Here’s a little preview of how I think things will end up in October.  Feel free to pick it apart in the comments.

American League East

1. Boston Red Sox
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Baltimore Orioles

American League Central

1. Detroit Tigers
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Kansas City Royals
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins

American League West

1.  Seattle Mariners
2. Anaheim Angels
3. Texas Rangers
4. Oakland Athletics

National League East

1. New York Mets
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Atlanta Braves
4. Florida Marlins
5. Washington Nationals

National League Central

1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. Cincinnati Reds
4. Houston Astros
5. St. Louis Cardinals
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

National League West 

1. Arizona Diamondbacks
2. Colorado Rockies
3. San Diego Padres
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
5. San Francisco Giants

In 2008, there are high hopes. The thing that people seem to be talking about is the 100 year drought for the Cubs winning the World Series. Of course that is a big deal. Any team that has such an infamous drought is bound to draw attention, but that is really a non-issue. The World Series drought has nothing to do with this year’s team.

The Cubs spent a ton of money last off season to bring in Alfonso Soriano and locking up Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano. This off season the biggest addition was Kosuke Fukudome from Japan. Fukudome gives the Cubs a solid left-handed bat and a dependable right fielder.

The starting rotation for Cubs will be a strength again. Led by Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly and Rich Hill, the Cubs will have plenty of starting pitching. Rounding out the rotation are former closer Ryan Dempster and Jason Marquis. The bullpen should also be a strength. Jon Leiber, Sean Marshall, and Bob Howry will take the Cubs from the starters to the shut down tandem of Carlos Marmol and newly named closer Kerry Wood. If Woody can remain healthy, he will provide the Cubs a dominant closer. If he does run into some health issues, look for Marmol to slide seamlessly into the closer role, with Howry moving into the setup role.

If there is one thing that I’m a little worried about with the Cubs is depth at infield positions. If something should happen to Aramis Ramirez or Derrek Lee, I wonder about the long term back up for either position. I know Mark DeRosa can back up either 1B or 3B, but I think he’s more valuable at other spots in the infield.

I think the pitching staff looks great and the lineup top to bottom is solid. They could use a bona fide lead off man, but I think they’ll be able to get enough guys on base, and score enough runs with their lineup as is.

What do you think is in store for the 2008 Chicago Cubs? I’d like to hear your predictions.

So, its 4 am on a Friday night/Saturday morning and I’m sitting at the Mariners Team Store downtown Seattle with Jared waiting in line for single game tickets.

Why? Hmm. Great question. I’m freezing my ass off. My hands are numb typing this out. For what? The honor of getting opening day tickets to see Erik Bedard. Guaranteeing ourselves the tickets we want. To see the Red Sox, the Yankees on my birthday, and some interleague action against the Padres (I’d love to see Maddux one more time). No Cubbies in Seattle this year, but that’s ok. Maybe I’ll be able to catch a game with the Cubs and the Mariners in October????

This is just another example of a suit who doesn’t understand the Chicago baseball fan trying to wring more cash out of his investment.

Zell, who is the CEO of the Tribune Company, is planning on selling off the Cubs and Wrigley Field separately , undoubtedly to maximize his profit. He’s a businessman, that’s what he does. We get it. Little does he know, Wrigley Field is a baseball icon. There is a reason you’ve never heard of the “Ralph Lauren Polo Grounds”. I understand that this type of thing is prevalent is sport all the way down to the scoreboards in high school gyms. There’s one difference, there are no high school gyms that are international icons (to my knowledge). Yankee Stadium is Yankee Stadium, of course it’s sometimes called “The House that Ruth built”, but then again, Wrigley is referred to as “The Friendly Confines”.

All in all, it’s a bad deal. The place is packed every game of every season, and will continue to be. What more do you want from it? It’s not an amusement park like some of the modern ballparks, and it shouldn’t be. It’s a baseball stadium.

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Note to Andrew Freidman, GM of the Tampa Bay Rays, “Don’t do it”.

You have a team that is actually starting to resemble a major league ball club, you don’t need that kind of distraction and clubhouse cancer. You need to stay your course and continue to develop top young players into viable major leaguers.

There was also talk about bringing in other veterans (Kenny Lofton and Mike Piazza) to help help solidify the lineup. That might make some sense. Those are guys who know their role. They actually realize that they’re at the tail end of their careers and are willing to come off the bench, or not play every day. Bonds will be a major distraction and a huge injury (also perjury) risk.

I really hope the Rays steer clear of this deal.

The Mariners and the Orioles finally get the deal done to send Erik Bedard here to Seattle and the Mariners send top prospect Adam Jones to Baltimore. There are some other players heading to Baltimore in the deal as well. Left-handed specialist George Sherrill along with 3 minor leaguers.

Was this too much for the Mariners to give up? 2 players from their 25 man roster in addition to 3 minor league prospects. As I’ve said before, Adam Jones is going to be a star. Of course, you have to give up talent to get talent. Erik Bedard is a top shelf starter. He’s a bona fide Cy Young caliber starter. So the question is then, is the combination of an All Star caliber outfielder along with a solid bullpen guy (potentially a closer), and then multiple minor league pitching prospects more or less than a Cy Young starter.

In my opinion, a Cy Young starter is more important than any other position on the field. The Mariners can pick up an All Star outfielder, either in free agency or in a trade. Cy Young pitchers cost a ton in free agency, and you have to sell the farm in a trade. Another question is, “Is this selling the farm?” I don’t think this is giving up too much.

The Mariners are poised to compete in the American League West. They needed to keep pace with the Angels. This move to get Bedard puts the Mariners starting rotation on par or above the Angels and all other pitching staffs in the AL West.

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All signs are pointing to the fact that the Mariners will have a true #1 starter for the 2008 season. It is also looking like they will part with their 5-tool outfielder Adam Jones. Jones was called back from his Winter League assignment in Venezuela over the weekend to take a physical in Baltimore. Also rumored to be in the deal are left-handed reliever George Sherrill, 2006 second round pick minor league pitcher Chris Tillman, and another minor leaguer to be named later.

In some ways this is great for the Mariners, Bedard is a great pitcher. He will anchor a rotation that was very up and down last season. Losing Jones is a big problem for me. From what I’ve heard, and what I’ve seen, this guy will be an All Star for a long time.

We could argue conventional wisdom here, pitching and defense win championships, or you’ve got to score runs to win. Both are true, but looking at the Mariners, which is the bigger problem?

The Mariners finished no worse than 7th in the AL in all major hitting categories. And in pitching statistics the Mariners are consistently at the bottom. I guess that tells me what I need to know.

I’m hesitant to give up Adam Jones, but for a top shelf starter, that might be a great deal for the Mariners. Remember the Mariners recently signed Carlos Silva to a 4 year, $48 million contract. So it looks like their rotation will be Erick Bedard, Felix Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn, Miguel Batista, and Carlos Silva. Throw in Horacio Ramirez for a spot start, or injury replacement, and you have the looks of a solid pitching staff. The loss of Sherrill in the pen will be hard to replace, but the Mariners seems to have a lot of young arms who are about to make the jump from young and decent to solid bullpen arms.

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The Cubs have signed left-hander Jon Lieber to a one year, $3.5 million contract.

That seems like an awful lot to pay a 37 year old, injury-prone starting pitcher. But it does add some depth to the rotation. Apparently Lieber will be competing for a starting role. In his contract there are some performance bonuses. Lieber was one of my favorites back during his first stint with the Cubs. He’s a no-nonsense kind of guy who, when healthy, eats up innings and gives solid outings. That’s what the Cubs need at the tail end of their rotation. Like I said, might be too much to drop on a pitcher of his caliber, he went 3-6 with a 4.73 ERA last year for the Phillies. If he can stay healthy, it’s a great move.

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The Cubs have reached an agreement in terms with Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome. Fukudome will most likely play right field in Chicago, replacing the dearly departed Jacque Jones. He played centerfield in Japan, but will likely move to right because of Felix Pie. The good news is that if Pie sucks again this year, the Cubs can just move Fukudome to center and find some other mope to play right. Possibly Matt Murton (not a mope). Either way, the Cubs get a solid left-handed bat in their lineup. Probably the top of the lineup. He can hit for average and he has a little bit of pop. He hit .351 with 31 home runs and 104 RBI and was the MVP of Japan’s Central League.

Word is that he’s a mix between Ichiro and Hideki Matsui. Umm… Ok. Yes please. If you can mention this guy in the same breath as Ichiro, I want him on the Cubs. Ichiro is the best pure baseball player I’ve ever seen play (Jerome Walton notwithstanding). Ichiro gets on base all the time, he can pick it wherever he plays in the outfield and Hideki Matsui just produces runs. If Fukudome can do those things for the Cubs, they have just improved their lineup in a huge way.

There are a couple things that scare me about Fukudome. He’s 30 and he’s coming off elbow surgery. Definitely makes a Cub fan nervous.

Omar Infante’s time as a Cub wasn’t even long enough for him to don a uniform. He and lefty specialist Will Ohman (6-8, 4.33 ERA for his career) were dealt Tuesday to the Braves for pitching prospect Jose Ascanio (1-1, 5.06 ERA in 2007). Ascanio is a 22 year old right hander with a “power arm”.

This trade will affect the back end of the bullpen for the Cubs. Ascanio could emerge as a setup man for whoever closes games. I like this trade. I’ve never been a fan of Ohman. There was a period of time this year where he seemed to be the pitcher giving up crippling runs. Of course he also got guys out when he needed to down the stretch. But I’m glad he’s gone.

As for losing Omar Infante, I liked him giving the Cubs depth in the infield, but I would rather have a solid arm at the tail end of the bullpen.