The Cubs shouldn't have any trouble winning arguably the weakest division in baseball, but there's no way they win it all.
And the Tigers may be sporting one of the most formidable lineups in the history of the game, but it's not going to matter if you score 10 runs a game if your bullpen lets in 11. Pitching is what got the Tigs to the big show in '06 and their bullpen is a disaster right now. Willis has looked shaky this spring, Rogers is a big question mark at his age, and while Bonderman and Robertson both have serious potential, both have been seriously unpredictible. Verlander can't carry the team to the playoffs on his own. Cleveland is still too nasty to count out.
But #1 you and the rest of the innevitable loudmouth Yankees fans can rant and rave all you want, but I can make most of the same criticisms of your team as I just made of the Tigers. Your pitching has a long way to go to prove itself and your hitters are going to clock in at the end of the season with at least 50 total runs less than Lelands future-hall-of-famer laden line-up. A-Rod couldn't get you there on his own last year and he won't do it this year either. Oh, and Rivera may be less scary to watch than Rollercoaster Jones, but he's not getting any younger.

WTF!!! They have the Mets "not "winning the world series........Tooo effing funny!!! LET'S GO METS!!!!!! and dont forget Phillies and Braves suck (always have always will)

hey .... there's only one comment ?
Anyways --- I think that the Yankees will win the division by the narrowest of possible leads.
Maybe even a repeat of 2005 when they won the division with a tie due to a win in the season series.
The Yankees have won the season series with the Red Sox for the last three years and I can easily see both Boston and New York going 96-66 and the Yankees winning the division by virtue of 10-9 record against Boston in the season series.
Where I defer from SI --- In the American League is in the Central.
I'm the only fan that I've met so far that isn't buying into the Detroit Kool Aide.
They still have to get it done with their pitching and after Verlander --- I don't know what they've got.
Nate Robertson went 9 and 13 last year and Dontrelle Willis went 10-15.
Bonderman was serviceable with an 11 and 9 record but his ERA was over 5.00 and he was just barely able to keep the Tigers in games against teams with winning records last year.
Other than that --- You’ve got a 43 year old Kenny Rogers who had a losing record last year and pitched all of 63 innings.
Add to that mix that Joel Zumaya (their best relief pitcher) is on the shelf until at least the All Star Break and I see a pitching staff that doesn’t match up favorably with Cleveland’s good pitching.
And when I say good pitching I mean good pitching in their own division where the Cleveland Indians starters average 13 wins per starter and where they have two starters sitting atop their rotation who are both under 28 years of age and who both posted 19 win seasons last year.
The Tigers are going to really lean on 43 year old Kenny Rogers as their number two starter and really depend on their resident 40 year old homophobe Todd Jones to close games.
I think that the Detroit Tigers will be a fun team to watch in 2008 and they may set club records for long balls and for runs scored.
But they won't set any records for pitching and I think Dontrelle is just broken.

"Yankees universe". That is adorable. Do people still think that?

I don't consider myself a loud mouth --- but I do consider myself a Yankees fan Nick.
And you do make some valid points but I think that the Yankees pitching staff is a little better than it's getting credit for.
And although it was a pitching staff that lost to the Indians in the division series last year --- it was also a staff that made it to the playoffs --- which is more than the Tigers did last season.
The bottom three pitchers scheduled to start for the 2008 New York Yankees went a combined 17-13 with a 3.83 ERA while the bottom three scheduled to start for the 2008 Tigers went 30-37 with a 4.98 ERA.
And I do agree that pitching and defense wins championships (or at least gets you in a position to win championships) and I'd much love to see my favorite team known more for it's pitching than it's offense --- I do Think that the Yankees 2008 pitching staff will be pretty good.
Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have looked pretty strong in their spring training outings and Joba will be great coming out of the bullpen this year.
With Joba in the pen the entire year --- I think that the Yankees will have a better chance to win some of those games that the bullpen lost them last year.
And Mo is getting a little up there in years and he started the season last year pretty rocky…. But he finished stronger after the All Star Break and I’ll still take him over Todd Jones anyday…

Yankees over Angels? That's laughable.

"Yankees universe". That is adorable. Do people still think that?
.....
I guess it's no worse than "Red Sox Nation".
I get to hear about that nick name all the time ....

The AL predictions look good, but i believe your gonna see the Dodgers winning the NL West and the Braves sneaking into the Wild Card. As for the Mets not making it to the World Series, thats just crazy. The Mets will bring the World Series Trophy back to Shea one more time, probably by defeating the Yankees.
PS- Braves and Phillies suck, always have always will!!

MLB Power Pros is one of the best baseball video games ever. I have it for the Wii and love it.

I do not see the Yankees winning the East. The Tigers have a very strong line up but Hitting usually does not win it all. Cleveland wins the Central and the Red Sox win the East. With the Tigers as the Wild Card team with the Angels winning the West. Still say that the Red Sox win
it all. The National League was picked except i see the Dodgers winning the West and that
Arizona is the Wild Card with the Dodgers going to the WS vs the Red Sox. I pick the Red Sox in 7.

Just a tip...starting off with a link to swimsuit models tends to make guys forget they were about to read about baseball...i was clicking on pictures for 10 minutes before i realized i couldn't remember how i got there!

The ROCKIES will win it ALL!! Best young team in a looooooong time. They will dominate the NL this year.

Tigers will straight murk any team in the bigs.

nice use of the caps lock key

Anyone that is told by SI that they will win, is going to lose! They never make real predictions, they just make up stuff to stir the pot. This is all nonsense and that is the reason SI is no longer the sport mag of choice. Their best issue is the swimsuit issue and even that stinks.

BS!!!! The Cubs over the Rox in the NLCS!!? The Rox were about to win it all last year. The 8 - day layoff just screwed them over. They were DESTINED to win it all! This year is their year, if we don't end up playing the Red Sox. Go Rox!!!!

#1 shut up you make all us other non egotistic yankee fans look bad. I'm think D-Backs making the series but the AL is wide open. I think the Angels will finally be brought down by the mariners. Everyone seems to have Tiger fever but i disagree, if all it took was a loaded lineup why haven't the yankees won it lately? I think either Indians, Sox or Indians goes to world series for the A.L.

#1 shut up you make all us other non egotistic yankee fans look bad. I'm think D-Backs making the series but the AL is wide open. I think the Angels will finally be brought down by the mariners. Everyone seems to have Tiger fever but i disagree, if all it took was a loaded lineup why haven't the yankees won it lately? I think either Indians, Sox or Indians goes to world series for the A.L.

I like the "Tigers beat the Cubs... what could have been the 1984 World Series..." I hope the Tigers make it back to the Fall Classic and, if they face the Cubs again, that they repeat the 1945 World Series. The last time the Cubs made it they lost in 7 to Detroit's Finest. As far playoff predictions, the AL East is going to be a toss up, especially if Toronto can improve on last year. The AL Central will send two again. And the AL West will probably be represented by the Angels. Sadly I have not been keeping up with the NL (no Michigan teams means no attention from me). If it is Tigers/Cubs, Tigers take it.

The Red Sox may make it, but how have the Yankees gotten better? Go White Sox in the Central because they are the only one of the Tigers and Indians with a bullpen and closer. But don't count out those Twinkies kids. In the NL, I hope the Cubs make for no other reason than it's always more entertaining to see Cubs fans when their team loses in the playoffs. You know... cause they were so close! Ha! The NL West is always a crapshoot. The Mets will take the East showing that Santana may be God. In the AL, A's all the way. Any other questions? Oh, playoffs? White Sox beat the Red in the first round. The A's give it to the Twins, the Wildcard winners. Sox over the A's. I'm saying the Pads make it in the West because... why not? They beat the Cubs. Then the Padres take the winner of the game between the Mets and Wildcard winning D-Backs. Yeah... that's right, an all NL West Div series. Padres and White Sox in the Word Series. Sox win!!!! I would have picked the Tigers but that was so 1984...

hahaha i find it funny to see a comment that the yankees over angels is "laughable." with escobar and maybe lackey missing lots of time the only laughable thing is gonna be the angels pitching staff.
the only other comment i read worth mentioning (i just ignore the 20 line paragraph guys) was the comment saying the si swimsuit issue stinks. dude what is that about??!! MARISA MILLER
oh yeah i almost forgot the guy talking about how the Tigers will "Murk" other teams. yeah detroit is good, but good enough to murk? i'll just let that one go i guess...

I agree 100% with WILLIAM M
the Red Sox suck!

Tigers over Yankees??
I don't know?

Tigers over Yankees??
I don't know?