Cleveland Shocks Oakland for Shot at Cubs in World Series

MLB Playoff Prediction
American League Divisional Series
No. 1 seed CLE over no. 4 seed BOS in 4 games.
No. 2 seed OAK over no. 3 seed TAM in 4 games.

National League Divisional Series
No. 1 seed CHC over no. 3 seed ATL in 4 games.
No. 2 seed ARI over no. 4 seed HOU in 4 games.

American League Championship Series
No. 1 seed CLE over no. 2 seed OAK in 6 games.

National League Championship Series
No. 1 seed CHC over no. 2 seed ARI in 4 games.

*** World Series ***
*** No. 1 seed CHC over no. 1 seed CLE in 5 games. ***

Well, look at that. Cleveland ascends the playoff ladder by leaps and bounds after last night's sweep of Oakland. Not only are they now first in the AL Central, but they are on pace to win 94 games and the top seed in the American League playoffs. Thanks to a slight home field advantage, the Indians power past Boston and Oakland to face Chicago in the 2008 World Series.

Except for their division lead, the Indians would be in a very good position in our Watch List (we ignore teams who are first in their division, simply because they are already on the public radar). Cleveland is scoring 25% more runs than they allow, their play over the past couple weeks is rated 5th in baseball, and their runs scored/allowed against strength of schedule is 2nd in Major League Baseball (thanks to impressive scoring and series wins against the Blue Jays and Yankees).

On the other hand, the Indians' schedule has been fairly pedestrian (18th overall); for every Oakland they play, there is a Kansas City or Seattle the next week. We'll have to wait for future series to clear things up. But this next month should be a cakewalk:

- @ Cincinnati (#21 overall)
- @ Chicago Sox (#13)
- Texas (#24)
- Chicago Sox (#13)
- @ Kansas City (#26)
- @ Texas (#24)
- @ Detroit (#28)
- Minnesota (#23)
- San Diego (#27)
- @ Colorado (#25)

Cleveland ought to coast through May/June and solidify their division lead.

MLB Division Rankings
1 - NL-C
2 - NL-E
3 - AL-E
4 - AL-C
5 - AL-W
6 - NL-W

AL Power Ratings
1 - TAM
2 - BOS
3 - OAK
4 - CLE
5 - CHW
6 - NYY
7 - BAL
8 - TOR
9 - LAA
10 - MIN
11 - TEX
12 - KAN
13 - DET
14 - SEA

NL Power Ratings
1 - CHC
2 - ARI
3 - HOU
4 - FLA
5 - ATL
6 - NYM
7 - LAD
8 - PHI
9 - PIT
10 - MIL
11 - STL
12 - CIN
13 - WAS
14 - COL
15 - SDG
16 - SFO