Juan Pierre is the odd man out in LA, as Joe Torre chose power over speed.

Odalis Perez took the mound, Kelly Johnson stepped to the plate, and we were off for another exciting season (yes, I know, Opening Day technically started earlier this week, but if it is 5:00 am, I have a hard time getting into that Opening Day spirit). Probably the highlight of my Opening Day was the incredibly awkward exchange in the announcer's booth between President Bush, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. Talk about three guys who really have nothing to say to one another. It was highly entertaining. Of course, as a Mets fan, seeing Ryan Zimmerman smoke a Peter Moylan pitch to straight away center for a game-winning homer came in a close second. Either way, baseball is back!

Andre Ethier was named the starting Left Fielder for the Dodgers on Opening Day. Considering Juan Pierre batted approximately .004 in spring training, and appears to be a far more useful fantasy player than real life player, this seemed like the logical move. Ethier has some potential to be a solid hitter, and if he bats in the number 2 spot all year (in front of Matt Kemp and behind Rafael Furcal), he could be in line for some strong numbers. That being said, expect Joe Torre to let Pierre into the lineup enough to decrease Ethier's value a touch.

I'm actually on vacation right now, so I am going to cut this one a bit short. So as not to deprive my loyal fan base (as Murray Hewitt from Flight of the Conchords would say, "fan base" sounds more impressive than one fan), I wanted to at least give you something, so here are my 2008 predictions, complete with East Coast and New York Mets bias.

Division Champions:

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Seattle Mariners

NL East: New York Mets

NL Central: Chicago Cubs

NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks

Wild Cards:

AL: Cleveland Indians

NL: Philadelphia Phillies

Playoff Matchups

ALDS: Red Sox over Indians in 4 games.

           Tigers over Mariners in 5 games

NLDS: Mets over Cubs in 4 games.

           Phillies over Diamondbacks in 5 games

ALDS: Tigers over Red Sox in 6 games.

NLDS: Mets over Phillies in 6 games (Revenge!)

World Series: Mets over Tigers in 6 games, as Kenny Rogers walks in a World Series winning run (No, Kenny, I have NOT forgiven you for that 1999 National League Championship Series).

Awards:

AL Cy Young: Joba Chamberlain......just kidding. Erik Bedard, Seattle Mariners

NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (there, I'm not 100% biased!)

AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers

NL MVP: David Wright, New York Mets

AL ROY: Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees

NL ROY: Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks

AL Rolaids Relief Award: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox

NL Rolaids Relief Award: Francisco Cordero, Cincinnati Reds

That will do it for this week. Happy Opening Day everyone!