Just a quick check in, getting my thoughts on the upcoming 2013 season in the public record. We will check back in at the end of the season to see how we did.
American League
American League East
1. Baltimore Orioles
- Predicted Record: 93-69
- Hot Youngster: RHP Dylan Bundy
- Team MVP: CF Adam Jones
- Best Arm: RHP Jim Johnson
- Sleeper: 1B Chris Davis
2. Toronto Blue Jays
- Predicted Record: 90-72
- Hot Youngster: 3B Brett Lawrie
- Team MVP: RF Jose Bautista
- Best Arm: RHP Brandon Morrow
- Sleeper: UTIL Maicer Izturis
3. New York Yankees
- Predicted Record: 82-80
- Hot Youngster: No rookies on roster
- Team MVP: 2B Robinson Cano
- Best Arm: LHP C.C. Sabathia
- Sleeper: CF Brett Gardner
4. Tampa Bay Rays
- Predicted Record: 81-81
- Hot Youngster: OF/3B Will Myers
- Team MVP: CF Desmond Jennings
- Best Arm: LHP David Price
- Sleeper: 1B James Loney
5. Boston Red Sox
- Predicted Record: 65-97
- Hot Youngster: 3B Will Middlebrooks
- Team MVP: 2B Dustin Pedroia
- Best Arm: LHP Jon Lester
- Sleeper: UTIL Daniel Nava
The non-traditional powers will win this division this season. The unknown in all of this is how well the revamped Blue Jays team will do. They have the talent to win almost 100 games, but are always hit by the injury bug. The Orioles are an up and coming team that has tons of talent blocked up in the minors. They will all make big impacts later in the season, powering them to a first place finish. That talent could also net them whatever prize is to be had at the trade deadline to push them over the top this season. The Red Sox are going to struggle again this year on their quest to return to their glory of the early 2000’s. The current roster is filled with a bunch of injury plagued veterans and youngsters who aren’t quite ready for the big time. The once powerful rotation will trot out there John Lackey and Ryan Dempster, who will each struggle to keep their ERA under 5.00 in the powder keg known as the American League East.
American League Central
1. Detroit Tigers
- Predicted Record: 96-66
- Hot Youngster: OF/3B Nick Castellanos
- Team MVP: 3B Miguel Cabrera
- Best Arm: RHP Justin Verlander
- Sleeper: LF Andy Dirks
2. Cleveland Indians
- Predicted Record: 85-77
- Hot Youngster: 3B Lonnie Chisenhall
- Team MVP: 2B Jason Kipnis
- Best Arm: RHP Chris Perez
- Sleeper: LF Michael Brantley
3. Kansas City Royals
- Predicted Record: 79-83
- Hot Youngster: 1B Eric Hosmer
- Team MVP: C Salvador Perez
- Best Arm: LHP Danny Duffy
- Sleeper: SS Alcides Escobar
4. Chicago White Sox
- Predicted Record: 72-90
- Hot Youngster: LHP Jose Quintana
- Team MVP: 1B Paul Konerko
- Best Arm: LHP Chris Sale
- Sleeper: RHP Addison Reed
5. Minnesota Twins
- Predicted Record: 62-100
- Hot Youngster: CF Aaron Hicks
- Team MVP: LF Josh Willingham
- Best Arm: RHP Vance Worley
- Sleeper: 2B Brian Dozier
The Tigers are the best team in this division, and will likely run away with it. They have the best offense and the best pitching. Offense wins games and defense wins championships. The Royals are a young team that doesn’t just have enough pitching to take them over the top, whereas the offense is completely ready. The Twins will bring up the basement, with no offense or pitching to speak of, making it another long year in the twin cities. The White Sox are old and crusty and will be in every home game because of the all or nothing style off offense played where the fences are only 20 feet beyond the infield, but will struggle mightily on the road. Cleveland made some very nice moves to improve the offense in the offseason, but the pitching still isn’t there enough to get the ball to the very talented back end of the bullpen.
American League West
1. Los Angeles Angels
- Predicted Record: 93-69
- Hot Youngster: OF Mike Trout
- Team MVP: Albert Pujols
- Best Arm: RHP Tommy Hanson
- Sleeper: SS Eric Aybar
2. Oakland Athletics
- Predicted Record: 89-73
- Hot Youngster: RHP Jarrod Parker
- Team MVP: LF Yoenis Cespedes
- Best Arm: LHP Sean Doolittle
- Sleeper: C John Jaso
3. Seattle Mariners
- Predicted Record: 84-78
- Hot Youngster: 3B Kyle Seager
- Team MVP: LF Mike Morse
- Best Arm: RHP Felix Hernandez
- Sleeper: RF Michael Saunders
4. Texas Rangers
- Predicted Record: 81-81
- Hot Youngster: INF Jurickson Profar
- Team MVP: LHP Matt Harrison
- Best Arm: RHP Yu Darvish
- Sleeper: DH Lance Berkman
5. Houston Astros
- Predicted Record: 59-103
- Hot Youngster: 3B Matt Dominguez
- Team MVP: RHP Bud Norris
- Best Arm: LHP Eric Bedard
- Sleeper: C Jason Castro
The American League West is baseball’s best division by far. They have four teams that should contend for the playoffs, and if things fall into place, they might get three of them in. The Angels have the veteran star power plus God’s gift to baseball (Mike Trout) to win the division, but the Oakland A’s will give their best effort to finish in a close second. The A’s have tons of pitching and just enough offense to make a run at it. The Rangers have gone stagnant, not adding to their firepower in several seasons, and will finish in fourth, with not enough pitching to win with the drastic reduction in offense. The Mariners are one good developmental year from making a good run at it. The addition of Mike Morse to that offense will do wonders for their run production. Now if they could get a constant improvement from their pitching they would be in a great spot.
National League
National League East
1. Washington Nationals
- Predicted Record: 101-61
- Hot Youngster: UTIL Steve Lombardozzi
- Team MVP: LF Bryce Harper
- Best Arm: LHP Gio Gonzalez
- Sleeper: C Wilson Ramos
2. Atlanta Braves
- Predicted Record: 94-68
- Hot Youngster: SS Andrelton Simmons
- Team MVP: 1B Freddie Freeman
- Best Arm: RHP Craig Kimbrel
- Sleeper: RHP Jordan Walden
3. Philadelphia Phillies
- Predicted Record: 84-78
- Hot Youngster: CF Ben Revere
- Team MVP: 1B Ryan Howard
- Best Arm: LHP Cole Hamels
- Sleeper: LHP John Lannan
4. New York Mets
- Predicted Record: 78-84
- Hot Youngster: LHP Johnathan Niese
- Team MVP: 3B David Wright
- Best Arm: RHP Matt Harvey
- Sleeper: 2B Daniel Murphy
5. Miami Marlins
- Predicted Record: 60-102
- Hot Youngster: C Rob Brantly
- Team MVP: RF Giancarlo Stanton
- Best Arm: RHP Nate Eovaldi
- Sleeper: RHP Henderson Alvarez
The National League East will be baseball’s second best division, but will have the MLB’s best team. The Washington Nationals will go beast mode on the entire MLB all year long. They have tons of offensive talent, they have great pitching, and play excellent defense. They are the most complete team in all of baseball if they stay entirely healthy. Heck, they traded a 30 HR and 100 RBI guy because they didn’t have anywhere to put him. The Braves also did their best this offseason to stock up on talent. What will be the death of them is the lack of an adequate leadoff hitter. They also have plenty of pitching and a great bullpen. The Mets, Marlins, and Phillies will all be looking up at those two titans all year long. The Phillies have the starting pitching to hang in games, but their bullpen outside of Papelbon is garbage. They just won’t hit enough to make up for that.
National League Central
1. Cincinnati Reds
- Predicted Record: 94-68
- Hot Youngster: C Devin Mesoraco
- Team MVP: RF Jay Bruce
- Best Arm: LHP Aroldis Chapman
- Sleeper: SS Zack Cozart
2. St. Louis Cardinals
- Predicted Record: 86-76
- Hot Youngster: OF Oscar Tavares
- Team MVP: 1B Allen Craig
- Best Arm: RHP Adam Wainwright
- Sleeper: RHP Shelby Miller
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
- Predicted Record: 81-81
- Hot Youngster: LF Starling Marte
- Team MVP: CF Andrew McCutchen
- Best Arm: James McDonald
- Sleeper: RF Travis Snider
4. Milwaukee Brewers
- Predicted Record: 76-86
- Hot Youngster: SS Juan Segura
- Team MVP: LF Ryan Braun
- Best Arm: RHP Kyle Lohse
- Sleeper: RF Norichika Aoki
5. Chicago Cubs
- Predicted Record: 58-104
- Hot Youngster: 1B Anthony Rizzo
- Team MVP: SS Starlin Castro
- Best Arm: RHP Jeff Samardzija
- Sleeper: RF Nate Schierholtz
Another solid division, but it won’t be a division with two playoff teams for the first time in recent memory. The Cardinals have all the talent in the world, just won’t be able to piece it together this season, and will be the best team sitting at home in October. Mister game cover, Andrew McCutchen won’t lead his Pirates to the playoffs because they just won’t pitch enough, even though they have plenty of talented arms on the way. If Jason “Gas Can” Grilli is your closer, you’re in trouble. The Brewers don’t pitch well enough, they have a nice top end of the rotation, but the bullpen is absolutely awful.
National League West
1. Arizona Diamondbacks
- Predicted Record: 91-71
- Hot Youngster: CF Adam Eaton
- Team MVP: 1B Paul Goldschmidt
- Best Arm: LHP Wade Miley
- Sleeper: LF Jason Kubel
2. San Francisco Giants
- Predicted Record: 90-72
- Hot Youngster: None
- Team MVP: C Buster Posey
- Best Arm: RHP Matt Cain
- Sleeper: LF Gregor Blanco
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
- Predicted Record: 84-78
- Hot Youngster: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu
- Team MVP: CF Matt Kemp
- Best Arm: LHP Clayton Kershaw
- Sleeper: C A.J. Ellis
4. San Diego Padres
- Predicted Record: 72-90
- Hot Youngster: 2B/3B Jed Gyorko
- Team MVP: CF Cameron Maybin
- Best Arm: RHP Andrew Cashner
- Sleeper: 1B Yonder Alonso
5. Colorado Rockies
- Predicted Record: 70-92
- Hot Youngster: C Wilin Rosario
- Team MVP: LF Carlos Gonzalez
- Best Arm: RHP Jhoulys Chacin
- Sleeper: 3B Chris Nelson
With the amount of money spent on acquiring talent by the Dodgers, you’d think that they would be so much better than they are. The bullpen is a mess, as well as there is no talent waiting in the wings to take the place of injured stars. They have a nice rotation, but then again, Clayton Kershaw can only win so many games by himself. The Diamondbacks have a nice mix of youngsters and veterans who just flat out play, mostly guys that most fans haven’t heard much of. They will win the division followed by the also playoff bound Giants. For the most part, the Giants kept the band together, but why wouldn’t they. They will have a slight drop off in performance, mostly because Marco Scutaro and Angel Pagan will come back to earth. The Rockies and Padres will bring up the rear, not creating much of a threat to any of the big dogs in the league.
Award Winners
- AL MVP: 1B Albert Pujols – Angels
- NL MVP: SS Ian Desmond – Nationals
- AL Cy Young: RHP Justin Verlander – Tigers
- NL Cy Young: RHP Matt Latos – Reds
- AL Manager of the Year: Jim Leyland – Tigers
- NL Manager of the Year: Kirk Gibson – Diamondbacks
- AL Comeback Player of the Year: DH Lance Berkman – Rangers
- NL Comeback Player of the Year: SS Troy Tulowitzki – Rockies
Playoff Predictions
- AL Champ: Toronto Blue Jays
- NL Champ: Washington Nationals
- World Series Champ: Washington Nationals
