April 5, 2009

Predictions: ESPN

ESPN's 2009 preview and staff picks:
                 ALE      WC       WS
Jorge Arangure Red Sox Yankees Cubs over Red Sox
Matthew Berry Rays Twins Rays over Cardinals
Jim Caple Red Sox Rays Twins over Mets
Jerry Crasnick Red Sox Rays Rays over Cubs
Peter Gammons Red Sox Yankees Red Sox over Mets
Pedro Gomez Rays Twins Rays over Phillies
Jason Grey Red Sox Yankees Red Sox over Dodgers
Orel Hershiser Rays Red Sox Rays over Mets
Eric Karabell Rays Red Sox Red Sox over Cardinals
Tim Kurkjian Yankees Red Sox Yankees over Cubs
Keith Law Red Sox Yankees Red Sox over Cubs
Amy Nelson Red Sox Rays Red Sox over Dodgers
Rob Neyer Yankees Red Sox Cubs over Yankees
Buster Olney Rays Red Sox Rays over Phillies
Peter Pascarelli Rays Yankees Cardinals over Rays
Nate Ravitz Rays Red Sox Mets over Rays
Brendan Roberts Yankees Red Sox Red Sox over Mets
Enrique Rojas Yankees Rays Cubs over Yankees
Chris Singleton Yankees Rays Yankees over Mets
Jayson Stark Red Sox Yankees Red Sox over Phillies
Gene
Wojciechowski Red Sox Rays Cubs over Red Sox
AL East Picks: Red Sox (9), Rays (7), Yankees (5)

Of the 21 "experts", 5 predict the Red Sox will miss the playoffs (though they could still finish in 2nd place). But 9 of the 21 expect the Red Sox to play in the World Series, with 7 saying they should win.

Other Red Sox/Rays/Yankees Stuff:

MVP
Teixeria (6): Arangure, Grey, Law, Neyer, Roberts, Rojas
Upton (2): Berry, Caple
Longoria (2): Crasnick, Karabell
Crawford (2): Hershiser, Pascarelli
Bay (1): Ravitz
Youkilis (1): Stark

Cy Young
Sabathia (6): Grey, Hershiser, Neyer, Olney, Stark, Wojciechowski
Lester (4): Karabell, Nelson, Pascarelli, Singleton

Breakout Player
Lowrie: Neyer

Underrated Player
Crawford: Olney, Rojas

RoY
Price: Rojas

***

ESPN.com asked 15 of ESPN's leading baseball experts to rank every major league team from 1-30, and the Red Sox came out on top, narrowly beating out their two AL East rivals -- the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees. In fact, the defending AL champion Rays finished with more first-place votes than the Red Sox (6-5), but fell short of the Red Sox in the overall point total.

19 comments:

Pepe Lepew said...

Peter Gammons picked the Sox? Go figure! :)
I didn't see "expert" Joe Morgan in there. He'd probably make some ridiculous pick like the Rangers over the Marlins just to be contrarian.

allan said...

BAY FOR MVP!!!

These people are from the magazine, website, fantasy side of things. Maybe only doing chats is not enough to qualify. Does Joe "write" anything?

Also, I finally cancelled my ESPN Insider subscription, so if anyone sees anything worthy in a column, let me know!

Now I'm wondering if I should let my BP subscription expire. I can't say I use the site all that much.

Patrick said...

Only one of those 'experts' thinks a non-AL East team is representing the AL in the WS.

No Josh Beckett for CY Young? Is Lester such a trendy pick? He's not even the best pitcher on his team!

Stephanie Frisina said...

I HOPE baseball in 23 hours! But weather forecast is not looking so good. :(

tim said...

^ That was me.

Unknown said...

BP picked the Sox to win 102 games today. Whoa.

But yeah, the quality of BP seems to have declined over the last year or so. Christina's articles are still can't miss, though.

allan said...

Turns out my BP subscription *has* expired.

Pepe Lepew said...

BP picked the Sox to win 102 games today. Whoa.

102 games? ... playing 57 games against Tampa, the Yankees and the Blue Jays? That's whack.
Maybe if they traded places with the Angels in the AL West.

allan said...

Tampa, the Yankees and the Blue Jays

One of these things is not like the others.

Pepe Lepew said...

One of these things is not like the others.

Hookay ... the Blue Jays still got Halladay, and it always seems to me he gives the Red Sox fits. 5 or 6 times a year. Maybe that's my imagination.

tim said...

Yeah, I know what your saying pepe - Jays do seem to give the Sox a bit of trouble. This isn't based on any sort of facts though.

Currently watching the Pedro near-no hitter (part of the prize) on NESN...I really want to win this!

tim said...

And there goes the no-no.

allan said...

The Gerald Williams game? I gotta burn and watch that one myself.

allan said...

Cubs / Red Sox -- 1918 rematch, btw -- is a popular pick.

From the links I've posted:

Cubs over Red Sox (12)
Amalie Benjamin, Globe
Dan Shaugnessy, Globe
Jack Curry, Times
Jesse Spector, Daily News
Robert MacLeod, Globe & Mail
Tim Brown, Yahoo
Jon Heyman, SI
Scott Miller, CBS Sportsline
Eric Mack, CBS Sportsline
Adriane Rosen, CBS Sportsline
Jorge Arangure, Jr., ESPN
Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN

Red Sox over Cubs (6)
Chad Finn, Globe
Bob Ryan, Globe
Jeff Blair, Globe & Mail
Ben Reiter, SI
Danny Knobler, CBS Sportsline
Keith Law, ESPN

allan said...

Hookay ... the Blue Jays still got Halladay, and it always seems to me he gives the Red Sox fits. 5 or 6 times a year. Maybe that's my imagination.

I know, the blind optimism of the Toronto media towards the Jays irritates (and amuses) me.

Halladay vs Sox

2008: 5 starts, 2.56
2007: 5 starts, 5.94
2006: 4 starts, 5.40
2005: 3 starts, 3.68
2004: 4 starts, 4.15
2003: 6 starts, 4.76
2002: 4 starts, 3.16
...
(Of course, one bad outing can skew the ERA in such a small sample.)

Career:
37 games, 34 starts, 12-12, 4.46
Sox hit him at a .271/.314/.411 -- and stole 21 out of 22 bases!

Bring it on, Doc!

Pepe Lepew said...

Bring it on, Doc!

I'm thinking of 2008, then, maybe.

allan said...

Nah, he could have stuck it to us in every season, but had one so-so game that brought his ERA over 4.

***

I see you need to have your text view on a bit less than normal to not have my columns wrap. Maybe I could make the text smaller.

allan said...

I think I fixed it.

andy said...

And all these predictions prove that the off season means nothing. It is all talk.