Question of the day: Which teams will win the MLB league championship series?

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Writers from around Tribune Co. weigh in on the topic. Check back throughout the day for more responses, vote in the polls and feel free to leave a comment of your own.

Dan Connolly, Baltimore Sun

The easy answer is the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees, a repeat of the 2009 World Series. But baseball isn’t that tidy. The last time two teams have met in consecutive World Series was 1977-78 with the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Before that? 1957-58.

So an upset has to be predicted here. And unless Cliff Lee pitches on no days’ rest four or five times, I see no way the Texas Rangers beat the Yankees in the ALCS.

When the postseason started, the Phillies appeared to be the best team. Their dismantling of the Cincinnati Reds supports that theory. But great starting pitching rules the postseason. And the San Francisco Giants can nearly match the Phillies’ rotation. Philadelphia’s offense is better, but stranger things have happened.

So go with the Yankees winning easy and the Giants knocking off the NL’s giant.

[Updated at 11:15 a.m.:

Phil Rogers, Chicago Tribune

Conventional wisdom says a team with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt in the starting rotation should roll through the postseason, especially when the lineup behind it is the same one that has won back-to-back National League pennants. Toss in home-field advantage, with the noisiest crowds going, and you’d have to be crazy to pick against the Philadelphia Phillies.

This is where I come in. The Giants have a better –- slightly better, really -– starting rotation than the Phillies. They counter the Phillies’ three No. 1s with a two-time Cy Young winner and three others who could be No. 1s -– Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner -– and have a better bullpen. The 2010 Phillies don’t produce runs the way you’d think given the names in the lineup, and the Giants are better than most realize.

So, call me nuts, but I’m calling for a Giants-Yankees World Series. Texas won’t be a pushover, but the Rangers only real chance to win is causing a complete breakdown of the Yankees rotation. That’s a possibility, but three starts for Sabathia is an edge over a Texas team only getting two starts from Cliff Lee.]