Baseball Season and Baskeball Play-off Predictions

After a Jason Dowdell sized layoff (inside joke), I have returned to Wisdom of Wes and have very intention of actually contributing to this blog at least once a week.

MLB
Major League Baseball's 2010 season is now in full swing. By now, most teams have played seven or eight games. No one should be surprised that the Yankees and Phillies are both still good - they are probably the two best teams in baseball.

My Prediction for the Play-offs and Awards
AL East - Yankees
AL Central - Twins
AL West - Rangers
AL Wild Card - Rays

The only prediction I'm not comfortable with is the West. All four teams still have a legit shot at the Division Title because none of the four are dominate. If Cliff Lee is out pass May, you can scratch the Mariners. I think the Rangers offense will continue to score runs and the pitching staff will do just enough to hold on.

AL MVP - Joe Mauer
AL Cy Young - CC Sabathia

These two are safe picks. If I had to go out on a limb and pick a couple of dark horses, I'll go with Nelson Cruz for MVP and John Lackey for the Cy Young.

NL East - Phillies
NL Central - Cardinals
NL West - Giants
NL Wild Card - Braves

I'm settle on all the division winners - I'm hoping the Braves grab the Wild Card. Thus far, the Braves' starting pitching has been iffy at best. If the starters do not improve, the bullpen will be used up at June and the team will crumble.

NL MVP - Albert Pujols
NL Cy Young - Roy Halladay

Again, I went with safe picks. I think someone like a Hanley Ramirez or Ryan Braun could make a run at the MVP. Dark horse MVP winner could be Jason Heyward (I'm a Braves fan, sorry). Tim Lincecum will always be a candidate for the Cy Young. The Cy Young dark horses: Adam Wainwright or (very dark horse) Jonathan Sanchez.

Every baseball fan should be happy for the Kansas City Royals; they've played one week in and they are not mathematically eliminated from the play-offs.
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NBA
The Play-offs are starting this weekend. Many of the opening round series are (on paper) look to be promising.

East First Round Series
Cavaliers vs Bulls - Cavaliers in 4
Celtics vs Heat - Celtics in 7
Hawks vs Bucks - Hawks in 5
Magic vs Bobcats - Magic in 5

The Cavs, Hawks, and Magic should all roll into the second round without much trouble. The Celtics and Heat matchup could go either way but I think the Celtics experience will get them pass a very determined Dwyane Wade (who will average between 35 and 40 points a game during the series) and his Heat teammates.

West First Round Series
Lakers vs Thunder - Lakers in 6
Nuggets vs Jazz - Nuggets in 7
Suns vs Blazers - Suns in 4
Mavericks vs Spurs - Mavericks in 6

The West series should mostly be epic. With Brandon Roy out for the series, the Suns will run away from the Blazers. The rest of the series will be great TV. I'm looking forward to the Kobe Bryant vs Kevin Durant matchup the most. It wouldn't surprise me if both Bryant and Durant averaged 30+ points during the series.