Play ball

It's the first game of the season for the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox, and they begin 2014 with hopes of repeating another title. Can they do it? Here are my predictions for the 2014 season, including division champs and individual awards.

AL East: Boston Red Sox. The expectations were low in 2013 for the Red Sox, as many picked them to finish fourth or fifth in the AL East. Not much has changed from the World Series winning team, except for the departure of Jacoby Ellsbury, and the warm arrival of Grady Sizemore to the big leagues. The bullpen added depth with Edward Mujica, and the starting rotation remains intact, and the Red Sox repeat atop their division.

AL Central: Kansas City Royals. Yeah, you read that right. You probably didn't know it, but the Royals had 86 wins in 2013, finishing 5.5 games back of the second wild card spot. Kansas City returns a young core of talented players, and if their pitching, led by ace James Shields, can stay solid, the Royals will be crowned AL Central champions.

AL West: Oakland Athletics. The Rangers and Angels made some noise this offseason, and the Mariners did as well with their signing of Robinson Cano. But the team that has figured it out is the Oakland A's, led by now-famous GM Brad Pitt Billy Beane. A young and talented team, Oakland took the Tigers to five games in the ALDS last season, and are determined to make a deeper run in October this season.

AL Wild Cards: Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays
AL MVP: Mike Trout
AL Cy Young: Yu Darvish
AL Rookie of the Year: Xander Bogaerts

NL East: Washington Nationals. The Nationals have been injury-plagued for the last couple of seasons, but I believe that this is when they put it all together. Led by dynamic duo Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg, Washington hovered around .500 at the All-Star Break, but managed to finish in the playoff picture, four games back of the second wild card. Everything goes well for the Nationals this season, including what may be a very deep playoff run.

NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals. I see no reason that anyone will dethrone the Cardinals atop the NL Central. Despite the division having three separate winners in the past three years, The Cardinal Way has remained the paradigm of success in terms of a franchise. St. Louis returns to October with another strong season.

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers. I'd like to see someone else win the division, but with the players that Los Angeles has, I can't see anyone doing it. Maybe the Giants if their pitching has a fantastic season, but the Dodgers can hurt you too many ways to miss out on the postseason.

NL Wild Cards: Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds
NL MVP: Paul Goldschmidt
NL Cy Young: Stephen Strasburg
NL Rookie of the Year: Billy Hamilton

World Series: Washington Nationals over Boston Red Sox. Yeah, yeah, say what you will about me picking the Red Sox to lose the World Series, but I'm speaking partially in terms of superstition here. There were absolutely no expectations for this team in 2013, and they went all the way. If everyone takes the Red Sox to repeat, where is there room for error? How can they exceed expectations? Only one of the 30 MLB teams can win the last game of the season, and while the Red Sox are certainly capable of doing so for the second year in a row, the Nationals' firepower and youth will win out in the end. But let's hope I'm wrong.