The Red Sox spent big bucks on Japanese ace Daisuke Matsuzaka to bolster their pitching rotation. (Doug Benc/Getty Images)

Start spreading the news: since a tepid start, baseball's wild-card era has turned a lot more, well, wild.

After commissioner Bud Selig added an extra playoff team to both the American and National Leagues in 1995, the New York Yankees went on to win four of the five World Series played between 1996 and 2000 before losing the '01 Fall Classic to the Arizona Diamondbacks. That year began a run of six different world champions, with the Bronx Bombers making it to the World Series just once over that time, and the St. Louis Cardinals - last year's champs - the only team to appear twice.

Sure, the lack of a salary cap is a big reason the high-revenue Yankees have won nine straight AL East titles, but innovations like the wild card, the five-game division series and increased revenue sharing have more teams than ever dreaming of the post-season. Hey, why else would the Kansas City Royals (an average of 103 losses over the past three seasons) have shelled out $55 million over five years this off-season to land the exceedingly mediocre Gil Meche?

In keeping with the trend toward increased parity, CBC Sports Online predicts neither the Cardinals nor their 2006 World Series opponents, the Detroit Tigers, will qualify for the playoffs in 2007. Sound crazy? Well, the same thing happened last season, when the defending champion Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros both missed the post-season.

So who will make it in '07? Sorry, Canadian baseball fans, but for reasons discussed in our Blue Jays season preview, Toronto won't be part of the year-end tournament. And you might not be pleased with our pick to win it all (hint: cue up the Sinatra).

Without further ado, here are short capsules for the clubs Sports Online predicts will take the six division titles and two wild cards, along with the best bet for a playoff sleeper in each league.

THE PLAYOFF TEAMS

American League

Alex Rodriguez's, left, rocky relationship with Yankee fan favourite Derek Jeter, right, was a hot topic for New York's insatiable media last season. (Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)

New York Yankees (AL East)
Lost amid all the gnashing of teeth in the Bronx over the Bombers' (and Alex Rodriguez's) continued failure to reach the World Series was the fact that the Yankees were baseball's best team in 2006. Only the cross-town Mets won as many games (97) and no team outscored its opponents by more runs (163). Though the Yankees laid suspiciously low in the free-agent market (bringing back declining lefty Andy Pettitte was their biggest move), the return of Hideki Matsui from a wrist injury should ease the loss of fellow corner outfielder Gary Sheffield, and the impending arrival of uber-prospect Phil Hughes could fortify a suspect starting rotation. Oh yeah, and the top of the batting order is still Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, A-Rod, Jason Giambi. Yikes.

Los Angeles Angels (AL West)
The Angels missed the playoffs for just the second time in five years in 2006, but look for them to bounce back in '07. L.A.'s chief division rival, Oakland, lost MVP candidate Frank Thomas to Toronto in free agency, while Anaheim scooped up ex-Jays Shea Hillenbrand and Justin Speier to bolster its batting order and bullpen. The Angels were roundly criticized for signing 32-year-old Gary Matthews to a five-year, $50-million contract - and with good reason - but he's still capable of putting up decent numbers this season. The rotation is on the upswing after a career year by John Lackey and breakthroughs by youngsters Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana, while 23-year-old second baseman Howie Kendrick has the look of a future batting champ.

Minnesota Twins (AL Central)
After a slow start in 2006, the Twins roared back to shock front-running Detroit for the AL Central crown before falling to the Oakland A's in the divisional-round playoffs. Matching last year's 96 wins may prove a tall order - especially with flame-throwing youngster Francisco Liriano likely shelved for the season with arm trouble - but the Twins still boast the reigning AL MVP in Canadian Justin Morneau, the world's best pitcher in Cy Young winner Johan Santana, and perhaps the majors' finest catcher in 23-year-old Joe Mauer. There won't be many gimmes, though, against the likes of Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago in the tough AL Central.

Boston Red Sox (AL Wild Card)
There was no joy in Beantown last year as the BoSox flamed out in the heated battle for AL East supremacy, finishing third to the hated Yankees in baseball's biggest-budget divison. That can happen when your top two sluggers (David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez), starting centre-fielder (Coco Crisp) and closer (Jonathan Papelbon) miss significant time with injuries. With expectations in Boston higher than the Green Monster, GM Theo Epstein made bold additions in the off-season, paying $51.1 million to Japanese club Seibu just for the privilege of signing potential ace Daisuke Matsuzaka for $52 million, then throwing $70 million over five years at injury-prone right-fielder J.D. Drew. Both should be significant upgrades, and some better luck avoiding the disabled list could have Boston back on top.

National League

New York Mets (NL East)

The Mets have one of the brightest young stars in baseball in David Wright. (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)

After decades of living in the long shadow of the Yankees, the Mets became the toast of the Big Apple in 2006, running away with the NL East before falling to eventual world champion St. Louis in a classic seven-game NL championship series. With free-agent acquisition Moises Alou joining a lineup that already featured young stars David Wright and Jose Reyes along with veteran sluggers Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado, the Mets should again field one of the league's most potent offences. But preventing runs could be a problem with 40-year-old Tom Glavine and 37-year-old (he says) Orlando Hernandez fronting a rotation that will begin the season without Pedro Martinez, 35, who is still recovering from October surgery on his rotator cuff.

San Diego Padres (NL West)
Much like the NL Central, the West appears to be up for grabs. Look for a photo finish, with the Padres nosing out the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. The difference for San Diego will be its superb starting staff, which over the winter added future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux to a group that also includes David Wells, Chris Young and perennial Cy Young candidate Jake Peavy, whose unfortunate 11-14 record last season should have been much better given his stellar strikeout total and superb control. If the Padres have a problem, it's in the hitting department. Spacious Petco Park plays a big role in sapping San Diego's power numbers, but even still, the defending division champs must improve on their 731 runs scored a year ago, which was the fourth worst total in the NL.

If ace pitcher Ben Sheets can possibly stay healthy, the young and talent Brewers will be a contender in the NL Central. (Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central)
The NL Central figures to be a four-way battle royale between the Cardinals, Cubs, Astros and Brewers, and since we've gone with the chalk in most of the other races, let's go out on a limb and pick upstart Milwaukee. And why not? Coming off a 75-win season, the Brew Crew boasts one of the game's best young first basemen in 22-year-old Prince Fielder (28 homers, 81 RBIs last season) and one of its best-kept secrets in centre-fielder Bill Hall (35 homers, 85 RBIs). Milwaukee also has an ace in the hole in 28-year-old Ben Sheets. The big righty battled injuries over the last two seasons, but the last time he pitched a full campaign, in 2004, Sheets posted a 2.70 ERA along with an eye-popping 264-32 strikeout-to-walk ratio. And he's bound to return to health one of these years. Right?

Philadelphia Phillies (NL Wild Card)
Powered by first baseman Ryan Howard's major-league-leading 58 taters last season, Philadelphia made a late charge toward its first playoff appearance since 1993, only to fall just short of the Dodgers in the wild-card race. This time, the Phillies should have the horses to finish the job. The batting order, which last year racked up an NL-best 865 runs, is a veritable Murderers Row, with Howard (149 RBIs, .425 on-base percentage), second baseman Chase Utley (32 homers, 102 RBIs), outfielder Pat Burrell (29 homers, .388 OBP) and shortstop Jimmy Rollins (25 homers, 36 steals) all capable of going deep at any time. The starting staff is strong, too, with ace Brett Myers poised for a career year, youngster Cole Hamels ready to break out, and newcomers Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer and Adam Eaton filling out a well-rounded rotation.

THE DARK HORSES

Cleveland Indians (AL)
Cleveland became a trendy playoff pick last season after an impressive 2005 run nearly netted them a surprise post-season berth. But the Indians fizzled in '06, winding up fourth in the Central at 78-84. Still, only the Yankees scored more runs in the AL, and the Indians' plus-88 run differential was fourth best in the majors. The Tribe boasts two of baseball's best hitters in DH Travis Hafner (42 homers, .439 OBP, .659 slugging percentage in 129 games) and centre-fielder Grady Sizemore (28 homers, 22 steals, .375 OBP, .533 SLG). The rotation looks tough top to bottom, with ace C.C. Sabathia fronting solid veterans Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd, along with emerging youngster Jeremy Sowers. Just cross your fingers for new closer Joe Borowski, who inherited the job when Keith Foulke retired shortly after signing with Cleveland.

Arizona Diamondbacks (NL)
Since a horrid 2004 campaign in which they won a major-league-low 51 games, the D'Backs have won 77 and 76 in the past two seasons, respectively, setting up what could be a breakthrough year in 2007. The top of the rotation looks good, with Cy Young winner Brandon Webb still in his prime at age 27. Solid vets Miguel Batista and Claudio Vargas fled via free agency in the off-season, but Arizona found suitable replacements in Doug Davis and prodigal son Randy Johnson, who struggled in two seasons with the Yankees but should benefit from a move back to the relatively light-hitting National League. With veteran slugger Luis Gonzalez gone, the batting order is a little suspect (consider: Eric Byrnes led the team last year with 26 homers but had a ghastly .313 OBP.) Help, though, could arrive in promising youngsters Conor Jackson (15 homers in 140 games last season) and Stephen Drew, Arizona's first-round pick in 2004.