Making predictions is a fool's errand. Having some analytical chops doesn't do much good either. If it did, Bill James, Nate Silver and Marcel the Monkey would all own their own islands. Of course, that's not going to stop me.

Dodgers in 6. Love the Dodgers' bullpen advantage, and I can't imagine Joe Torre makes the same mistake that Jim Tracy made in spoon-feeding righty pitchers to Ryan Howard in late-game, high-leverage situations. Expect to see a lot of lefty eraser George Sherrill against both Howard and running mate Chase Utley. The gap in starting pitching isn't nearly as big as we might have figured, before watching the Dodgers arms go to work against the Cardinals in Round 1. Look for big series from Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp, and for the Dodgers to go to the World Series for the first time since this happened.

Yankees in 5.John Lackey and Jered Weaver looked absolutely dominant against the Red Sox in the LDS. But Boston's arsenal of left-handed bats is no match for New York's. The Yankees could tee off against the Angels' top two righty starters, with Weaver's flyball tendencies in particular a terrible match for the short right-field porch of Yankee Stadium and a lineup that includes lefty homer-capable bats in Damon, Cano, Posada, Swisher, Matsui and Teixeira, as well as opposite field power from A-Rod and Jeter. Much has been debate about the possibility of the Yankees going to a three-man rotation, but it might not be needed if the matchups play out as expected. Phil Hughes' emergence in the bullpen gives the Yankees a 1-2 late-inning punch the Angels can't match, though that's just icing here. This is a very good Angels team with a lot more offense than they've had in the past. But the Yankees figure to be too much to handle.