So, How'd I Do?

Now that the season is complete, let's take a time out to look at how I did with my picks this season.

National League East

My Picks
1. Mets
2. Braves
3. Phillies
4. Marlins
5. Nationals

2007 Finish
1. Phillies
2. Mets
3. Braves
4. Nationals
5. Marlins

Wow! I'm batting .000 right out of the gate. I did do pretty well with the Mr. Sexy Time picks, with the exception of Andruw Jones. What the hell happened there? The trick is to play better in your contract year, not worse. .222 wasn't what we were thinking. Oh well, I'm sure Scott Boras will land you a fat payday regardless. After all, he managed to dupe Boston into paying a crapload of money for J.D. Drew.


National League Central

My Picks
1. Cubs
2. Cardinals
3. Brewers
4. Astros
5. Reds
6. Pirates

2007 Finish
1. Cubs
2. Brewers
3. Cardinals
4. Astros
5. Reds
6. Pirates

Hey look at that. Aside from the Brewers/Cards being flip-flopped I nailed this division. And I wasn't even that sold on the Cards at #2. Check out this excerpt I wrote.

Blah. I debated on whether I even wanted to put them second. They get the #2 slot solely on the weight of their World Series title last season. If any team ends up being a disappointment this season it's the Deadbirds. Their biggest offensive upgrade this offseason was Adam Kennedy and aside from Poopholes, is there anyone in that lineup that opposing teams should really be worried about? Edmonds is running on fumes, and Rolen has some pop every now and then when his vagina doesn't hurt.

Well looked what happened. Carpenter going down and the pitching throwing like crap didn't hurt either.


National League West

My Picks
1. Dodgers
2. Padres
3. Diamondbacks
4. Rockies
5. Giants

2007 Finish
1. Diamondbacks
2. Rockies
3. Padres
4. Dodgers
5. Giants

Christ, I'm not even giving myself credit for getting the Giants right. That was the biggest gimme pick of them all. In hindsight I should've put more faith in Arizona, but how was I supposed to know Jason Schmidt's arm would fall off? Or that the Dodger veterans would be visibly atrophying on the field? I was dead on with my Mr. Sexy Time pick of Matt Holliday. The guy's late season heroics has many pleading his case for NL MVP at this point.


American League East

My Picks
1. Yankees
2. Blue Jays
3. Orioles
4. Red Sox
5. Devil Rays

2007 Finish
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Blue Jays
4. Orioles
5. Devil Rays

I let my hatred of the Red Sox blind my decision-making here. I also underestimated the gross incompetence of the Orioles management. Here's a funny excerpt in hindsight that I wrote about the D-Rays.

The Rock Bottom Award: 1B Hee Seop Choi & Carlos Pena - Wow. Remember when these two guys were slated as the stud first basemen of the future? Now they're fighting for the starting 1B job in Tampa Bay, and are undoubtedly going to lose to Ty frickin' Wigginton of all people. Rock bottom.

Well Choi didn't make it, but who the hell would've thought Carlos Pena would put up the numbers he did? Aside from astute fantasy owners and the 8 people who follow Tampa Bay, most would be surprised to know Pena finished the season batting .282, with 46 HR and 121 RBI.


American League Central

My Picks
1. Tigers
2. Twins
3. Indians
4. White Sox
5. Royals

2007 Finish
1. Indians
2. Tigers
3. Twins
4. White Sox
5. Royals

Well I was right about Chicago and Kansas City sucking. Cleveland finally pulled it all together and lived up to all the preseason hype. I think Detroit could've taken it had they followed my advice and all sported mustaches like their 1984 predecessors. Preseason AL ROY favorite Alex Gordon didn't quite play up to expectations, but the Royals did improve by 7 games over last season's record. Baby steps KC, baby steps.


American League West

My Picks
1. Athletics
2. Mariners
3. Angels
4. Rangers

2007 Finish
1. Angels
2. Mariners
3. Athletics
4. Rangers

Whoops. I had Anaheim and Oakland wrong. My Mariners pick I'm most proud of. They looked decent to me, despite every analyst throwing them under the bus this Spring. I guess I should go with my guy more often, well, except when I'm dealing with Boston.