My mom is fond of quoting the old lottery catchphrase - "You've gotta be in it to win it."

That's the approach I take in presenting to you my playoff picks for 2010 - if I don't make them, and they turn out to be right, I'll regret it.

I've also named my wild cards, which I hadn't done yet.

So here they are - the culmination of all of my division previews, shrunken down into bracket form - who will win the World Series trophy?

I have to say up front, I'm not thrilled with the way the American League turned out:

I think I would have rather had the Twins beating the Rangers, but for some reason my mind kept telling me Rangers.  And don't ask me why I have both AL East teams losing in the first round.  I don't know.  I'm pretty sure the wild card will come from the East, though, and I went Yankees because I feel they have less question marks than the Red Sox (and they are the defending champs).  (Also, remember what I wrote, the chances are very good the playoff teams out of the East will be Red Sox and Yankees, but I'm going a different route.)

I like my National League picks.  I feel really good about the Giants this year, and the more I think about it, the more I think they match up with anyone in the NL.  I think the Braves will be challenged by the Rockies, maybe the Cardinals, but I think they're the team to come away with the wild card.

*Tomorrow I'll name the major award winners for the season.

*In case you missed them, click for the division previews:  NL East, NL Central, NL West, AL East, AL Central, AL West