After 6 months of baseball the regular season has finally come to an end and the field of contenders, who will compete to be crowned World Series Champions 2009, is set. Starting on Wednesday, the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins/Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies will battle it out in the playoffs. Who is best equipped to win it all? Who’s got the best rotation? The best bullpen? Which team has the best line-up?

I’ll break down the 8 teams in 4 Divisional Series and try to predict the outcome of the baseball playoffs 2009:

American League Divisional Series

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs Boston Red Sox

Unlike the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins/Detroit Tigers both teams will have to operate with a 4-man rotation, provided there are more than 3 games in this series. Regardless, the Angels as well as the Red Sox will boast a tremendous rotation:

The probable starters for the Halos are John Lackey, Jered Weaver, Scott Kazmir and Joe Saunders. Ervin Santana is expected to go to the bullpen.

Lackey and Weaver have been solid all season long and Scott Kazmir has been on fire since his trade from the Tampa Bay Rays. Joe Saunders went through a rough patch in midseason but had his best month of the season in September.

The Boston Red Sox will likely start the series with Jon Lester. Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka are the other starting pitchers.

Jon Lester has become one of the best left-handed starters in the game and Clay Buchholz proved to be a useful part of the rotation. Dice-K had severe early season struggles and spent a lengthy period of time on the DL but has been outstanding since. His ERA in September was 1.96 and 3.00 in one start in October.

I think that both rotations are nearly equally good but I give a slight, very slight advantage to the Boston Red Sox.

It looks a little different when you compare the bullpens. Los Angeles’ season ERA is 4.53 compared to Boston’s 3.82.

Los Angeles’ key players will be Darren Oliver and Brian Fuentes. Oliver has a pretty good 2.75 ERA on the season, whereas Fuentes’ ERA is 3.95. The closer could be made out as the weak spot as he is very inconsistent, though he converted 48 of 55 save opportunities.

Boston’s relievers look much more dominating. Billy Wagner has a season ERA of 1.72 and Jonathan Papelbon’s is 1.88. Boston’s closer has to be considered as one of the best in the Majors. He converted 38 of 41 save opportunities.

When the game’s going to be handed over to the respective bullpens Boston can feel much more confident. Clear advantage for the Red Sox.

The Angels are the best batting team in the Majors with a .285 batting average this season. The Red Sox are only batting .269 but they’ve been catching up in September. 

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have the better line-up in my opinion and I give them the advantage there, if only by a small margin.

Prediction: Los Angeles Angels of Anheim vs Boston Red Sox 1-3.

this article is courtesy of novafantasysports.com