MLB Playoff Preview, Regular Season Review

The MLB Playoffs begin tonight with three games, two in the National League (Dodgers vs. Cardinals, Phillies vs. Rockies) and one in the American League (Yankees vs. Twins).

Now onto the playoffs in the American League, the AL East Champion New York Yankees will square off against the AL Central Champions (clinched last night) Minnesota Twins and the AL West Champion Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim will take on the Wild Card Champion Boston Red Sox.

For the National League, the NL East Champion Philadelphia Phillies will take on the Wild Card Champion Colorado Rockies and the NL West Champion Los Angeles Dodgers will take on the AL Central Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

Yankees vs. Twins

The Twins are heading to the series with momentum from last night's victory over the Tigers, but now they head to Yankee Stadium and square off against ARod and the Evil Empire.

Like most Oscar recipients, the Twins should be happy there were nominated or qualified for this series, as the Yankees have nearly every advantage in this series. The Twins lineup is talented enough to get after the Yankees rotation of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettite, lead by soon to be MVP Joe Mauer, but without former MVP Justin Morneau, the Twins won't be able to keep with the scoring from the Yankees hitters.

The Yankees should advance to the series, but I do see the Twins winning one game in Minnesota, during the final days of the legendary Metrodome.

Position Breakdown (Yankees vs. Twins)

Manager

Joe Girardi vs. Ron Gardenhire

Advantage: Twins

Catcher

Jorge Posada/Jose Molina vs. Joe Mauer

Advantage: Twins

1st Base

Mark Teixera vs. Michael Cuddyer

Advantage: Yankees

2nd Base

Robinson Cano vs. Nick Punto

Advantage: Yankees

Shortstop

Derek Jeter vs. Orlando Cabrera

Advantage: Yankees

3rd Base

Alex Rodriguez vs. Matt Tolbert

Advantage: Yankees

DH

Hideki Matsui vs. Jason Kubel

Advantage: Yankees

Outfield

Yankees (Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher) vs. Twins (Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, Delmon Young)

Advantage: Push

Pitching

Yankees (CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettite) vs. Twins (Brian Duensing, Scott Baker, Carl Pavano)

Advantage: Yankees

Bullpen

Yankees (Closer: Mariano Rivera) vs. Twins (Closer: Joe Nathan)

Advantage: Yankees

PREDICTION: Yankees in 4 games

Red Sox vs. Angels

The Red Sox clearly are at a disadvantage in this series with a pitching staff that may or may not be at 100%, but despite all that their pitching staff should be enough to knock off the Angels and make this an easy five game series.

Mike Scoscia, one of the great catchers in MLB history, continues to deliver as Angels skipper, sending his team to their third straight division title. The challenge is if young pitching rotation, Jared Weaver, John Lackey and Scott Kazmir (acquired from TB), will be able to handle the power packed of the Red Sox. The Angels are hurting without aces Joe Saunders or Ervin Santana.

The Red Sox, dealt with countless injuries, this year including pitching whether it was Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett or young aces like Clay Buchholz, prior to the All-Star break, the Red Sox despite a struggling David Ortiz kept up in the race for the AL East but floundered in the second half eventually winning the Wild Card from the upstart Texas Rangers.

Position Breakdown (Boston vs. LA of Anaheim)

Manager

Terry Francona vs. Mike Scoscia

Advantage: Push

1st Base

Kevin Youkilis vs. Kendry Morales

Advantage: Red Sox (but barely)

2nd Base

Dustin Pedroia vs. Howie Kendrick

Advantage: Red Sox

Shortstop

Alex Gonzalez vs. Erick Aybar

Advantage: Angels

3rd Base

Mike Lowell vs. Chone Figgins

Advantage: Red Sox

DH

David Ortiz vs. Vladimir Guerrero

Advantage: Angels (Sorry Big Papi)

Outfield

Red Sox (Jacoby Ellsbury, JD Drew, Jason Bay) vs. Angels (Juan Rivera, Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu)

Advantage: Angels

Pitching

Red Sox (Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz) vs. Angels (John Lackey, Scott Kazmir, Jared Weaver)

Advantage: Red Sox

Bullpen

Red Sox (Closer: Jonathan Papelbon) vs. Angels (Closer: Brian Fuentes)

Advantage: Red Sox

PREDICTION: Red Sox in 5 games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

Phillies vs. Rockies

If anytime team has equal momentum than the Twins, it's the Colorado Rockies who come off one of the biggest season turnarounds in MLB history to surpass the San Francisco Giants to clinch the Wild Card. Unfortunately their first round match up is against the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies ignoring the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," by adding former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee who starts in Game 1, and Pedro Martinez not to mention in the off season adding Raul Ibanez from the Mariners a move that some say could have hampered their lineup even with the loss of Pat Burrell to the Devil Rays, but alas the starting lineup featured four players with thirty or more homers this year Ibanez, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth. The Rockies without their aces Jason Marquis and Jorge De La Rosa will not to be able to knock off the defending champs

Position Breakdown (Philadelphia vs. Colorado)

Manager

Charlie Emanuel vs. Jim Tracy

Advantage: Phillies

Catcher

Carlos Ruiz vs. Yorvit Torrealba

Advantage: Rockies

1st Base

Ryan Howard vs. Todd Helton

Advantage: Rockies

2nd Base

Chase Utley vs. Clint Barmes

Advantage: Phillies

Shortstop

Jimmy Rollins vs. Troy Tulowitzki

Advantage: Phillies

3rd Base

Pedro Feliz vs. Garrett Atkins

Advantage: Rockies

Outfield

Phillies (Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, Raul Ibanez) vs. Rockies (Brad Hawpe, Carlos Gonzalez, Seth Smith)

Advantage: Phillies

Pitching

Phillies (Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Pedro Martinez) vs. Rockies (Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, Jason Hammel)

Advantage: Phillies

Bullpen

Phillies (Closer: Brad Lidge) vs. Rockies (Closer: Huston Street)

Advantage: Rockies

PREDICTION: The Phillies won't sweep this series, but they should win in four games.

Dodgers vs. Cardinals

This will be the toughest series in the NLDS, the Cardinals have been riding high all year thanks to the performance of their All-Star 1st Basemen Albert Pujols. During the season, the team picked up monster free agents Matt Holliday and comeback pitcher John Smoltz to help both the lineup and rotation. Holliday has paid dividends batting between Pujols and last year all-star Ryan Ludwick.

The Dodgers who ironically were the best team in baseball without their slugger Manny Ramirez during the first half of the season, struggled in the second half to maintain their lead while the Giants and Rockies were nipping at their heals. Now Manny's back, not in his usual Manny form, but Manny is back in the lineup joined by a potential MVP nominee this year Matt Kemp and a pitching staff at full strength.

This series is too close to call, but a prediction has to be made here is the breakdown.

Position Breakdown (Los Angeles vs. St. Louis)

Manager

Joe Torre vs. Tony LaRussa

Advantage: Dodgers

Catcher

Russell Martin vs. Yadier Molina

Advantage: Dodgers

1st Base

James Loney vs. Albert Pujols

Advantage: Cardinals

2nd Base

Orlando Hudson vs. Skip Schumaker

Advantage: Cardinals

Shortstop

Rafael Furcal vs. Brenden Ryan

Advantage: Dodgers

3rd Base

Casey Blake vs. Mark DeRosa

Advantage: Push

Outfield

Dodgers (Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier) vs. Cardinals (Matt Holliday, Colby Rasmus, Ryan Ludwick)

Advantage: Dodgers

Pitching

Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw, Randy Wolf, Chad Billingsley) vs. Cardinals (Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Joel Piniero)

Advantage: Cardinals

Bullpen

Dodgers (Closer: Jonathan Broxton) vs. Cardinals (Closer: Ryan Franklin)

Advantage: Cardinals

PREDICTION: This will a highly contested series, but the Cardinals have just enough to turn out the lights on Mannywood, I predict the Cardinals to win this series in 5 games.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED: The regular season has brought some memorable moments and achievements, here's a look back at the best of 2009.

* Yankees' captain Derek Jeter would pass Luis Aparicio for most hits by a shortstop on August 16. Jeter also became the all-time hit leader in Yankees history with a single in the 3rd inning against the Baltimore Orioles on September 11. He broke the record of 2,721 hits that was held by Lou Gehrig.

* Randy Johnson of the San Francisco Giants became the 24th member of the 300 win club, defeating the Nationals on June 4 in the first game of a makeup doubleheader, earning the win in a 5--1 triumph. Johnson became the sixth southpaw to reach the milestone.

* Mariano Rivera becomes the second pitcher in MLB history to record 500 career saves on June 29 in a 4-2 victory against their crosstown rivals, the New York Mets. He also saved his major league record fourth All-Star Game.

* Jonathan Sánchez of the San Francisco Giants pitched baseball's first no-hitter of the season on July 10 as he defeated the San Diego Padres, 8-0 at AT&T Park. It was the first no-hitter hurled at "The Phone Booth".

* Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox pitched the 16th perfect game in baseball's modern era on July 23, beating the Tampa Bay Rays at U.S. Cellular Field, 5-0. Buehrle became the sixth pitcher to hurl both a no hitter and a perfect game in his career, joining Hall of Famers Addie Joss, Cy Young, Sandy Koufax and Jim Bunning, and also Randy Johnson. Buehrle did this in the midst of setting a Major League record by retiring 45 consecutive batters over three games.

* Josh Willingham of the Washington Nationals became the 13th player in history to hit two grand slams in one game on July 27 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

* Also on August 10, Troy Tulowitzki hit for the cycle against the Chicago Cubs, and became the second player in baseball history to have hit for the cycle and have an unassisted triple play in their career. His unassisted triple play came on April 24, 2007 against the Atlanta Braves. John Valentin is the other player to have done both.

* Eric Bruntlett, a reserve second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, pulled off baseball's fifteenth unassisted triple play against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 23, 2009. It ended a Major League Baseball game for the first time since 1927, as the Phils beat the Mets, 9-7. Bruntlett was playing second base for regular starter Chase Utley, who was given a day of rest by manager Charlie Manuel.

* Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees collected his 2,500th hit with a single in the 5th inning against the Baltimore Orioles on September 2. He became the 89th player in MLB history to reach this mark. He also set a new American League record at seven (7), for most RBI in one inning by a single player by hitting a 3 run home run, and a grand slam later in the inning on October 4.

TRADE DEADLINE MOVES: Cliff Lee (Indians to Phillies), Matt Holliday (A's to Cardinals), Victor Martinez (Indians to Red Sox) and Jarrod Washburn (Mariners to Tigers)

AWARD PREDICTIONS

AL MVP: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

NL MVP: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

AL Cy Young: Zack Greinke, Kansas City Royals

NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

NL Manager: Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies

AL Manager: Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins

AL Rookie: Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers

NL Rookie: Chris Coghlan, Florida Marlins