Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Long before Nostradamus, the ancient Greeks used to seek answers about the future from the Oracle at Delphi. So in preparation for this year’s predictions, I tried channeling the spirit of Pythea, the Priestess of Apollo, to see what the 2007 Major League Baseball season has in store.

(Note: we fared pretty well with the ’06 prophecies, so disregard these ramblings at your own peril)

(*denotes Wild-Card pick)

American League East
NY Yankees-Don’t think they’re better than the Sox, but never bet against a streak. Pitching will doom them in playoffs
Boston*-Built for post-season success, though I think Papelbon shift hurts them over the first 162. Unlike ’06, they’re good enough to get there this year. World Series favorites right now
Toronto-Snuck into 2nd last year. Will keep it interesting, but not enough besides Halladay and Burnett to hang with the big boys
Tampa Bay-Lots of young, everyday talent. Finally have one starter (Kazmir) to count on, which is enough to get them over the wounded birds from Baltimore
Baltimore-What was it The Police sang? “Sending out an S.O.S.”

American League Central
Cleveland-Last year’s pick disappointed, but I think this time is the charm. Fantasy leaguers take note; Travis Hafner is your AL home run champion
Minnesota-While I’m handing out awards, Johan Santana will relinquish Cy Young honors to Dice-K. Likewise, the Twins relinquish division honors
Detroit-The magic carpet ride is over. For Jim Leyland’s crew, reality stinks like a pack of stale Marlboros
Chicago-Gets interesting as ChiSox falter and Ozzie Guillen’s mouth explodes
Kansas City-What’s the over-under on date of playoff elimination? Officially, I say September 6th. Realistically, April 3rd.

American League West
Oakland-No matter how poor the start, Billy Beane’s Moneyballers always finish strong. Scary thing is, there’s enough to get out of the gates quickly
LAA of Anaheim-Along with Twins, the Sox biggest wild-card challengers
Texas-Yanks and D’Backs won the Series the year after firing Buck Showalter. Rangers don’t have enough arms to make it 3-for-3
Seattle-Jose Guillen is the big acquisition? Does Starbucks coffee affect reasoning? Kiss free agent Ichiro buh-bye next year

National League East
NY Mets-Enough talent to win even without Pedro. If he comes back anywhere near form, you’re looking at an ’86 Series rematch
Philadelphia*-Playoff-starved City of Brotherly Love finally gets its wish. Howard & Utley, Myers & Hamels make this a very dangerous entry when the leaves turn
Florida-Nice story in ’06, but I see the wheels coming off of the rotation this year. Owner should have kept his mouth shut and not canned Joe Girardi
Atlanta-Boy, when the streaks fall, they sometimes land with a thud. If you tomahawk chop a tree and no one’s around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Washington-What’s a bigger disaster…the nation’s capital or its baseball team?

National League Central
Chicago-All or nothing spending spree works…until October. Too bad Carlos Zambrano can’t pitch every 3-days
Milwaukee-Almost there. Prince Fielder is about to become baseball royalty
St. Louis-Barely held on, then went on to win it all. Says here it was a last hurrah and Tony LaRussa knows it. Perhaps that explains the drinking
Houston-Should just tell Clemens where to stick it and use that money on a full-season starter to help Roy Oswalt
Cincinnati-Bronson Arroyo is on the cover of their media guide. Enough said!
Pittsburgh-Willie Stargell’s not walking through that door. Dave Parker’s not walking through that door. Kent Tekulve lost his glasses and walked into that door

National League West
Los Angeles-Yet another playoff opportunity for Grady Little. Still not enough horses to blow Game 7
San Diego-Honestly have no idea how they’ve crashed the October party 2-years running. I’d pick them 4th, but afraid they’ll make me look bad again
Arizona-Coming on strong. Watch out in ‘08
San Francisco-Don’t know why I drafted Barry Bonds since I’m going to spend the year rooting for him to get hurt
Colorado-John Denver would have intentionally crashed the plane if he saw this disaster

That’s the view from Mount Olympus. How do you see it?