AL Playoff Predictions - A Giant Fan Roots for the A's

I hit both the Wild Card games and the AL knockout game - here I picked the Dodgers to come out of the NL.

Red Sox v. Rays
Tigers v. A's

Boston's got an enormous pythag advantage over the Rays, 13 wins; that isn't determinative; I've got the Dodgers beating both Atlanta and St Louis in the NL despite a similar disparity.  And I see a little bit of the Dodgers in the Rays; if Price/Moore turn out to be the Kershaw/Greinke of the AL playoffs (especially in this series, since they have a platoon split over Ortiz) that wouldn't surprise. Well, Moore would surprise a little, but for symmetry he's included even though it's Price who I'm locking on.

I've flipped on this series a couple of times; Boston (like St Louis) has the kind of depth that gets you to a 100 pythag wins..and Tampa, even with Longoria and a returning Jennings, doesn't necessarily have the same kind of Hanley Ramirez like clear difference between today and the balance of the season.

By the slightest possible lean, I'll take Price to win twice and the Rays to keep it going.

I am an unabashed A's fan; they squeeze every drop out of the talent pool available. I've never had the type of A's hatred that many of their fans have for my club (Rickey Henderson's my all time favorite non-Giant) save for a couple of seasons after they clubbed us to death in '89.  My ideal result would be an Oakland World Series win (which would also, to some extent, serve the "wake up the Giants" function that I'm looking for with a Dodger pennant).

I don't think it comes here; Detroit's my pick to win the pennant; prior to this season, Verlander has been the best pitcher in baseball for a couple of years, and he seemed to return to form late in the year.  Scherzer was second on my Cy Young ballot but will win the actual award - and if you operate on the belief that Cabrera's late season rest was largely to ready him for October, that gives the Tigers both the best arms and bat.

That would give us a Dodgers/Tigers series; I'll revisit in the unlikely event it actually occurs.