American League:

East: The Yanks and Red Sox will battle it out (again) for the East title, but with a twist this yr. The team that finishes 2nd doesn't get the Wild Card. Yankees take the division in the final weekend of the season.It'll be a longjam with The Twins, Indians, Rangers, and possibly Oakland in the WC race. The O's will continue to fade and finish under .500

Central: White Sox will hang on to the division, but not before getting a scare from Minnesota. White Sox win the division by 3 or 4 games. Twins get the Wild Card

West: Angels keep Rangers and A's at bay, and coast to the title by 7 or 8 games.

National League:

East: Braves overtake the Nats in late Aug/early Sept as their pitchers get healthy. Braves take division by 4 or 5 games. Marlins make a mad dash at the end, but come up short (2nd place), but capture the Wild Card. Phils and Mets fade.

Central: Bold prediction here...Cards take division by 20 games!!! Cubs and Stros tese their fans by staying in the Wild Card hunt, but fall short in September.

West; Padres slowly but surely pull away, as the D Backs and Dodgers continue play up and down baseball. Pads win by about 10 or 12 games. Bonds comes back late in the year to keep the fans interested in SF, but they'll be way back by then.

Playoffs: 1st round Yanks eliminate Twins (AGAIN) Angels beat White Sox in a hard fought series

Cards beat Marlins Braves beat Pads

2nd round:

Angels take Yanks in 6. Cards sweep Braves.

World Series:

St Louis wins the World Series in 6.

Storylines of the 2nd half: Pujols gets into the triple crown race vs. Lee. But Lee wins batting title, while Albert takes the HR and RBI crown.

Sosa, Bonds, and Clemens retire at the end of the season.

John O'nan is sports writer/moderator at the online players union http://www.theopu.com and Football contributor at http://www.realfootball365.com