I love making predictions, don’t you?

Cy Youngs: Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt

I decided to have a little fun on this one and I picked the two Roys: Halladay and Oswalt. They’re both terrific pitchers, Oswalt being quite underrated. This would be HAlladay’s second Cy, his first one was in 03. He’s easily, in my opinion, the best pitcher in the American League. He’s also probably the second best pitcher in the game to Johan Santana. Roy Oswalt is very underrated. He’s had the most wins(bad stat, I know, but still) since 2001, and will likely reach 200 at the end of his career at the pace he’s going on. This would be the first Cy Young for the 31-year old 3-time All-Star.

Most Valuable Players: Miguel Cabrera, David Wright

The MVPs were some of the easiest picks: How can you go wrong with Miggy Cabrera and Davey Wright? They’re both fantastic young players who have never won an MVP yet are fully capable of doing so. They have great power and average. Cabrera is a decent fielding first baseman, Wright is a decent fielding third baseman who’s defense is quite overrated. I think Cabrera is going to be better than he was in his fantastic 08 campaign, and that Wright will use his full ability and go back to stealing bases like he did in 07, as well as hit for a high average and hit for a ton of power. There’s just so much talent in both of these guys.

Rookies of the Year: Taylor Teagarden/Matt Wieters, Colby Rasmus

The reason I put both Teagarden and Wieters for the ROTY in the AL is that I’m not sure that Teagarden will get enough playing time. If Taylor does get 400-500 at bats, I’m fairly certain that he’ll rake. However, it’s also difficult to argue with Wieters’ talent. He is a better hitter than Teagarden, but I think that it’ll be more difficult for him to play in the MLB in his 2nd professional year, as opposed to the 25 year old Teagarden who got some playing time in 08. I’d be somewhat surprised if Saltalamacchia played over Teagarden. As for Colby Rasmus, well, he’s got a chance to win the starting center field job this year. He has a bunch of talent, offensively and defensively.

Save Champions: Brian Fuentes, Jose Valverde

Not much to say about Valverde, we all know he’s capable of getting the save title in 09. I don’t think K-Rod will win it because the Mets give you less save oppurtunities than the Astros do, as far as I’m concerned. This is the exact reason that Brian Fuentes is my choice for the save champion in the AL: K-Rod got those 62 saves because the Angels often gave him the perfect save oppurtunity, and he got the job done. Fuentes certainly is able to do what K-Rod did last year in my mind.

Batting Champions: Ichiro Suzuki, David Wright

Not much to say here. Ichiro is a fantastic average hitter, a batting title would be nothing new for him. I talked about Wright earlier: it’s surprising that I’d pick him over Pujols, isn’t it? Well I think Wright is just going to have a fantastic year, average wise, power wise, and speed wise.

Home Run Champions: Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun

Again, not much to say here. Miguel Cabrera, who I talked about earlier, won it last year and there is little reason to say that he won’t do it again. I picked Ryan Braun over the giant favorite Ryan Howard: I think Braun is going to go psycho with the home runs this year, hitting around 43 or 44, while Ryan Howard will calm down a bit and end up with around 39 or 40. Braun is a guy I considered for the MVP too, but I decided that he’d finish second, and Wright would end up with the award.

Comeback Player of the Year: Travis Hafner, Khalil Greene

Both guys just fell off their horses last year. In fact, not only did they fall of their horses, the horses then proceeded to kick them in the head and excrete waste on their unconscious bodies. While that latter part was quite disturbing, you know it’s true. However, both players also have good talent. Hafner was an MVP contender before his awful 08 year, which included an injury. Khalil Greene was just flat out terrible, as the shortstop who hit over 20 homers the year before was an all-season Mendoza liner.

Steals Champions: Carl Crawford, Jose Reyes

These were two dull, obvious picks. These guys are just INCREDIBLY fast and great base stealers, and they are the frontrunners for the most steals in the two leagues.

World Series: Indians vs Mets, Indians win

I would love to say that the Yankees will win the World Series and be totally right. I would love the Yankees proving me wrong and winning the World Series. However, I think we’ll lose in the ALCS and the Indians will pull off a surprise WS victory, upsetting the favorited Mets. Cleveland has a lot of players who can consistently produce this year, including Grady Sizemore, a 40-40 candidate with a good glove, and Cliff Lee, the Cy Young winner of 08. This gives me reason to believe that they’ll break the curse and win their first World Series since the year 1948.

Well that’s about it. Tune in next time for my rating of the Boston Red Sox infield, as suggested by Bob…

Stay positive, Yankee fans!

-EJ the Kid From New York