Pedro Gomez is predicting an Angels-Dodgers World Series!

It would be great if ESPN's Pedro Gomes was right. An All SoCal World Series would be great for me and the sports radio biz in LA, but Pedro backed off of this pick when he joined me on Th Steve Mason Show on Monday. (Here the conversation here.)

Gomez, and me for that matter, are shaky about the Angels because of the loss of Cy Young contenders Kelvim Escobar (for the year) and John Lackey (for a month or so). Thank God that the Halos traded Orlando Cabrera for John Garland or they would be in even bigger trouble.

Here are my thoughts on the 2008 season. I'm calling for an Indians-Dodgers World Series with, regrettably, the Tribe winning it all.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
MY PICK: RED SOX
No Curt Schilling to the All-Star break…
Josh Beckett should be available this month, but can he stay healthy….
Dice-K is solid…
Wakefield is Wakefield…
Jon Lester and Clay Bucholz show flashes of greatness…
Love the 2 kids at the top of the lineup….Elsbury and Pedroia….setting up Big Papi and Manny.
Okajima and Papelbon in the bullpen….

AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL
MY PICK: INDIANS
Sabbathia, Fausto Carmona and Jake Westbrook give them a great 1-2-3
Joe Borowski somehow gets it done as closer…
Grady Sizemore is a star…
Great young hitters…with lots of upside….
Asdrubal Cabrera, Ryan Garko, Franklin Guttierez, Jhonny Peralta…

I'm not as high on Detroit, and I think that they'll miss the playoffs.
The Tigrs lineup is filled with aging stars…
Ivan Rodriguez – 37
Placido Polanco – 33
Garry Sheffield – 40
Magglio Ordonez – 34
Carlos Guillen – 33
Edgar Renteria – 33
Jacque Jones – 33
Only 2 starters under 30…
Miguel Cabrera and Brandon Inge…
Justin Verlander is a stud, but Jeremy Bonderman is inconsistent…Kenny Rogers is old…Not sold on Dontrelle Willis…
& Todd Jones may be the shakiest full-time closer in baseball…

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST
MY PICK: MARINERS
Love the 1-2 of Feliz Hernandez and Erik Bedard
Carlos Silva, Miguel Batista and Jarrod Washburne all had ERAs under 4.4 last year…
JJ Putz…big time closer
Ichiro at the top of the lineup…
3 good young players improving…
2b Jose Lopez showing flashes of power…
C Kenji Johjima
SS Yuneski Betencourt
Sexson and Beltre are hurt by the ballpark, but will still drive in runs.

AL WILD CARD
MY PICK: ANGELS
Loss of Kelvim Escobar is devastating…
John Lackey gone for at least a month…
Jered Weaver was great in spring training…
Jon Garland is a huge get…
Joe Saunders needs to step up…
Everin Santana will bounce back…
Bullpen is a excellent and better when Scot Shields comes back…

AL CY YOUNG – Erik Bedard
AL MVP – Grady Sizemore
AL ROY – Jacoby Elsbury

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST
MY PICK: BRAVES
I know everybody loves the Mets.
The Braves have a killer core of young guys…
Mark Texiera
Brian McCann
Kelly Johnson
Jeff Francour
Matt Diaz
Yunel Escobar hit 300 in 300+ abs last year…

Like the old starters…
Glavine and smoltz one more time…
Tim Hudson is still solid…
Mike Hampton had a terrific spring
Jair Jurjens is a sleeper…was solid with Detroit in stretches last year…

Like Peter Moylen setting up Rafael Soriano

NATIONAL LEAGUE CENTRAL
MY PICK: MILWAUKEE
Another team with a great core of young players who have a high ceiling.
Prince Fielder
Rickie Weeks
JJ Hardy
Ryan Braun
Corey Hart

Rotation….Love Ben Sheets…
Dave Bush will bounce back…
Manny Parra is a budding star…
Love Carlos Villanueva in the 5 spot…

Eric Gagne will bomb…
Guillermo Mota will wind up setting up David Riske…

NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST
MY PICK: DODGERS
Excellent balance and deep bench. These guys either are already or will be stars.
Matt Kemp
Andre Ethier
Russell Martin
James Loney

Great rotation….Chad Billingsley will pitch like a #1 starter…
Hiroki Kuroda will win ROY. Can't go wrong with Penny and Lowe.
Saito is a money closer
Joe Torre heals old wounds.

NL WILD CARD
MY PICK: METS
Johan Santana is a superstar John Maine is solid.
Pedro (already hurt) and El Duque…big question marks…
Like Oliver Perez a lot.

Delgado is tailed off. Catcher is a "black hole."….Endy Chavez in LF??? …Luis Castillo at 2B??? This team is all about the 2 "R's." Wright and Reyes.

NL MVP – David Wright
NL CY YOUNG – Ben Sheets
NL ROY – Hiroki Kuroda