February 13, 2012

Predictions From Athlon, USAToday Magazines

Athlon:
If you navigated last September without shaming yourself, your family, your employers and the city you call home, congratulations! You had a better month than the Red Sox. ...

Outside of Ellsbury, every player on the roster has room to improve and all of New England - not to mention the rest of baseball - will be watching hawkishly to see how they respond. ... The Sox have circled the wagons and proclaimed that they're not the freak show everyone thinks. Now comes their chance to prove it.
East        Central     West
Yankees     Tigers      Rangers
Rays        Cleveland   Angels
Red Sox     Royals      Mariners
Blue Jays   Twins       A's
Orioles     White Sox

Wild Cards: Rays and Angels
NL Divisions: Phillies, Cardinals, Giants
NL Wild Cards: Diamondbacks, Reds
ALCS: Rangers over Yankees
World Series: Rangers over Phillies
MVP: Miguel Cabrera (Pedroia #5, Gonzalez #6)
Cy Young: Justin Verlander (Lester #5)
Rookie: Jesus Montero
NL MVP : Joey Votto
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
USAToday:

One of the Burning Questions: "Are The Red Sox In Decline?"
East        Central     West
Yankees     Tigers      Angels
Red Sox     Cleveland   Rangers
Rays        Royals      Mariners
Blue Jays   White Sox   A's
Orioles     Twins

Wins: Yankees 98, Red Sox 92, Rays 88
Wild Cards: Rangers (93 wins), Red Sox
NL Divisions: Phillies, Cardinals, Diamondbacks
NL Wild Cards: Atlanta, Reds

12 comments:

mattymatty said...

Oh please. Everyone knows the Orioles are going to finish ahead of Boston.

allan said...

I have no doubt there are some fans who believe that could very likely happen.

soxgob said...

Predictions are pretty useless since the favorites rarely do as they should, and there are sleepers in each league that no one sees coming.

soxgob said...

The biggest need for the Sox in the offseason was a different mindset. They'll do fine with their roster changes and may just surprise everyone next year.

laura k said...

The biggest need for the Sox in the offseason was a different mindset.

pitching > mindset

allan said...

The W-L contest entries should be interesting.

allan said...

The biggest need for the Sox in the offseason was a different mindset.

Oh, we're supposed to think about winning?!?! Damn!

Like L says, I'll take talent over "mindset". A roster of shitty players with the perfect mindset is still going to have a shitty season.

9casey said...

The best talent on paper hasnt won in a while.

Mindset ,talent , or whatever , the problems they have had lately has been injuries we lose someone key and we are done. Mainly because we do not have the arms in the minors to make up for a guys like Clay , Beckett, or Lester. Or a third baseman to make up for Yook. The team is built to win with the roster they start with . Because management has shown they will not go get a top line guy at the deadline.

Thats what make its so hard to predict what this team can do ,because it is always on the brink...

soxgob said...

Talent is great, but did the Sox lose their talent the last month of the season or did they lose focus?

laura k said...

Talent is great, but

This says it all.

I have an idea. Let's build a team based on facial hair. Team with the craziest beards win.

soxgob said...

Tim Britton (Providence Journal) asks three questions - rotation, shortstop, right field - and notes that the club has been more concerned about changing attitudes than personnel:

Coming into 2012, it's about change and challenge. The Red Sox aren't embracing a change in roster so much as a hopeful one in attitude, with hunger and conviction slated to replace hype and complacency. There are legitimate questions regarding the constitution of the lineup, the rotation and the players' mindsets.

laura k said...

Coming into 2012, it's about change and challenge. The Red Sox aren't embracing a change in roster so much as a hopeful one in attitude, with hunger and conviction slated to replace hype and complacency. There are legitimate questions regarding the constitution of the lineup, the rotation and the players' mindsets.

You're using this cliched tripe as some kind of reference? The only thing this is proof of is the predicatability and superficiality of most mainstream sportswriting.