After much deliberation, the conclusion to a 12-round bout inside of my head between loyalties and logic has finally ended. The Cubs have landed short of my top three in the NL; I still can’t figure out who’s going to win more than 10 games for the Mets; and despite all their spending, the Red Sox might be able to relate to Jim Mora’s famous “playoffs?” press conference a whole lot more this September than they would like. I present to you the top-rated teams going into the upcoming 2007 Major League Baseball season.

National League

Los Angeles Dodgers – Their pitching staff is solid from top to bottom, and that’s more than any other team in the NL can say. Their bullpen is the class of the NL with Takashi Saito’s lights-out closing abilities preceded by 23-year-old set-up man Jonathon Broxton’s eighth-inning domination. The only question mark is their lineup. With some older, injury-prone players like Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciapara in the middle of the order, the Dodgers appear to be a disaster waiting to happen. However, they have more highly ranked prospects just waiting for a chance to play than the Nationals have players you’ve heard of. Dodgers claim the best record in the NL and prove the NL West was never actually up for grabs this season.

Houston Astros – Houston impresses me for a couple of reasons. First off, you could use the word “good” in a sentence about their lineup, bullpen and starting rotation. I can’t say that about any other team in the NL other than the Dodgers. Secondly, its bullpen and starting rotation have the potential to be great. The X-factor will be their lineup. If Ensberg can rediscover what he had in 2005, and it has nothing to do with “the cream” or “the clear,” we’ll be talking about Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Ensberg a lot this year in the NLCS.

New York Mets – They have the best lineup of any team that will compete in the NL race this year, hands down. They also have the worst starting staff of any team that will compete in the NL this year, hands down. This creates an interesting situation for the Mets. By that I mean it’s quite possible a reliever will win more games than any of their starters this season. Their bullpen is very good and they have some young starters with potential down the ranks. Look for rookie Mike Pelfrey to have a huge impact on the mound. Pending a move at the trading deadline though, the Mets will be nothing more than a first-round loser in this year’s postseason.

American League

New York Yankees – They have the best team in the AL again going into the season. Unfortunately for them, I’m predicting them to have the best record in the AL during the regular season and lose in the playoffs. There is not much to say about the Yanks; they have one of the best lineups of all time, the best pitching staff in baseball and the best clutch closer ever. They’re good.

Detroit Tigers – It’s really hard not to like this team. They are a lot like the Cubs, except they have fans still alive that have seen them win a pennant. Their fans love them, the players inexplicably like Detroit and, for them, there isn’t much more to life than being ridiculously good. I don’t know how they have done it, but this team actually rivals the Yankees on paper, but for about half the price. Todd Jones probably won’t close for long; but hey, if he does, that means no one will have scored on this team from the seventh inning on. Considering their starters will go 6-plus innings nearly every time out, they are going to be real good. Tigers could go back to the Series this year.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – I don’t care how many times you try and explain it to me, there is no reason this team needs to be from two cities. It’s ridiculous. It almost cost them a spot in my top three to one of the Sox teams, but I let it slide because I love their pitching staff so much. Gary Matthews Jr. was a huge pickup offensively. Besides Vlad Guerrero, no one really stands out as a superstar, but their whole team knows how to get on base and how to produce runs. They remind me of the Angels team that won the World Series in 2002.

Frank Vanderwall is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected]