2013 Predictions

Predictions in baseball are stupid, but they are also a lot of fun.   So, here are mine for 2013 as Opening Day has finally arrived:

Division Races:

AL East:

1.  Toronto Blue Jays- I'm not as big a fan of all the trades they made as some, but they are a loaded team now.  Some depends on whether Jose Reyes' legs will withstand the pounding from the artificial surface and that is a thin reed to lean on, but the team has a lot of other assets.

2. Tampa Bay Rays- They need a healthy season from Longoria on offense, but they have great pitching led by David Price.

3.  Baltimore Orioles- If everything breaks right again, they could end up #1, but their pitching doesn't seem to cut the mustard for me.  Dylan Bundy would be a huge upgrade right now, but they will keep him down for a couple of months for arbitration clock management.

4.  Boston Red Sox- I'm not as impressed with the additions of Victorino and Napoli as some, and their pitching still seems like a complete mess.

5.  New York Yankees-  Oh how have the mighty fallen?  The Yankees are now known more for picking up players off the Giants scrapheap than for signing superstars.  The trade for Wells was obviously made out of desperation and will not help.  This is, all of a sudden, a very bad team!

AL Central:

1.  Detroit Tigers- They are loaded again and should run away with the division.

2.  Kansas City Royals-  They added pitching in the offseason and they have several young players who are primed for breakouts.

3.  Chicago White Sox- They have some interesting young players, but the talent pipeline is not running fast enough so they will come up short.

4.  Cleveland Indians- They added some respectable pieces in Bourn and Swisher, but their pitching is still pretty pathetic.

5.  Minnesota Twins- The Twins have some talent in the pipeline but are not ready to compete yet.

AL West:

1.  Oakland A's- The Rangers and Angels are the popular favorites, but the A's have much better hitting than Texas and much better pitching than the Angels.

2.  Seattle Mariners- The Mariners retain their excellent pitching and add several power bats.  Pitching still rules in baseball and the Mariners are going to be a lot better than people expect now that they have decent hitting to back up their pitching.

3. LA Angels- Lineup of superstars but the pitching staff is a collection of innings eaters.  Loss of velocity and K% bodes ill for Jered Weaver's future.  A collapse is not out of the question.

4. Texas Rangers- The lineup loses Hamilton and Napoli and does not add anything.  That is not a scary lineup anymore!  The pitching is decent, but will it be enough?

5.  Houston Astros- This team is rebuilding and doing it the right way, but they will be very bad this year.

NL East:

1.  Washington Nationals- Best team in baseball on paper.  In a playoff matchup, I'll take Bochy to outmanage Davey Johnson, but the Nats are going to win the NL East.

2.  Atlanta Braves- The Braves have a lot of talent and could give the Nats a run for their money if it all falls into place.  They've got problems at catcher, 2B and possibly 3B, which will likely hold them back.

3.  Philadelphia Phillies- Ryan Howard and Chase Utley seem to finally be healthy and Domonic Brown seems to be finally ready, but this team has a lot of age.  Halladay looks like he might be done.

4.  New York Mets- David Wright starting the season with a rib cage injury is not a good thing.  The Mets have a couple of nice building blocks on the pitching side with Matt Harvey ready to break out and Zack Wheeler coming soon, but overall the talent level is not there.

5.  Miami Marlins- How bad are the Marlins?  2/5's of their pitching rotation goes down with injuries on the eve of Opening Day and 20 year-old Jose Fernandez is being pressed into service.  The Marlins have some talent on the farm but it's gonna be a long walk home for them.

NL Central:

1.  St. Louis Cardinals- The Cardinals are weak up the middle, but they have pitching, pitching and more pitching and a pipeline of talent that is backed up for miles.

2.  Cincinnati Reds- If he can stay healthy, Shin-Soo Choo will help the top of their lineup a lot.  The pitching is still not quite up to the Cardinals standards and they don't seem to know what to do with Aroldis Chapman.  Read Keith Olbermann's blog for a spot on take on Chapman.

3.  Pittsburgh Pirates- The Pirates have a nice lineup, but the pitching leaves a lot to be desired.  Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon would be immediate upgrades but will start the season in the minors.

4.  Milwaukee Brewers-  The BrewCrew has evolved away from the Harvey's Wallbangers days into a run and gun team.  They have added even more speed with Jean Segura at SS.  The signing of Kyle Lohse helps shore up the rotation which is underrated.

5.  Chicago Cubs- the Cubs have a few nice pieces in Castro at SS, Rizzo at 1B and Samardzija on the mound as well as some interesting prospects, but this team is still a long, long ways from contending.

NL West:

1.  San Francisco Giants- The Giants are defending champs for the second time in 3 years.  It's crazy hard to repeat, but I think this team has it in them.  They do need Pablo Sandoval's elbow to get healthy soon, but with Belt and Crawford now forces in the lineup, it's less critical than in past years.  What could derail everything is a couple of injuries to the starting rotation.

2.  LA Dodgers- The Dodgers have undeniably bought themselves a lot of talent.  I'm not convinced that it all fits together.  I am also not convinced that Clayton Kershaw is completely healthy.

3. San Diego Padres- the injury to Headley and suspension of Grandal hurt a lot, but this is a much better team than they are generally given credit for.

4.  Arizona Diamondbacks- This team absolutely hemorrhaged talent in the offseason in an effort to gain "chemistry".  They bet the farm on Adam Eaton taking over in CF and he's out for who knows how long with UCL issues.

5.  Colorado Rockies- If TMT(Two Month Tulo) can stay healthy, they will have a dangerous lineup, but the pitching is a complete shambles in many ways.

Wild Cards:

AL:  Tampa Bay Rays and KC Royals.

NL:  Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds.

AL Pennant:  Detroit Tigers

NL Pennant:  San Francisco Giants

World Series Champion:  Giants

AL MVP:  Yoenis Cespedes

NL MVP:  Bryce Harper

AL Cy Young:  David Price

NL Cy Young:  Stephen Strasburg

AL ROY:  Dylan Bundy

NL ROY:  Jean Segura

What are your predictions?