We are.

You can almost feel the intensity of the 2009 MLB World Series as the ALCS and the NLCS will decide which two teams will come out to play for the world championship.

In the ALCS, the New York Yankees are looking to return back to the big dance as they go up against the Los Angeles Angels, a team looking to get at least one team from Hollywood in the World Series.

In the NLCS, the Philadelphia Phillies are looking to return to the World Series and defend the world title they won last year after dominating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. They do battle with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team looking to give Joe Torre his first world championship ring since moving to Hollywood.

What’ll happen if the Yankees face their old mentor and take on the Dodgers? Will the World Series be settled in Hollywood this year? Can the Philadelphia Phillies win back to back titles and beat whichever team that’ll come out of the American League?

Here’s a look at all four possible matchups and who we think will take it. Unfortunately, we’re not picking the Los Angeles Angels to win ANY matchup. Sorry.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2009 MLB World Series

Another cross-town World Series match-up in the making? As everybody knows, this kind of scenario never materialized like the New York Yankees – New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals – Kansas City Royals matchups they were gunning for before mainly because there still is the ”baseball doesn’t exist west of Kansas” reaction.

And since East Coast fans usually can’t stay awake to…

The American League has always been all about the Yankees. And it doesn’t matter if they are playing well or not.

But since the New York Yankees are just clicking on all cylinders this 2009 MLB season, you just know that they’re talking about them Yankees like never before. But can they really win it all?

The New York Yankees hold the best record in the league. Mark Teixeira leads the American League in RBIs, Derek Jeter is having another great season and they have a good supporting cast in Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Posada.

The pitching has improved, and that’s the main reason why they are where they are. CC Sabathia has 19 wins, AJ Burnett has 12, and Andy Pettitte has 13. And of course, closer Mariano Rivera continues to dominate from the mound.

So if the New York Yankees are the best team in baseball right now, who’ll challenge these guys in the conference? We have two, the Los Angeles Angels and the Boston Red Sox.

The Los Angeles Angels are six games behind the Yankees, and the second best team in the league. Angels manager Mike Scioscia says this is the deepest lineup he has taken into the playoffs since the 2002 team that won the World Series.

Let’s see if they can indeed win it all…

They love the guy so much that the Yankees want him pitching the season opener as well as the very first game in the new Yankee stadium.

Signed to a seven-year contract worth $161 million last December, CC Sabathia has singlehandedly given the New York Yankees a reason to be hopeful in the coming 2009 MLB baseball season.

Hell, the New York Yankees are so excited about their new acquisition that they want him pitching the season opener against the Baltimore Orioles on April 6, as well as the first home game at the new Yankee stadium, merely six days later, against the Cleveland Indians.

”I’m excited,” CC Sabathia said. ”To be able to take the ball the first one of the season and then to open the new stadium, I think it’s going to be fun. It will be a special moment. It’s cool to be able to have my family there and be part of it.”

But is having the same starter for two different games ONLY six days apart advisable? Probably not to former general manager Joe Torre, but to current Yankees GM Joe Girardi, it’s just one of the stuff he’s trying to do to change the atmosphere in New York.

In fact, Girardi is also contemplating on a change to the Yankees batting order…

The National League, hopefully, these guys won’t be as boring as hell come playoff time.

And since the road for the 2008 MLB World Series is about to begin once the postseason arrive, NL teams in the MLB are hoping to make some noise, looking to own a championship ring once the dust settles.

One of these teams is of course, the Arizona Diamondbacks. These guys should be fine as long as Brandon Webb is there to win games for ‘em. The D-Backs are probably this year’s counterpart of the Tampa Bay Rays in terms of shock factor since nobody expected them to be this good this year either.

Only time will tell if they can continue their Cinderella run.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, on the other hand, are simply too inconsistent to catch the top dogs although they still have a shot of making it to the playoffs. And it might even be a close fight to the finish although it still depends if the Dodgers can get hot in the final month.

The Chicago Cubs is also one of the teams from the National League who have shocked baseball fans across the country. The Cubs are perhaps the most complete team in the NL and quite possibly, the entire league. They have great team chemistry…

The trading deadline has passed and it was no surprise that Manny Ramirez is finally out of Boston.

That was only one of the big trades that have transpired in the ongoing 2008 MLB baseball season. Baseball teams have begun their preparations for a run to the World Series title and we’ll find out soon enough if these teams improved their rosters or just fucked it up even further.

Of course, as I already mentioned, one of the more notable deals that transpired before the end of the trading deadline was the acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers to future Hall of Fame slugger Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox in a three-way deal that also moved Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay to Boston.

The Pirates received two prospects from each team, including reliever Craig Hansen and third baseman Andy LaRoche. July 30 was the day when New York Yankees sent Kyle Farnsworth to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Ivan Rodriguez. The Yankees are in need of a starting catcher since Jorge Posada decided to undergo season-ending surgery on his throwing shoulder, hence the Yankees picked up a 13-time Gold Glover and 14-time All-Star Ivan Rodriguez to work behind the plate the rest of the year.

The Yankees’ setup job had been increasingly filled by Jose Veras, and…

10:05 p.m. Cleveland Indians (51-48, C. Sabathia) at Oakland A’s (53-45, B.Zito) Best Line: Oakland -190 These teams met at the end of May with the Indians sweeping the three game series and outscoring the A’s 16-6. But that was a different Oakland A’s team. Today, the Oakland A’s are one of the hottest teams in MLB and are on a six game win streak as they swept the Texas Rangers over the weekend. Oakland has won an impressive 26 of 32 games since May. Conversely, the Cleveland Indians have won only five games in their last 17 games despite Sunday’s 6-3 home win against the Mariners.