2009 MLB Predictions

[200tang]

None?

super advanced algorithms and a numbering system far advanced from our own.

[ewing6]

AL east
1.boston
2.Yanks[WC]{ Hope not hate the Yanks]
3.Rays
4. Jays
5. O's
Boston is the best they win the divsion. The Yanks just got themselves into too goof of a postion not to take them as much i want Rays and redsox in instead of the dumb Yanks.

Al central
1.Tigers[ My upset pick this year]
2. Twins
3.indains
4. Whitesox
5. Royals

Had to take a surpise some where I feel this divsion is up for grabs and if the tigers can put it together they have a good chance the again if any 1 here gets it together they could win LOL

Al west
1. Angels
2. A's
3.Rangers
4. M's
Nothing new here

Nl east
1. Mets
2. Phills[wc]
3. braves
4. Marlins
5.Nats

The pen shoudl help my Mets win it this year with phill being close and winning the WC and the braves being pretty good getting ready to contend again in 2010 and then the marlins and the nats. The only thing the Nats got going is june 6 1st pick

Nl Central
1.Cubs
2.Cards
3.astros
4.Reds
5.Brewers
6.Pirates

Cubs are gonna win it Pujols gonna keep cards around. The astros always find a 2nd half way it won't be enough. Brewers gonna suck fisnh behind young reds then the pirates.

Nl west
1. LA
2, D backs
3.rockies
4.Padres

I think La could win won't be surpised if d backs did

Playoffs
NLDS
Mets vs Dodgers 3-2
Cubs vs Phills 1-3
ALDS
Boston tigers 3-0
Yanks Angels 3-2

NLCS
Mets Phills 4-3 hoping!!!!!!!!!!
Boston Yanks 4-2
WS
Boston Mets 4-2

[RedsoxRockies]

Boston is the best they win the divsion. The Yanks just got themselves into too goof of a postion not to take them as much i want Rays and redsox in instead of the dumb Yanks.

That post is Yamivietesque

[HoustonGM]

Whats up with people leaving off one random NL West team? lol

[koolzach1]

Boston is the best they win the divsion. The Yanks just got themselves into too goof of a postion not to take them as much i want Rays and redsox in instead of the dumb Yanks.

I know what you mean, man... Sports writers dumb as kid only chose know team.

[OregonDuck1989]

I know you have all been waiting for this...my predictions...


THE AMERICAN LEAGUE:

East:
1. Boston Red Sox (94-68)
2. Tampa Bay Rays (92-70) WC
3. New York Yankees (89-73)
4. Toronto Blue Jays (78-84)
5. Baltimore Orioles (70-92)

Central:
1. Minnesota Twins (88-74)
2. Cleveland Indians (86-76)
3. Detroit Tigers (82-80)
4. Chicago White Sox (79-83)
5. Kansas City Royals (77-85)

West:
1. Los Angeles Angels (87-75)
2. Oakland Athletics (83-79)
3. Rangers (81-81)
4. Mariners (70-92)

THE NATIONAL LEAGUE:

East:
1. Braves (90-72)
2. Mets (89-73) WC
3. Phillies (87-75)
4. Marlins (83-79)
5. Nationals (68-94)

Central:
1. Cubs (95-67)
2. Cardinals (85-77)
3. Reds (83-79)
4. Astros (81-81)
5. Brewers (77-85)
6. Pirates (66-86)

West:
1. Dodgers (91-71)
2. Diamondbacks (84-78)
3. Giants (80-82)
4. Rockies (76-86)
5. Padres (65-97)

****

Division Series:
Rays vs. Twins
Angels vs. Red Sox

Mets vs. Cubs
Dodgers vs. Braves

Rays in 4
Red Sox in 4

Mets in 5
Dodgers in 4

LCS:
Rays vs. Red Sox

Mets vs. Dodgers

Red Sox in 7

Dodgers in 6

World Series:

Red Sox vs. Dodgers

Red Sox in 6

[BINGLEBOP]

Nl west
1. LA
2, D backs
3.rockies
4.Padres

Eddie boy, where are the Giants? Back to doing your homework.

[200tang]

AL East
1 Tampa
2 Boston (WC)
3 New York
4 Toronto
5 Baltimore

Toughest division by far, but despite what the Yankees have done this off-season I just don't think they're going to be able to fend off injury and age forever. I've also got my eyes on CC's health. Tampa has too much talent that isn't even fully developed to not win the East again. Boston is Boston of course and Toronto and Baltimore could finish either way. I guess the biggest question marks are Holliday, Weiters () and Baltimore's Rotation.

AL Central
1 Cleveland
2 Detroit
3 Minnesota
4 Chicago
5 Kansas City

All these teams have some sort of problem with them, although not huge problems. I think Cleveland's defense and offense will be able to lift their pitching if they can get at least decent results from most of the staff. Detroit could potentially finish on top if they can get the pitching out of their rotation in Porcello, Verlander, etc... Minnesota would easily be my favorite if not for one thing, they're already having trouble staying off the DL and lots of guys are experience 'minor' things that could possibly become 'major'. When Baker, Mauer, and Morneau are all starting off the season with problems and you've got guys like Francisco Liriano pitching for you, injury should be a big concern. The White Sox seem to have to many question marks moving in to the season that I think they will fall on their faces and Kansas could be decent enough if they can get Greinke to pitch great (which he should), but beyond Greinke/Meche there isn't a ton to be excited about in the rotation, especially when you have Horacio Ramirez in the rotation. I know this from experience .

AL West
1 Oakland
2 Los Angeles
3 Seattle
4 Texas

I think I'm the only person to not rank Seattle at the bottom . Before you start calling me biased let me explain. Oakland has one of the most interesting rotations with quite a bit of potential and back that up with a pitchers park and a great defense not to mention an average lineup that is much improved from last season. They have their fair share of question marks and an injury to Chavez/Ellis/Holliday or any more pitchers could be devastating, but I think they'll be able to win the West this year. LA could possibly finish last if three things happen : 1) The rotation never recovers 100% 2) Age finally hits Vlad & Co. 3) Injury Bug. All of these things are very realistic concerns and not to mention they will be fielding one of the worst OF defenses in baseball coupled with one of the most extreme fly ball pitchers in baseball (Jered Weaver; the lone guy who hasn't had a set back thus far) and mix in some injury to Morales and Vlad/Abreu get hit with age/injury and this team isn't looking so hot. Now to Seattle, well they'll be fielding possibly the best OF defense in all of baseball and they've improved the power department a bit with Branyan/Griffey. The rotation is a huge question mark, and the bullpen should get better around July when Cordero & possibly Fields join Morrow. A lot of the younger guys still have some potential (Lopez, Gutierrez, Balentien, Clement (possible trade bait though), Felix, etc...). Still, as much potential as there is in this group, my bet is on Seattle to improve on last year, but not by a lot. Texas - well..since this is already super long I'll just say : awesome offense, but the defense & pitching are lacking this year. They've got a bright future, but it just isn't here yet.

NL will be up in a bit.

[HoustonGM]

Oakland has one of the most interesting rotations with quite a bit of potential and back that up with a hitters park and a great defense not to mention an average lineup that is much improved from last season.

Pitchers park you mean?

[200tang]

Pitchers park you mean?

lol I was thinking it when I was typing it, but it's very early/late sooo I wouldn't be surprised if there were a ton more grammar/spelling/misc mistakes in there.

[200tang]

NL East
1 New York
2 Atlanta
3 Philadelphia
4 Florida
5 Nationals

New York has Jose Reyes and David Wright who haven't reached their potential. That is all. Atlanta has a good top 3 in their rotation and not to mention an above average offense with a nice mix of defense. I doubt Chipper will be able to stay 100% healthy, but they should be okay if they can even get 100 games + replacement level out of his roster spot. I think Lowe, Vazquez, Jurrjens, Campillo and Kawakami should be able to push them past Philadelphia. While we're on the subject, "OMG PHILLY NOT 1 OR 2?!". Well..yeah, when you add an aging Raul Ibanez (+ his defense) to an already lefty lineup and your rotation isn't as good as Atlanta's and neither is your defense you're pretty much relying on your offense being better (which it is, but not by as much as you would think) and your bullpen (which it is as well). All in all, I'll take the pitching & defense. Florida is going to have to replace a lot of innings last year and their offense is not going to get the same production out of some players (CANTU!). The Nationals are a weird team. Everyone thinks they will do terrible (which they likely will), but they have more upside than most give them credit for. Their offense could possibly be one of the best in the league, if they can all stay healthy (which they wont). Assuming they come to their senses and start Dukes over Kearns, the worst hitter on their team will be a .698 OPS catcher. Really there isn't a lot to dislike in this group : Dukes (potential), Guzman (contact), Zimmerman (24 now w/ potential), Adam Dunn (He's Adam Dunn), Nick Johnson (career .396 OBP with a little pop), Willingham (pop & walks), Milledge (23 y/o w/ potential), Flores (C), Ron Belliard (decent offense for 2B). So why is this team going to likely finish last? The pitching mainly. The bullpen was actually decent last year, but I don't think they'll repeat and as for the rotation...well..Lannan should be good this year but there are question marks behind him. Olson projects to be average, Cabrera has no command but has great stuff. If the command comes around(highly unlikely) he could be a surprise. Zimmermann and Martis? round out the rotation and Zimmermann could also surprise this year. He'll have his growing pains but he should be able to flash his dominance as well. Despite what everyone says, this should be an interesting team to keep an eye on.

NL Central
1 Chicago
2 St. Louis (WC)
3 Cincinnati
4 Milwaukee
5 Houston
6 Pittsburgh

I don't see any reason to think Chicago won't repeat so I'll leave them atop the Central and leave it at that. Ah, the Cardinals. Well, they've got a great offense and if the Schumaker experiment works out which it looks like it is in the recent weeks then they could put together a very strong mix of offense and defense. In terms of pitching they have one of the best rotations and 2 very good up and coming relievers in Motte and Perez (I know he's in AAA now, but he'll be called up pretty fast IMO). Why do I have the Central winning the WC?! Well, St. Louis is a very strong team and they get to beat up on Pittsburgh and Houston all year long and pretty much any other team for that matter. Cincinnati..a very good team that has a good young nucleus in Votto, Bruce, Encarnacion and to an extent Brandon Phillips. Defensively I'll project the team as below average, especially on the left side of the infield. I like their pitching across the board and think that a lot of teams would trade their top 4 for Cinci's. The biggest question mark will be how well Harang can do coming off one of his worst seasons and how much progress Cueto will make. Micah Owings is probably my favorite 5th starter in the league by the way. His pitching won't blow your socks off (although for a 5th starter not bad, possibly average or a bit above without looking at any numbers), but his true value lies with his batting. Yes, batting for a pitcher actually has quite a bit of value when you can hit as well as Owings. Next up : Milwaukee! Well, Rickie Weeks will likely continue to tease everyone with his potential and ability to NOT BE INJURED :O (you better not burn me in fantasy WEEKS!), Ryan Braun will try and fight off some minor set backs that he's experienced so far and Prince Fielder will continue to provide a solid avg with plus power and a decent K:BB rate. Oh yeah, Corey Hart and J.J. Hardy will probably continue to be solid with the latter being one of the best shortstops in the game. As for pitching, Yovania Gallardo offers a lot of potential and will likely be their best starter during the year and Jeff Suppan happens to be one of the most consistant pitchers in all of baseball and you can pretty much pencil him in for a mid 4 ERA. Beyond those guys theirs really nobody noteworthy (Parra, Bush, Looper) and sorry Looper, but you're not going to pitch like HGM projects you to. The bullpen? Not great not terrible. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, St. Louis and Chicago are much more complete clubs at the moment. Houston? Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez, Jose Valverde, Carlos Lee, Lance Berkman, Hunter Pence. They could field just those 6 guys every game and finish pretty much the same :-\. Nobody else of note really except maybe Miguel Tejada. Pittsburgh? Paul Maholm and Matt Capps are 2 of my favorite pitchers of all time. A team to watch for in the future, but they need more time.


NL West
1 Los Angeles
2 Arizona
3 San Francisco
4 Colorado
5 San Diego

Well I'll go with what the 'majority' have and go with LA winning it. The lineup is talented up and down and having Juan Pierre as a bench option is a pretty nice option despite all the 'flak' that he gets. Oh yeah, they have Brad Ausmus, WS Bound (bonus points if you get the reference). They lost some pitchers this off-season, but it shouldn't matter a great deal in this division. Kershaw and Billingsley will be the obvious guys to watch and Jonathan Broxton will be one of the best relievers in the league (in terms of ability). Arizona is probaly the sleeper pick of the year to possibly win the division or WC. Even if LA does win the division, I Could see Arizona winning the WC if they get somewhat lucky. First of all their rotation : Webb (ACE+), Haren (ACE+), Scherzer (Potential ACE+), Davis (solid starter), Garland (inning eater? :-\). Well..how about the lineup? It has a lot of potential..A LOT! Chris Young, Justin Upton, and Stephen Drew are all top tier talents (not so much Young, but you know). Along with those guys who could easily take huge strides toward MVP'dom are a list of solid support guys. Felipe Lopez will bring average defense and 40 SB potential to this lineup. Reynolds is a terrible glove but he brings a lot of power to the table. Chad Tracy will continue to fight injury like always but should be a solid 1B with power and a tolerable OPS. Conor Jackson is a great hitter, defensively I don't know much about him though. I assume he's league average though; and finally Chris Snyder who's probably my favorite player on this team. Last year he had 79 hits in 334 AB's, not great right? Oh, did I forget to mention 39 (or roughly 50%) of his hits went for extra bases? Oh and he's 28 this year so expect more of that along with solid defense. Arizona could surprise if Scherzer, Upton, Drew and Young all make significant progress. Moving on, we have SF! As everyone has established they've put up a great rotation this year and will likely be something everyone will keep a tab on. Offensively this team reminds me a bit of the Oakland team last year, minus the defense (not that it's bad, just not as good). It won't strike fear in to anyone, but that isn't their strength..it's their pitching. Their ace is likely to be Lincecum who won the Cy Young last year at the age of 24. 'nuf said. Matt Cain? solid ace material and younger than Lincecum if you can believe that. Randy Johnson? He blew up a bird once. Jonathan Sanchez? Well, you got me there. He has a legitimate shot at being better than he's shown so we'll see. Barry Zito? He could be a pretty good #5 starter if he can get that ERA down to the mid 4's which is very realistic. The bullpen? Alright, not amazing. Another team that could surprise. Colorado seems to be a team in transition. Their pitching is pretty much atrocious except for Street, Corpas and Jimenez and to an extent Cook. The lineup? They play in Coors Field, even Eddie Gaedel could launch 20 in that park :P. If Helton can stay healthy and Tulo can get back to where he should be then they should be great and Dexter Fowler could put up some impressive numbers, but again, in transition this year. San Diego? Jake Peavy and Adrian Gonzalez are cool. Chris Young doesn't seem 100% healthy and neither does Cha Seung Baek. Shawn Hill will end up on the DL eventually. Oh, did I mention that pitching should be their strength? Maybe they'll offset it with their offense right? No. Well, maybe a mid season call up of a stud will push them past Colorado? No. Well...maybe they'll..No. The Padres will finish last. See image below if you disagree with me.

[koolzach1]

Man, I don't see how people still have the Yanks in 3rd or only winning 89. Hell, they won 89 last year with injuries to A-Rod, Wang, Posada, 'Deki, Joba, and starting Rasner and Ponson a TON of games with a mid 5 ERA each. Cano had his worst season ever, etc... Pretty much EVERYTHING went wrong for the Yanks last year... don't see that happening 2 straight years. We replaced Rasner, Kennedy, Hughes, Ponson with Sabathia, Burnett, Wang... We replace Molina with Posada... MAJOR upgrades. The defense has improved with Nady in RF instead of Abreu, and Tex at 1B instead of Giambi.

I guess, all in all people have their opinions, but EVERYTHING would have to go wrong for the Yankees 2 straight seasons for them to only win 89 games.

[ragecage]

Man, I don't see how people still have the Yanks in 3rd or only winning 89. Hell, they won 89 last year with injuries to A-Rod, Wang, Posada, 'Deki, Joba, and starting Rasner and Ponson a TON of games with a mid 5 ERA each. Cano had his worst season ever, etc... Pretty much EVERYTHING went wrong for the Yanks last year... don't see that happening 2 straight years. We replaced Rasner, Kennedy, Hughes, Ponson with Sabathia, Burnett, Wang... We replace Molina with Posada... MAJOR upgrades. The defense has improved with Nady in RF instead of Abreu, and Tex at 1B instead of Giambi.

I guess, all in all people have their opinions, but EVERYTHING would have to go wrong for the Yankees 2 straight seasons for them to only win 89 games.

I would think because of age and terrible defense.

[OregonDuck1989]

Man, I don't see how people still have the Yanks in 3rd or only winning 89. Hell, they won 89 last year with injuries to A-Rod, Wang, Posada, 'Deki, Joba, and starting Rasner and Ponson a TON of games with a mid 5 ERA each. Cano had his worst season ever, etc... Pretty much EVERYTHING went wrong for the Yanks last year... don't see that happening 2 straight years. We replaced Rasner, Kennedy, Hughes, Ponson with Sabathia, Burnett, Wang... We replace Molina with Posada... MAJOR upgrades. The defense has improved with Nady in RF instead of Abreu, and Tex at 1B instead of Giambi.

I guess, all in all people have their opinions, but EVERYTHING would have to go wrong for the Yankees 2 straight seasons for them to only win 89 games.

I have them winning 89 because they play in the toughest division in baseball and I feel their age will catch up to them. Not to mention awful defense.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

It's simple: the Rays, Sox, and Yanks have to play 36 games against each other. That's why none of them are going to have the best record in baseball.