My 2011 MLB season predictions were a little off this year.

I said the A’s would win the AL West and they actually finished 22 games out of first.

I said the White Sox would win the AL Central and they just traded their manager to another team, which sums up how well they did this year.

I said the Giants would repeat as National League champions and in doing so I cursed Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Freddy Sanchez and the 900 other players they placed on the DL this season.

I had the Braves winning the NL Wild Card and we all know how that turned out. Yiiiiiikes.

While I did have the Phillies winning the NL East and the Yankees making the postseason as the AL Wild Card, those were gimmies. My only claim to fame was predicting the Brewers to win the NL Central, although when you have the Red Sox winning the World Series and they don’t even make the postseason you have no right to brag about anything.

So if you’re offended by my postseason predictions below, don’t be. Chances are I’ll be wrong anyway.

ALDS: Yankees over Tigers.
I don’t trust the Yankees’ pitching but I trust it more than I trust Doug Fister. Justin Verlander was the best pitcher in the American League this season but he’s had a knack for coming up short on the road throughout the years. Knowing the Yankees they’ll be down in every game of this series and figure out some way to advance. Derek Jeter will be 16-for-18 with 11 doubles and one game-winning home run or something ridiculous.

NLDS: Phillies over Cardinals.
The Phillies did the Cardinals a favor by beating Atlanta but if I were them, I would have wanted the downtrodden Braves to advance. That team would have just been happy to reach the postseason after a miserable September. Nevertheless, the Phillies’ pitching will dominate the hot-and-cold St. Louis lineup and the Cardinals’ pitching will fail them in Philadelphia. They’ve got Edwin Jackson slated to start Game 2 in that bandbox the Phillies’ call a stadium, which should work out well considering he’s a fly ball pitcher. (Read: sarcasm.)

ALDS: Rangers over Rays
I love the Rays and I would rather see a small market team like them reach the postseason in dramatic fashion than an underachieving Boston club. But Texas’ starting rotation is deep and was the first AL team since 1977 to have five pitchers with 13 or more victories. That’s an amazing stat when you consider Cliff Lee is no longer a part of the rotation. On the other side, the Rays will throw two rookies (Jeremy Hellickson and Michael Moore) and a guy in David Price who always seems to come up short in big games. I don’t like this matchup for the feel-good Rays, although Joe Maddon deserves to be the AL Manager of the Year with the work he did in Tampa this season. The guy has done great things despite being handcuffed by a cheap front office.

NLDS: Diamondbacks over Brewers
I get the impression that everyone believes the D-Backs are just happy to be here. But let me tell you something: This team does all the little things right. They pitch well, they steal bases, they play good defense and they get just enough offense to win ballgames. The Brewers have more overall talent but I like the NL West to reach the NLCS again this year.

ALCS: Rangers over Yankees
Again, I just don’t trust New York’s rotation. The Yankees relied on Sabathia and a three-man rotation en route to their last World Series title in 2009 but CC is running out of gas this time around. I know Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia have good numbers but toss in A.J. Burnett and this rotation seems awfully combustible to me. Without Lee, I thought Texas wouldn’t even make the playoffs. But I’ve seen the error of my ways and like the Rangers to repeat in the American League.

NLCS: Phillies over Diamondbacks
While I do like Arizona’s chances of advancing past the first round I don’t think we’ll see a repeat of last season when Philadelphia’s bats fall silent in the NLCS. The Diamondbacks’ pitching is good but the Giants’ arms were special last October. Plus, I don’t see how the Phils don’t make the World Series with the rotation they have. It’s just too good. Bonus for Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee: No Cody Ross this year.

World Series: Phillies over Rangers
Yeah, I’m picking the favorite: what of it? Pitching, pitching, pitching…both of these teams have the starting rotation s to reach the Fall Classic and in the end, I see Texas coming up short again. I really like what the Phillies did at the trade deadline in acquiring Hunter Pence. To think Giants’ GM Brian Sabean gave away one of the best pitching prospects in baseball for a 34-year-old rental in Carlos Beltran when he maybe could have had a 28-year-old Pence for much less is just absurd. (Not to mention a 28-year-old Pence who is under team control.) Phils in six.

“Looking at the guy, I don’t think it’s the first time he’s done that.”

A day after GM Kevin Towers said that he would be open to trading young outfielder Justin Upton, teams have come calling.

Initial reports are that the Rockies, Marlins and Red Sox are all interested in dealing with Towers, although the GM’s asking price is believed to be ridiculous. It may take up to four or five prospects to move Upton, but teams have already started kicking the tires on a potential deal.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal has been all over the Upton trade rumors thus far. He’s reporting that the Blue Jays are showing “strong interest” and that the Mariners could construct a deal centered around pitching prospect Michael Pineda.

While the Rockies are believed to have inquired about Upton, Towers is determined not to trade the outfielder within the NL West. That means Colorado, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco are out of luck. Atlanta is probably out as well after acquiring Dan Uggla for a paint-by-numbers coloring book and a half-eaten turkey melt.

Talks between Towers and the Red Sox have apparently cooled, but Boston is showing more interest than the Yankees at this point. Arizona is looking for at least four prospects in return for Upton and aging teams like New York are reluctant to part with that many farm players. Still, if the Red Sox are interested, the Yankees are interested (even though the Bombers may have no place to put Upton in their outfield).

Much like the Cliff Lee situation, new rumors will surface daily about where Upton may wind up. It’ll be interesting to see how this story unfolds over the next couple of weeks.

The deal isn’t completed yet, but once it is the Diamondbacks should reap the rewards of hiring a man that should still be employed by the Padres.

Kevin Towers led the Padres to four division championships and an appearance in the 1998 World Series when he was their general manager from 1995 until he was fired in October of last year. He was let go after two losing seasons in 2008 and 2009, yet before he was canned he built the team that has shocked everyone in 2010. (As of this writing, the Padres are clinging to a one-game lead in the NL West.)

Towers was the person that traded for Adrian Gonzalez following the 2004 season – the same deal that also brought starter Chris Young to San Diego. He also drafted Jake Peavy in the 15th round (472nd overall) of the 1999 MLB Draft and then traded him to the White Sox for, among others, starter Clayton Richard, who is now a valuable piece of the Padres’ future.

San Diego is in first place right now largely because of the success of Richard and Mat Latos (another one of Towers’ draft picks), an outstanding bullpen, Gonzalez and Jon Garland.

Outside of Garland, Towers had a hand in all of the above factors that have attributed to the Padres’ success in 2010. When he left, the San Diego front office did next to nothing to improve the team in the offseason and even thought about trading Gonzalez on several occasions last winter.

Granted, Towers is just one man and it takes a team of scouts and personnel directors to run a baseball team. But given his track record, two losing seasons shouldn’t have cost him his job in San Diego.

No matter – he’s going to be Arizona’s GM soon enough and considering the Diamondbacks are a team that has underachieved over the last couple of seasons, he’s the right man for the job. The club needs an experienced leader – someone that know how to build through the draft and with youth – and that’s what they’ll get out of Towers.

It might take a year or two, but Arizona should be competing again soon.

With a player left to be named later as part of the deal, there’s still time for the Diamondbacks to even out the trade they struck with the Angels, who acquired starter Dan Haren on Sunday.

But as the deal currently stands now, the D’Backs were fleeced.

Haren is a 29-year-old front-of-the-rotation starter who is under team control through the 2013 season. The Angels aren’t getting a rental player here – they acquired a legitimate ace that should dramatically improve their team over the next three seasons, assuming Haren doesn’t go Scott Kazmir on them.

In exchange for Haren, Arizona received lefties Joe Saunders and Patrick Corbin, righty Rafael Rodriguez and a player to be named later. That’s the epitome of “meh” in deal that netted one team an ace pitcher.

Saunders was outstanding in 2008, but his 2010 numbers (4.62 ERA in 20 starts) appear to be his norm. He’s more of a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher, but in Arizona he’ll likely be viewed as the ace.

Corbin is a fringe reliever, while Rodriguez is a prospect that probably won’t be able to help the club until 2013. And even then, he doesn’t project as a stud in the long-term.

Granted, there’s always more going on in a trade like this than what meets the eye – and I’m not just talking about the PTBNL. Just one example is what the D’Backs do with the money they saved by trading Haren. If their front office gets creative and can help this team get back into contention in 2012 or 2013, then maybe we’ll look back on this trade as one of the components to making that happen. And who knows, maybe the PTBNL will help the D’Backs win in the long-term, where as Haren (who has been struggling this year remember) may have only played the star on a bad team for three more years and then bolted via free agency.

Arizona fans have the right to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to this trade. Maybe it’ll wind up being more even in the end when we look back. But on the surface, L.A. definitely got the better end of the deal. Considering what they gave up, it’s hard to believe that another team didn’t put together a more attractive package and stole Haren for the stretch run.

Multiple sources say the relationship between Byrnes and Derrick Hall, the Diamondbacks President and CEO, was strained.

The club has called a news conference for 10 a.m. Friday at Chase Field.

“These decisions come as a first and major step in our thorough evaluation of our team,” Hall said in a statement. “We have all been disappointed in the results over the last few years, and we have come to the conclusion that a change in the leadership of our baseball operations staff is necessary at this time. This franchise has enjoyed tremendous success over the years, and we want to get back to our winning ways. The loyal staff of this organization, as well as all of our fans, hopes for and deserves better results on the field.”

The Diamondbacks went 349-378 in Byrnes’ nearly 4 1/2 seasons running the club’s baseball operations department.

Hinch, who was promoted controversially from farm director to manager in May 2009 despite not having any coaching experience, went 89-123.

Not a total shock. The D-Backs have sunk to the bottom of the NL West with not much hope of turning things around. Injuries to the pitching staff have been an issue, but the club’s young offensive talent hasn’t developed either. While that’s not always the manager’s fault, he’s usually the way that gets the hook in the end.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to watch Rockies’ ace Ublado Jimenez carve up an opponent this year, then consider yourself among the unfortunate.

Jimenez struck out eight batters in seven innings of two-run ball on Sunday to beat the Diamondbacks, 3-2. Of course, that was like an off day for him, as he finally gave up a run after pitching 33 consecutive scoreless innings before Conor Jackson took him deep in the eighth inning.

In 12 starts this season, Jimenez has gone at least six innings in every outing and has allowed two or fewer runs every time. His win on Sunday now gives him a record of 11-1 with an unbelievable 0.93 ERA. For sake of comparison, this time last year, 2009 Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum was 5-1 with a 2.96 ERA. Granted, the Giants are awfully stingy when it comes to run support, but you can see what kind of season Jimenez is having compared to last season’s Cy Young award winner.

Barring injury or a complete mental breakdown, it’s safe to say that Jimenez will be your 2010 NL Cy Young winner. To early too tell? Not for anyone that has actually watched him. His stuff has been so filthy this year that hitters must think he’s throwing tiny stones at them. He’s been by far the most dominant pitcher in either league so far this year – even better than Roy Halladay (8-3, 2.03 ERA, 77 Ks), who is pitching incredibly well himself.

I don’t want to jinx the kid, but Jimenez is on pace to exceed 20 wins this season, which is no small feat. He’s been absolutely brilliant and incredibly fun to watch.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
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