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April 1, 2016

Prediction Grab Bag: SoSH, Herald, Globe, WEEI, USAToday, CBS, The Guardian

Updated to include the Globe's picks


Boston Herald

Jason Mastrodonato: 89-73, AL Wild Card.
The Red Sox can’t get any worse production out of left field, first base and third base than they did last year. The additions of David Price and Craig Kimbrel add a half-dozen wins to the projection.

Michael Silverman: 83-79, 3rd place, miss playoffs
There’s no way (right?) they finish in last place once more but it’s real difficult to look at their lack of slam-dunk rotation depth and believe it’s good enough to lead them into October baseball.

Ron Borges: 88-74, AL Wild Card
The pitching comes through better than expected but the batting order has more holes than we expected.

Steve Buckley: 82-80, miss playoffs
Price is right. The rest of the rotation isn’t.

Evan Drellich: 90-72, Win AL East
The division will be close, but with the team in contention from the get-go and a go-for it mindset, a starting pitcher pick-up at the deadline gives Sox a needed boost.

Boston Globe

Peter Abraham
AL East: Blue Jays — Marcus Stroman will offset the departures of David Price and Mark Buehrle.
AL Wild Card: Royals and Astros — The defending champions are still potent and Houston has the transcendent Carlos Correa.
ALCS: Astros over the Blue Jays — Houston wins its first pennant since 2005, takes out Toronto in six games.
World Series: Cubs over Astros in five games: An outraged President Trump refuses to invite the Ricketts family to the White House.
AL Cy Young: David Price, Red Sox — The Sox fall short of the postseason, but at least they have a legitimate ace again.

Nick Cafardo
AL East: Blue Jays — Marcus Stroman becomes an ace, Aaron Sanchez has breakout season and offense continues to crush.
AL Wild Card: Yankees and Astros — The Yankees have enough in their starting rotation to get them to their fantasy bullpen, and the Astros' younger players get better.
ALCS: Rangers over Tigers — Rangers' lineup comes up big vs. Tigers' pitching.
World Series: Cubs over Rangers in six — Cubs break 108-year curse with Theo Epstein at the helm.
AL Cy Young: David Price, Red Sox: Every bit as advertised and completely dominant over 33 starts with 20 wins.

Dan Shaughnessy
AL East: Blue Jays — Bat-flipping their way to the World Series.
AL Wild Card: Indians and Red Sox — Tito's Tribe beats Sox in one-game playoff at Fenway.
ALCS: Blue Jays over Astros — A hockey town over a football town.
World Series: Cubs over Blue Jays in seven — Lester MVP. Bob Lobel says, "Why can't we get a pitcher and GM like that?"
AL Cy Young: Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays — The next baseball megastar.

Alex Speier
AL East: Blue Jays — I'm proudly shooting for nine straight years of getting this division wrong.
AL Wild Card: Indians and Red Sox — Cory Snyder and Joe Carter are finally ready to help Cleveland make the leap.
ALCS: Indians and Astros — I was wrong about the Indians last year, and I'll probably be wrong about them this year.
World Series: Nationals over Indians in 6: Bryce Harper will wake up the game.
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, White Sox — He hasn't given up a homer to a lefty since Sept. 2, 2012.

Chad Finn
AL East: Blue Jays — Donaldson/Bautista/Encarnacion combine to mash 100-plus homers for East beasts.
AL Wild Card: Red Sox and Angels — David Ortiz's storied career gets one more October chapter; Mike Trout locks down another MVP
ALCS: Astros over Blue Jays in 7: Winning AL crown will finally stop us from still thinking of the Astros as an NL team.
World Series: Cubs over Astros in 5 — Hey, Theo Epstein does know a thing or two on how to properly end a curse.
AL Cy Young: Marcus Stroman, Blue Jays — 24-year-old righthander and former David Price understudy is 15-6 with 3.31 ERA in young career.

Christopher L. Gasper
AL East: Yankees — The Empire strikes back with a power bullpen. Chapman, Miller and Betances are a relievers Murderers' Row.
AL Wild Card: Blue Jays and Indians — The Blue Jays bash and bat-flip their way to back-to-back postseasons; the Indians soothe LeBron's departure.
ALCS: Royals over Yankees in 6 — KC wins the battle of the bullpens and radar guns.
World Series: Cubs over Royals in 7 — In Theo I trust.
AL Cy Young: Chris Archer, Rays — One of David Price's prized apprentices masters AL batters.

Sons of Sam Horn



WEEI

Rob Bradford and John Tomase both predict the Red Sox to finish third, behind the Blue Jays and Yankees.

USAToday



CBS Sports




The Guardian (UK)
AL East champion

DL: David Price is in Boston, but now the Jays have a healthy Marcus Stroman. They also have power, pen, and, now, real dirt base paths! So it seems like Toronto, but this division is a basket case. Can I switch in July?

DG: The Blue Jays went for it all last year and came up short, but they still have a potent lineup in place that could be the difference in a competitive division.

LC: Picking up David Price was huge. Craig Kimbrell is an overpowering closer who will thrive in Boston. The lineup remains strong, Mookie Betts will finally break out and the Red Sox will benefit from seeing the Good Hanley Ramirez.

JB: The Boston Red Sox. Turns out hiring a GM who understands you're a big market team and acts like it turns a roster around quick.
Two of the writers pick Boston to lose in the ALCS.

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