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2008 MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE PREDICTIONS

Spring is in the air which can only mean one thing. The 2008 Major League Baseball season is just one week away! In this article we'll take a look at the 2008 MLB season and offer some predictions with a twist. Rather than give you our own personal predictions, we'll analyze what the baseball bettors of the world think by taking a look at which teams they have been favoring when betting on the number of wins each team will have this year. There are some sharp bettors playing into those numbers, so let's see of we can find a few surprises for 2008. Might be fun to check back on this article come October to see how these predictions faired.

Let's start with the American League. We'll look at the AL East first. No surprises here as bettors think this will be a two team race between the Red Sox and Yankees with the Blue Jays sitting in 3rd and maybe even picking up some ground if either Yanks or Bosox falter. The Bosox numbers remain unchanged which means bettors feel the original number of 93.5 to 94 wins is about right for the Sox. Likewise with the Yanks. There number is 93.5 wins and remains unchanged. The Blue Jays are getting some action, with most bettors feeling that they will win more than the 85.5 games the oddsmakers initially posted. Not much more though. The team most likely to be improved in the AL East according to the thousands of fans betting on these propositions, is the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Oddsmakers perhaps posted a bad number as they initially put the D-Rays as low as 72.5 wins on the year. Bettors pounded that number to where it now sits at 76. So, our predictions for the American League East based on analyzing betting trends are as follows :

AL East

Yankees

Bosox

Devil Rays

Blue Jays

Orioles

Next, let's take a look at the American League Central Division. Once again, the bettors think it's a two team race between the Indians and Tigers. The Tigers initial predicted number of wins according to the sportsbooks was 93.5. But the action came in on the under in that one as it looks like the betting public feels the number should be closer to 91 or 92. The Indians number hasn't budged from it's opener of 90 wins. So it looks like a close race between these two. Injuries and slumps could decide it. The rest of the AL Central looks a little more interesting as the Twins, Royals and Chisox are lumped fairly close together. It looks like the surprise team could be the Kansas City Royals. The number of wins initially predicted for the Royals was 71.5. Bettors pounded the Royals to where they now sit at 76, a clear choice for 3rd. We'll put the Chisox in 4th and the Twins in the Basement. So our AL Central predictions are as follows :

AL Central

Tigers

Indians

Royals

White Sox

Twins

Out in the West, it looks like the race is over before the season starts. That, according to those who place wagers on baseball futures. The Angels are the clear choice to win the West with 92 wins. The next closes team would be the Mariners though bettors aren't exactly high on them as they opened as high as 66.5 at some sportsbooks and the under has been pounded. Looks like their number should be closer to 82 or 83. It doesn't look line the baseball prognosticators have much faith in the next two teams, the Texas Rangers and Oakland A's so we won't make an upset pick in the West. Our American League West predictions are as follows:

AL West

Angels

Mariners

Rangers

A's

So there you have it folks. No big surprises in the American League. The playoff race looks likely to include the Yankees, Bosox, Tigers, Indians and Angels. If we had to add one shocker to our list of predictions after analyzing the pre season betting trends we use the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Be sure to check out our 2008 National League baseball predictions

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