ESPN "Experts" Picks: An Analysis

So, the team over at ESPN has made their picks for the 2008 MLB Season. Nothing too shocking in the results, but I thought I'd compile their picks and look at the results. Here it is for your amusement.

Playoff Probably/Division Win/Wild Card (in %; out of 19 analysts)
Chicago Cubs - 100/89/11
Boston Red Sox - 95/73/22
Detroit Tigers - 79/53/28
Cleveland Indians - 79/47/33
New York Mets - 68/47/21
Los Angeles Angels - 58/53/5
Atlanta Braves - 53/37/16
Arizona Diamondbacks - 53/42/11
Seattle Mariners - 47/47/0
Los Angeles Dodgers - 42/37/5
New York Yankees - 37/27/11
Philadelphia Phillies - 32/11/21
Milwaukee Brewers - 26/11/16
Colorado Rockies - 11/11/0
San Diego Padres - 11/11/0

*Note: There is 1 less AL Wild Card pick because Pedro Gomez picked the AL Wild Card to be the Cubs and the NL Wild Card to be the Mets. He also picked the Brewers to win the AL Centrals and the Tigers to win the NL Central. He's on the ball.

World Series Winners (%, out of 19)
Detroit Tigers - 32
Cleveland Indians - 16
Atlanta Braves - 11
Boston Red Sox - 11
Chicago Cubs - 11
New York Mets - 11
Los Angeles Dodgers - 5
Los Angeles Angels - 5


So it seems that ESPN likes the Detroit Tigers to win it all this year, and they are a worthy pick. Their bullpen is a little iffy, but bullpens are bullpens - they are hard to predict. The Cubs might be a mortal lock on the NL Central. The AL West looks like a battle between the Angels and the Mariners (and the Angels starters look shaky right now). The Red Sox look in good shape in the AL East while the NL East could be up for grabs between the Braves (who did better on this than I expected) and the Mets. Disappointments? Nary a mention of Cincinnati or Toronto and only 2 appearances by last year's postseason darlings, the Rockies. Sorry folks!