Each of the writers here at Baseball Digest Daily was asked to put on their predictor caps and pick winners of this years Divisional Series round. Here’s how things shook out:

There are some interesting trends here, most notably, that each writer believes that the Rays will not only win their first playoff game as a franchise, but will also move onto the American League Championship Series. In a re-match of 2007, the writers picked the Angels to take care of the Red Sox this time around. Seven of nine writers believe the Phillies will have their way with the Brew Crew. And there is a toss-up between the Cubs and Dodgers in what should be a very exciting first round match up.

C. Brown:

Rays over the White Sox in three. Tampa wins the first two games at the Trop and then closes it out in Chicago. Chicago’s bats stay in hibernation against superior Tampa pitching.

Angels over the Red Sox in four. Lester shines in Game One as Lackey continues his late season slide.  But LAnaheim takes the next three.

Dodgers over the Cubs in four. The Cubs have the best lineup in the NL, but the Dodgers have the pitching to make this a good match up.

Phillies over the Brewers in three. Milwaukee’s stay in the post season is short as their bullpen blows leads in two of the three games.

T. Davis:

Angels over Sox in four. Boston is just too banged up to deal with the Angels.

Rays over ChiSox in three. The ChiSox used up their mojo to get to the playoffs and scoring a run isn’t going to help against the Rays.

Brewers over Phillies in four. This is a heart pick more than anything, the last time the Brewers were in the playoffs my Uncle was still the head trainer. It’s a family thing.

Dodgers over Cubs in five. This is really a tough call, and I’m really not sure.

B. Joseph:

Angels over Red Sox in four. Even if Boston wasn’t banged up, the Angels are just better this year.

Rays over White Sox in three. Rays are too good at home and White Sox pitchers have to be getting tired.

Cubs over Dodgers in five. Still not sure I’m sold on my pick here.

Phillies over Brewers in four. If Sabathia was pitching Game One, things would be different.

M. Street:

Los Angeles over Boston in five. Boston’s too dinged up to compete, but this might be the best match up in the playoffs.

Tampa Bay over Chicago in four. The Miracle Season continues! Too many games in too many days for the White Sox to put up a fight.

Chicago over LA in four. Cubs, too, continue their march to destiny. LA struggled with the NL West–how can they hope to compete against the NL’s best team?

Phillies over Brew Crew in five. If Sabathia could pitch every inning of every game, Milwaukee would win. But Philadelphia’s too deep and Milwaukee whiffs too much to make this a contest.

R. McQuown:

Rays over ChiSox. Sure, sometimes the teams which have to fight hard to get in carry that momentum into the playoffs. But not this year. This Rays team won the powerhouse AL East, and no 89-win team is going to knock them off.

Boston over Angels. Injuries are hard to assess, and Drew, Lowell, and Beckett have been big parts of the Red Sox success this year. Without them contributing significantly, Boston could end up adding 3 more wins to the Angels total of 100.

Cubs over the Dodgers. Not a very good match up for the Cubs, actually, and the injuries make this far from a slam-dunk. But they have a lot of talent, and Manny only fills one lineup slot.

Phils over Brewers. Potentially two starts by CC could make it interesting, but the Phils have a lot of weapons, and should win before it gets to Game 5. The Brewers do hit lefties well, though, so the Phils may have to rely on their bullpen advantage.

E. SanInocencio:

Angels over Red Sox in five. While playoff battles have ensued, people forget the team with the best record in all of baseball is Los Angeles. Mark Texieira explodes in his first playoff series, and Shields and KRod remain unhittable as Boston struggles out west.

Rays over Chicago in five. The Trop is thunderous, and Cinderella avoids midnight. Whoever comes into Tampa will be spent both emotionally and on the mound, and will run into a buzzsaw of youth and energy as the Rays continue to make history.

Cubs over Dodgers in four. Cubs pitching too strong, and Joe Torre falters in the first round for another year.

Phillies over Brewers in four. Milwaukee’s magical run was great TV, but put them in terrible shape against a rested Philly rotation. CC tries to remain unhuman, but Brad Lidge locks down the late innings for the Phils.

B. Baer:

Angels over Red Sox in four.

Rays over White Sox in three.

Phillies over Brewers in four.

Dodgers over Cubs in five.

B. Heikoop:

Rays over White Sox in five. I worry that the firey Scott Kazmir will be too emotional, not giving the Rays a key opening victory.

Angels over Red Sox in three. The Angels finally have enough fire power to take down the Sox.

Dodgers over Cubs in four. The Dodgers steal one at Wrigley and continue their hot play to win the series.

Brewers over Phillies in five. The Brewers only win when Sabathia and Gallardo pitch, lucky for them, CC can take the mound in games two and five with Gallardo being available out of the pen for games three and four.
There you have it, the writers picks for the Divisional Series. I hope everyone is as excited as we are for the up coming match ups.