I’m making my debut here at the Rhino and Compass, after 7 years of filling in the gaps for Ryan’s 2 previous sites. I think my favorite part about the new site so far is that it requires absolutely no html coding by me, compared to just a little bit for the Victoria Times blogspot site and 100% for the original Is It Sports? Geocities site.
So what better time than to make my first post about MLB Predictions? Sure, the season is a few days in, but I don’t think that will influence my picks too much….
AL East
- Rays
- Red Sox (wild card)
- Yankees (wild card)
- Blue Jays
- Orioles
The Rays seem to have more staying power than I imagined, and in a year where the Red Sox are not as strong as usual and the Yankees have VERY suspect pitching, I’m going with the Rays to take this division. However, just because the Yankees and Red Sox might not be as good as usual, it doesn’t mean that baseball won’t achieve its dream of having a Red Sox-Yankees one game playoff showdown for the final wild card spot, which I think is exactly what will happen. The Blue Jays keep getting better, and I think they’ll also be competing for that final spot, but they just don’t have enough to keep up with the 3 teams above them. The Orioles might be improved too, but they’ll take a beating from the 4 better teams in this division.
AL Central
- Tigers
- Royals
- Twins
- White Sox
- Indians
This is clearly the Tigers division to lose, not because they got Prince Fielder, but because everyone else will be awful. I can see the 2nd place team maybe flirting with .500, but that’s about it. The Royals have some good young talent, led by Eric Hosmer, and I think they could overachieve and take 2nd before ultimately dismantling again. The Twins probably won’t be as bad as last year as some key players will try to stay healthy, but they are probably still at least an 85 loss team. My White Sox are a mess. They have a very bad mix of not so good young players mixed with overpayed players that haven’t been living up to their potential. The Indians traded away their future last year just to miss the playoffs. Lately, they seem to make random surges only the fall hard the following year, and I think this is no different.
AL West
- Rangers
- Angels
- Athletics
- Mariners
A lot of people are excited about the Angels, but I’m not. Sure, I think they are better than what they put on the field last year, but NL to AL moves don’t always work out so well. Something tells me this Albert Pujols signing might lead fans in Orange County disappointed, especially in a couple of years. Something feels very Ken Griffey Jr-ish about this signing…. Meanwhile, despite losing CJ Wilson to the cross division rivals, I think the Rangers are reloaded for another season on top of the AL West, and might even make another nice playoff run. The A’s and Mariners are still the bottom dwellers in this division, and I think the Angels’ signings will make that gap larger.
NL East
- Phillies
- Nationals
- Braves
- Mets
- Marlins
The Phillies still have the best pitching in baseball, and an offense to back it up as well. I think they easily win this division again, but it will be interesting to see who grabs the other spots. The Nationals have been quietly improving every year, but I think not having Stephen Strasburg down the stretch will cost them the final wild card spot. The Braves had a heartbreaking final day of the regular season last year, where they blew the wild card to the Cardinals and I think they are headed backwards. The Mets are still trying to rebuild, but won’t contend, and last but not least, there is a lot of hype surrounding the Miami Marlins and their new stadium, but they are still the Marlins and I don’t think Ozzie Guillen will just turn them around with a snap of a finger plus Jose Reyes. This team is a very combustible situation and could be pretty entertaining come July when they are 10 games back and under .500.
NL Central
- Reds
- Cardinals (wild card)
- Brewers
- Pirates
- Cubs
- Astros
In a division that lost both Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder in the offseason (and a questionable pee test by Ryan Braun), I think the Reds, who are mostly unaffected from last year, can step up and take the division title. They definitely have the hitting to do it, and decent enough pitching, especially with the weaker offenses in their division. Despite losing Pujols, the Cardinals always seem to play better than they look on paper, and I can see them grabbing the 2nd wild card with 88 wins. The Brewers are bound to take a step back this year, and will probably barely lose out that last spot to the Cards. The Pirates are trying hard to get better, and 4th seems like a good spot for them as they complete their 20th losing season in a row. So if that is going to happen, you can see what I think about the Cubs and Astros. The Cubs are going to hope Theo Epstein can turn them around next year, and the Astros will leave for the American League, where they will probably be even worse, if that’s possible.
AL West
- Diamondbacks
- Giants (wild card)
- Dodgers
- Rockies
- Padres
It will be interesting to see if the D-Backs can keep last year’s momentum alive or if they collapse like they did in 2008 following a division title. For some reason, I feel like they will keep it going and repeat as division champs, with Justin Upton winning NL MVP. The Giants are still a solid team, and in the NL the past few years, solid is good enough for a wild card. The Dodgers ownership situation improving will help them out, but they still won’t be good enough to get into the division top 2. I don’t see much out of the Rockies or Padres, but who knows, this division has been pretty crazy.
AL Playoffs
- Yankees over Red Sox
- Tigers over Yankees
- Rangers over Rays
- Rangers over Tigers
NL Playoffs
- Giants over Cardinals
- Phillies over Giants
- Diamondbacks over Reds
- Phillies over Diamondbacks
World Series
- Phillies over Rangers
Individual Awards
- AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
- NL MVP: Justin Upton
- AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander
- NL Cy Young: Cliff Lee
- AL Manager of the Year (AKA Steve’s Kiss of Death): Joe Maddon
- NL Manager of the Year (AKA Steve’s Kiss of Death): Davey Johnson
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