What Are The Odds?

In this post, I'm going to make three separate predictions about this postseason: the results I personalliy want to see, the results I think are pretty outlandish but not entirely impossible, and the results likely to happen. Some of you may not like or agree with the predictions made in this post...if that's the case, stop reading and go back to your home in Boston or St. Louis, you sore loser.

First, the way the standings look as of the date this is written (which is halfway through September, so don't expect to see much deviation from this in real life before the playoffs):

AL East - Yankees.
AL Central - Twins.
AL West - Rangers.
AL Wild Card - Rays.

NL East - Phillies.
NL Central - Reds.
NL West - Padres.
NL Wild Card - Braves.

My personal predictions (what I'd like to see):

ALDS: Yankees beat Twins, Rangers beat Rays.
NLDS: Phillies beat Reds, Braves beat Padres.
ALCS: Yankees beat Rangers.
NLCS: Braves beat Phillies.
World Series: Yankees beat Braves in 5 or more games.

The main reason I want this result is so I get to see the Yankees play without having to spend the money going to New York. Now that these are out of the way, my next two sets of predictions are the ones more based on facts and stats than my own desires.

My potentially unrealistic predictions (what I think are pretty unrealistic, but still possible):

ALDS: Twins beat Yankees, Rays beat Rangers.
NLDS: Phillies beat Reds, Padres beat Braves.
ALCS: Twins beat Rays.
NLCS: Padres beat Phillies.
World Series: Twins beat Padres in 6 games.

My slightly more realistic predictions (what will probably happen):

ALDS: Yankees beat Twins, Rays beat Rangers.
NLDS: Reds beat Phillies, Padres beat Braves.
ALCS: Rays beat Yankees.
NLCS: Padres beat Reds.
World Series: Rays beat Padres in 5 games.

And now, to defend myself.

I really like the Twins. Nearly as much as I like the Yanks. Joe Mauer is quickly becoming one of the best players in the game, and they've got such a great lineup and a pretty strong rotation, so it's hard for them to be downtrodden, but New York is very good at upsetting teams in the clutch...just ask Derek Jeter. The Rays and Rangers are a similar situation: good lineups, good rotations, both with strong players, but it seems like the guys from Tampa Bay just keep getting better, and I don't believe Texas has the chops to stand up to them either way. The Phillies/Reds was a tough one (so much so that I decided to switch the results for the more likely predictions), I really think it could go either way at this point: having Roy Halladay would certainly give any contender a real edge, but you've got to like a team that has potential Triple Crown winner Joey Votto. The Braves have finally regained some of the magic that propelled them through the late '90s and early '00s to 14 division titles, but the Padres have managed to hold on and maintain the lead even after a horrible August, which really shows the true tenacity and what a good team they have, so don't be surprised if Atlanta's Jason Heyward and his supporting crew begin to choke just as they've done in many recent years.

What do you think October will hold for baseball? Let me know your thoughts.