Here it is. The long awaited for baseball prediction showcase. I can feel the hot breath of the throngs behind me, dying to supplant my greatness. Not this years my friends. Not this year.
AL East
1. Yankees- It's just absurd how well this team is built. When Brett Gardner is the only name on the diamond who isn't a big name, you're doing fine. They're only possible weakness is the bullpen, and that has been shored up now that Joba is finally in the bullpen where he belongs. (Side note: nice job wasting innings on trying him out as a starter. There goes two years of his career.) Either way, this team is the favorite. For everything. And it's not really that close.- 98 wins
2. Rays- Just a stacked young team here, and this year, we're not talking about whether or not players will reach their projections because everyone has done so. They could compete with the Yankees, but they need one more elite arm to show up. But I just don't see that happening.- 94 wins
3. Red Sox- How the mighty have fallen. Yes they have a good rotation behind Beckett, Lester and Lackey, but that offense is anemic. The only bopper on the team is the corpse of David Ortiz. When you're offense is going to be keyed on Dustin Pedroia, I just don't know if your team can plate enough runs to keep up with the other powers of the AL East.- 87 wins
4. Blue Jays- Strong offense, ok pitching staff now that Halladay is gone. This is a team that is praying their young arms develop today. And maybe they will. I don't think so.- 78 wins
5. Orioles- Not much to see here. Move along.- 71 wins
AL Central
1. White Sox- In a division of straight mediocrity (and believe me, it is top to bottom mediocre), I'm just going with the personal favorite. They do have the best rotation among the division, but their offense lost a lot of production with the departures of Thome and Dye. Still, I do feel we have the best chance to come out of this sector.- 87 wins
2. Twins- Almost the opposite of the White Sox, solid offense, questionable pitching. And that's why I took the White Sox. Good pitching over good hitting. Mauer though, quite the beast and has to be in the top two when it comes to MVP predictions.- 84 wins
3. Tigers- They are the most dangerous if they could put everything together offensively. Love their pitching staff behind Verlander and Porcello. The offense could be outstanding, but they haven't shown it yet.- 80 wins
4. Indians- The only thing I liked about the previews this year was that people no longer blindly say the Indians are going to be good this year. They're not. Not this year, not for a couple years. There is nothing I like about this team. If you drafted any Indian other than Grady Sizemore, you messed up in your fantasy league.- 77 wins
5. Royals- You kind of feel bad for Greinke, until you realize that he's going to get paid like banking CEO in a couple years as long as he can keep that lightning in a bottle. (People don't realize the guy had a 34-45 record before last year). Beyond that, yikes.- 69 wins
AL West
1. Mariners- Love every move they made. Acquiring Figgins from the division rival, and Lee for a couple prospects, fantastic moves. Yes, I know that Lee will likely be out, or relatively out for the month of April, but they'll be fine.- 91 wins
2. Angels- You can't lose your #1 starter and your most important offensive player and expect to stay on top of your division. Just can't put them back on top.- 88 wins
3. A's- Sure. Why not here?- 82 wins
4. Rangers- See above.- 79 wins
NL East
1. Phillies- I'm done with the Mets. I picked them for years, and they've never come through for me. I don't fully understand why they made the Halladay for Lee swap, but you know that guy's going to be dominant in the NL. I've got him for 22 wins. Not kidding 22.- 96 wins
2. Marlins- I like their young arms. Johnson and Nolasco look to be strong and the offense is strong. Not enough to take down the Phillies, but still really good for the NL.- 89 wins
3. Braves- I'll drink the Jason Heyward kool-aid. He's so impressive. I was hacked off I didn't get him in my fantasy draft.- 84 wins
4. Mets- A healthy Santana should be quite impressive, but this a team with a bunch of problems. You would think they would be stacked looking at the names, but they're like the Yankees of 5 years ago. A lot of names, but not putting up the results.- 81 wins
5. Nationals- The Strasburg era can not start early enough for DC fans. They don't have much else to look forward to.- 70 wins
NL Central
1. Cardinals- The only team that can challenge the Phillies. They got a huge break when Philadelphia's big move was a lateral move. Then the resigning of Holliday (yes they overpaid, but if it gets them a ring, it'll be their Boston-JD Drew signing) and the best one-two in the national league- San Francisco is a close second- puts them right in contention. Oh and they have this guy named Pujols. He's kind of good.- 92 wins
2. Brewers- This division is the worst in baseball. Yes, worse than the AL Central. The Brew-crew have Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun... and that's it. And yes, their the second best team in the division.- 82 wins
3. Cubs- This is getting ugly. Name me three cubs not named Aramis Ramirez. I'll wait. Now how many of them would you want on you team? Zambrano? Yikes.- 80 wins
4. Reds- Only this high because they have talented young arms that might be something special in the middle-end season.- 78 wins
5. Astros- Oswalt's looking at retirement, Berkman is plateauing, and there's not much else here to talk about. Just a mess of a lineup. Another team where if you have more than one guy on your team, you're likely both a homer and a cellar-dweller.- 75 wins
6. Pirates- I feel like there have to be triple A squads that could beat them consistently. When you rotation consists of Zach Duke, Ross Ohlendorf, Paul Maholm, Rick Russell, and the unfulfilled promise of Seth Green's movie career, you don't have much.- 68 wins
NL West
1. Dodgers- Good offense, solid pitching, and fixed their weaknesses in the bullpen. They should win this, but the Rockies are looking better this year. Still, I just can't ever root against Manny Ramirez. I want him in my life for as long as possible.- 88 wins
2. Rockies- A team that keeps getting better, but not quite there yet.- 85 wins
3. Diamondbacks- They look a lot like Rays did three years ago. A couple good starters, a young strong offense behind them. They could make some noise in a year or two, if they improve the starting pitching a little.- 81 wins
4. Giants- Lincecum and Cain. Not much behind them. They can look forward to a lot of 3-2 losses this year. I'm thinking like 88 of them.- 74 wins
5. Padres- The over under on months Adrian Gonzalez stays with the team is at 2. I'll take the under.- 72 wins.
That gives us for playoff teams
AL- Yankees, White Sox, Mariners, and Rays (Wild Card)
NL- Phillies, Cardinals, Dodgers and Marlins (Wild Card)
First round:
Yankees over White Sox in 4
Mariners over Rays in 4
Phillies over Dodgers in 3
Cardinals over Marlins in 3
LCS round
Yankees over Mariners in 7 (Sabathia & Burnett v King Felix and Lee...awesome)
Cardinals over Phillies in 6 (The Phillies still don't have an ace 2-starter. The Cardinals do)
World Series
Yankees over Cardinals in 5
And the individual awards
MVP's: Pujols and Mauer (Name anyone who does more for their team than these guys for their respective clubs.)
CY Youngs: Halladay and Felix Hernandez
Allstar starters (By numerical position)
AL
Felix Hernandez
Joe Mauer
Mark Teixeira
Dustin Pedroia
A-Rod
Jeter
Crawford
Granderson
Ichiro
NL
Halladay
Yadier Molina
Pujols
Utley
Wright
Hanley Ramirez
Braun
Justin Upton
Jason Heyward
Triple Crown Categories
HR
Pujols, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder
A-Rod, Longoria, Carlos Pena
RBI
Pujols, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder
A-Rod, Longoria, Adam Lind
Avg
Pujols, Helton, Hanley Ramirez
Mauer, Ichiro, Bartlett
W
Halladay, Carpenter, Lincecum
Verlander, Sabathia, King Felix
ERA
Halladay, Lincecum, Wainwright
King Felix, Cliff Lee, Jon Lester
K
Lincecum, Vazquez, Halladay
Verlander, Lester, King Felix
There you have it. Come and get me.
Word
Sunday, April 4, 2010
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