Preview/Prediction

Over the last decade, there have been many Major League Baseball teams that inspired the feeling for a split second that you could have made a career off that .300 average you carried in the Frankfort Dixie Youth League. 

The season is only 10 percent over, give or take depending on the the number of games each team has played. Hardly a milestone moment that allows early returns to hold any significance.

But it does offer a little more of a view than preseason predictions, does it not? Predictions that I did not make.

Thus, in election night coverage style, I will look at the early returns and make projections. These are the teams I forecast as winning the races for the eight playoff spots in order of record:

In a move which took the baseball world by storm, Bud Selig announced Wednesday that Major League Baseball will assume control of both the financial and day-to-day operations of one of the league's most storied franchises—the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Having completed an old fashioned double-header over the weekend, the Washington Nationals get set to  complete three games in a 24 hour span.

Sitting at 9-8 right now, a record good enough to sit on top of the N.L. Central, few notice because the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves dominate the N.L. East ink.

If you look at baseball with a limited enough scope, the game is full of more surprises than the Cracker Jack stand at Yankee Stadium.

Through 15 short games, we really can’t learn much about anything. A great hitter could struggle during such a time, a weak bat could smack two home runs and a bad team can win two-thirds of their games.

The challenge becomes separating the lucky from the talented, the flukes from the real things.

A few weeks tardy, but here are my thoughts and analysis on the season that lies ahead. Thus far in the young season, there have been some big surprises. The Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals are a combined 23-11, while the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets trail their respective divisions. Okay, the Mets' early woes aren't much of a shock.

For the past decade, the All-Star teams have been highlighted by the same players year after year. Players like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, Ichiro, Albert Pujols, and Chipper Jones have appeared in the starting lineups every year and it's starting to get old. Between now and 2014, a new generation of faces will emerge as baseball's best and brightest and the old ones will begin to fade.

When the New York Yankees signed Russell Martin to a one-year contract during the offseason, they were hoping simply for Martin to provide spring training competition to youngsters Francisco Cervelli and Jesus Montero.

After a solid spring, Martin earned the starters job and has hit the ground running so far this season.

After a few rough patches, the St. Louis Cardinals have emerged from the first two weeks of the season as a veritable contender for the National League Central Division title. 16 games into the young season, the Cardinals are 8-8, one game behind the Cincinnati Reds for first place.

Ten months ago, Brennan Boesch burst onto the scene for the Detroit Tigers and was the story for the team in the first half of 2010.

A middling minor league prospect, Boesch slugged his way into the middle of the Tigers lineup and helped provide protection to Miguel Cabrera, making him an early Triple Crown candidate.