Every year we say the same thing: "Can you believe Opening Day is already here?". And every year we get just as excited about it. This year, however, I think people are extra excited about baseball...and more specifically, the Twins. Lets face it, 2010 wasn't a great year for Minnesota sports. The Vikings sucked, the Packers won the Super Bowl, the Gophers hardly showed up for any of their sports, the Twins bowed out of the playoffs in the first round (again), the Wild are irrelevant.....and the Wolves are hardly worth mentioning. 
WE NEED THE TWINS...and we need the Twins to do SOMETHING this year. Luckily, baseball is the longest season of any major sport and it happens in the Summer time...which every Minnesotan gets a little turned on by just the thought of Summer. So, rather than post a 9 paragraph breakdown of how I think the baseball season will play out, I'll just throw some nuggets out there for my "Opening Day/Preview" post. From there...I will have plenty to say about the baseball season because of the lack of NFL news this summer. 

Predictions:
AL Central - To no one's surprise, the AL Central appears to be a 3 team race...again. The biggest concern/factor: The White Sox and Tigers made improvements, and the Twins didn't. Sure, the Twins get Morneau and Nathan back...but they played pretty well without them. It always causes a bit more pressure on a defending division champ when the teams that finished behind you "upgrade". Essentially, the Twins are going to have to play better than they did last year if the plan on staying at or near the top all season. Of course, the improvements to Chicago and Detroit don't guarantee squat, but you have to play as if they will.
Twins - 91 wins
Tigers - 88 wins
White Sox - 87 wins

The rest of baseball - I believe the AL East will not only dominate every one's face this year, but 93 wins in the AL Central or AL West won't get you in the playoffs. I think the Yankees will win the AL East in a very tight race with Boston...both of which will finish the season with 100+ wins. The Red Sox will get the wild card...and face the Twins in the first round of the playoffs. Adrian Gonzalez will narrowly beat Alex Rodriguez for the AL MVP with guys like Carl Crawford, Joe Mauer and Josh Hamilton finishing much further behind. Gonzalez in Fenway is like me in my back yard...playing wiffle ball. I don't have the statistics, but I'm pretty sure 92% of left handed power hitters who hit the ball in all directions, have monster years with the Red Sox. A-Rod...well...is going to become the A-Rod of old (minus the steroids). 

I like the Rangers out of the West again, but don't look past Oakland...they have a young core of pitchers that may surprise people, similar to how the Twins looked in 2002. As for the NL, it's the Phillies pennant to lose. They have their injury issues to overcome early, but their pitching will keep them in every game. Add their decent offense to the mix...and you have a title contender, without question. I'd like to see teams like Cincinnati and San Francisco make another run at it...but just as long as we get good baseball with different teams than we're used to, I'll be happy.

 C'mon everyone, jump on the Yoshi train!

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