Really, the East is between the Sox, Yankees and Rays. and the AL Wild Card will probably go to one of those teams, whom I thhink will be the Sox. Yes Tampa had a great run last year, but I just don’t think that they can keep up with the Yankees, or the Redsox when healthy. So, just like it should be, the AL East will be between the Yanks and Sox.

I love my team, the Sox, but I really don’t know how they will match up against Chen Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett and C.C. Sabathia. Also, other than Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, our pitching staff is quite inconsistent, meaning that Mark Teixeira, A-Roid, Jeter and Posada will eat our pitching alive. Still, I think the Sox are better than any other AL team, and will be the American League wildcard team.

However, in the postseason the Sox will beat the Yankees if given the chance. C.C. and Rodriguez suck in the clutch, and A.J. Burnett has almost no big game experience. Every Redsox’ player, from Jed Lowrie to David Ortiz to Josh Beckett, has proven himself under pressure, whether it be in extra innings with two outs during the regular season, or facing elimination to your rivals in the post season.

If I were to guess the AL postseason matchups, I would say Sox vs. Angels in the first round, while the Yankees would face the Indians (who I think will be back to their ’07 form). Of course, the Sox would beat Anaheim again, while the Yankees would make it through Cleveland (which lost Sabathia). What does that mean? You got it! Redsox – Yankees, ALCS! As a series prediction, I think Sox take it in 6, because Beckett, Lester and Matsuzaka all come through.

Alex Rodriguez*

Baseball has been so heavily effected by steroids because the MLB’s higher officials, like commissioner Bud Selig, refused to stop the use of steroids in the early 90′s. Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa brought baseball back into American minds, because of the home runs they were hitting, and because of all these fans, the  MLB was making money. Clearly, many players during this time were using performance enhancing drugs, and Selig and his cronies just watch the players damage themselves. The only way that baseball can possibly clean itself up is if Bud Selig resigns. He no longer has authority over the stopping of steroids, because he was half of the problem. Selig is perhaps the worst commissioner of all of Major League Baseball’s history. He believed that the problem would end right after the Barry Bonds trial. However the problem has just quintupled, now that one of the league’s biggest stars as well as 103 other players have been accused of taking steroids. Nice job Bud, you ruined the reputation of baseball, just to improve your own cash flow. Until a new commissioner is installed, baseball will continue to writhe in its own ‘juices’, because Bud Selig isn’t going to do anything. Selig has overseen baseball during its worst era: the steroid era.

Alex Rodriguez has tarnished his reputation, and while he still may be a great hitter, the ever so feared (*) symbol will remain next to his name. The MLB will eventually be clean, however it will take a huge push from higher management to punish players harshl for using banned substances, and quite frankly, that will take the resignation of Bud Selig.