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March 30, 2011

SI Picks Red Sox To Win 100 Games, 3rd World Series In 8 Years

The Phillies' starting rotation may be on the cover, but Sports Illustrated's MLB Preview predicts the Red Sox will be the toast of baseball in 2011, winning the AL East with a 100-62 record, and steamrolling past the A's, Twins, and Giants on their way to their third World Series title in eight years.

SI also picks Carl Crawford as the AL MVP and Jon Lester as the Cy Young winner. SI has the Yankees winning the wild card (finishing eight games out) and getting bounced in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota.

Some predictions ("that will be wrong") from Fangraphs' Dave Cameron:
Playoff Teams (AL): Boston-Chicago-Texas-New York
Playoff Teams (NL): Atlanta-Cincinnati-Colorado-Philadelphia
World Series: Boston over Atlanta

AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez
AL Position Player WAR Leader: Joe Mauer
NL MVP: Troy Tulowitzki
NL Position Player WAR Leader: Troy Tulowitzki

AL Cy Young: Jon Lester
AL Pitcher WAR Leader: Felix Hernandez
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
NL Pitcher WAR Leader: Josh Johnson
Example
Adrian Gonzalez says his spring went perfectly.

The Red Sox added catcher Mike McKenry to their 40-man roster, grabbing the 26-year-old minor leaguer from Colorado for pitcher Daniel Turpen. McKenry hit .265/.328/.424 in AAA last year, and was 0-for-8 as a September call-up. Catcher Mark Wagner was designated for assignment.

The Red Sox left Fort Myers yesterday and will play an exhibition game in Houston tonight. Josh Beckett gets the ball tonight; Dennys Reyes, Jonathan Papelbon, Daniel Bard and Bobby Jenks are expected to pitch one inning each.

Infielder Nate Spears will not make the Opening Day roster, but he has had a great spring, hitting .290/.389/.403 in a team-leading 72 PAs. He will be with the team for the Astros series.
It's going to be the first time I've worn a suit on a plane. ... I was just coming into camp trying to make Tito actually know my name. As camp went along, he was calling me "Kid" and now he's calling me "Spearsy".
The time of Saturday's game in Texas has been moved to 8:15.
Example
Mike Sweeney hit 83 home runs in 2003.

In my previous life as a member of the 19th Century Baltimore Orioles, I was known as "Smallpox Danny", a righteous spiker of third basemen and tireless drinker of corn liquor.

Headline of the Day:
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3 comments:

  1. PatrickMarch 30, 2011 at 9:42 AM

    ...now he's calling me "Spearsy".

    haha!

    ReplyDelete
  2. s1cMarch 30, 2011 at 11:23 AM

    couple of quick thoughts - I think 100 is middle of the possibles - been wavering between 97 - 103 wins myself. Depends on Beckett and Lackey - looking for 18 from Lester and Buchholz each, hoping for 16 from Lackey and Beckett.

    As for the Bonds, the released testimony just shows how much of a bastard this guy was during the years. Personally, I think the DA is on a crusade and is overzealous - but then wtf do I know.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NPHardApril 22, 2011 at 12:20 PM

    !00 wins was never in the cards except in an MIT paper. PECOTA has them winning 92. I could see them finishing with 90, but the American League East is showing itself to be solid across the board. 7-11 is not a disaster for anything but trying to win 100 games in a season.

    ReplyDelete