The first week of the season is now history and the old game has already been interesting:

- Adam Dunn has four homers and is back from his softmore swoon.
- Kerry Wood hasn't lost this Spring (5-0 in Spring Training and 2-0 in the young season).
- Mike Mussina won his two hundredth game but looks very hittable.
- Tino Martinez looks ressurected in Tampa.
- The Phillies have Pat Burrell back and heading towards Comeback Player of the Year, but can't seem to win.
- Armando Benitez has five saves already for the Marlins, who look like last year was just the beginning.
- The Astros starting pitching looks as good as advertised even with Pettitte hurt.
- The Yankees seem to have a better Bubba than last year.

Golly, the Fan does love his baseball. Steroids, schmeroids. The game is the thing.

Just so this prediction thing can be put to rest, the Fan only has one division left--the American League West. The following is their predicted order of finish along with some predictions of who the teams' leaders should be:

1. The Anaheim Angels. With their off-season acquisitions of Bertolo Colon, Jose Guillen, Kelvim Escobar and Vladimir Guerrero and their exciting and passionate owner, the Angels are the team to beat. On paper, they have a great lineup, some solid starting pitching and Troy Percival and Francisco Rodriguez are a very good eigth and ninth inning pitchers. The rest of the division have their hands full this season.

Leaders:
Homeruns - Troy Glaus (37)
RBI - Vladimir Guerrero (129)
Average - Adam Kennedy (.322)
Wins - Bartolo Colon (22)
Career Year - Adam Kennedy (Kennedy becomes a star this year)
Record - 98-64
Keys - Can the Angels get 50 wins out of Jarrod Washburn, John Lackey and Aaron Sele? All three are coming off sub-par years after having success in the past. Darin Erstad has had only one year batting over .300 with more than 20 homers and 100+ RBI. Was that a tease? Is he overrated? The Angels have to stay healthy as they don't have much for depth.

2. The Oakland Athletics are only as good as their starters, which are the best in baseball. They have a potentially decent offense with a healthy Jermaine Dye and Eric Chavez along with newcomers, Kielty and Kotsay. But they are thin in depth and any kind of injuries will hurt them dearly. Plus, the Angels are going to be tough to play nineteen times. The Fan can't see the A's higher than second.

Leaders:
Homeruns - Eric Chavez (33)
RBI - Eric Chavez (109)
Average - Bobby Kielty (.319)
Wins - Tim Hudson (23)
Career Year - Bobby Kielty
Record - 90-72
Keys - The A's bullpen is really suspect although new closer, Arthur Rhodes has had a good start. Can Rich Harden be the fourth and final piece of the rotation puzzle? The big three are solid as ever.

3. The Texas Rangers. This is a much better Texas team this year and they have a great manager. The question mark is the same for the Rangers as it has always been: Can they get any pitching? Kenny Rogers always seems to be a gamble (do you get it?) as the number one starter. Chan Ho Park gave the Rangers a lot of hope with a great first start, but stunk up the joint today. Dickey has a lot of up sides. But there is no experienced closer and there could be a lot of 10-8 losses ahead.

Leaders:
Homeruns - Mark Teixeira (34)
RBI - Mark Teixeira (112)
Average - Laynce Nix (.324) A star is born
Wins - Kenny Rogers (17)
Career Year - Laynce Nix
Record - 81-81
Keys - Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. Can Soriano get any discipline in his game?

4. The Seattle Mariners. Yes, the mighty Mariners are sinking. You can almost hear them creak. Ichiro Suzuki's average has gone down every year and his strikeout total has gone up. The league is catching up to him. Jamie Moyer is 42. Edgar Martinez is 41. Bret Boone is 34. Cather, Dan Wilson, is 34. Jon Olerud is 36. This team is a shadow of what they were and their competition hasn't gotten easier, it's gotten tougher. The Mariners come in last for the first time in years.

Leaders:
Homeruns - Raul Ibanez (26) Therein lies the problem
RBI - Raul Ibanez (88)
Average - Ichiro Suzuki (.307)
Wins - Joel Pineiro (18)
Career Year - Raul Ibanez
Record - 75-87
Keys - What do some of this team's geezers have left?

Other Predictions:
American League:

MVP - Manny Ramirez
Cy Young - Kevin Brown
Rookie of the Year - Erik Bedard: Baltimore Orioles

AL Champion - Boston Red Sox

National League:

MVP - Sammy Sosa
Cy Young - Kerry Wood
Rookie of the Year - Khalil Green - San Diego Padres

NL Champion - Chicago Cubs

World Series - Cubs over the Red Sox in six games.