Since none of you asked…

Curt Alliaume’s 2000 Baseball Predictions

(along with the October review)

American League East

  1. New York Yankees
  2. Boston Red Sox
  3. Toronto Blue Jays
  4. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
  5. Baltimore Orioles
Review: Pretty good. The Yankeees, Boston, and Toronto finished as expected; Tampa Bay and Baltimore were pretty close to each other all season, with the Orioles put on a "strong finishing kick" to finish only 14 games below .500.

American League Central

  1. Cleveland Indians
  2. Kansas City Royals
  3. Detroit Tigers
  4. Chicago White Sox
  5. Minnesota Twins
Review: Not very good. I didn't anticipate many of the White Sox hitters having peak years (especially Frank Thomas) or the Indians playing so poorly in the first half. I also figured someone would pitch well for Kansas City; that didn't happen. I did nail Detroit and Minnesota, though.

American League West

  1. Oakland Athletics
  2. Texas Rangers
  3. Seattle Mariners
  4. Anaheim Angels
Review: Well, I nailed Oakland, anyway. I didn't anticipate Texas struggling so much without Juan Gonzalez (nor did I know Justin Thompson wouldn't pitch a game). Seattle played better than I expected, and so did Anaheim.

Wild Card Team: Boston Red Sox

American League Champion: Cleveland Indians

Review: Couldn't be more wrong here. Cleveland will probably regret the midseason trades they made in the long haul; Boston is a team that will remain seriously screwed up unless a strong owner comes in and tells Dan Duquette to take a hike.

 

National League East

  1. New York Mets
  2. Atlanta Braves
  3. Philadelphia Phillies
  4. Montreal Expos
  5. Florida Marlins
Review: Except for Montreal, got everything wrong (although the Mets only finished a game behind the Braves, and did far better than Atlanta in the postseason). How long can Philadelphia be awful?

National League Central

  1. Cincinnati Reds
  2. Houston Astros
  3. Pittsburgh Pirates
  4. St. Louis Cardinals
  5. Chicago Cubs
  6. Milwaukee Brewers
Review: Cincinnati and Houston surprised everybody by playing poorly. St. Louis did better than I thought, especially Darryl Kile. I think Pittsburgh will step up next year, while the Brewers may fall back. The Cubs may be horrible for a long, long time.

National League West

  1. Arizona Diamondbacks
  2. Los Angeles Dodgers
  3. San Francisco Giants
  4. Colorado Rockies
  5. San Diego Padres
Review: Flipflop the Diamondbacks and Giants and it's a perfect prediction (although it took a late Dodger spurt and a D-back collapse to make it so). Arizona has major payroll problems. San Francisco's pitching will need to improve.

Wild Card Team: Atlanta Braves

National League Champion: New York Mets

Review: I'm smiling here.

World Series Champion: (this pains me) Cleveland Indians

Review: But not here.

I'll try to write new material regularly in the near future. (Does anyone actually read this?)