April 3, 2012

More Predictions

Providence Journal
              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     Detroit
The 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.

The Blue Jays could be a year away but might make their move sooner ...
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).

David Schoenfield of ESPN's Sweet Spot blog explains why the Red Sox will win 96 games.
Example
Over at The Hardball Times, they have averaged the picks of the 22 writers:
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                1
And 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.
Example
Seven Philadelphia Daily News writers - Ed Barkowitz, Sam Donnellon, Marcus Hayes, Rich Hoffman, Stan Hochman, David Murphy, John Smallwood - predict the 2012 baseball season:
             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.

13 comments:

Benjamin said...

Here:
PETER 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

Benjamin said...

MICHAEL VEGA, baseball reporter

AL 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

allan said...

Thanks, man!

I 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.

Gregory Lynn said...

How does anyone pick anyone other than Detroit to win the AL Central?

They're the single team most likely to make the postseason and least likely to do it via wild card.

allan said...

How does anyone pick anyone other than Detroit to win the AL Central?

So you can crow about how smart you were if an upset happens?

Amy said...

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).

allan said...

So, Allan, what are YOUR predictions?

Contest entries will be posted Thursday morning.

Amy said...

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.

Amy said...

I meant the former (i.e., standings).

allan said...

I'm the optimist, remember?
We're winning the division.

Amy said...

Sounds good to me, Allan! Let the games begin!

allan said...

Who cares what your guess looks like? It's a great book!

9casey said...

How did Mass. Pick the angels to win division and wild card, are they that good?