When the Blue Jays came a purler in the 2009 season, turning in a disappointing year where a strong one was expected, it basically destroyed all of my long-term hope for the Jays.

Ten years, ten winning records for the Red Sox. The difference this year is that for the first time in ten years Theo Epstein is no longer at the helm. Of course, that won't make much of a difference for this year's version, which was mostly assembled by Epstein, and I'm not trying to suggest the Sox' fate will necessarily change for the worse with Ben Cherington at the helm, especially since Cherington has actually been with the organization since before Epstein arrived and has had plenty of experience observing one of the best decision-makers in the game (and probably contributing positively towards many of the Sox' moves over the years), but it will certainly be interesting to see what direction the new front office takes when it comes time to make some big decisions.

Regardless of the future, though, the 2012 team is very good. Let's dive in.

Casey Blake was cut by the Rockies on Tuesday. Suffering from nagging injuries and nearing 40, it might be the end of the line for him. So, it’s time to pay a little bit of appreciation to a man who deserves to be known as the man who was traded for Carlos Santana

Seems to be Prediction Day here at the old corral. Step right up and put your pride on the line.

It's that time again! The results for last year's contest were just posted a couple weeks ago, so go check them out if you haven't seen them, then come back here and make your predictions for this year!

Edit: removed my predictions so as not to influence others... a little late, but whatever.

The Mariners knocked off the Athletics, 3-1 in 11 innings in Tokyo this morning; the win was engineerd in part behind the four-hit performance of -- who else? -- Seattle's new #3 hitter, Ichiro Suzuki.

Brandon league is leading the Majors in saves and is on "pace" to nail down 162 this season, while the inimitable Ichiro's pace will shatter all records as he knocks out a remarkable 648 base hits.

It's time for the annual survey, and I'm hoping you guys work your magic once more.

http://www.tangotiger.net/survey/

With the regular season opener in Japan between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics, the POTD looks back at a noteworthy accomplishment from baseball's best Japanese import at the Dome two years ago.

As you've hopefully noticed we've started running our 2012 previews - the other divisions last week, the AL East this week, with the Jays to follow next week. I used this as an opportunity to look back at some of the predictions we made at the start of the 2011 season, and thought that this would be a good opportunity for self mockery. We here at the Box are nothing if not humble.

Right back in there again, toe-to-toe with the Yankees and Red Sox.

So, Orioles... how've you been this year? Haven't checked in with you since the preview I wrote last year. People were expecting a lot from you, maybe even a fourth-place finish in the East, ahead of those overrated Blue Jays.

Travis Snider has been send down to AAA, thus leaving LF to Eric Thames.

Edit: Dustin McGowan has a new 2 + 1 year deal - 2013/2014 guaranteed ($1.5 per year) plus an option year in 2015 at $4 mil.

Proving that great minds think alike, Niall and I both chose similar formats, as I’ll also be asking discrete questions about each of the AL West teams. Given that the AL West has four teams to the NL Central’s six, I'll ask and answer three for each team.

All five of these teams have a realistic shot at winning the division.

(No, that is not a misprint. Yes, I am picking the Mets.)

The National League Central is the home of the defending World Series Champions and two of the four teams that reached the playoffs in 2011.  Ergo, it's the best division in baseball! ;D  This preview will ask 12 probing queries and maybe provide some insight of what you can expect in 2012.