Now that the World Series is over and the Yankees are once again champions of baseball, the world, universe, whatever, it’s a great time to step back and reflect on what we learned. Baseball is a simple game, and here are some simple lessons.

Jonathan Hahn makes his playoff picks.

Imagine you had to choose one hitter over the course of the season: Philidelphia’s Ryan Howard, San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez or Oakland’s Jack Cust. Who would contribute the most offensively? We’re not factoring defense or Subway sandwiches into our decision. Which hitter do you pick?

With the start of the 2009 MLB season approaching, it’s time for some predictions. Everyone loves to be a forecaster, and though there are many fancy projection systems out on the Web, this Herald sports columnist has a few of his own. These are my predictions for division winners, end-of-year awards and future breakout teams.