FrontRowSportsReport.com: Sports Blog

The 2008 MLB season is upon us so what better time then to lay out our predictions for this baseball season - which promises to be one for the ages. So, below are our entire predictions for the 2008 MLB season, including final standings, who makes the playoffs and who will be the 2008 MLB World Series champions.

2008 MLB Regular Season Predictions 

American League East

1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
4. Toronto Blue Jays
5. Baltimore Orioles

American League Central

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Chicago White Sox
3. Cleveland Indians
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Kansas City Royals

American League West

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Seattle Mariners
3. Texas Rangers
4. Oakland A’s

National League East

1. New York Mets
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins

National League Central

1. Chicago Cubs
2. Houston Astros
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. St. Louis Cardinals
5. Milwaukee Brewers
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

National League West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Colorado Rockies
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
4. San Diego Padres
5. San Francisco Giants

2008 MLB Post-season Predictions

American League Wild Card: New York Yankees
National League Wild Card:  Atlanta Braves

American League Champion: Detroit Tigers

National League Champion: New York Mets

World Series Champion: Detroit Tigers

Big day in arbitration deals in baseball today, some stars signed some are getting closer - in total 62 of the 110 players who filed for arbitration settled on terms.  Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday and Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera agreed to deals a couple of hours before todays  deadline to swap figures, Justin Moreau, Carlos Pena and Scott Kazmir are some other big names that avoided arbitration.

Holliday was the NL MVP runner-up last year and agreed to a multi-year deal ( a rarity in arbitration) worth $23 million over two years. Holliday made $4.4 million last year. Cabrera and the Tigers agreed to a 1 year deal worth $11.3 million.

On the other side, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and Los Angeles Angels closer Francisco (F-Rod) Rodriguez were not able to agree on terms and swapped figures with their respective teams in arbitration. Howard and the Phillies are $3 million apart and F-Rod and the Angels are $2.5 million apart. Those players and teams that went to arbitration will have their hearings during the first few weeks of February in St. Petersburg Florida.

Additional players who reached terms with their teams are:  Chris Capuano, Juan Rivera, Jose Bautista, Jimmy Gobble, Jason Kubel,  Jonny Gomes, Marcus Thames, Tim Redding, Matt Treanor, Joe Crede, Jason Frasor, Alex Rios, Brian Tallet and Gustavo Chacin.

Former Chicago Cubs top prospect Mark Prior, who was released by the Cubs earlier this month, has signed a 1 year deal with the San Diego Padres. The contract has a $1 million base salary, no option and incentives that could bring the total value to about $3 million.

San Diego General Manager Kevin Towers has this to so about the deal…”Mark Prior is a competitor and is working hard to regain the form that made him one of the great young pitchers in the game. We are confident he is going to help us in our rotation this season. It’s exciting that Mark is coming home to San Diego to pitch for the Padres.”

Mark Prior, who is now 27 and last pitched in the Majors in 2006, was considered one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball a few years back - he was the 2nd overall pick in the 2001 MLB draft. However, due to surgery, being over-pitched and just bad luck Prior was never able to keep up to the hype. That is not to say Prior wasn’t a good big league pitcher, in 2003 he went 18-6, had a 2.43 ERA, was selected to the All-Star game and finished 3rd in the CY Young voting. However, after the 2003 season Prior went 18-17 and had a 4.27 ERA.

If Prior can remain healthy he has the ability to be a decent 3rd or 4th starter - but the Padres pitching staff will have to watch his pitch count. I will be rooting for the guy but he just doesn’t have what he used to have when he was younger and healthier.

Kosuke Fukudome, star Japanese outfielder for the Chunichi Dragons, just reached a deal to play for the Chicago Cubs next seasion. The agreement between Fukudome and the Cubs is for 4 years / $48 million, but is subject to a physical. Fukudome,  who is 30, is considered to be one of the best outfielders in Japan and was a vital component in Japan winning the World Baseball Classic back in 2006. In nine seasons with the Dragons Fukudome had 192 homers and a .305 batting average, his best season was 2006 where he won the Central League MVP batting .351 with 31 homers and 104 RBI’s.

Fukudome will probably start right away in right field for the Cubs as the team traded Jacque Jones and let Cliff Floyd walk. As of now the outfield for the Cubs has Alfonso Soriano in left, prospect Felix Pie in center and Fukudome in right. Another reason why the Cubs picked up Fukudome was their need for a solid left-handed batter to go along with all of the big righties already in the line-up.

So of course the question becomes how good is he really and how good will he be? Over the years there has been a great number of Japanese ballplayers coming over and a wide scale of success for each. Ichiro Suzuki was better then expected and is one of the best hitters in MLB, Hideki Matsui has been great as well, Dice-K had a solid year but the jury is still out on what kind of pitcher he is - other players havent lived up to expectations, Kaz Matsui being one. I think Fukudome will be good, but not great, mainly because the Cubs picked him up to fill a need - not because of expectations of what he could do (e.g. hit 50 homers). Plus Fukudome is not a power hitter, he is a lesser / slower version of Ichiro - all Fukudome needs to do is get on base, score and play solid defense.