-> AL EAST : Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Devil Rays
-> AL CENTRAL : Indians, White Sox, Tigers, Royals, Twins
-> AL WEST : Mariners, Angels, Rangers, Athletics
Yeah, I'll pretty much agree with those, except it wouldn't surprise me if 
the O's win the division over the Yanks... But, that should be a close 
division...And the rest of those I agree with.. Didn't the Indians recently 
sign Geranamo Berroa?? Uh oh...Another 30 home runs in that lineup?? They'll 
probably run away with the Central...Though I dunno how much I like Travis 
Fryman replacing Matt Williams at third..
-> NL EAST: (going out on a limb) METS, BRAVES, MARLINS, EXPOS, PHILLIES
-> NL CENTRAL : Astros, Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Pirates
-> NL WEST : Giants, Dodgers, Rockies, Padres, Diamondbacks
If the Mets make up for the loss of Todd Hundley for most of 1998, they will 
be the team to beat, however, I'll go with the Expos second.. The Braves 
could go as low as third or fourth, but there's no way they'll fall lower 
than Philadelphia... But I think this off-seasons moves have just taken the 
Braves out of contention, maybe for a number of years... I had a feeling they 
would be too obsessed with keeping their starters and let the rest of the 
lineup slide..
Central, I'd go with St. Louis over the Astros. The Astros will be hurt by 
losing Darryl Kile, and I'd love to see what a full season of McGwire will do 
to the Cards (now that he has some talent around him, instead of the dismal 
Oakland fire-sale situation....)
West... Umm... If the Dodgers (my favorite team) can put out an effort, and 
either find a definate closer or (as rumor has it) aquire Randy Johnson, 
they'll easily take the West... Johnson wins 20 a year and has a low ERA 
pitching half his games in the dinky Kingdome.. Him in pitcher-friendly 
Dodger Stadium?? We won't beseeing any more Braves with Cy Youngs!! Also, 
they need to hurry up and sign Piazza to make him happy, so he doesn't 
grumble all year.. He's a fine player, but I'm losing alot of respect for him 
as a person.... If the Dodgers don't do this, it'll definately be the Giants 
or the Padres (if Caminiti, Finley and Joyner can all stay healthy this 
season)..
-> AL WILD CARD : Orioles
-> NL WILD CARD : Dodgers
Unless they both take their divisions...  And if they do, it'll be 
their divisional foes, the Yanks in the AL and either San Francisco or San 
Diego in the West...
-> AL CHAMPS : Yankees or Mariners (most likely Yankees)
-> NL CHAMPS : Giants or Dodgers (I'll say Giants)
AL Champs, I think I wanna go with Cleveland again...The NL... Umm.. The 
Dodgers, if they get their doo-doo together this year... If not, the 
Cardinals maybe?? Tony Larussa has had playoffs experience in the past and 
may be enough to get the Cards into the Series....
-> WORLD SERIES : Giants 4, Yankees 2 (this would be the Giants' first
-> World Series title since the 50s when they were in New York)
I'm gonna say either Cleveland and the Dodgers (provided they get that 
pitching help and make Piazza happy) or Cleveland and the Cards...
-> I think in the NL EAST the Marlins will probably finish ahead of the
-> Braves, so the Marlins will probably be either division champs or 2nd
-> place in NL East (and maybe a wildcard).
I don't know if the Marlins will finish ahead of the Braves (not by dumping 
12 members of the World Series team!), but I'd bet the Mets and Expos 
ll....
--- DB 1.39/003705
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