Official MLB 2010 Season

TheGreat · Apr 2, 2010

First game Yankees @ Boston.

It's going to be a long season but I created this thread for some predictions and talk around the league.

Here is my predictions:

AL Cy Young:
Felix Hernandez

NL Cy Young:
Roy Halladay

AL MVP:
Alex Rodriguez

NL MVP:
Troy Tulowitzki

Playoff Teams:
NL - Phillies, Rockies, Dodgers, Cardinals

AL - Yankees, Rays, White Sox, Angels

World Series:
Yankees over Rockies

TheGreat · Apr 3, 2010

I'm also requesting insider link: http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog...spn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=law_keith&id=5051121

Thanks!

MadMax · Apr 3, 2010

AL Cy Young -- Cliff Lee

NL Cy Young -- Josh Johnson

AL MVP -- ARod

NL MVP -- Pablo Sandoval

NL Playoffs: Giants, Braves, Phillies, Cardinals

AL Playoffs: Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Twins

World Series: Angels over Phillies

Manny Ramirez · Apr 3, 2010

AL Cy Young:
Josh Beckett

NL Cy Young:
Roy Halladay

AL MVP:
Carlos Pena

NL MVP:
Albert Pujols

Playoff Teams:
NL - Phillies, Dodgers, Giants, Cardinals

AL - Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, Mariners

World Series:
Red Sox over Phillies

Yea, I know that I am a Red Sox homer but this year's Red Sox team will be their best team since the 2007 one - I'm dead serious. The only thing that will get in their way is the injury bug.

ChrisBosh · Apr 3, 2010

NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay (he'll get 25+ wins, book it)

AL surprise team: Toronto Blue Jays, yes you heard it here first!

kaleidosky · Apr 3, 2010

TheGreat said:

I'm also requesting insider link: http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog...spn.go.com/mlb/blog?name=law_keith&id=5051121

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Here you go. Sorry I'm not gonna make the table look normal =P

2010 Predictions and Awards

In general, I don't think there's a surprising prediction anywhere in here; we saw some player movement this offseason, but the balance of power doesn't seem to be significantly altered in either league or even within any division but the AL West. As a result these might be the most boring predictions I've ever made, but I'll break them down with some award picks (rookies included) and thoughts as well.

The Playoffs

ALDS: New York defeats Texas
ALDS: Boston defeats Minnesota

NLDS: Philadelphia defeats Colorado
NLDS: St. Louis defeats Atlanta

ALCS: New York defeats Boston
NLCS: St. Louis defeats Philadelphia

World Series: New York defeats St. Louis

I hate picking a repeat champion, but the Yankees were the best team in baseball in 2009, carried that to a World Series title, then if anything got a little better in the offseason by shoring up their rotation and defense and adding Nick Johnson and a few weeks' worth of his .400+ OBP. If the Tampa Bay Rays sneak into the playoffs -- a very real possibility -- they'll be dangerous as they were in 2008 because of their pitching, defense, and what will likely be (if they make the postseason) an improved offense.
Law's Divisional Predictions

Dive right in, baseball fans.
Team Wins Losses
AL East
New York Yankees 95 67
Boston Red Sox 91 71
Tampa Bay Rays 89 73
Baltimore Orioles 75 87
Toronto Blue Jays 67 95
AL Central
Minnesota Twins 88 74
Detroit Tigers 85 77
Chicago White Sox 80 82
Cleveland Indians 76 86
Kansas City Royals 71 91
AL West
Texas Rangers 87 75
Los Angeles Angels 83 79
Seattle Mariners 81 81
Oakland Athletics 77 85
NL East
Philadelphia Phillies 95 67
Atlanta Braves 89 73
Florida Marlins 84 78
New York Mets 77 85
Washington Nationals 69 93
NL Central
St. Louis Cardinals 94 68
Milwaukee Brewers 81 81
Cincinnati Reds 80 82
Chicago Cubs 78 84
Houston Astros 73 89
Pittsburgh Pirates 62 100
NL West
Colorado Rockies 90 72
Los Angeles Dodgers 84 78
Arizona Diamondbacks 80 82
San Francisco Giants 79 83
San Diego Padres 70 92

The AL West has to be the most interesting division in the game heading into the season, with four teams that could make the case that they're the best team on paper. The Seattle Mariners did a ton to improve their club, but they're still offensively challenged and may need a historic run-prevention season (or just a lot of luck) to get to 85-90 wins. The Los Angeles Angels were win-lucky last year and lost a couple of key parts, but their ability to beat projections has become chronic over the last eight years. The Texas Rangers have pitching depth, and prospects galore, but their rotation includes a former closer, a guy who spent the last two years in Japan, and a guy who posted a 6.00 ERA last year before going on the DL with thoracic outlet syndrome -- plus Rich Harden, who hasn't seen 150 innings in a season since 2004 and showed up this spring with an altered delivery and reduced velocity. It could go spectacularly, but they could easily end up under .500 if two of the four starters behind Feldman flop.

I see the National League race as three really good teams, two good-but-not-good-enough teams, and then a couple of very dark horses in Florida and Cincinnati. I don't see much separation between those three division winners -- if you want to argue that the Rockies are going to beat the Phils and Cards in the playoffs, I wouldn't really dispute it -- but something will have to go wrong for one of those teams for us to have a down-to-the-wire divisional race. The Dodgers are starting Vicente Padilla on Opening Day, are banking on a scrap-heap pickup as their fifth starter (I'm rooting for Charlie Haeger, because if you don't love knuckleballers, you don't love baseball), and can't have any idea what they're going to get from Chad Billingsley; if there was any team that should have opened the till for a starting pitcher this offseason, this was it.

I'm picking Pittsburgh to win the Anthony Rendon sweepstakes, a pretty nice consolation prize for losing all those games. The 2011 draft is stacked, especially with college pitching, so Toronto and Washington will still get something for their troubles.

Awards

MVPs: Chase Utley, Evan Longoria
I acknowledge that the odds are pretty good that Pujols and Mauer will win these awards again, but I think these are the two players most likely to supplant them.

Cy Youngs: Roy Halladay, Jon Lester
I think everyone expects Halladay to rip through the four-A league like he's wielding a chainsaw. Lester was already one of the five or six best starters in the AL last year, and it doesn't hurt your chances in the balloting when your starts are twice as likely to be on national television.

Rookies of the Year:

AL: Brian Matusz, Neftali Feliz, Carlos Santana
Matusz is about as close to a sophomore as you can be without losing your rookie status, and I think that experience gives him an advantage over much of his competition this year. Santana was sent out last week, but he's really good and Lou Marson isn't, so this is just a hunch that Santana will claim that job well before the season's midpoint. Chris Carter in Oakland could do the same, and he'll rack up the power statistics that voters love when filling out ballots. Other names to watch: Austin Jackson, Scott Sizemore, Wade Davis, and Brett Wallace.

NL: Jason Heyward, Stephen Strasburg, Alcides Escobar
Escobar has a firm hold on a job right now, as does Heyward, but Escobar isn't going to do the things voters have valued in past RoY ballots, like rack up home runs and RBIs, so unless he hits .300 and steals 40-50 bases, he's going to have a hard time winning this award. Elvis Andrus brought a similar skill set to the majors last year, had a great season in the field, and didn't win the award in a weak field. I think Strasburg is going to dominate AA to the point where the pressure on the Nationals -- internal and external -- mandates a fairly early call-up. Other names to watch here if they get the playing time: Buster Posey or one of the trio of rookie starters in Cincinnati: Aroldis Chapman, Mike Leake, and Travis Wood.
Click to expand...

fadeaway · Apr 3, 2010

ChrisBosh said:

AL surprise team: Toronto Blue Jays, yes you heard it here first!
Click to expand...

You must be smoking some heavy doobies.

moestavern19 · Apr 3, 2010

Lets get some Twinkies up in heeeeyuh.

dianap07 · Apr 3, 2010

astros all the way baby!

Ubiquitin · Apr 3, 2010

Go Orioles!

ChrisBosh · Apr 11, 2010

fadeaway said:

You must be smoking some heavy doobies.
Click to expand...

It might just be the first week, but look who is sitting on top of the AL East, whatever it is I'm smoking, its got to be some good stuff. :grin:

moestavern19 · Apr 11, 2010

Go Twins.

YaosDirtyStache · Apr 11, 2010

ChrisBosh said:

It might just be the first week, but look who is sitting on top of the AL East, whatever it is I'm smoking, its got to be some good stuff. :grin:
Click to expand...

Hey its baseball...the longest season I have ever seen, check back in 46 weeks to see where the Jays are...they will be in the same place they were last season behind the Yanks and Sox.

RedRaiderRocket · Apr 11, 2010

What baseball season has started?

ChrisBosh · Apr 11, 2010

YaosDirtyStache said:

Hey its baseball...the longest season I have ever seen, check back in 46 weeks to see where the Jays are...they will be in the same place they were last season behind the Yanks and Sox.
Click to expand...

My claim was that they would be the surprise team this year. They don't have to finish ahead of those two elitist teams to fall into that category. They are playing in the toughest division in baseball history...I think.

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