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

Yup, as we all know Billy Crystal, who is a life-long New York Yankees fan, was “signed” for one day by the Yankees and was given a offical at-bat during yesterdays spring training game. Watching the video I realized that Crystal wasn’t that bad and took some decent cuts.



According to the New York Post, New York Yankees pitcher (and cult hero) Joba Chamberlain will begin the season setting up reliever Mariano Rivera, then moving to a starting role for the second half of the MLB season.

According to the Post, Chamberlain will be sent down to the minors sometime in early summer to strength his arm then come back as a starter. Chamberlain, who is only 22, is going to be limited to only 140 innings in 2008 - starting him in the bullpen will help with that.

The reason why Joba will start in bullpen is two-fold, first to protect his arm but also to allow the Yankees to find a new set-up man to replace Chamberlain once he moves on. The Yankees are looking at a bunch of young pitchers to add to the bullpen, including: Alan Horne, Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and Ross Ohlendor.

Chamberlain, who was a starter in the minors, became a shut-down setup man during the final months of the 2007 baseball season. Once he becomes the starter the Yankees will have 3 very young and very talented pitchers: Joba, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Having 3 young starters is something the Yankees have shy-ed away from in recent years - usually they went for over-priced , old pitchers.

If Joba can make a smooth transition from reliever to starter the Yankees are going to be in great shape for 2008. Joba’s numbers, even during the brief time he was in the big leagues are nothing less then impressive.

Joba Chamberlain’s 2007 stats: 19 games, 24 innings pitched, 34 strikeouts, 12 hits and 1 run - that is a 0.38 ERA.

Brian McNamee, former trainer to Roger Clemens, presented photo evidence of steroid abuse to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday. Included in the evidence was the below gem showing used needles, cream and the beer can used to discard the needles. Is it me or would a million dollar pitcher not have some better equipment? Looks like stuff a drug addict would use.

By far the biggest prize in the MLB trade market this off season was Minnesota Twins lefty Johan Santana - well it is just reported that the New York Mets won the sweepstakes.

The deal for Santana, which is pending a contract extension and physical, consists of the Mets sending outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey to the Twins for what many people feel is the best pitcher in baseball.

Because Santana had a full no-trade clause in his contact he was able to control what team he would be willing to be traded to. Over the past few months only a couple of teams have actively been talking with the Twins - the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox being the top two contenders. The Mets were willing to part with whatever the Twins wanted, something the Yankees and Red Sox wouldn’t do, and will probably sign Santana to a huge extension - my guess would be the deal would cover 6 years and about $160 million. The Twins offered Santana a 4 year deal worth about $80 million which he rejected.

Adding a healthy Santana to their roster, the Mets will become a division favorite right off the bat - the only question is, did they give up to much talent and will suffer in the long run?

The New York Yankees payroll for the 2007 baseball season topped out at $218.3 million – a record and the highest in the league by far. The payroll record is nothing new to the Yankees as they have had the highest payroll in baseball the past 9 years. However, the Yankees also had the highest revenue of any teams - $415 million; $100 million of it had to go back to the league in the revenue-sharing plan. Hmmm that doesn’t sound like good business to me, but hey what do I know.

Following the Yankees record payroll was the World Series champions Boston Red Sox with a distant $155.4 million, the Los Angeles Dodgers with $125.6 million and the New York Mets with $120.9 million. On the flip side the 3 lowest payrolls - and no bigger shockers here - were the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with $33.1 million, the Washington Nationals with $43.3 million and the Pittsburgh Pirates with $54.4 million. All told the entire MLB payroll for 2007 was $2.71 billion – up from $2.49 billion a year before. More importantly revenue topped out at $6.07 billion – up from $5.2 billion in 2006…that is a lot of overpriced beer and hot dogs.

So what does $218.3 million buy you - 94-68 record and 2nd place in the American League East. But I guess when you can clear $100 million your are getting a good return on investment.

Don Mattingly will not be the hitting coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ next year and will be moving to a role as special assignment coach - Mike Easler will replace Mattingly as hitting coach. The Dodgers made the announcement this evening saying that the move was due to family reasons.

Mattingly released the following statement through the Dodgers: “I’m very grateful that the Dodgers have allowed me to take care of these family matters and I hope that everyone can respect our privacy during this time. I truly appreciate the support of all Dodger fans since joining the organization and I look forward to helping the team win in 2008 and beyond.” Mattingly’s agent had this to say about the former Yankees 1st basemans decision: “Donnie is prioritizing his family first. The Dodgers have been very supportive, creating a position so Don can still make a contribution to the team throughout the year!”

Mattingly was a top contender for the New York Yankees manager job once Joe Torre headed to the Dodgers. However, after Joe Girardi was given the position, Mattingly followed Torre to Los Angeles and was initially named the Dodgers hitting coach.

Right handed closer Octovio Dotel has signed with the Chicago White Sox today for  $11 million over 2 years.  The White Sox had one of the worst bullpens in baseball last year and will look to improve with the signing of Dotel. Last year the White Sox blew 23 saves and posted a 19-25 record with a ERA of 5.49 - hardly numbers that will win you a games, let alone a World Series.

Dotel, who is 34 years old, played last season with the Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves. However,  Dotel suffered from a shoulder injury last year that limited him to 33 appearances and 30 innings.  Dotel is no stranger to injury as in 2005 he had reconstructive elbow surgery while playing with the Oakland Athletics.

Dotel has played in the majors for 9 seasons and has collected 82 career saves. His best year came in 2004 when he had a 3.70 ERA and 36 saves in 77 games. In comparison after he had his elbow surgery in 2005 he had only 18 saves and a 5.14 ERA.

Dotel can help the White Sox but he is not the solution to their bullpen needs.

The NY Daily News reported this morning that the NHL is working with the New York Yankees on bringing a NHL game, and maybe the New York Rangers, to Yankee Stadium next winter. The Daily News says that all parties are interested and need to work out the logistic hurdles.

Besides being an event that would draw huge fan and media attention, even more then the outdoor game in Buffalo that played in front of 70,000 fans, there are some other historic elements at play. If the NHL game occurred in Yankee Stadium next winter it could be the last professional game played in the stadium as the Yankees will be moving across the street to their new stadium in 2009…that might be the only thing preventing the game from taking place. I guess the Yankees want to make sure having an outdoor NHL game is the legacy they want for the stadium.

After the tremendous success of the Buffalo game, the NHL has been looking for the next big outdoor event and none would be bigger then playing in New York City. The obvious choice to play in the game would be the Rangers, the Daily News is reporting that the Islanders want in as well. Along with a game in New York, many other teams have expressed interest in playing a game outside - including the Bruins playing Fenway Park.

The New York Rangers, playing outside, in Yankee Stadium? I can hear the ticker scalpers drooling at the possibilities.

Former New York Yankee Rich ” Goose” Gossage has become the 5th relief pitcher ever to be elected into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. - it was Goose’s 9th try. Former Boston Red Sox outfielder Jim Rice was passed again, he has one more year of ballot eligibility left.

Gossage was best known for his blazing fastball and awesome mustache - he received 466 of 543 votes(85.8%). Goose was a 9 time All-Star who pitched for 9 different MLB teams from 1972-1994 and had 310 saves. Dont know who Goose Gossage is? Check out this sports video.

Here is the full results of the Baseball Hall of Fame Voting: