A New Season

A new season of baseball was kicked off on the last day of March. As each team starts the 162 game season,  many analysts are already predicting which teams are going to make the post season, and which team has the fire power or the pitching staff to win it all. 

Many want the San Francisco Giants to redo the feat and defeat all the other strong teams again to win the trophy. Sadly, there is only a small chance of this. With all the other strong teams in the National League, such as the Philadelphia Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers, which owns a very strong starting pitching rotation and a very strong hitting line up, respectively.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been stirring up big news all throughout last season and during the off season. The acquisition of Cliff Lee during the off season made the already ace-filled rotation even more solid. Now the Phillies have their ace Roy Halladay, the previous Astros ace Roy Oswalt, the young pitcher Cole Hamels, and the killer left hander Cliff Lee. The only pitcher that the Phillies are worried about is Joe Blanton, who is also a very strong pitcher. As the Phillies come into this season with their strong rotation, many are expecting low scores being allowed by them. 

The Milwaukee Brewers is another team that is expected to play good this year. With the acquisition of Zack Greinke, former ace for the Kansas City Royals, and the 2009 season Cy Young winner, he gives the Brewers and their powerful line-up more than enough reason to be a serious contender in the National League.   

In the American League, it is still the American East that will probably dominate, even with the losses in last year's post-season for both the Rays, and the Yankees. 

Many expect the Red Sox to comeback from the injury-filled season from last year and win the American East, arguably the most difficult division in the whole MLB. Last year, an insane number players on the Boston Red Sox got hurt, including their ace, Josh Beckett, who missed some games during the season, and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who only played less than half of the the last season. Now with Adrian Gonzalez in their line-up to accompany Big Pappy David Ortiz, the Red Sox have more than enough power hitters to score many runs a game. Along with the potentially dominant pitching staff, the Red Sox could be the team to win the World Series this year.

And don't forget the New York Yankees. Being the richest team in the league, they still have the powerful slugger, Alex Rodriguez, the rising new star, Robinson Cano, their ace, CC Sabathia, the ultimate closer, Mariano Rivera, and last but not least, the captain, Derek Jeter. Although the Yank's starting rotation is still questionable from losing Andy Pettitte during the off-season, the New Yorkers can only hope that A.J. Burnett will get his stuff back together from his awful season last year, and that the young pitcher Phil Hughes could continue his dominance that was seen during the first half of the season before. With their experience, new power, and strong bullpen, the Yankees could easily make another magnificent run to another World Championship. 

-- Brian Chen