How did I do - AL East

I had been meaning to do this for a while, but got distracted by the playoffs and stuff. I wanted to go back and see how I did in my pre-season predictions.

I'll start with the AL East. I got the top three right, but had the Blue Jays and Orioles in the wrong order. Let's see if what I wrote for each team was right.

1. Yankees
"I think the A-Rod saga could actually help the Yankees this year. Normally, prominent new Yankees are under an intense microscope. However, the media focus on A-Rod will actually lessen the pressure on Tex, CC and A.J. That plus an underrated bullpen and a (hopefully) healthy Jeter, Posada and Wang can bring the Yankees back to the post-season."
I'm sure glad I was right about everyone here but Wang. I do hope the Yankees bring him back but I won't be devastated if they don't because of his injury concerns.

2. Red Sox
"The Red Sox will definitely miss Manny this year. David Ortiz looks to be almost done as well. He went from being a nobody to a huge star out of nowhere when joining the Red Sox, for reasons that have never been explained, but his numbers have gotten worse and worse since the advent of steroid testing. Jason Bay and JD Drew are nice but nowhere near what Manny and Ortiz were at their prime. Like the Yankees last year, the Red Sox this year will be betrayed by their hitting, not their pitching. Should win the Wild Card, though."
I was right about Ortiz and the Wild Card. I was wrong about their bats dying though; they scored the third most runs in the league.

3. Rays
"The Rays will find it a lot harder this year when everyone is gunning for them. Last year everybody thought they just had a hot start and would cool off eventually. Opponents will take them a lot more seriously this year."
Bingo. And for the same reasons, I think they will be much more dangerous in 2010.

4. Orioles
"Decent offense, some pretty good young pitching, one of the best young players in baseball in Nick Markakis. In the National League, they could be a Wild Card contender. In the AL East they'll be lucky to reach .500."
I was over-optimistic about Baltimore's arms.

5. Blue Jays
"They've pretty much given up the ghost, doing absolutely nothing this off-season. Roy Halladay will get traded to the National League by mid-season."
Wrong about Halladay, and wrong about last place, but I was right that they wouldn't be any good.

I included a picture of an A-Rod card. On the season he hit .286 with 30 HR and 100 RBI, ranking 10th in the MVP voting despite missing 38 games due to a hip injury. And of course, his best postseason ever, hitting .365 with 6 HR and 18 RBI.