Various Predictions for the 2009 Baseball Season

As we get closer to yet another wonderful, wacky, unpredictable, and incomparable season of baseball, its time for my what will become annual predictions for various awards. Hope these spark some controversy and conversations among our 12 readers-

2009 American League Cy Young Award Winner- King Felix Hernandez- King Felix reported to the WBC this season looking svelte as ever, having lost a good amount of weight over the offseason. In the WBC he looked very good, with an ERA of 0.00 over 8 2/3 innings. His WHIP was a respectable 1.27, and he had 11 K's. While many analysts would pick someone like CC or the perenially overrated Jon Lester, I think that the AL East's offenses have improved too much this offseason (see Mark Teixeira, Matt Weiters, Pat Burrell, etc.) to have a pitcher from that division win the Cy Young. The AL Central has some weak offenses, but it also for the most part lacks the big game, Cy Young caliber pitchers. And yes that statement includes Cliff Lee. It is for this reason that I look the AL West for my ALCY pick, and frankly, despite having to go to Texas and pitch a few times this year, expect King Felix to absolutely dominate barring any injuries.
Runner Up-Crazy Roy Halladay will find a way to get through the beastly AL East offenses

2009 National League Cy Young Award Winner- Tim Lincecum- I am picking Tim Lincecum for many of the same reason that I am picking King Felix. 1st off, there is very little chance of a pitcher in the NL East winning the Cy Young, as there are several offenses there that are just juggernauts. Don't entirely count out Johan, obviously, but his recent injury, despite allowing him to return for Opening Day (I think), makes me a bit uneasy. In the NL Central, the most consistent pitcher is Roy Oswalt, who, while a very very good pitcher, is also 31 and facing several potent offenses in the central. Clearly no one from the Brewers, Pirates, or Reds will win it, and the Cardinals only threat is Chris Carpenter, and that would be damn impressive, but not likely, coming off surgery. That leaves only the Cubs, who, as much as I hate to say it, just have a large group of very very good starters, but none of which seem to be able to put together one really really great season (see Carlos Zambrano's insanity, Rich Harden's injury history, and Ted Lilly being somewhat mediocre). This leaves the NL West, and the reigning champion, Tim Lincecum, who will once again crush the division with some of the worst offenses in baseball. The 2nd best NL West offense got rid of their best player (Matt Holliday), and the Padres and D-Backs both have pretty terrible offenses. While the Dodgers are quite good, so is Tim Lincecum. Expect a repeat here.

2009 AL Team to Watch-Seattle Mariners
As good as the Angels are relative to their division, on paper, they really aren't that good. Sure they have Vlad, who is only 47 years old, and they have Gary Mathews Jr. and his $11 million a year contract, but seriously, the Angels aren't that good of a team. Expect their stranglehold on the top of the division to ease this season, and expect the Mariners to maybe, possibly, make some kind of a run if Bedard can stay healthy and if King Felix dominates. And if Carlos Silva stays off the mound for them, for the love of God. Sure their offense is terrible, but if nothing else, its probably better than the Padres offense at least, and they still have Ichiro...

2009 Other AL Team to Watch-Kansas City Royals
In a relatively weak division, the KC Royals have potential to be this year's Tampa Bay Rays. They are stacked with young pitchers (Luke Hochevar, Zack Greinke, Brian Bannister, etc.) who, while are all unproven, still have significant potential (Hochevar had to be a #1 overall pick for a reason). They also have a solid closer in Joakim "The Mexicutioner" Soria, and some decent young hitting talent, including Alex Gordon, Mark Teahen, and Mike Aviles. They also added Mike Jacobs, and have one of the greatest names in the sport in Coco Crisp. Expect them to make some noise in the AL Central this year.

2009 NL team to watch- San Fransisco Giants- They're going to win the NL West. The rest of the division is really bad and the Giants have Pablo Sandoval coming up (batting .456 in spring training) and a beastly pitching staff. The only team that should compete with them for the division is the Dodgers, who have huge questions with their pitching staff after the departure of Derek Lowe and the possible injury to Chad Billinglsey, as well as the Takashi Saito leaving for Boston.

March Madness Predictions-
Villanova over UNC (Tyler Hansbrough cries himself to sleep from now until May at the very earliest)
UCONN over MSU

UCONN over Villanova

Also something of note, Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto'o, widely considered one of the best strikers in the world, has been linked to a possible £18 million ($32 million-ish) from Barcelona to Liverpool. Keep a close eye, as Liverpool skipper Rafa Benitez is insane and the Catalan giants may want to make room for Bojan Krkic. This move is especially likely now that Theirry Henry has settled into Camp Nou

Tomorrow or possibly Thursday- NL and AL MVPs, as well as some assorted other awards, including pitcher most likely to have an ERA of over 8