Forget what happened earlier this week in Tokyo. Today is opening day for major league baseball. The Washington Nationals open their new park (the wife and I will hopefully get there within the next few weeks) by hosting the Atlanta Braves. With the start of a new season comes the inevitable predictions (you can check out those of the leading Sports Illustrated baseball writers here), but here are the ones any real fan should be satisfied with–mine:

NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: Chicago Cubs
NL West: Colorado Rockies
Wild card: New York Mets

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Detroit Tigers
AL West: Los Angeles Angels
Wild card: Cleveland Indians

World Series: Detroit over Atlanta

NL MVP: Mark Teixeira (Atlanta)
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera (Detroit)
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana (NY Mets)
AL Cy Young: Erik Bedard (Seattle)
NL Rookie of the Year: Kosuke Fukudome (Chicago Cubs)
AL Rooke of the Year: Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay)
NL Manager of the Year: Clint Hurdle (Colorado)
AL Manager of the Year: John McLaren (Seattle)

Remember, you heard it here first.

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