Another baseball season is beginning as we speak, and hope is in the air until next week when the Royals are in last place. Last year I did remarkably well in my baseball picks (much better than, say, Lucas' football picks), so I'll take a spin through the leagues (one division per day) and see if I can correctly guess the outcome once again. The teams are in order of their predicted finish.

AL East

New York Yankees: Ah, the evil empire. They've turned into the Indianapolis Colts of baseball now that they have MLB's version of Peyton Manning patroling the hot corner and hitting home runs in meaningless situations. They have no obvious weaknesses in their lineup (their atrocious starting pitching is another story), but the Steroid Pair (Sheffield and Giambi) are creeping into their upper 30's. They'll still be good enough to hold off the divisonal competition.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays definitely made the most bizarre move of the offseason when they threw a giant pile of money at B.J. Ryan, but they have a solid nucleus of young players. That said, they have 2 proven starting pitchers (3 if you cound Ted Lilly, who can be counted on to beat the Red Sox at least 2 times every year) and a lineup that is still mostly unproven.

Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox were already having a horrible spring training before trading away a cheap, young starting pitcher with proven postseason and big-game experience for a free-swinging outfielder who would probably break the single-season strikeout record if he ever got a full-season's worth of at-bats. Yes, it will be a long season watching a bunch of infielders who can't hit.

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles have journeyman pitchers out the wazoo, and now they have someone to make them all Cy Young Award winners: Leo Mazzone. That said, it should take at least a season for his magic to kick in, and don't look now but Javy Lopez is 35 years old. Not a good sign for your catcher and 2nd most dangerous offensive threat.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays: The Rays have a hell of an outfield and not much else, including a quality pitcher or an infielder anyone has ever heard of. They also have the added benefit of a rookie manager, their best player (Rocco Baldelli) starting the season on the DL, and the promise of the dreaded "closer-by-committee". Ugh.