ZONER'S MONDAY MORSELS

Let the games begin. I didn't watch too much exhibition baseball, but knew that Jim Thome was stroking it well. But to see him at the Cell gave me goose bumps--he's long been one of my favorite players.

And he looks to be in tremendous shape, as you can see in the picture. He absolutely smoked a pitch by Cabrera in the 4th for a mammoth home run. It was a no-doubter that left the park in a hurry.

C.C. Sabathia left the game early with an injury to his abdominal muscle. The Indians are off to a rough start--they need Sabathia to eat up innings and lead their staff. If he is out for any extended period of time they will be hurting.

On to the morsels, which are merely my predictions for the year.

NL Central: STL, HOU, CHI, MIL, PITT, CIN
NL West: LA, SD, ARZ, SF, COL
NL East: ATL, PHI, NYM, WAS, FLA

AL Central: CHI, CLEV, MIN, DET, KC
AL West: OAK, TEX, LAA, SEA
AL East: BOS, NYY, TOR, BAL, TB

NL Wild Card: Philly
AL Wild Card: NYY

AL Playoffs: CHI over NYY, OAK over BOS, CHI over OAK
NL Playoffs: STL over PHIL, ATL over LA, STL over ATL.
WS: CHI over STL.