Keep in mind, I am by no means a Major League Baseball expert. 

American League

AL East Champion:  Boston Red Sox

AL West Champion:  Seattle Mariners (John Lackey's hurt, who knows, I'm probably being too optimistic)

AL Central Champion:  Cleveland Indians (Not the Tigers believe it or not)

AL Wildcard:  Toronto Blue Jays

ALCS:  Cleveland vs Boston

AL Champion:  Cleveland

National League

NL East Champion:  New York Mets (If they're healthy behind Santana, wow look out!)

NL West Champion:  Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Central Champion:  Milwaukee Brewers (I wouldn't consider them a long shot this year)

NL Wildcard:  Chicago Cubs (I could go with Braves or Phils here too, well maybe just ATL)

NLCS:  New York Mets vs Chicago Cubs (sorry Cubs fans)

NL Champion:  New York Mets (They have the pitcher's park, the ace, the offense)

World Series Champion:  New York Mets (though I think it will be a good series.  Mets will become my new Yankees/Red Sox and I will hate them for the rest of my life)

The Hardware: 

AL Rookie of the Year:  Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays

AL Manager of the Year:  John Gibbons, Toronto Blue Jays

AL Cy Young:  Felix Hernandez, SP, Seattle Mariners (He will have a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Everest with the addition of Erik Bedard.  He'll be out to prove who's really numero uno.)

AL MVP:  Grady Sizemore, OF, Cleveland Indians (This guy is going to be great.  I also think Miguel Cabrera or Manny Ramirez could end up with the hardware here.  We'll see.)

NL Rookie of the Year:  Homer Bailey, SP, Cincinnati Reds (Maybe Fukudome wins here)

NL Manager of the Year:  Lou Piniella, Chicago Cubs

NL Cy Young:  Johan Santana, SP, New York Mets (This guy should dominate the NL.  Keyword: Should)

NL MVP:  Mark Teixeira, 1B, Atlanta Braves (In a contract year and then he celebrates by signing with the Yankees. Maybe one of the Mets.  David Wright?  I picked him to win last year)

AL East

1.  Boston Red Sox.   Everyone can hate them, and boy do I, but they're still the class of the division and don't appear to be slowing down.  I think the Schilling injury hurts them more than most people think.  A team with Big Papi, "Manny being Manny", and Mike Lowell isn't going to lose many ball games.  I'm only going to say this to Boston fans once, "JJ Putz is better than Jonathan Papelbon".  

2.  Toronto Blue Jays.  Go ahead Yankee fans, give me your worst.  The Rolen trade is a better addition than people think.  The Jays had the best batting average of all the teams, in the first half of last season.  Adding Rolen to the mix of Wells, Rios, and Frank Thomas gives the Jays an offense that could be nightmare for an opposing pitcher.  I expect AJ Burnett to have a career year and the Jays to show that they have the best bullpen, other than the Angels, Indians, and Red Sox.

3.  New York Yankees.  Your young pitchers are going to be great, in the future, particularly Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, but this isn't quite the future just yet.  The offense is going to win a lot of ball games, but these Bronx Bombers lack the aces to make any real noise, in the East.  Wang is a middle of the rotation pitcher on any other team.  The steroid talk is going to hamper anything Andy Pettite does, and Mike Mussina is a shell of his former self.  The league's best player will be suiting up for a disappointing Yankees team that will still have a ton of representatives at the All Star Game.   I would rank them higher, if they were able to land Santana, but I'm really glad he's going to the NL.

4.  Tampa Bay Rays.   One of these days the Rays are going to put it all together and win the division.  Their pitching is improving and if they lock up Kazmir long term, they're in good shape for the future.  I like the deal that got them Matt Garza.  He's a nice addition to Kazmir and Shields.  The bullpen looks good on paper, but the "looks good on paper" theory never really has much substance, in my opinion.  BJ Upton was incredible last season and should only get better, as was Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford.  It will be interesting to see if Evan Longoria pans out, because if he does, these Rays are going to be winning sooner than later.

5.  Baltimore Orioles.  I hate to see teams rebuild, after spending so much money on free agents in previous years.  I like a lot of their young players.  Nick Markakis is going to be great.  George Sherrill is going to be the perfect setup man for the injured Chris Ray, when he's healthy, so Sherrill will get an oppurtunity to close. Adam Jones has real potential, but almost every Mariner fan I know, thought he was worth parting with in order to get Erik Bedard.  The team now lacks a true ace, though I was impressed by Jeremy Guthrie's outing against the Mariners last season.  The rest of the rotation is a question mark.  If they are going to trade Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora, to complete the rebuilding process, hopefully they can get some more impact prospects.  Honestly, until the owner can let the GM do his job freely, I don't see the O's becoming contenders for awhile. 

 PS Nickwilson is a freakin' douchebag and that my friends is a "fact".

As we all know the fantasy football and baseball on this site are terrible, so join me and several other celebrity Foxsports bloggers in playing fantasy baseball on Yahoo.

Fox Blogger's MLB

Password: beavers

League id #: 57745

@ Yahoo.com

We are about 8 teams short of starting this thing.  Refer to my list of favorite blogs.  If your name is on that list, you should check out my league.  It should be fun!

Again Red Sox and Yankees fans are welcome to play as well, eventhough I dislike those teams immensly

National League:

Catcher:  Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers

1st Base:  Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers

2nd Base:  Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies (the best 2nd baseman in all of fantasy baseball)

Shortstop:  Jose Reyes, New York Mets (the best all around shortstop in the NL East, though I think Hanley Ramirez will ultimately be better.)

3rd Base:  Miguel Cabrera, Florida Marlins (Chipper has more runs and dingers, but Miggy has the better batting AVG and more RBIs)

Outfield:  Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies (If only they had pitching in Denver)

Outfield:  Carlos Lee, Houston Astros (He's crushing it this year, earning his hefty contract)

Outfield:  Carlos Beltran, New York Mets (Think Royal fans miss this guy?)

Starting Pitcher:  Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (One of the best pitchers to see live, other than the Rocket or Big Unit)

American League:

Catcher:  Jorge Posada, New York Yankees (a likable Yankee, didn't know there was such a thing?)

1st Base:  David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox  (I can't remember if it's AL or NL park this year, doesn't matter)

2nd Base:  BJ Upton, Tampa Bay Devil Rays (I like Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers here too)

3rd Base:  Alex (A-Fraud) Rodriguez, New York Yankees (slumping right now, but still having a solid last season in NY)

Shortstop:  Derek (Jesus) Jeter, New York Yankees (not a fan, but he's leading all shortstops in batting AVG.)

Outfield:  Magglio Ordonez, Detroit Tigers (though I hope Ichiro is voted in a starter)

Outfield:  Torrii Hunter, Minnesota Twins (playing great in a contract year)

Outfield:  Vladimir Guerrero, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (My favorite non-Mariner.  One of the best all-around players in the game not named A-Rod or Pujols)

Starting Pitcher:  Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox (in the year of Felix and Dice K, this is guy is pitching like a real Cy Young candidate)

The WBC was great for baseball, and I enjoyed watching how much pride players like Big Papi and Ichiro had in playing and representing their respective countries.  The introduction of future stars like Dice K, and a dominant Cuban team with no professional players impressed the competition.  I was shocked when the Dominican power house of a team didn't win the whole thing.  Sports writers were picking the US to win, but the team, other than having stars like A-Rod, Jeter, and Clemens, was pretty weak.  Too many players opted not to play.  The following players are the players I picked to represent the US in the next WBC.  For the US to have a shot, the team must resemble a "Dream Team" of the best American players in the game.  I chose all positions and assume that each position will have one or two reserves. I also included other possible selections given that some players will opt not to play. This team would be tough.

Team USA

DH:  Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians. 

Reserve: Jason Giambi, New York Yankees. 

Other possible candidates:  Jim Thome, Chicago White Sox.  Frank Thomas, Toronto Blue Jays.

C:  Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins.

Reserve:  Brian McCann, Atlanta Braves.

Other possible candidates:  Jason Varitek, Boston Red Sox.  Paul Lo Duca, New York Mets.

1B:  Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies.

Reserve:  Derek Lee, Chicago Cubs

Other possible candidates:   Paul Konerko, Chicago White Sox.  Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies. 

2B:  Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies.

Reserve:  Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers.

Other possible candidates:  Orlando Hudson, Arizona Diamondbacks.  Brian Roberts, Baltimore Orioles. 

SS:  Derek Jeter, New York Yankees.

Reserve:  Michael Young, Texas Rangers

Other possible candidates:  Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies.  David Eckstein, St. Louis Cardinals.

3B:  Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees.

Reserve:  David Wright, New York Mets.

Other possible candidates:  Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves.  Garrett Atkins, Colorado Rockies.

LF:  Matt Holiday, Colorado Rockies.

Reserve:  Carl Crawford, Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Other possible candidates:  Nick Swisher, Oakland Athletics.  Eric Byrnes, Arizona Diamondbacks.

CF:  Vernon Wells, Toronto Blue Jays.

Reserve:  Grady Sizemore, Cleveland Indians.

Other possible candidates:  Torii Hunter, Minnesota Twins.  Juan Pierre, Los Angeles Dodgers.  Johnny Damon, New York Yankees.

RF:  Lance Berkman, Houston Astros.

Reserve:  Gary Sheffield, Detroit Tigers.

Other possible candidates:  J.D. Drew, Boston Red Sox.  Jeff Francouer, Atlanta Braves. 

Starting Rotation:  Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays.  Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks.  Dontrelle Willis, Florida Marlins.  Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros.  Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals.

Other possible candidates:  Aaron Harang, Cincinnatti Reds.  Scott Kazmir, Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox.  John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  C.C. Sabathia, Cleveland Indians. 

Closers:  Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins.  Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox.  J.J. Putz, Seattle Mariners.  Billy Wagner, New York Mets.

Other possible candidates:  Chris Ray, Baltimore Orioles.  B.J. Ryan, Toronto Blue Jays.  Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres.  Huston Street, Oakland A's.

Well that's the team I would put on the field to represent the US.  I'm sure some would disagree, but it's my post and I can do what I want with it.  I learned that Jason Bay and Russell Martin are Canadian.  Had I not researched it, I wouldn't have known that.  Some of you may think that there aren't enough Yankees or Red Sox on the team, and that wouldn't suprise me.  Hopefully the selection committee will read this post, before making any decisions regarding Team USA's future roster.