Preview/Prediction

The White Sox will bounce back and make a run at the AL Central this year after a 89-74 record. The Whtie Sox will finish second to the Minnesota Twins and I really don't think they will win the wild card.

Keep and Eye on: Alexei Ramirez, 2B/SS
Ramirez's rookie season made showed that there is a new name in town when it comes to infielders. Ramirez batted .290 while hitting 21 homers and 77 RBI. He stole 13 bases last year too.

Projected Lineup
1. Jerry Owens, CF
2. Alexei Ramirez, SS
3. Carlos Quentin, LF
4. Jim Thome, DH

The Cleveland Indians, I predict, will finish third in the AL Central this year. They will have to ride the shoulders of Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore if they want to finish second of first in their division. Cliff Lee will have to have more wins as well.

Keep and Eye on: Kerry Wood, RP

So obviously not everyone agreed with the Yankees missing the '08 playoffs in my AL East predictions. We'll see if the AL Central draws as much ire, which, before reading this I'll just say, this was absolutely the hardest division to call. 

Without further adue, the AL Central for 2009 will shake down like this.

Division winner-

The Cleveland Indians

After a disappointing 2008 campaign, the Tigers will finish fourth in the AL Central this season. The Tigers need Justin Verlander to come through. In addition, Dontrelle Willis needs to come back healthy and ready to pitch. Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez need to be on their best game.

Keep An Eye On: Justin Verlander, sp

I do not think the Kansas City Royals will escape the clutches of last place. They don't have the right mix of players on the team to get the job done in the AL Central.

Keep An Eye On: Mike Aviles, ss/2b

Today we are going to take a look at a guy who could be an extremely key contributor to the 2009 version of the Chicago Cubs, Micah Hoffpauir.

Aaron Heilman is next up in the Pinkie’s series of season outlooks for the Chicago Cubs.

Heilman was originally drafted by the New York Mets as the 18th overall pick in the 2001 MLB Draft. He spent his college years at Notre Dame, and grew up in Logansport, Indiana, which is only about 134 miles away from Chicago.

Officially there are now just 14 days left until the 2009 MLB season opens. Who will be this year's Tampa Bay Rays?

Last year's Rays went from celler dweller to World Series runners-up. So who will be this year's Rays?

Being a 44-year Cubs fan, can't remember anything before age 5, of course we all hope this will be the year.

And why not? Lilly, Dempster, Harden and Zambrano all return. Gone is oft-injured closer Kerry Wood. Hopefully Kevin Gregg will suffice.

After 100 years, we've gotta be close. But enough about my hopes and dreams.

Bleacher Creatures, the 2009 season is almost upon us! People are putting there predictions out left and right trying to decide what's going to happen.

I figured, what better way to figure out whats going to happen then by using a video game? I got this idea from Dean Holden, who used an updated version of Tecmo SuperBowl to predict the NFL Playoffs, with surprisingly accurate results. I figured I could carry this over using my favorite title in my somewhat vast collection of Xbox 360 titles.

Effectively wild, anyone familiar with the term?

It's a slang for a pitcher whose stuff is all over the place, yet effectively so to the point that he is able to get outs.

It happens when the batters have no idea what to expect in the batter's box. They step to the plate thinking that they might get walked, beaned, homer or strikeout, anything really, because the pitcher is so unpredictable.