Season 20 Preview

THE ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS WIN IT ALL over TORONTO BLUE JAYS 4 games to 2

Las Vegas, NV (McC) - We here at McCabe Magazine spent the offseason reviewing the rosters of all major league squads and the top level minor leaguers.  We have put together a comprehensive, and in depth forecast of the upcoming season. We would like to take this time to thank the 32 beat writers in each major league city for their contribution to the season preview.

The Playoff Teams

In the National League we think the Arizona Diamondbacks will win the pennant 4-2 over the San Diego Padres. The American League was a tough call. Half of the staff here at McCabe Magazine wanted Kansas City to be our American League champ, and the other half wanted to select the Toronto Blue Jays. As the senior editor I was the deciding vote, I pick the Blue Jays. Kansas City has played in three (3) of the last four (4) World Series however, what the staff seem to forget is Kansas City has lost 2 of their best players, Tony Cortes and Shannon High to free-agency. Kansas City is hoping the free-agent signing of power hitter  Homer Henry will makeup for the lost. With that say, our choice to win the American League pennant is the Blue Jays. Toronto will beat the Royals 4-3 to win the title.  The American League division winners, Toronto, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals, and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The National League division winners, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and the San Diego Padres. Wildcard teams will be the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado, and the Diamondbacks.

	The Best Players
	American League
Rank	Player	Position	Team	Heigth	Weight	Age	Salary
1	Alexei DaSilva	2B	Toronto	6'0	183	24	$2.6M
2	George Brantley	3B	Baltimore	5'11	188	33	$9.8M
3	Homer Henry	LF	Kansas City	6'2	180	32	$20.0M
4	Dean Ruffin	CF	Kansas City	6'0	188	31	$9.0M
5	Juan Azocar	P	New York	6'0	236	27	$1.6M
6	Luis Mesa	CF	Boston	6'5	199	26	$8.5M
7	Steven Starr	3B	Boston	6'1	194	31	$8.8M
8	Ben Schneider	SS	Milwaukee	6'1	192	28	$9.3M
9	Benji Veras	RF	Minnesota	5'10	178	32	$8.6M
10	Mikey Weinhardt	2B	San Francisco	6'0	187	25	$8.7M
	National League
Rank	Player	Position	Team	Heigth	Weight	Age	Salary
1	Quinton Bryne	2B	New York	5'9	189	25	$11.5M
2	Mark Pence	2B	Arizona	5'11	202	30	$7.8M
3	Vince Garcia	P	Arizona	6'4	234	30	$7.5M
4	Clarence Finley	CF	Arizona	6'5	185	28	$9.5M
5	Diego Hernandez	CF	New York	6'0	197	31	$20.0M
6	Luther Abercrombie	P	Arizona	6'2	234	38	$15.3M
7	Quilvio Mendez	LF	Tampa Bay	6'1	179	23	$343K
8	Mack Crosby	SS	San Diego	6'1	185	28	$8.4M
9	Trey Robinson	3B	Colorodo	5'10	168	31	$9.9M
10	Hector Encarnacion	2B	Philadelphia	5'11	182	28	$8.0M

Where is Tony Cortes on our list? He's not in our top 10, sorry TC and Met fans. At 33 years of age we feel his best years are behind him. His skills are declining quicker than my hairline. His bat speed is still at a major league level and he still has the pop to hit 20+ homers. However, the scouts we spoke to say he won't win the Batting Crown this year and his range and speed is not at the MVP levels we've have grown of custom to seeing. If you think you've seen a drop in overall skills this year, wait untill next. Lets just hope he gets more than one vote when he retires in four years.    
 

	Best ML Starting Lineup		Best ML Rotation
Rank	Franchise	Rank	Franchise
1	Toronto	1	Arizona
2	Boston	2	San Diego
3	San Diego	3	Baltimore
4	Seattle	4	Colorado
5	Los Angeles	5	Oakland
6	Houston	6	Los Angeles
7	New York (NL)	7	Pittsburgh
8	Milwaukee	8	New York (NL)
9	Atlanta	9	Toronto
10	Colorado	10	Atlanta
	Best ML Bench		Best ML Bullpen
Rank	Franchise	Rank	Franchise
1	Seattle	1	New York (AL)
2	Minnesota	2	Toronto
3	Cleveland	3	Chicago (AL)
4	Cincinnati	4	Detroit
5	Milwaukee	5	Arizona
6	Florida	6	Baltimore
7	Atlanta	7	Richmond
8	Chicago (NL)	8	Colorado
9	Richmond	9	Chicago (NL)
10	Toronto	10	Los Angeles

Season 20 Predictions
ML AL North
Team	Owner	W-L
Toronto Blue Jays	dimestoregin *	96-66
Milwaukee Brewers	brentcnb *	86-76
Chicago White Sox	kgrffth *	85-77
Minnesota Twins	pbsilver11	72-90
ML AL East
Team	Owner	W-L
New York Yankees	ARomano *	94-68
Boston Red Sox	pat007ohmss *	91-71
Baltimore Orioles	bourboncask *	88-74
Washington D.C. Nationals	dffranchise *	62-100
ML AL South
Team	Owner	W-L
Kansas City Royals	TenaciousTYT *	93-68
Houston Astros	ajaxx88 *	81-81
St. Louis Cardinals	421werd *	75-87
Texas Rangers	goldenbaer88 *	67-95
ML AL West
Team	Owner	W-L
Los Angeles Dodgers	Arte *	92-70
Oakland Athletics	jefepwnzer *	83-79
San Francisco Giants	wylie715 *	71-91
Anaheim Angels	captain10a *	68-94
ML NL North
Team	Owner	W-L
Chicago Cubs	optistrat *	90-72
Cleveland Indians	chisox378	89-73
Detroit Tigers	patrickkm *	88-74
Cincinnati Reds	ctman *	74-88
ML NL East
Team	Owner	W-L
Philadelphia Phillies	egw18 *	89-73
New York Mets	basebalguru *	88-74
Pittsburgh Pirates	nbaker10 *	75-84
Rochester Broncos	coinguy *	63-99
ML NL South
Team	Owner	W-L
Atlanta Braves	bigsammich *	95-67
Richmond Virginians	sylemark *	83-99
Tampa Bay Rays	rsskfs23 *	72-90
Florida Marlins	lido9613 *	64-98
ML NL West
Team	Owner	W-L
San Diego Padres	jgarron *	109-53
Colorado Rockies	axtell *	97-65
Arizona Diamondbacks	yoker70 *	92-70
Seattle Mariners	toothdoc7 *	90-72