Orioles Spring Training update

Orioles manager Dave Trembley offered his thoughts on the state of his team and some of his newcomers before Sunday's exhibition game against the Minnesota Twins. Some snippets:

On pitcher David Pauley, acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox: "The first time he pitched he was out of his lane, so to speak... The last two times he's pitched he been very good. He's a control guy, sink, curveball, he pitches early to contact. He's gonna get an opportunity to pitch. He's a guy that's in the mix.”

On veteran hurler Mark Hendrickson: "[He] had movement, had some life on his pitches. He says that's the best he's felt."

On former Cubs prospect Felix Pie: "He's worked very well with Crow [hitting coach Terry Crowley]. I think he's the kind of guy that needs to play a lot... He's been a little bit better than what I thought. I didn't know the guy. I saw him a long time ago... We want him to start being a line-drive type of hitter... His work ethics have been tremendous.”

On the Twins and their philosophy which has worked so well for them over the past several years: “They play baseball the old fashioned way... They police themsevles... They rely on their farm system, they bring their own guys up... You know when you play them, you better bring your A game because they're going to come at you all 9 innings.”

2009 MLB Predictions -- Predictable

I always say when I pick Boston or New York, I HOPE I'm wrong. If I pick them and they fail miserably and someone comes back to me at the end of the year and says, "See!", I'm perfectly fine with that. With that said, I will try not to let my hatred of the Evil Empires stand in the way of my sure-to-be-off predictions:

AL East
1) New York
2) Boston*
3) Tampa Bay
4) Baltimore
5) Toronto

AL Central
1) Cleveland
2) Minnesota
3) Chicago
4) Kansas City
5) Detroit

AL West
1) Oakland
2) Los Angeles
3) Seattle
4) Texas

ALDS: New York over Oakland, Boston over Cleveland
ALCS: New York over Boston

NL East
1) New York
2) Florida*
3) Philadelphia
4) Atlanta
5) Washington

NL Central
1) Chicago
2) Houston
3) Cincinnati
4) St. Louis
5) Milwaukee
6) Pittsburgh

NL West
1) Arizona
2) Los Angeles
3) San Francisco
4) San Diego
5) Colorado

NLDS: Chicago over Florida, Arizona over New York
NLCS: Arizona over Chicago

WS: New York over Arizona

Hope I'm wrong!