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Technically the season started a week ago in Japan but today is when the bulk of teams kick off the season.
Here are my predictions:
AL
East:
BOS
NY - WC
TB
TOR
BAL
Central
Detroit
Rest is irrelevant
West
Texas
Anaheim - WC
Seattle
Oakland
NL
East
PHI
WAS - WC
ATL
FLA
NYM
Central
STL
MIL
CIN
PIT
CHI
HOU
West
COL
SF - WC
ARI
SD
LAD
I’m really expecting BOS to get their shit together this year. They are way too talented to not make the playoffs. When you think about it, they played awful for the first 2 weeks of the season and the last month of the season and STILL held a playoff spot up until the last day. Shit, they finished 2nd overall in runs scored in all of the Majors.
That should give you an idea of how amazing they played for most of the year, expect big things from them IMO.
I also think Werth will have a good year and I like the Nats other pieces, so I’m picking them for one of the WC spots.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’m really expecting BOS to get their shit together this year. They are way too talented to not make the playoffs. When you think about it, they played awful for the first 2 weeks of the season and the last month of the season and STILL held a playoff spot up until the last day. Shit, they finished 2nd overall in runs scored in all of the Majors.
That should give you an idea of how amazing they played for most of the year, expect big things from them IMO.
I also think Werth will have a good year and I like the Nats other pieces, so I’m picking them for one of the WC spots.
[/quote]
Ha! I expect the opposite… Bobby Valentine? Of all the managers, Valentine? Geez. They got rid of the winningest manager and GM in Red Sox history because of one bad month. I thought that was really stupid. I get there was a discipline issue going on in Boston, but I don’t think that was responsible for their collapse. In the Red Sox case, their issue it they thought they had it in the bag and they weren’t putting forth any effort.
Anyhow, I see Boston third in the AL East. Perhaps a hot start, but they will fade as they try to figure out what is going wrong.
I agree the Nat’s are going to have a good year. How good I am not sure, but I know they will beat the Braves. That’s the one team we cannot beat no matter how bad they are and how good we are. That goes all the way back to the Expo days. Their just, ‘that team’ for us. I see the Philies taking the NL East. Unless they get hurt, they have the best team. The Braves can’t hit, can’t move runners over, and cannot be a threat on the bases. If you need HR’s to win games and you don’t hit HR’s then you got a problem. The issue is not the players, I blame the coaching staff. They are way to conservative which turns into way to many 3-up-3down innings. If we don’t fix that shit, it’s going to be a long year.
My break outs are the Nat’s and Royals. I see the Giants rebounding. I see Arizona contending.
I think the Yankees are getting old and their pitching staff isn’t that great, but they can hit.
My predictions:
AL East
Bos
Ny WC
Tb
Tor
Bal
Central
Det
Kc
Min
Chi
Cle
West
Tex
Ana WC
Oak
Sea
WC playoff winner Ana
NL East
Phi
Was WC (bold prediction)
Atl
Mia who is Fla rajraj?
Ny
Central
Cin
Mil WC
Stl
Chi
Pit
Hou
West
Col
Sf
La
Ar
Sd
WC playoff winner Was
WS-Phillies vs Rangers
Edit: gotta agree w pat and rajaj WAS will be the suprise team this year
Jays home opener is currently in the top of the 16th. Jays came back for 3 runs in the 9th to tie it and it’s been scoreless until just now.
HOLY FUCK this game has been looooong. At 5 hours now.
Currently 7-4 Jays.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
Mia who is Fla rajraj?
[/quote]
Quiet you!
NL MVP- Jay Bruce
AL MVP- Adrian Gonzalez
NL Cy Young- Roy Halladay
AL Cy Young- Justin Verlander
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’m really expecting BOS to get their shit together this year. They are way too talented to not make the playoffs. When you think about it, they played awful for the first 2 weeks of the season and the last month of the season and STILL held a playoff spot up until the last day. Shit, they finished 2nd overall in runs scored in all of the Majors.
That should give you an idea of how amazing they played for most of the year, expect big things from them IMO.
I also think Werth will have a good year and I like the Nats other pieces, so I’m picking them for one of the WC spots.
[/quote]
I agree they just have too many great players on that team.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Jays home opener is currently in the top of the 16th. Jays came back for 3 runs in the 9th to tie it and it’s been scoreless until just now.
HOLY FUCK this game has been looooong. At 5 hours now.
Currently 7-4 Jays.[/quote]
16 innings and a bench clearing brawl… This is the proper way to ring in the new season! Ahhhh, I am glad it’s back. February and March SUCK.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
My predictions:
AL East
Bos
Ny WC
Tb
Tor
Bal
Central
Det
Kc
Min
Chi
Cle
West
Tex
Ana WC
Oak
Sea
WC playoff winner Ana
NL East
Phi
Was WC (bold prediction)
Atl
Mia who is Fla rajraj?
Ny
Central
Cin
Mil WC
Stl
Chi
Pit
Hou
West
Col
Sf
La
Ar
Sd
WC playoff winner Was
WS-Phillies vs Rangers
Edit: gotta agree w pat and rajaj WAS will be the suprise team this year
[/quote]
I predict the top cellar dwellers to be the Cubs and the Pirates. Of course, never underestimate the ability of the Mets to blow a season like they do every year.
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’m really expecting BOS to get their shit together this year. They are way too talented to not make the playoffs. When you think about it, they played awful for the first 2 weeks of the season and the last month of the season and STILL held a playoff spot up until the last day. Shit, they finished 2nd overall in runs scored in all of the Majors.
That should give you an idea of how amazing they played for most of the year, expect big things from them IMO.
I also think Werth will have a good year and I like the Nats other pieces, so I’m picking them for one of the WC spots.
[/quote]
I agree they just have too many great players on that team. [/quote]
No way that Boston OR Washington makes the playoffs. Washington is too dependent on Strasburg and the guy simply won’t be a top-flight pitcher in the bigs. I saw him throwing yesterday and he clearly hasn’t addressed the mechanical issues in his motion that led to arm problems in both his elbow and shoulder two years ago. He’s going to go the way of Mark Prior. Very similar talents but also with very similar arm motions. Plus, Strasburg doesn’t have the lower-body strength that Prior had so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Strasburg break down even more quickly than Prior.
As far as Boston, they’ll never go anywhere with Bobby Valentine at the helm. That team is way overrated. Crawford’s fucking done as an impact player, Youkilis is fucking done period, Cody Ross in left field is a disaster waiting to happen, they have no closer and with there already being a couple closers going down the market is going to be very competitive. Unfortunately, they don’t really have any prospects to offer anyone for a top-level closer. Mike Aviles at shortstop isn’t going to last either. I don’t like their starting pitching either. Bucholz is decent, Lester could be great but isn’t, Beckett is getting old quick and Matsuzaka is a fucking fraud.
They’re not really that talented but they are overrated. They’re the third-best team in their division and maybe the 5th or 6th best team in the AL. The Rangers, Angels, Tigers, Yankees and Rays are all better than the Sox.
A few things w/ respect to the Red Sox DB:
-
What is your justification for saying Youkilis is done? He had a great year last year
-
Dice-K is out for the season he had Tommy John Surgery
-
John Lackey is not pitching this year either, he also had Tommy John Surgery.
-
Bard has moved to the starting rotation, not really sure how he’ll turn out, but he was a great setup man.
-
I don’t know anything about their other SP Felix Dubront but I’m guessing he’ll do better than Lackey’s 6.41 ERA in 2011.
-
Cody Ross is only the starting LFer until Crawford returns which is expected to be mid-April. Crawford may not be able to duplicate his numbers in TB, but I can see him noticeably improving from 2011. Most players have a down year at some point in their career.
- John Lester and Josh Beckett both had good years as well in 2011 if you look at their performance over the whole year.
My main concerns if I were a Boston fan is their bullpen. Bailey on the 60 day DL, Papelbon is gone, Bard has been converted to a SP and I’m not sure who else is all that reliable.
Aceves? Is that their top reliever currently?
Honestly, I would consider the changes made to the back end of their rotation this year a wash. I also doubt they will have any trouble hitting, they will stay in the top 5 in the Majors IMO.
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Jays home opener is currently in the top of the 16th. Jays came back for 3 runs in the 9th to tie it and it’s been scoreless until just now.
HOLY FUCK this game has been looooong. At 5 hours now.
Currently 7-4 Jays.[/quote]
16 innings and a bench clearing brawl… This is the proper way to ring in the new season! Ahhhh, I am glad it’s back. February and March SUCK.[/quote]
I would’nt have called that a brawl per say, however as a Cleveland Indians fan my hopes for the season were crushed on opening day. That might be a new one for Cleveland sports. Not that i had high hopes, but still WTF.
Masterson is a stud pitcher and they should let him close out the game. Just like Verlander should have had a complete game.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
A few things w/ respect to the Red Sox DB:
-
What is your justification for saying Youkilis is done? He had a great year last year
-
Dice-K is out for the season he had Tommy John Surgery
-
John Lackey is not pitching this year either, he also had Tommy John Surgery.
-
Bard has moved to the starting rotation, not really sure how he’ll turn out, but he was a great setup man.
-
I don’t know anything about their other SP Felix Dubront but I’m guessing he’ll do better than Lackey’s 6.41 ERA in 2011.
-
Cody Ross is only the starting LFer until Crawford returns which is expected to be mid-April. Crawford may not be able to duplicate his numbers in TB, but I can see him noticeably improving from 2011. Most players have a down year at some point in their career.
[/quote]
Kevin Youkilis had a great year last year? He missed 40 games, hit 17 homeruns and batted under .260. He’s missed more than a hundred games the last two years and he’s an old 33.
I forgot about Matsuzaka’s surgery but I knew about Lackey’s. Bard has good stuff when he throws for one inning; jury is still out as far as starting goes.
I thought Crawford was a bit overrated, or at least overpaid. He only stole 18 bags last year and I know he wasn’t healthy part of the year, but he’s not healthy now either and he’s also getting older, not younger. It’s pretty rare for a guy to swipe 45+ bags every year for more than ten years. I don’t think he’ll steal more than 25 this year and I’ve never liked him much as a hitter. Injuries catch up with everyone, and for a guy like Crawford to lose half a step and maybe a little batspeed, it can result in a big drop-off in performance.
The Red Sox have questions at a lot of places. I like it better when a team has question marks surrounding young players with talent rather than older guys trying to bounce back from an off-year or guys trying to fit into new roles (Aceves, Bard).
Well Cespedes looks like he may be the real deal, that was a bomb he hit last night.
[quote]DBCooper wrote:
[quote]Maiden3.16 wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
I’m really expecting BOS to get their shit together this year. They are way too talented to not make the playoffs. When you think about it, they played awful for the first 2 weeks of the season and the last month of the season and STILL held a playoff spot up until the last day. Shit, they finished 2nd overall in runs scored in all of the Majors.
That should give you an idea of how amazing they played for most of the year, expect big things from them IMO.
I also think Werth will have a good year and I like the Nats other pieces, so I’m picking them for one of the WC spots.
[/quote]
I agree they just have too many great players on that team. [/quote]
No way that Boston OR Washington makes the playoffs. Washington is too dependent on Strasburg and the guy simply won’t be a top-flight pitcher in the bigs. I saw him throwing yesterday and he clearly hasn’t addressed the mechanical issues in his motion that led to arm problems in both his elbow and shoulder two years ago. He’s going to go the way of Mark Prior. Very similar talents but also with very similar arm motions. Plus, Strasburg doesn’t have the lower-body strength that Prior had so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Strasburg break down even more quickly than Prior.
As far as Boston, they’ll never go anywhere with Bobby Valentine at the helm. That team is way overrated. Crawford’s fucking done as an impact player, Youkilis is fucking done period, Cody Ross in left field is a disaster waiting to happen, they have no closer and with there already being a couple closers going down the market is going to be very competitive. Unfortunately, they don’t really have any prospects to offer anyone for a top-level closer. Mike Aviles at shortstop isn’t going to last either. I don’t like their starting pitching either. Bucholz is decent, Lester could be great but isn’t, Beckett is getting old quick and Matsuzaka is a fucking fraud.
They’re not really that talented but they are overrated. They’re the third-best team in their division and maybe the 5th or 6th best team in the AL. The Rangers, Angels, Tigers, Yankees and Rays are all better than the Sox.[/quote]
So the Yankees are a lock for the playoffs then? Not with that starting rotation. C.C. is the only reliable starter. I don’t think anyone is expecting Pineda to make much of an impact now with him coming in out of shape and his injuries. Can’t rely on Hughes, Garcia, and Nova. Jeter, A-rod, and Rivera not getting any younger. I don’t expect Granderson to repeat last years production, and Teixeria will hit .250. That division is really up for grabs.
EDIT: Strasburg won’t be a top flight pitcher? He is a top flight pitcher RIGHT NOW. How long who knows.
As for Youkilis, he did miss ~40 games and his numbers dipped but he still hit very very good for a 3B. His numbers were down for HIM.
He’s far from done.