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USA Today Sports Images Will the Tigers celebrate a World Series title in 2013? One of us thinks so. |
Do Chase Hughes and I concur? You'll have to keep reading to find out how far we predict the Nats will go in 2013, not to mention how every division will finish and who will win the major postseason awards in each league.
Enjoy, and be sure to check back here come October to see how foolish we were...
MARK ZUCKERMAN
NL EAST
1. Nationals
2. Braves*
3. Phillies
4. Marlins
5. Mets
NL CENTRAL
1. Reds
2. Cardinals
3. Pirates
4. Brewers
5. Cubs
NL WEST
1. Giants
2. Dodgers*
3. Diamondbacks
4. Padres
5. Rockies
*-Wild Card winners
NL WILD CARD GAME: Braves over Dodgers
NLDS: Nationals over Giants, Braves over Reds
NLCS: Nationals over Braves
NL MVP: Bryce Harper, Nationals
NL CY YOUNG: Matt Cain, Giants
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Gerrit Cole, Pirates
AL EAST
1. Rays
2. Blue Jays*
3. Yankees
4. Orioles
5. Red Sox
AL CENTRAL
1. Tigers
2. Royals*
3. Indians
4. White Sox
5. Twins
AL WEST
1. Athletics
2. Angels
3. Rangers
4. Mariners
5. Astros
*-Wild Card winners
AL WILD CARD GAME: Royals over Blue Jays
ALDS: Tigers over Royals, Rays over Athletics
ALCS: Tigers over Rays
AL MVP: Yoenis Cespedes, Athletics
AL CY YOUNG: Felix Hernandez, Mariners
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Wil Myers, Rays
WORLD SERIES: Tigers over Nationals
CHASE HUGHES
NL EAST
1. Nationals
2. Braves*
3. Phillies
4. Marlins
5. Mets
NL CENTRAL
1. Reds
2. Pirates
3. Cardinals
4. Brewers
5. Cubs
NL WEST
1. Giants
2. Dodgers*
3. Padres
4. Diamondbacks
5. Rockies
*-Wild Card winners
NL WILD CARD GAME: Braves over Dodgers
NLDS: Giants over Reds, Nationals over Braves
NLCS: Giants over Nationals
NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen, Pirates
NL CY YOUNG: Jordan Zimmermann, Nationals
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jedd Gyorko, Padres
AL EAST
1. Rays
2. Blue Jays*
3. Orioles
4. Red Sox
5. Yankees
AL CENTRAL
1. Tigers
2. Indians
3. White Sox
4. Royals
5. Twins
AL WEST
1. Angels
2. Mariners*
3. Athletics
4. Rangers
5. Astros
*-Wild Card winners
AL WILD CARD GAME: Mariners over Blue Jays
ALDS: Angels over Tigers, Rays over Mariners
ALCS: Angels over Rays
AL MVP: Prince Fielder, Tigers
AL CY YOUNG: Justin Verlander, Tigers
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Jackie Bradley, Jr., Red Sox
WORLD SERIES: Giants over Angels
30 comments:
Wow, Chase, the Mariners?
Hope that limb you're out on supports your weight.
actually I think Al West is a bit weak right now with Rangers not doing much in the off-season and Angels rotation isn't deep enough. With astros in now and mariners' improved offense, they may have a decent chance at coming second in that division. they wouldn't be my first choice though.
If the Ms make the playoffs, then maybe Mike Morse wins the MVP
I think you pick the mariners as your dark horse/upset team.
Kinda like Florida Gulf Coast...
Chase must be a Mikey fan. :)
So MarkMeister, I hope that you have the Nats at more than 84 wins this year??
You'll find out tomorrow when I post the annual beat writer predictions!
Neck-and-neck between the Braves and Nats. The Nats have the rotation and the Braves have the bullpen. The Braves have the offensive and defensive edge. It boils down to injuries and depth. Right now the Nats look a lot stronger in the category of depth.
Depth plus a better than average bullpen equates to 100+ wins.
Darn Zuck.....you throwing the Nats under the bus in the series. Not good. We're gonna remember this
Chase, on the theory that a pitcher can't win the Cy Young without being the best pitcher on his own team, how about rank ordering the following factors that might put JZimm in that position:
a. His new change-up
b. His contract situation
c. Strasburg and/or Gio won't be as good as last year.
d. One more year after his TJ surgery.
e. Other
I'm all for Michael Morse winning the MVP. I wrote an entry last year about "Players I wish Ill in 2012." I just can't bring up the bile to write a similar piece this year. Some of the guys that have left the Nats (like Morse) are near to my heart, and perennial targets like Nyjer Morgan have fallen so far that it would be silly to care.
+1/2St.
So much fun to pick and then watch as they go totally wrong. I was much happier that my 87 wins was crushed. Not so sure about the 95 I am predicting this year but again its fun
I went : Nationals/Reds/Dodgers/ Braves over Giants
Nationals to the World Series
Toronto/Detroit/California/ Tampa Bay over Texas
Detroit to the World Series
Nats Win! Nats Win! Nats Win! Nats Win!Nats Win!
Peric, the Braves have the defensive edge? Really?
The Braves made fewer errors last year, but errors are in the eye of the official scorer, and don't reflect ranges. The Nationals were better at converting calls in play into outs last year (defensive efficiency). The Braves got better at SS (I'm a fan of Andrelton Simmons) and lost Chipper Jones, who was not very good with the glove. But Jones's replacements aren't any better (Chris Johnson). B.J. Upton is good in CF - but Bourn is better, and he's gone. Uggla is still at second base and still lousy, and no one knows how Brian McCann's shoulder will be.
OTOH the Nats got better in the OF (less Tyler Moore, Michael Morse and Lombardozzi) and better at 3b (a healthy Ryan Zimmerman). There is no position at which they are worse defensively than last year.
So this is my counter to your proposition, Peric. The Nationals were better than the Braves defensively last year, and got significantly better in the offseason while the Braves have essentially done nothing more than break even. The two worst defensive regulars for both teams are both on the Braves (Uggla and whoever is playing 3b).
Converting baseballs in play into outs, of course:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/sortable/index.php?cid=1172187
1/2 Street: I feel for you but I wish this nonsense about people wishing LannEn good will would stop. He is a Philadelphia Phillie people!! If he was with the Mariners, Astro's, hell even the Yankee's (well maybe not that far) I would like to see him do well but not this year.
Last fall I predicted 106 wins for the Nats in regular season. I see no reason to change that now. Nats will have a dogfight with the Barves though
sjm308-
Good point about Lannan. He is even talking trash about the Nats.
"Last fall I predicted 106 wins for the Nats in regular season. I see no reason to change that now. Nats will have a dogfight with the Barves though."
I think you've got that just about right, give or take a win or two. Any dogfight with the Braves would be as much of a contest as a pit bull against a Georgia poodle. The Nats are the best team in baseball going in. No one can beat them. They will have to beat themselves, like they managed to do last year.
Most potent lineup, best overall defense, very good overall team speed, plenty of power, best rotation in the game, an excellent bench, one of the best bull pens, and one of the winningest managers in the game.
Anyone who picks any other team in the NL just isn't paying attention. The Nats are loaded. No one else comes close.
"Last fall I predicted 106 wins for the Nats in regular season. I see no reason to change that now. Nats will have a dogfight with the Barves though."
I think you've got that just about right, give or take a win or two. Any dogfight with the Braves would be as much of a contest as a pit bull against a Georgia poodle. The Nats are the best team in baseball going in. No one can beat them. They will have to beat themselves, like they managed to do last year.
Most potent lineup, best overall defense, very good overall team speed, plenty of power, best rotation in the game, an excellent bench, one of the best bull pens, and one of the winningest managers in the game.
Anyone who picks any other team in the NL just isn't paying attention. The Nats are loaded. No one else comes close.
Positively Half st., any links? otherwise I refuse to believe that and continue to wish him well. For me, wishing him well is not the same as wishing Phillies well for the coming season.
In other news, the countdown is below 24 hours now. :D
Here,here John C.!
Thanks for defending the Nats' defense! Maybe, just maybe, the Braves have an edge in OF defense, but that's it.
Here's an opportunity for peric to defend himself.
Faraz-
It was mild- mainly talk about how he was sent down last year gives him extra incentive, gave him the sense of being disrespected.
+1/2St.
Nats 102 wins. They face Detroit in the WS and win it in 6.
Here is a link to one talking about a chip on his shoulder. I can downgrade "trash talk" to "shoulder chip."
https://www.google.com/#hl=en&gs_rn=7&gs_ri=psy-ab&gs_mss=lannan%20phillies%20&tok=8_3XaPKHBe5hBD_pcjhbiw&pq=lannan%20phillies%20prove&cp=29&gs_id=1w&xhr=t&q=lannan+phillies+chip+shoulder&es_nrs=true&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&oq=lannan+phillies+chip+shoulder&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&fp=a885c6cf5e4ae8f&biw=1038&bih=474
102 wins. book it
Michele, either someone owes someone a Coke or else the rules are suspended for season predictions.
1/2 Street: I feel for you but I wish this nonsense about people wishing LannEn good will would stop.
Doesn't necessarily have to be a contradiction. I'd be perfectly happy if he had his best ERA ever, lowest WHIP ever, but, due to anemic run support, ended up as a slow-ball version of one of Nolan Ryan's epic seasons -- the year when at age 40 he had an ERa of 2.76 (leading both leagues), 270K's (leading the league), and 5th in Cy Young.
And an 8-16 record.
1/2 street -- yeah, chip-as-motivation is understandable. It was the local paper in Florida (for whom Phila. is the "local" team for ST purposes) that called it a "snub", not Lannan. As they say, it wasn't personal, just business.
And, oh, yeah -- GO BLUE!
Well, Lannan was disrespected. So what? Did he think he was actually one of the top 5 starters on the team still? If so, then he was delusional. I'm with sjm -- time to let go of the Lannan love. He's a Phillie and we want to kick his butt.
As for how he does against other teams, I'm fine with him beating the Braves and don't really care about the rest. I'm not scared of the Phillies challenging us for the title at all. Not at all. They are old and washed up. The only reason everyone is picking them to finish third in the division is that the Mets and Marlins will be terrible.
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