Wild Card vs. Division

A lot of people around the Boston area (or at least at Boston College) are paranoid now that the Rays are a 1.5 games up on the Red Sox.  To many, Tampa Bay will winning the division is the worst thing possible.  I don't know if I agree with that.

Sure, it'd be nice to win the division and have that first series at Fenway, but would it make for the easiest road to the World Series?  I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no.

I assume either way, you have to play Los Angeles-Anaheim.  LA-A has taken something like 7 of 8 from Boston this year, so it's safe to assume they're the better team.  I also believe the better team is more likely to win a 7 game series then a 5 game series, which leads me to the conclusion that the Red Sox would be better off taking on the Angels in the first round.  I like the that in a five game series, you can have Beckett, the greatest postseason pitcher in Red Sox history, pitch twice and Lester pitch once.  If all goes according to plan, those are your three wins right there. 

As a final point, taking on the Angels to open up the post season seemed to work pretty well in both 2004 and 2007.  Both 3 game sweeps for Boston.