He led the majors in RBIs and runs scored last year. He's hit 243 homers in the last four years. Sammy Sosa's better and younger than Barry Bonds, and twice as likable. The guy can barely speak English, continually makes cryptic hand gestures, swings at everything and carries thousands of dollars around in hotel towels. With Alou and McGriff protecting him, he'll take his second MVP.

One word: NO-MAR. His dad named him "Ramon" backward. He should have named him PVM. His development was interrupted by the wrist injury, but now he'll pick up where he left off before last year's 22-game season and post the kind of numbers that make the Fenway faithful love this guy more than any BoSox player since Teddy Ballgame.

How about the entire Rockies, Dbacks and White Sox teams? These guys come to Tucson every year and hit up all the bars, bragging about how they're pro baseball players and stealing all of our women. Especially this Casey Daigle character. The guy goes 10-10 in single-A ball and somehow bags one of the most eligible women on campus. What a travesty.

We have gotten some letters here at the Wildcat about there being a SoCal bias at this newspaper. So based on this, I'm going to prove everyone wrong. I'm not picking the Dodgers to win the NL but picking the Mets. Actually, I will take anybody just as long as it is not the Diamondbacks. Can you say Florida Marlins? Go Mets!

Maybe it's the influence of Passover or maybe it's that he has one of the sweetest swings in baseball, but Shawn Green will win … never mind. Green, the greatest Jewish athlete since Danny Schayes, will not be the NL MVP this year. It will be Todd Helton. Talk about a nice swing. Peyton Manning's former backup is the best the NL has to offer.

I have been playing fantasy everything for years, and I have never gotten the first pick in a draft. This year I did. I drafted Alex Rodriguez. I know, ladies, he's dreamy. However, in fantasy baseball his dashing good looks don't mean a thing and all that matters are his awesome numbers. Expect a .330 batting average with 60 HR and 160 RBIs.

Jose Canseco is once again jobless. He needs to somehow find a team so he can hit 38 homeruns to reach 500 and assure himself a spot in Cooperstown. If he does not get picked up by his 11th team this season, Canseco will get arrested after disguising himself as someone who can still play baseball and trying to get on some MLB field.

The St. Louis Cardinals' loss of first baseman Mark McGwire has been completely overblown. Last year, they reached the playoffs with him batting .187 on the season. Ex- New Yorker Tino Martinez and new closer Jason Isringhausen give them the extra edge. The 2001 Rookie of the Year Albert Pujols will have a down year, but the offense will send joy in Budville.
AL Pennant

The Yanks have reloaded again this year, adding reliever Steve Karsay and left fielder Rondell White. But most importantly, they also added two-time defending Most Valuable Player Jason Giambi. With these additions, hopefully MLB commissioner Bud Selig makes them play "beer ball," Giambi's forte.
NL Most Valuable Player

Montreal's Vladimir Guerrero will finally get the recognition he deserves. The guy is the most gifted athlete in the game and an unconscious five-tool player, playing the game not knowing a lick of English. His success points to the fact that he plays Nintendo 64's recent edition of Major League Baseball, facing his Expos against the night's opponent and starting pitcher.

Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki will pick up last year's elusive MVP after winning the AL Rookie of the Year and a Gold Glove. However, after a loss to the Yankees in the ALCS, Ichiro sat with his back to the media and gave one-word answers to his translator in Japanese. What a punk.

Arizona's Randy Johnson will get charged for exposure. His face looks like someone put out a grease fire with a pick-axe. It makes you wonder why his hot wife has given him children and loyalty - I think it's probably because he's got free season tickets to the Phoenix Suns, a perk in his contract.

I might just be the "dumb girl" who runs this show, but the Dbacks deserve the pennant. So Randy Johnson isn't the most attractive man on earth. He's damn good with his hands … er, arm. And the Diamondbacks were the fastest expansion team to win the World Series (I love that the one fact I know about baseball comes into play here).

I think I'm a sellout here by saying the Yankees deserve the pennant, but they did play one hell of a series. And, if I wasn't such a homer (man I'm so cool using these sports terms), I would have probably rooted for the Yanks anyway. So I'm just going to be completely unoriginal and pick last year's best teams.

I was set to pick Josh Becket of the Marlins. But I mistakenly clicked on the player below him on the team roster and golly gee - the kid who popped up on the screen has the SAME last name as me. What a small world. So I pick A.J. Burnett. And he's good looking. But then again, so are all members of the Burnett clan.

I tried to pick someone for AL MVP who I thought was a truly great player. Then I realized I know jack about baseball and consulted my good friend and former editor in chief, Ryan Finley. He suggested Derek Jeter. He's pretty cute too, so I guess I'll second his nomination.

Hey, does Darryl Strawberry still play? Oh wait, I forgot - he was already arrested … several times. This category is so inconsequential it's not even funny. The fact that the sports editor had to ask me if he could even have this category supports this statement. I could throw out an arbitrary name, but I'd probably get sued, so let's just leave it at that.