MITCH ALBOM
AL East — NY Yankees
AL Central — Cleveland
AL West — Anaheim
AL wild card — Baltimore
NL East — Atlanta
NL Central — Houston
NL West — Los Angeles
NL wild card — San Francisco
World Series — Atlanta over New York Yankees
AL Central:
1. Cleveland
2. Chicago
3. Detroit
4. Minnesota
5. Kansas City
On the Tigers: The Tigers will stun everyone and win their division. Unfortunately, this is my year 2000 prediction. For 1999, it’s still pitching, pitching, pitching, which means third place.
GENE GUIDI
AL East — NY Yankees
AL Central — Cleveland
AL West — Anaheim
AL wild card — Baltimore
NL East — NY Mets
NL Central — Houston
NL West — Los Angeles
NL wild card — Atlanta
World Series: Cleveland over Los Angeles
AL Central:
1. Cleveland
2. Detroit
3. Minnesota
4. Chicago
5. Kansas City
On the Tigers: It will take the Tigers a couple of months to sort out their pitching — especially the rotation. This is a team that should get better as the season progresses, and has a legitimate shot to finish .500 or better for the first time since 1993.
JOHN LOWE
AL East — NY Yankees
AL Central — Cleveland
AL West — Anaheim
AL wild card — Toronto
NL East — Atlanta
NL Central — Houston
NL West — Los Angeles
NL wild card — San Francisco
World Series — Cleveland over Los Angeles
AL Central:
1. Cleveland
2. Detroit
3. Kansas City
4. Chicago
5. Minnesota
On the Tigers: With perhaps the best series of off-season moves of any American League team, the Tigers have the core they hope can contend in the new ballpark next season. But none of their moves involved a starting pitcher. A team seldom can win without reliable staring pitching; having a good rotation is the same thing as having a good team. The best thing that can happen this season is for young starters Justin Thompson, Brian Moehler and Seth Greisinger to continue growing into pitchers who consistently can win low-scoring games when they have their best stuff, and who can keep the Tigers in games when they don’t.
DREW SHARP
AL East — NY Yankees
AL Central — Cleveland
AL West — Texas
AL wild card — California
NL East — Atlanta
NL Central — Houston
NL West — Los Angeles
NL wild card — Arizona
World Series — New York Yankees over Los Angeles
AL Central:
1. Cleveland
2. Detroit
3. Minnesota
4. Chicago
5. Kansas City
On the Tigers: When you talk about the financial disparity in baseball, the American League Central is the poster child for the have-nots — as in not having the slightest chance of making the Indians sweat at least a tad. There is no honor in finishing second among this lightweight collection.
The Tigers would be in excellent shape if they didn’t have to pitch. Brian Moehler will become the ace of the staff, which might take some of the pressure off Justin Thompson. Some can’t wait until June, when heralded rookie Jeff Weaver is expected to arrive after a minor league tune-up. But most can’t wait until next season, when the new stadium opens and expected new revenues should turn the Tigers into one of the haves.
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