Tim Britton Brian MacPherson AL East New York* New York* Tampa Bay* Boston* Boston* Tampa Bay Toronto Toronto Baltimore Baltimore AL Central Detroit Detroit AL West Los Angeles Los Angeles AL MVP Miguel Cabrera Miguel Cabrera AL CY CC Sabathia CC Sabathia AL Rookie Matt Moore Yu Darvish
AL Pennant Los Angeles Detroit NL Pennant San Francisco Miami World Series Los Angeles DetroitThe Boston Globe's predictions are behind a pay wall, but I read at SoSH that only Tony Massarotti picked them to make the playoffs. Which means Peter Abraham, Nick Cafardo, and the CHB (anyone else?) did not. (I'm curious what the exact predictions are, if anyone has access to them.)
Tyler Kepner of the New York Times picks the Red Sox for fourth place, behind the Yankees, Rays (2d wild card), and Blue Jays.
The Yankees have issues, but on the grander scale, they seem small. ...
Tampa Bay has a well-rounded rotation but a strikeout-prone lineup, and Boston can slug but has serious questions in its fourth- and fifth-starter spots.For what it's worth - which is nothing - the Blue Jays are the first team to win 23 of its first 28 spring training games in 15 years (1997 Marlins).
The Blue Jays could be a year away but might make their move sooner ...
David Schoenfield of ESPN's Sweet Spot blog explains why the Red Sox will win 96 games.
AL East Ave. rank New York Yankees 1.36 Tampa Bay Rays 2.00 Boston Red Sox 3.00 Toronto Blue Jays 3.64 Baltimore Orioles 5.00 AL Central Ave. rank Detroit Tigers 1.05 Cleveland Indians 2.73 Kansas City Royals 3.09 Chicago White Sox 3.91 Minnesota Twins 4.14 NL East Ave. rank Texas Rangers 1.45 Anaheim Angels 1.64 Seattle Mariners 3.41 Oakland A's 3.50 AL Wild Card No. votes Anaheim Angels 11 Tampa Bay Rays 9 Texas Rangers 9 New York Yankees 8 Boston Red Sox 5 Detroit Tigers 1 Oakland A's 1And some notes (my bolding):
The AL East standings are weird. It looks like everyone picked Tampa Bay second, Boston third and Baltimore fifth, with Toronto oddly stealing some first-place votes from New York. While we did all list the O's last, the other perfectly rounded-off positioning is just an odd statistical aberration. The Rays and Red Sox each were placed anywhere from first to fourth, but their cumulative totals make their ranks seem nice and tidy. ...
The AL playoffs seem nearly set with the season hardly underway. With the Tigers a preseason lock to win their division, the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Rangers and Angels appear destined to fight for the four remaining playoff births.
EB SD MH RH SH DM JS
AL East Yankees Rays Yankees Yankees Yankees Yankees Rays
Rays Yankees Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox Yankees
Red Sox Red Sox Rays Rays Rays Rays Blue Jays
Blue Jays Blue Jays Blue Jays Blue Jays Blue Jays Blue Jays Red Sox
Orioles Orioles Orioles Orioles Orioles Orioles Orioles
AL WC LAA, TBR TEX, NYY TBR, TEX LAA, BOS BOS, TEX BOS, TBR NYY, TEX
AL Pennant Rangers Tigers Tigers Yankees Angels Yankees Tigers
NL Pennant Atlanta Phillies Phillies Phillies Phillies Brewers Phillies
World Series Rangers Phillies Tigers Yankees Phillies Yankees Phillies
Hoffmann and Murphy pick Adrian Gonzalez as the AL MVP. Murphy picked Jon Lester for the AL Cy Young.
Here:
ReplyDeletePETER ABRAHAM, baseball reporter
AL East
1. Tampa Bay — Athleticism and pitching are a winning combination in the post-steroids era.
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Toronto
5. Baltimore
AL Central
1. Detroit — In a weak division, the Tigers are loaded with Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, and Prince Fielder.
2. Cleveland
3. Minnesota
4. Kansas City
5. Chicago
AL West
1. Los Angeles — Albert Pujols adds offensive punch to their good pitching. Just what Mike Scioscia needed.
2. Texas
3. Seattle
4. Oakland
Wild cards: Yankees, Rangers
NL East
1. Atlanta — Last year’s goats will slip by the battered Phillies.
2. Philadelphia
3. Miami
4. Washington
5. New York
NL Central
1. Cincinnati — Joey Votto is still in this division, back, unlike Pujols and Fielder.
2. Milwaukee
3. St. Louis
4. Chicago
5. Pittsburgh
6. Houston
NL West
1. Arizona — Old-school Kirk Gibson is building a powerful team.
2. Los Angeles
3. San Francisco
4. Colorado
5. Houston
Wild cards: Phillies, Dodgers
World Series — Angels over Braves
DAN SHAUGHNESSY, Globe columnist
AL East
1. New York — Unless the Steinbrenners buy Manchester United.
2. Tampa Bay
3. Toronto
4. Boston
5. Baltimore
AL Central
1. Detroit — The cars aren’t the only Motown product getting better.
2. Kansas City
3. Minnesota
4. Chicago
5. Cleveland
AL West
1. Los Angeles — Slightly more aggressive than Boston during the winter.
2. Texas
3. Seattle
4. Oakland
Wild cards: Tampa, Texas
NL East
1. Miami — Lots of guys taking their talents to South Beach.
2. Philadelphia
3. Atlanta
4. Washington
5. New York
NL Central
1. Milwaukee — Do the Brewers allow beer in the clubhouse?
2. St. Louis
3. Cincinnati
4. Chicago
5. Pittsburgh
6. Houston
NL West
1. San Francisco — Buster, Melk-man, Kung Fu Panda — who doesn’t love those names?
2. Los Angeles
3. Arizona
4. San Diego
5. Colorado
Wild cards — Philadelphia, St. Louis
World Series — San Francisco over Detroit
MICHAEL VEGA, baseball reporter
ReplyDeleteAL East
1. Tampa – One through five, the rotation is the best in the division, quite possibly the league.
2. New York
3. Boston
4. Toronto
5. Baltimore
AL Central
1. Detroit — Prince Fielder provides offensive punch to go with a rotation led by the flame-throwing Justin Verlander.
2. Cleveland
3. Minnesota
4. Kansas City
5. Chicago
AL West
1. Los Angeles — With the acquisitions of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, Angels are well-positioned for a run to the Series.
2. Texas
3. Oakland
4. Seattle
Wild cards – New York, Texas.
NL East
1. Philadelphia — Strong starting pitching will be complemented by a strong closer in Jonathan Papelbon.
2. Washington
3. Miami
4. Atlanta
5. New York
NL Central
1. Cincinnati — All the ingredients, with hitting (Joey Votto) and pitching (free agent Mat Latos).
2. St. Louis
3. Milwaukee
4. Pittsburgh
5. Chicago
6. Houston
NL West
1. San Francisco — In a contract year, Tim Lincecum got bigger and stronger over the winter, which bodes well for the Giants.
2. Arizona
3. Colorado
4. Los Angeles
5. San Diego
Wild cards – St. Louis, Arizona
World Series — Angels over Phillies.
TONY MASSAROTTI, Globe columnist
AL East
1. New York — May be the last rodeo for an aging group.
2. Boston
3. Tampa Bay
4. Toronto
5. Baltimore
AL Central
1. Detroit — Cabrera-Fielder tandem is the Ramirez-Ortiz of the present day.
2. Cleveland
3. Minnesota
4. Chicago
5. Kansas City
AL West
1. Los Angeles — AL’s best starting rotation now has Pujols for run support.
2. Texas
3. Oakland
4. Seattle
Wild cards: Angels, Red Sox
NL East
1. Philadelphia — Not as imposing as they were, but still darned good.
2. Miami
3. Washington
4. Atlanta
5. New York
NL Central
1. Milwaukee — Division has deteriorated, but Brewers still the best.
2. St. Louis
3. Cincinnati
4. Chicago
5. Pittsburgh
6. Houston
NL West
1. San Francisco — If Buster Posey stays healthy, offense will be good enough.
2. Arizona
3. Los Angeles
4. Colorado
5. San Diego
Wild cards: Marlins and Diamondbacks
World Series — Angels over Phillies
Thanks, man!
ReplyDeleteI see CHB cannot even describe a National League team without offering snark about the Red Sox. What a sad bitter one-note motherfucker he is.
How does anyone pick anyone other than Detroit to win the AL Central?
ReplyDeleteThey're the single team most likely to make the postseason and least likely to do it via wild card.
How does anyone pick anyone other than Detroit to win the AL Central?
ReplyDeleteSo you can crow about how smart you were if an upset happens?
So, Allan, what are YOUR predictions? I don't care what all those other mediots say, but I am interested in your opinion (and that of others who post here).
ReplyDeleteSo, Allan, what are YOUR predictions?
ReplyDeleteContest entries will be posted Thursday morning.
Are you posting your predictions for the standings or just WL? I am more curious about the latter. We could win 90 games and be in either first, second, third or fourth place, so WL is not as significant to me.
ReplyDeleteI meant the former (i.e., standings).
ReplyDeleteI'm the optimist, remember?
ReplyDeleteWe're winning the division.
Sounds good to me, Allan! Let the games begin!
ReplyDeleteWho cares what your guess looks like? It's a great book!
ReplyDeleteHow did Mass. Pick the angels to win division and wild card, are they that good?
ReplyDelete