONS

Hey all. Sorry I'm a week late , but here are my picks for the upcoming 2009 MLB season, from my blog @ http://dodgerdrei.mlblogs.com/

FINALLY............
Baseball 2009 is finally here !!!! And it couldnt come soon enough. I am so looking forward to Opening Day in San Diego tomorrow, and yes, I will be making the trek down south to see the Blue Crew do battle with the Friars. It will be the first time that I will be attending Opening Day in a stadium other than Dodger Stadium so of course I am really looking forward to it. Tomorrow is also a big day in that the Friars will be kicking off their 40th anniversary with some pre-game festivities. I don't expect it to be as elaborate as the Dodgers 50th last year, but it should still be fun to watch. I'm wandering if Steve Garvey will be honored tomorrow as well......Anyways, it's been an anxious 6 months of waiting for me, the last time I saw a game in a stadium was Game 5 of last years NLCS, where I was "privledged" to watch the eventual World Champion Phillies celebrate their trumph over us on our home field. Though last season ended on a bitter note, 2008 was still a fun season, highlighted of course by the acquisition of Manny Ramirez, who helped sparked a late season run by the Blue Crew and a triumphant first round sweep of the Cubs in the NLDS. As we all know by now, Manny is back, and much of the lineup from last years playoff team is intact, with really the only change being at 2nd base, where Orlando Hudson will be perhaps making the Furcal-Hudson tandem the best 1-2 punch in the league. One of the main concerns by many heading into this season will be pitching. Can Chad Billingsley assume the staff ace duties this year ? Will Randy Wolf be healthy throughout the '09 campaign ? Will this be Kershaw's breakout year or is he still a diamond in the rough ? Is J-Mac a legit 5th starter ? Can Guillermo Mota retain his form of '04 as the Dodgers middle reliever ? Will Broxton really step up in the closers role ? In spite of all these concerns, the Dodgers are still the favorites to win the NL West but it wont be easy. Here are D-Drei's picks for 2009

NL WEST

1. DODGERS 2. D-BACKS 3. GIANTS 4. ROCKIES 5. PADRES

NL EAST

1. PHILLIES 2. METS (WC) 3. BRAVES 4. MARLINS 5. NATIONALS

NL CENTRAL

1. CUBS 2. CARDINALS 3. BREWERS 4. REDS 5. ASTROS 6. PIRATES



In the junior circuit, while many like the Evil Empire to win it all, I still feel Boston's pitching staff has a slight edge over NY"s

AL WEST

1. ANGELS....2. A'S 3. MARINERS 4. RANGERS



AL CENTRAL

1. INDIANS 2. TWINS 3. WHITE SOX 4. TIGERS 5. ROYALS



AL EAST

1. RED SOX 2. YANKEES (WC) 3. RAYS 4. BLUE JAYS 5. ORIOLES



As for the WS , my heart says Dodgers over the Angels, but realisticaly, I think this could finally be the Cubs year to win it all. Their strong starting pitching remains intact, and the addition of a switch hitter in Milton Bradley (remember him Dodgers fans ? ) can only help a right-handed heavy lineup, provided he too can avoid any major injuries . CUBS over the RED SOX, and all talk of the curse are laid to rest ( perhaps....)

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And on a final thought, my prayers go out to the family of Nick Adenhart, RIP Nick, you are now amongst other Angels.......

DODGERS, LAKERS, UCLA, USC, AND MANNY

Let the bidding begin. Did you really think that Manny Ramirez was a lock to sign for the 3 year $60 Million the Dodgers were offering when he's commanding 6 years ? Oh yeah, let's not forget his agent is Scott Boras. Locks for the Blue Crew in '09....C Russell Martin ( It's confirmed, he's not going anywhere, which is good, because I cant think of any other potential 5-tool catcher....), 1B James Loney, CF Matt Kemp, RF Andre Ethier, and Opening Day starter ( Yeah, I'm goin out on a limb already and making the call ) Chad Billingsley. DeWitt should be a strong candidate for 2B, Kershaw and Kuroda should occupy spots in the starting rotation as well, leaving 2 spots open. Jake Peavy, yeah, I'd like to see him wear Dodger Blue, ( especially since he's like , what, 13-1 against us lifetime ? ) , but in all reality, trades involving marquee players within a division is very rare, I say focus on CC Sabathia . James McDonald may also be ready to join the rotation next year as well. Today the Hot Stove League begins....

The Lakers are off to a 7-0 start and are the favorites to win it all this season. Without a doubt they are the most talented team in the league and if our big men Bynum and Gasol can stay healthy, we continue to get heavy contributions off the bench from Walton, Farmar, and Odom, this team could be scary. This could be Kobe's first ring without Shaq, but lets not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

The UCLA Bruins mens basketball team survived a scare last night in the Coaches vs. Cancer matchup with Miami of Ohio. UCLA is ranked 4th in the early pre-season polls, a pretty lofty ranking for a team that lost 3 big guys from last years team in Love, Westbrook, and Mbah-Moute . Many are picking the Sons of Westwood to make a 4th consecutive trip to the big dance. As an ardent fan of the Blue and Gold, if this happens with a freshman heavy team, this will be Ben Howlands best coaching job here in Westwood. In the meantime, let's save those Buffalo Bills analogies.

And finally, that other school across town. Pete Carrol thinks the BCS stinks. And on most accounts, I do agree. Should SC lose out on a national title game, it will be due largely in part to the fact that the Pac-10 hasnt exactly flexed it's muscle this year. And thats too bad. SC may have been the best college football team the last couple of years, but because of a couple of hiccups ( OK, one of them a majore hiccup...Stanford 24 USC 23 ), we'll never know if USC would have added a couple more national championship trophies in Heritage Hall ( Not that I should shed a tear....) . As for a playoff system, well, have any ideas ?

Well, thats it for now. Have a great weekend everyone. And on a more serioius note, if you are going to the NO ON 8 event at city hall tomorrow, lets keep it organized and peaceful. As I said in an earlier post, lets stay united and not point fingers at any one group or race. We're all in this together.

'Drei

MY FIRST POST, I MISS DODGER BASEBALL ALREADY

Hello everyone. This is my first post here. It's been over a week now since my Dodgers have been eliminated from post-season play. It was a fun season in which we celebrated the Dodgers 50th anniversary here in L.A. The celebration began on the 1st day of this new year as the Dodgers were the first MLB ever to enter a float in the Rose Parade. And to cap off this anniversary year, the Dodgers, in spite of numerous injuries to key players and winning only 84 games in which most felt was a weak NL West, captured their 2nd division title in 4 years and 3rd post-season berth in 5 years. They would shock everyone by knocking off the NL's best team out of the first round of post-season play, the Cubbies, sweeping them in 3 straight. However, they could not get past the Phillies and the Phils would beat us in 5 games in the best of 7 NLCS. It was still a fun season, the Boys in Blue would reach the NLCS for the first time in 20 years. But we would come up 3 games short of a World Series berth. I had a lot of fun going to Dodger Stadium this year. In fact, I've been going to games there since my 8th birthday in 1982. Dodger Stadium has always been my favorite venue to attend games and for the last 3 seasons I've had partial season tickets in the Left Field Pavillion, where some of the most passionate fans sit. It was especially exciting there during the last 2 months of the season with the arrival of Manny Ramirez, as the LF Pav would be dubbed MANNYWOOD. Speaking of Manny, it will be interesting if the Dodgers can retain him in the years to come. He is reportedly asking for a 6 year deal, but sources say the Dodgers don't want to commit that much time. On a more positive note, the Dodgers still seem to be one of the favorites in the free-agent bidding war for Manny. Speaking of free agents, the Dodgers will be loaded with them this off-season, and you can expect a lot of changes over the winter. Well, it was a fun season. My next stop will be up north in the city by the bay, as I watch the 49ers take on the Seahawks in Mike Singletary's first game as head coach, taking over Mike Nolan, who was fired earlier this week. Have a good weekend, enjoy your fill of games over the weekend, and oh yeah, if you are wondering, I'm hoping the Phillies win the WS. I would like to say that our boys lost to a World Champ. However, if Tampa wins, I wont be too upset since they are this years Cinderella Story. And before I leave you, I hope you enjoy the slide show of my Dodger Pics throughout the '08 season, which range from the Rose Parade floats to the Pre-Season caravan at Universal Citiwalk, the exhibition game at the Coliseum, Opening Day, and various pics from this season, including the NLCS. Enjoy everyone.

2008 DODGER PICS

2008 NLCS, GAME 5