Prognostications

OK, so the playoffs have already started (woohoo! Cubs win, Yanks lose!). This is going to be a fun ride - lots of good, closely matched teams from all over the country. The "great" teams - Yanks, Sox, Cubs, Giants - are in it, the small-budget A's and Twins (who dodged elimination, if you recall) are in it, the 13-for-13 Atlanta Braves are in it, the upstart Marlins even snuck in under the wire. So who's going to win it all? ESPN's experts each picked winners for every series. Here's a compilation of their findings, showing the number of prognosticators who think these teams will be eliminated in each respective round:

Team	AL/NLDS	AL/NLCS	Lose in WS	Win World Series
Marlins	16	2	0	0
Giants	2	8	3	5
Cubs	6	5	7	0
Braves	12	3	0	3
Twins	12	4	0	2
Yankees	6	7	1	4
A's	17	0	1	0
RED SOX	1	7	6	4

So the Giants lead the Sox and Yankees as the pick for World Series winner. However, the Sox beat out all comers with 10 predicted World Series appearances. This is the year, folks, this is the year!

My picks, after a day of playoffs, are:
Yanks over Twins
Red Sox over A's
Red Sox over Yanks
Giants over Marlins
Cubs over Braves
Giants over Cubs
Red Sox over Giants

For the record, I'd prefer the Sox play the Cubs in the Series - that would make it truly epic. But even if that doesn't happen, it's going to be a great series!