We know we’re a few days late, but baseball season is underway and here’s Pipe Dream’s forecast of how teams will fare in 2007 (all teams listed in projected order of finish).

Compiled by L.J. Spaet

AL East

Yankees ‘ Early injury concerns may worry some people, but with most of the talent coming back and the farm system suddenly replenished with a hoard of prospects in case of injury, this year looks just as promising as any for the Bombers. Pray for A-Rod.

Blue Jays ‘ Maybe it’s because the Blue Jays are the only team remaining north of the border, but no one seems to realize how good this team is. The pitching is a bit thin, but the three to six stretch of Vernon Wells, Thomas, Troy Glaus and Lyle Overbay may be the hardest to face in baseball.

Red Sox ‘ Daisuke Matsuzaka will be all the rage for a while. But as the league learns his pitches, even if it takes a bit longer than it would for other hurlers, he could be nothing more than Josh Beckett or Matt Clement, starting hot, then fizzling in Beantown.

Tampa Bay ‘ No, your eyes are not deceiving you. The Devil Rays will not finish in last place. Their young talent will do enough to get them out of the basement; all eyes will be on Delmon Young, who needs to show he can do more with a bat than throw it at people.

Baltimore ‘ Peter Angelos really needs to think about selling this team. The next name to be linked to steroids will be Miguel Tejada, the front office can’t make a good deal, and ‘young stars’ like Jay Gibbons and Larry Bigbie were busts. Long summer to come.

AL Central

Minnesota ‘ This may be one of the best run franchises in sports. They do things quietly and they take care of business. They are bringing back basically the same team, and if they can hold fort while injured players heal, they should win another division title.

Detroit ‘ The Tigers started on a tear last year, but few realize that they finished poorly enough that they aren’t even defending the division title. Some of their young pitchers will hit a wall, so they are due to slow down but should come away with the wild card.

Cleveland ‘ The Indians were an enigma last year, following a strong finish in 2005 with a poor 2006. They have real talent, but the young coaching staff will need to find a way to get the best out of young players ‘ not an easy task. A quick start would help.

Chicago ‘ Remember when these guys had the best pitching in baseball and Ozzie Guillen could say what he wanted and not get fired? The White Sox continue to lose players and they don’t seem to be able to put it all together. Guillen could be fired soon.

Kansas City ‘ Do we really need to go through this again? Young players, aged veterans, overpaid for Gil Meche. Another long season for the Royals; at least fans should be able to fill out scorecards now that Doug Mientkiewicz has departed.

AL West

Oakland ‘ Another year being the worst of the best. Young pitching will lead this team to another division crown before bolting as free agents, and a decent team coming off an ALCS trip will recede and miss the championship series this season, as they usually do.

Seattle ‘ Perhaps this year’s biggest sleeper, their farm system has produced some talent on the mound and in the field. They took some risks this offseason with Jose Guillen and Jeff Weaver, among others, and if they work out, the Mariners could make some noise.

Anaheim ‘ The Angels’ stars have aged and their highly touted prospects have been slow to improve. The magic is quickly disappearing in Los Angeles, or wherever this team actually plays. They will miss pitching coach Bud Black.

Texas ‘ Buck Showalter just left, so a World Series should be guaranteed. Unfortunately, the Rangers, once a hot young team, lost too much in the offseason to fathom a playoff appearance. At least Gary Matthews isn’t their problem anymore ‘ enter Sammy Sosa.

NL East

Mets ‘ The Amazin’s offense is tops in the National League and this team will head back to the playoffs. But the Mets can’t win consistently by using stopgaps in their pitching rotation all year and need to solidify it quickly if they want another NL East title.

Philadelphia ‘ The Phillies are headed for second place yet again. Their pitching is stacked with Freddy Garcia, Adam Eaton and Jamie Moyer for a full season; if the pitchers can keep the ball in the yard, they could give the Mets a run for their money and at least head to October.

Atlanta ‘ Made some improvements, but adding Mike Gonzalez is not enough to get Bobby Cox and crew back to October. And if anyone has seen Tim Hudson’s talent floating around somewhere, he’d love to have it back.

Florida ‘ Jeffrey Loria is the most selfish owner in sports. He has great scouts who get him players he doesn’t have to pay, and finally hires a good manager then fires him for off-field problems. The Marlins over performed last year and will fall off this season.

Washington ‘ Manny Acta has a tough road ahead of him as manager, with so much talent in the division and so little to work with, at least for now. Nick Johnson will be healthy before the Nationals are winners. Revisit this topic in 2016.

NL Central

St. Louis ‘ The defending champs won the Fall Classic just in time. They are getting older and this model of consistency may be due for a down period, which would have started already if the Astros won a game before June in the past few years.

Milwaukee ‘ I’ve said for years the Brewers have talent to compete ‘ I’ve just been waiting for those players to mature. With Ben Sheets finally healthy, or so we are told, the Brew Crew is finally ready to make some noise and challenge the Cards in the Central.

Chicago ‘ Spent big bucks on Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Ted Lilly, to say nothing of Lou Piniella. With their luck, their Rule 5 draft pick, Josh Hamilton, will have a great season now that they traded him to Cincy, but the Cubs should improve in 2007.

Cincinnati ‘ Ken Griffey is moving to right field. Awesome. As long as he has the same bum hamstrings, Adam Dunn keeps swinging and missing and the bullpen is responsible for more runs than outs, the Reds are going nowhere.

Houston ‘ Notorious for slow starts, expect more of the same this year. But without the Rocket to save them on June 15, Phil Garner will finally show how bad a manager he is. Don’t forget about Craig Biggio, though, unappreciated and only 70 hits shy of 3,000.

Pittsburgh ‘ Well, they got Adam LaRoche and they still have Jason Bay. But it’s absolutely amazing how good pitching prospects lose all their ability when they play for the Bucs. Ask Josh Fogg, Zach Duke and Oliver Perez. They should improve.

NL West

Los Angeles ‘ This team surprised a lot of people last year. If Nomar Garciaparra can have another big year and lead the offense, the pitching of Derek Lowe and Brad Penny plus newcomers Randy Wolf and Jason Schmidt should carry this team to a division title.

Arizona ‘ The rotation of Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, Livan Hernandez and Doug Davis may be the NL’s best top to bottom. The D-Backs have great young talent, and without another Jason Grimsley incident, this team could surprise a lot of people.

San Diego ‘ This team has had its opportunities the last few years, but the window of opportunity may have closed. Bud Black will be a good manager and the young pitching may finally come around, but the big bats are aging and won’t do much at Petco Park.

San Francisco ‘ The pro to signing Barry Zito: He’s going to a pitcher’s park in an easier league. The con: He’s been inconsistent recently, and for the Giants, there’s no turning back on a $126 million deal. For references call the Rockies or Mike Hampton.

Colorado ‘ This team keeps making small improvements, but the rest of the division keeps making better improvements. Jeff Francis is the newest pitching hope in the thin air; we’ll see what he can do while the Rockies spend another year headed for the cellar.