2011 MLB Playoffs

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox 98-64 They added Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez in the flashy moves. Added Bobby Jenks and Dan Wheeler in the lesser, but still important depth moves. Lackey still concerns me, and Beckett is an every-other-year-pitcher. I don't think they have the starting pitching depth, but their offense will mask many of their problems, like high ERA's for Beckett and Matzusaka. Simply the best of the rest but I'm not 100% impressed.

This is the final installment if a seven-part series predicting the records of each team, and now the playoffs.  The teams that make the postseason in this installment are based off of previous ones.

Now that the 2011 season is closer than ever, and Opening Day is only eight days away, we writers are giving our preseason predictions, and these are mine.  Through careful analysis of records, schedules, transactions, and more I have compiled my postseason picks.

Now, it’s time to break them down.

Most baseball predictions are relatively straightforward. Sure, you can argue over whether Joey Votto will be better than Albert Pujols or who will win the AL East, but as long as the focus is on just one outcome, it's at least easy to understand the train of thought.

That's why, when one person decides to power rank all 30 MLB teams, things inevitably go awry.

There's a general consensus about how the top and the bottom should look, but in between the two extremes, things can get pretty screwy. One man's top-three team is in another man's bottom five.

America's favorite pastime is almost here. Can you feel it? They can in Miami. 

I'm going to give you 10 reasons why you should watch the Florida Marlins this season.

Not only will they give the Phils a run for their money, but they could be a legitimate contender for the World Series title. Here we go!

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The 2011 Major League Baseball season is less than a month away, and with several big stars in different colors this year, baseball fans should be in for an exciting summer.

Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez join forces in Boston to try to bring Beantown its third World Championship in eight seasons, and Cliff Lee joins Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in Philadelphia to try to send the Phillies to the World Series for the third time in four seasons.

I get a few butterflies in the ol' boilmaker when the Boston Red Sox throw a big time prospect into a trade. The butterflies turn into rabid raccoons when the Sox dump their entire farm team into a deal.

I love prospects. They are like your children in a way. They grow up in front of you, and before you even know it, they are making All-Star teams, start growing Lemmy Kilmister inspired facial hair and getting into fights with Manny Ramirez.

A Giants/Rangers World Series?

Jose Bautista?

It’s sufficed to say that 2010 was a joke in terms of, well, everything. Fantasy owners and baseball fans shouldn’t stress–2011 will be nothing of the sort.

Last season in baseball was like an M. Night Shyamalan movie; you never knew what was going to happen next. This year should turn out like an Adam Sandler movie; same plot, same cast, a couple of laughs, same result, you go home.