Joey's Soapbox: My 2018 Completely Unbiased Division Series Picks

Will my crew pick the Brew Crew to advance?  Like I'd give that away in the opening photo.  (Ed Leyro/Studious Metsimus)

What's going on?  This is Joey Beartran, and I'm ready to roll out my picks for the American League and National League Division Series.  And of course, as always, they will be completely unbiased.  That means I won't pick a team because of how they did or didn't do when they played the Mets.  I also won't pick against a team because they just happen to have someone on their roster that may have broken a former Met's leg,  Nope, that would be biased.

I will, however, pick the teams I feel have the best chance to advance to the League Championship Series.  And those picks will be based on pertinent statistics, postseason experience and whether or not they have Curtis Granderson on the team.

So who will move one step closer to the World Series just to have a light-hitting catcher such as Mike Scioscia or Yadier Molina deliver a key blow in the ninth inning?  And who can't seem to get over the events of 1988 or 2006?  (Spoiler alert:  That would be me.)

It's time for me to put my Post-Traumatic Mets Disorder aside and share my picks for the 2018 A.L. and N.L. Division Series.


National League Division Series


Colorado Rockies vs. Milwaukee Brewers

The Rockies and Brewers have no World Series titles and just two Fall Classic appearances in their combined 75 years of existence.  But once this best-of-five series is over, one of the two teams will be four wins away from a pennant.

Colorado wasn't expected to compete with the powerhouse Dodgers for the N.L. West title.  Nor were they supposed to beat the battle-tested Cubs in the N.L. Wild Card game.  But the Rockies did both, and now they might pay for it against the team with the best record in the National League.

Because ace pitcher Kyle Freeland was used in the Wild Card game, he will only be available to pitch once in the Division Series.  And by the time he takes the mound in Game Three, the Rockies could very well be facing elimination.

Colorado is going with Antonio Senzatela as its Game One starter.  Senzatela started just 13 games this season and was wild in his only appearance against the Brewers, walking three and hitting a batter in five innings of work.  Game Two starter Tyler Anderson made 32 starts for the Rockies and won just seven of those starts.  Was he just unlucky like Jacob deGrom in that his offense hit the snooze button whenever he was on the mound?  Not exactly.  Anderson pitched to a 4.55 ERA and allowed a team-high 30 home runs in 176 IP.  That doesn't bode well against a Brewers team that finished second in the National League with 218 homers.

While Milwaukee is feasting on the likes of Homer Happy Anderson and Antonio Send Nutella (autocorrect works in mysterious ways), the Rockies will be facing Junior Guerra and Jhoulys Chacin.  Neither pitcher is a household name or a Cy Young candidate.  But against the Rockies, they won't need to be.

Game One starter Guerra has unreal home/road splits, boasting a 2.48 ERA on the Miller Park mound and a 6.97 ERA away from it.  Where is Game One being played?  In the city made famous by Lenny and Squiggy, of course.  Meanwhile, Game Two starter Chacin became the first N.L. pitcher to make 35 starts in a season since Chris Carpenter in 2010.  Chacin finished the year with a solid 3.50 ERA and a career-best 1.16 WHIP.  And how has he fared in his career against the Rockies?  He's held them to a .203 batting average and .642 OPS.  No other National League team has a lower batting average against Chacin in his career and only the Giants, Diamondbacks and Phillies have a lower OPS.

By the time Freeland takes the mound in Game Three at Coors Field, the Rockies might be staring at elimination.  They'll also be staring at the fearsome threesome of Jesus Aguilar, Travis Shaw and MVP frontrunner Christian Yelich, who combined to produce 103 HR and 304 RBI for the Brewers.  And they did that without playing half of their games at 5,280 feet above sea level.

In the battle of beer cities, Miller > Coors.  And it's not even close.

Prediction: Brewers in 3.

Did I mention that Curtis Granderson is a Brewer?  Yet another reason to pick them to win.  (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers needed a 163rd game to win their sixth consecutive N.L. West title, or eight fewer than the Braves claimed during their unprecedented run of 14 straight division crowns.  It's no surprise that Los Angeles is in the Division Series.  What is surprising is that Atlanta is joining them, as the Braves entered the 2018 campaign just trying to avoid their fifth consecutive losing season and instead won 90 games after averaging 90 losses per season since 2014.

Los Angeles led the National League in ERA, which is not unusual for a team known for its pitching.  But check this out.  The Dodgers used a whopping 31 pitchers during the season, yet none of them pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, not that Jacob deGrom was going to let any of them compete with him for that honor.  Ninety-year-old Rich Hill was the only Dodger to reach double digits in wins and Alex Wood led the staff with just 27 starts.  So I guess you could say they're well-rested.  It was truly an odd season for the Dodgers' pitching staff.

Their hitters, on the other hand, were the epitome of all-or-nothing.  The Dodgers set franchise records in both home runs (235) and strikeouts (1,436).  But most of their homers came with no one on base.  In fact, their 157 solo shots were more than the total number of homers hit by five major league teams.  So basically, a good pitching staff that isn't susceptible to the long ball and can strike out a batter or ten should be able to handle the Dodgers' bats.

For the record, the Braves allowed the third-fewest homers in the majors (153) and finished in MLB's top ten in strikeouts recorded (1,423).  Just like Chase Utley, this one's a no-brainer.

Prediction: Braves in 4.

Rejoice!  Chase Utley will officially be retired after this series.  (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

American League Division Series


Cleveland Indians vs. Houston Astros

In this battle between the last two American League pennant winners, let's not look at the defending World Series champion Astros and instead focus on the three-time A.L. Central champion Cleveland Indians.

The Indians became the first team in history to have four pitchers strike out 200 or more hitters, as Carlos Carrasco (231 Ks), Corey Kluber (222 Ks), Trevor Bauer (221 Ks) and Mike Clevinger (207 Ks) spent most of the year sending opposing hitters back to their respective dugouts.

On the offensive side, Cleveland produced a trio of 30-HR hitters (Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Edwin Encarnacion) and was also the American League's biggest threat on the bases, producing a league-leading 135 stolen bases.

But there's just one problem with the Indians.  And it's a pretty big one.  Are you ready for this?

Oliver Perez is their best relief pitcher.

The former Met boo magnet made 51 appearances for the Indians in 2018 and produced a 1.39 ERA and 0.74 WHIP.  He also struck out 43 batters while walking just seven.  How did his colleagues in the bullpen fare?  You may want to sit down for this one.

Closer Cody Allen had a 4.70 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in 70 appearances.  Six other relievers not named Oliver Perez made at least 30 appearances for the Indians.  All six had an ERA of at least 4.24 and a WHIP north of 1.26.

Basically, if your best option out of the bullpen is O.P., then you're pretty much D.O.A. against a team like the Astros.  It also doesn't help that the Indians' 91-71 record was a product of playing in baseball's worst division, as they went 49-27 against their fellow A.L. Central teams and 42-44 versus non-division opponents.  Needless to say, Houston doesn't call the A.L. Central home.

This series shouldn't be close.

Prediction: Astros in 3.

Playing the defending World Champions would make anyone go prematurely gray.  (William Purnell/Getty Images)

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox

I'll make this simple for you without being biased.  The Red Sox became the fourth team in history to win exactly 108 games.  They matched the victory total of the 1970 Baltimore Orioles, 1975 Cincinnati Reds and 1986 New York Mets.  What do those three teams have in common besides the number of regular season happy recaps?  Champagne in late October, that's what.

Had the Red Sox won 109 games instead of 108, there would be no guarantee of a parade because the 1969 Orioles had that many victories and didn't win it all.  (I wonder who did...)  Similarly, if the Red Sox had lost their final regular season game to finish the year with 107 wins, they would have matched the 1931 Philadelphia Athletics' victory total.  The A's lost the Fall Classic that year to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the Yankees became the ninth team since 1980 to finish the season with exactly 100 victories.  How many championships were won by the previous eight 100-win teams?  It's the same as the number of Washington Nationals postseason series victories.  In fact, five of those eight 100-win teams didn't even make it to the League Championship Series.

So forget about the stats.  Forget about head-to-head records.  (The Red Sox won the season series against the Yankees anyway, in case you were wondering.)  History cannot be denied.  Teams with 108 wins take home the crown.  Teams with 100 wins make plans to play golf during the World Series.

Prediction: Red Sox in 5.

Fenway Park, where Evil Empire dreams go to die.  (EL/SM)

Joey's Soapbox: My 2017 Not-At-All Biased Division Series Picks

The Indians progressed pretty well over the last month and a half of the season.

Howdy doody!  'Tis I, Joey Beartran, your fearless forecaster of all things playoffs.  And today I'm going to share my opinions on which teams will advance to the League Championship Series.  There are seven great teams to choose from (and the Yankees), but only four will advance (not the Yankees).

In the American League, we have the matchup that could have been a rematch of the 1986 World Series had Mike Scott gotten a chance to pitch in a Game Seven in the NLCS.  We also have the Cleveland Indians and their quest to repeat as league champions for the first time in franchise history.

In the N.L., the Chicago Cubs, who kept the Indians from winning their first title since Scott Atchison was in grade school, will be trying to repeat as world champions.  To do so, they'll have to get through Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper, 'Ol Two Eyes (Max Scherzer) and the rest of the Washington Nationals.  And the Dodgers will be looking to inch one step closer to their first World Series berth since Mike Scioscia, Kirk Gibson and Orel Hershiser got in the Mets' way of what should have been their pennant.

Who will advance?  Who will go home?  (Spoiler alert: The Yankees)  And how many former members of the 2017 Mets will still be playing when I do my ALCS and NLCS predictions?  Enough with the questions!  On with the predictions!


American League Division Series


Boston Red Sox vs. Houston Astros

The Red Sox have made the playoffs 15 times in the last 32 seasons, yet this is the first time in over a century that they finished the regular season in first place in consecutive campaigns.  (They last accomplished this feat in 1915 and 1916, winning the World Series in both seasons.)  Meanwhile, this is just the Astros' second trip to the postseason in the last 12 years and their 11th overall.

All the experience goes to the Red Sox in this series, and they also have an ace starter (Chris Sale) and a game-over closer in Craig Kimbrel, who allowed 33 hits in 69 innings this season, or about the same number of hits Hansel Robles would give up in a week.

There's only one problem here.  After Sale, Boston's best starter is Drew Pomeranz, who somehow went 17-6 despite averaging barely over 5⅓ innings per start (32 starts, 173⅔ IP).  And manager John Farrell allowed last year's Cy Young Award winner, Rick Porcello, to throw over 200 innings despite the fact that he led the league in hits allowed and home runs given up, not to mention losses.  Since Sale can't pitch more than two games in the series, all Houston has to do is win the games not started by the 300-K southpaw.  You know, like the Mets had to do in '86 when the Astros had Mike Scott.

Challenge accepted.

Houston led the majors in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, OPS and runs scored.  Only the Yankees hit more home runs than the Astros, but no team struck out fewer times than the A.L. West champions.  The Astros will batter the not-so-killer Ps (Pomeranz, Porcello and playoff pariah David Price) and may even steal a win when Sale starts.

And on a personal note, I'm stoked to see Justin Verlander start against Sale in Game One, especially since I flew to Chicago in 2012 to see then-Tiger Verlander face then-White Sox pitcher Sale, only to have that game rained out.  The Red Sox will be praying for rainouts of their own once the Astros start pummeling their pitchers.

Prediction: Astros in 5.


New York Yankees vs. Cleveland Indians

The Yankees won their first playoff game in five years on Tuesday.  The Cleveland Indians are a team on a mission, winning an American League record 22 straight games last month.  When the Yankees won four World Series titles in five seasons from 1996 to 2000, the only team to defeat them in the postseason was the Indians.

Those Yankee teams were far better than this year's model.  And this Indians club is looking World Serious.

Prediction: Indians in 3.


National League Division Series


Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals

Daniel Murphy will pay homage to Leon Durham at some point.  (Jonathan Newton/Washington Post/Getty Images)

The Cubs finally ended their two-thousand year old championship drought (give or take a couple of years) in 2016, then remained hung over for the first half of the 2017 campaign.  Meanwhile, the Nationals had no real competition in the N.L. East and won the division title by 20 games over the Marlins.

Washington is counting on the three-headed pitching monster of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez to lead the team past the defending champions.  However, Scherzer tweaked his hamstring in his final tuneup last week, Strasburg has pitched all of five postseason innings in his career and Gonzalez has not fared well in four playoff starts, pitching just 18⅓ innings over the mostly abbreviated outings.  (Gio has not thrown a postseason pitch after the fifth inning in any of his four starts.)  If Washington's starters can't go deep in games, the team could be in trouble.  The combined ERAs of all Nationals pitchers not named Scherzer, Strasburg and Gonzalez was a bloated 4.69.

Meanwhile, the Cubs' starters (Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, John Lackey, Kyle Hendricks) were mostly pedestrian this year, but their bullpen was absolutely stellar, with Pedro Strop, Brian Duensing, Carl Edwards and closer Wade Davis combining to produce a 2.73 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and just under 11 strikeouts per nine innings.

The Nationals need to keep their starters on the mound to have a chance to win the series.  The Cubs need to keep games close so that their lockdown bullpen can take over.  But of course, the only thing that matters is that by the time this series is over, the Expos will still be the owners of the sole playoff series victory in Montreal/Washington franchise history.

Prediction: Cubs in 4.


Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers went through a stretch during the summer when people were talking about them winning more games than any team in major league history.  Then they lost 12 straight games.  It got to the point where Los Angeles actually had to pay attention to what Arizona was doing because the D-Backs had cut their once insurmountable lead in the division to single digit games.  In fact, Arizona won 11 games against L.A. in 2017; the most of any team in the majors.  Included in their season-series victory was a three-game sweep in September in which the Diamondbacks outscored the Dodgers, 19-2.

Los Angeles hit 221 home runs during the regular season, but who didn't?  What didn't impress me was their .249 team batting average, and the only reason it was that high is because Justin Turner batted .322.

Despite making just 27 starts in 2017, Clayton Kershaw allowed a career-high 23 homers.  Now the southpaw has to face the right-handed hitting Paul Goldschmidt (36 HR, 120 RBI) and J.D. Martinez (29 HR, 65 RBI in 62 games with Arizona) in the division series.  And let's just say they're not .249 hitters like Kershaw's teammates on the Dodgers are.  Then there's the matter of that 4-7 record and 4.55 ERA in the postseason for the three-time Cy Young Award winner.

So you have a team that went 26-12 over the last six weeks of the season against a team that was 13-25 over the same time period.  I don't know about you, but I can't go with the team that recently lost a dozen consecutive games.  That 91-36 start seems like a long time ago for the Dodgers.

Prediction: Diamondbacks in 5.

Tom Lasorda might not want to watch what Arizona is going to do to his beloved Dodgers.  (Fox Sports South screen grab)

Joey's Soapbox: My 2013 Unbiased Division Series Picks

What's going on?  Have you been enjoying the baseball playoffs yet?  In case you don't know who I am, I'm Joey Beartran, your fav'rit Studious Metsimus prognosticator.  And if I'm not your fav'rit, I should be.  After all, who correctly predicted that Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay would win their respective wild card games, huh?  Me, that's who!

So let's not waste any more time on idle chitchat and dive right into my picks for the four division series.  Will I be right on all four?  Does a bear poop in the woods?  (Actually, I poop in the bathroom of a Citi Field luxury suite, as you can see here.)  Here are my unbiased division series picks!


National League Division Series


Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals

How great was it to see the Pirates win the wild card game in front of a packed house at PNC Park?  And how sweet was it to have former Met Marlon Byrd get the action started with a home run?  Word indeed!

Every few years, we see a team of destiny.  The 1969 season had the Miracle Mets.  Thirty-five years later, the Red Sox said goodbye to the Curse of the Bambino.  And who can forget the Rockies and Rays making unlikely runs to the World Series in back-to-back seasons just a few years ago?

This year, the Pirates appear to be that team, swashbuckling their way through the NL's best teams.  Despite hitting just .245 as a team, Pittsburgh showed great power (161 HR - 3rd in the league) and tremendous pitching.  Six pitchers made at least a dozen starts.  All of them had ERAs under 3.60.  Six relievers appeared in 50 or more games.  Only one of them had an ERA above 2.81, and it wasn't that much higher (Bryan Morris had a 3.46 ERA in 55 appearances).  Top that with a league-leading 55 saves from the bullpen and you have a team that can beat you in all kinds of ways.

Yes, St. Louis has far more playoff experience.  And yes, they also have home field advantage in the series.  But despite St. Louis going 46-30 against the NL Central, Pittsburgh won the season series, 10-9, giving the Cardinals one-third of their losses within the division.  The Pirates took one more game than St. Louis did in their head-to-head matchups during the regular season.  They'll do the same in the postseason.

Prediction:  Pirates in 5.


Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Atlanta Braves

After winning 14 consecutive division titles in the '90s and '00s, the Atlanta Braves did not win another division crown until this year, eight years after their last one.  But the Braves won the NL East despite having two everyday players (Dan Uggla, B.J. Upton) fail to hit .200 for the season.  They also had very little speed on the team, as only two players (Upton, Jordan Schafer) stole more than eight bases.  And how about their hefty strikeout total, as five players struck out 116 or more times, contributing to their league-leading total of 1,384 whiffs.

Basically, a case can be made that Atlanta won the division because of their 13-2 start and their 14-game winning streak shortly after the All-Star Break.  They went 69-64 in all other games.  But they also won because they hit a lot of home runs (a league-leading 181 HR) and had an unreal bullpen (Craig Kimbrel, David Carpenter and Luis Avilan combined to go 13-4 with 50 saves, a 1.50 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP).

But the Dodgers have a few good pitchers of their own in Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, who will add a few more strikeouts to the Braves' already-embarrassing totals.  And Los Angeles can also hit.  A lot.  Even without Matt Kemp and a fully healthy Andre Ethier, the Dodgers still have a multidimensional lineup with speed (Carl Crawford, Hanley Ramirez, Yasiel Puig) and power (Ramirez, Puig, Adrian Gonzalez).

The Braves are too one-dimensional with their offense to expect to beat the Dodgers.  If they can't hit the ball out of the park, they can't score.  And if they can't score, their vaunted bullpen can't protect any leads.  Los Angeles should have no problem handling Atlanta.

Prediction:  Dodgers in 4.


American League Division Series


Tampa Bay Rays vs. Boston Red Sox

Can both teams win this series?  Absolutely.  And I wish both teams could.  But since only one can, it will come down to which team has destiny on its side (see Pirates, Pittsburgh).

Boston had the best record in the American League.  They also defeated Tampa in 12 of their 19 regular season meetings.  But most of that came during the first half of the season, when Tampa was struggling to stay above .500 (Boston won nine of 12 meetings prior to the All-Star Break).

Tampa Bay is red hot right now.  Including the wild card tiebreaker game against Texas and the wild card game versus Cleveland, the Rays have won 15 of their last 20 games.  Meanwhile, Boston took it easy over the season's final three weeks, going 10-8 after September 7.

Take out Clay Buchholz (12-1, 1.74 ERA) and the rest of Boston's starting rotation is just slightly better than mediocre (48-37, 4.01 ERA).  And Buchholz is only slated to start one game of the ALDS, as manager John Farrell is going to use Jon Lester and John Lackey in the first two games.

Meanwhile, Tampa has three aces in their starting rotation in Matt Moore (17-4, 3.29 ERA), David Price (10-8, 3.33 ERA) and Alex Cobb (11-3, 2.76 ERA and a scoreless outing against the Cleveland Indians in the wild card game.  Pitching wins championships.  But before you win a championship, you have to win a division series, and Tampa Bay will ride their starting pitchers into the ALCS.

Prediction:  Rays in 4.


Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland A's

Last year, the Tigers won a hard-fought division series against the A's, going the distance before defeating Oakland in Game 5.  This year, they'll have to put up a bigger fight if they want to return to the ALCS and World Series.  But how much fight does a wounded team have?

Detroit's big bopper, Miguel Cabrera, has been battling aches and pains over the last month.  And Justin Verlander, although seemingly healthy, has not looked like himself this year, going 13-12 with a 3.46 ERA.  As a result of Cabrera's maladies and Verlander's inconsistencies, the Tigers went 16-16 over their final 32 games, barely holding off the Indians in the AL Central race.

Oakland, on the other hand, finished strongly, going 25-10 in their last 35 games.  The A's might not have the sexy names in their starting rotation, but a staff comprised of 18-game winner Bartolo Colon, 14-game winner A.J. Griffin and 12-game winners Jarrod Parker and Tommy Milone can certainly get the job done.

The A's have power (seven players hit 12+ homers) and are willing to wait for their pitch, even if it means taking a walk (ten players walked 36 or more times).  They also have a great bullpen, as the four-headed monster of Grant Balfour, Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook and Jerry Blevins combined to post 17 wins, 42 saves and a 2.85 ERA, while holding opposing batters to a .219 batting average.  That's something the Detroit Tigers just don't have.  It cost them last year and it will cost them this year.

Prediction:  A's in 5.

Joey's Soapbox: My Biased 2011 Division Series Picks

And so it goes.  Another season ends for the Mets, and for the 43rd time in 50 seasons, there will be no postseason baseball for the boys in orange and blue.  Despite all the injuries and shoddy play surrounding the Mets in the post-Shea Stadium era, the Mets have been consistent, finishing in 4th place in the NL East for the third consecutive season.  But hey, it could be worse.  At least they're not the Pittsburgh Pirates, who finished below .500 for the 19th consecutive season.

The Pirates, who were in first place in July, obviously did not make the playoffs.  But eight teams did, some of which had to overcome large deficits to crash the postseason party.  Fans of my annual postseason picks already know that there are two teams I always pick for early elimination (Yankees and Phillies).  Just like the Pirates always finish below .500, I will continue to do pick those two teams to be bumped in the opening round of the playoffs.  But what about the other teams?  And how many victories am I giving the Yankees and Phillies in the first round?  Let's begin with my biased division series picks!


American League Division Series


Detroit Tigers vs. New York Yankees

The Yankees come stumbling into the playoffs, having been swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in the season's final regular season series.  It was the first time in 11 years that the Bronx Bummers were given the broom treatment by the Rays (who were still the Devil Rays back then).  The Tigers, on the other paw, were practically unstoppable over the season's final seven weeks.

On the morning of August 19, the Tigers were only seven games above .500 (65-58) and in danger of giving up their lead in the AL Central.  But after defeating the Cleveland Indians that night, Detroit went on a roll, winning 30 of their final 39 games.  From mid-August until the end of the season, the one-two punch of Cy Young Award favorite Justin Verlander and trade deadline acquisition Doug Fister went a combined 14-0 for Detroit.  That combination will more than likely start the first two games of the series against the Yankees, a team that only had two regulars hit above .276 (Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter).

If CC Sabathia can't win Game 1 for the Yankees, the playoff untested Ivan Nova will have to shut down the Tigers offense in Game 2.  This is an offense that features the American League batting champion (Miguel Cabrera), the best hitting catcher in the AL (Alex Avila) and a former catcher turned DH that quietly produced an outstanding year (Victor Martinez, who hit .330 and drove in 103 runs).

The Yankees lost the season series to the Tigers, four games to three, and Joba Chamberlain was the winning pitcher in two of the three games.  They'll be lucky to force a deciding game in this series.

Prediction: Tigers in 4.


Tampa Bay Rays vs. Texas Rangers

No one expected the Rays to make the playoffs prior to the 2008 season.  Now the Rays are playing in October for the third time in four seasons, despite having a payroll that's less than the combined salaries of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.  How did they do it, despite losing hitting stars Carl Crawford and Carlos Peña, and pitchers Matt Garza and Rafael Soriano?  No, it didn't happen with smoke and mirrors.  It was all pitching and speed (and a little help with OBP).

The Rays had the league's second lowest ERA (3.58) and gave up the fewest hits and home runs of any American League team.  They also led the league in complete games (15), with James Shields finishing what he started 11 times.  The ability of the starters to go deep into games placed less stress on the bullpen, keeping them fresh for their unexpected run to the wild card.

Texas won their second straight division title and hopes to return to the World Series after their magical run in 2010.  However, this year's team has no Cliff Lee and looks more like the late-'90s Rangers, who slugged their regular season opponents to death before falling in the ALDS three times to the Yankees.  They might not be able to reproduce their pennant-winning success with that recipe.

Prediction: Rays in 5.


National League Championship Series

Cardinals vs. Phillies

Let's make this simple.  The Phillies have great pitching, perhaps the best in the major leagues.  The Cardinals have Albert Pujols and his merry men.  The Cincinnati Reds were swept by the Phillies in the NLDS last year, but that Phillies team had great hitters as well.  This year's Phillies can't hit nearly as well.  Of the nine players who played in 100 games for the Phillies, catcher Carlos Ruiz had the highest batting average (.283).  Also, Ryan Howard was the only Phillie to hit over 20 HR.  That being said, I don't like the Phillies, I never will and I'll never pick them to win any postseason series, even if they were playing the Bad News Bears.

Prediction: Cardinals in 4.


Diamondbacks vs. Brewers

Arizona came out of nowhere to win the National League West, making Kirk Gibson the odds-on favorite to win the National League Manager of the Year Award.  Ian Kennedy won 21 games for Arizona and former Met J.J. Putz led the team in saves with 45.  Justin Upton continued to blossom, hitting .289 with 31 HR, 88 RBI, 105 runs scored and 21 stolen bases.  But that's pretty much everything Arizona has to offer.

Milwaukee is more than just Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder and the Sausage Race.  They boast a fearsome threesome in the rotation, with Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum combining to go 46-23 for the Brewers, and the Killer G's striking out over 200 batters apiece.  Also, they boast a fantastic bullpen, with K-Rod taking the eighth inning duties and John Axford (1.95 ERA, 46 saves) coming out for the ninth.

The Brewers won two more games than the D-Backs did during the regular season.  They'll do the same in the division series.

Prediction: Brewers in 4.

So there you have it, my friends.  If my biased predictions are right, we'll have a Tigers-Rays matchup in the ALCS and a Cardinals-Brewers battle in the NLCS.

Of course, I could be wrong with one or more of my predictions, but I'm feeling confident.  As confident as I was when I said Dillon Gee would lead the Mets in wins this year and Carlos Beltran would be traded with two months left in the season and still lead the team in home runs and RBI.  You remember that, don't you?

Enjoy the playoffs, everyone!

Joey's Soapbox: My Very Biased Division Series Picks

The 2010 season has mercifully come to an end for the Mets. For the fourth consecutive season, the boys in orange and blue (and sometimes black and sometimes those cream colored uniforms that I wanted but spent my money on chicken nachos instead) failed to make the playoffs.

That's now 42 out of 49 seasons with no postseason baseball to look forward to. So what's a bear to do when there's still baseball, but no Mets?

In honor of the Mets finishing with their second consecutive losing record, I'm proud to share my very biased predictions on who will LOSE each playoff series in the Division Series round. Why pick the winners when I'd much rather pick the losers? And away we go...

American League Division Series

New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

The Yankees have faced the Twins three times in the postseason (2003, 2004, 2009), winning all three times. However, the Twins did not have home-field advantage against the Yankees in either of those series. They will this year, which is to their advantage as their 53-28 record in their home ballpark was the best in the American League.

The Yankees will employ a three-man rotation against the Twins, led by C(onstantly) C(hewing) Sabathia. The hefty lefty lost seven games this season, but five of those losses came on the road. The pivotal Game 1 is at Target Field.

Although the Yankees hit .297 against Minnesota this year, their on-base percentage was only .329. Compare that to the Twins, who only hit .262 against Yankee pitching, but managed a .339 on-base percentage.

One more thing. The Yankees are the wild card team this year. The previous three times they made the playoffs as a second place team (1995, 1997, 2007), they were ousted in the first round. Therefore, the Yankees will lose this series in five games.


Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays

This one is quite simple. The Tampa Bay Rays are the beasts of the East. The Texas Rangers are the only franchise in baseball that has never won a playoff series.

From their inaugural season in 1961 as the expansion Washington Senators (a team that had a certain Mr. Gilbert Raymond Hodges as their manager from 1963 to 1967) to their current incarnation as Nolan Ryan's team, the Rangers have only appeared in the postseason three times, losing in 1996, 1998 and 1999 to the New York Yankees. In fact, the franchise has won a total of one playoff game in its fifty seasons.

The Rangers will finally get their second postseason victory, but will eventually lose the series to the Rays in four games.


National League Division Series

Cincinnati Reds vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Let the photo below give you my prediction for me.


The Phillies will lose the series to the Reds in five games, causing all their fans to vomit on each other in disgust.


Atlanta Braves vs. San Francisco Giants

When the Braves made the postseason every season from 1991-2005 (a streak snapped by the Mets in 2006), they made it as the division champion every year. 2010 marks the first time the Braves have entered the playoffs as a wild card winner.

The Giants were actually behind the Mets in the wild card standings at the All-Star Break. Then they took three out of four from New York in the series that changed the seasons for both teams. San Francisco hasn't stopped winning since, taking their first NL West title since Art Howe was the manager of the Mets.

Bobby Cox will end his career getting ejected from the game in which the Braves are eliminated from the postseason. Atlanta will be swept by San Francisco.


So it looks like we'll have a Twins-Rays ALCS and a Reds-Giants NLCS. The small market teams with the sub-$100 million payrolls will be popping champagne corks come this time next week. Let's just hope they have room in their budgets for that bubbly.

Please join me next week when we see that my opinions were not only very biased, but they were also correct. I'll have my League Championship Series predictions ready for you at that time, and oh yes...they will be biased.