Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
One man’s 2009 Major League Baseball predictions (snarky comments come free of charge, as well):
American League East
1) Boston - Assuming Theo acquires another bat before trading deadline, or uses a bat on Julio Lugo’s ankle during rehab
2) NY Yankees - Has A-Rod discovered every way possible to totally humiliate himself?
3) Tampa Bay – Have a strange hunch the Devil is ready to collect on his end of the Rays deal
4) Toronto – Could finally be the year the clock runs out on Worcester native J.P. Ricciardi’s dream job
5) Baltimore – Peter Angelos’ performance as owner is an affront to competent Greek businessmen worldwide
American League Central
1) Minnesota – Best of a mediocre bunch…wasn’t Boof Bonser in Death of a Salesman?
2) Detroit – Manager Jim Leyland should hire Ponce De Leon as bench coach for this aging group
3) Kansas City – All you need to know about ’08 Royals: Coco Crisp is considered an upgrade in center for ‘09
4) Chicago – Ozzie Guillen finally snaps and sucker punches some poor middle reliever or sportswriter
5) Cleveland – Cliff Lee, meet earth.
American League West
1) LA Angels – Best of a weak bunch…La-La land media darling Mike Scioscia would have been run out of Boston years ago with all those baserunning blunders
2) Oakland – Some people pick them to win the West…I ask those people to name one starting pitcher with more than 10-career victories
3) Seattle – Land of the Rising Sun’s favorite son, Ichiro, is setting
4) Texas – Former President George W. Bush is throwing out ceremonial first pitch…sadly, might be the highlight of the entire year
National League East
1) NY Mets – With K-Rod now anchoring the bullpen, my pick to win it all
2) Florida – Hanley Ramirez: 2009 NL MVP…2010 trade bait
3) Philadelphia – Remind me again how they won the World Series last year?
4) Washington – Pitching staff is a bigger mess than Capitol Hill
5) Atlanta – Counting on 43-year old Tom Glavine to be a major contributor…enough said
National League Central
1) Chicago – One of these years…but not going to be this year.
2) St. Louis – Sometime in September, Tony LaRussa will pass John McGraw for the #2 spot in career games managed…With all his pitching changes, he’s already #1 in most time spent in a dugout
3) Milwaukee – When C.C. Sabathia’s arm falls off in New York, Sox fans can thank the Brewers for using him like a video game pitcher
4) Houston – Funny how we don’t hear much talk about Roger Clemens legendary “workout” regimen anymore
5) Cincinnati – Reds are the Queen City’s longest running flop since Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Fly Trap spun records at WKRP
6) Pittsburgh – Willie Stargell’s not walking through that door…
National League West
1) LA Dodgers – This is going to tick some people off (you didn’t think I’d get through an entire column without doing so, did you?), but I’m still a Manny fan
2) Arizona – So much young talent in one of the retirement capitals of the world…am I the only one who finds this ironic?
3) Colorado – That ’07 World Series loss to the Bosox seems like ages ago, doesn’t it?
4) San Diego – Bring back the Chicken and those McDonald’s uniforms
5) San Francisco – Forget the auto industry…President Obama and Speaker Pelosi should have the federal government intervene on behalf of this disaster
That’s the view from here…how do you see the Pennant races shaping up? Who is your champion this year?
Comments (5)
AL Division Champs:
Red Sox, Tigers, Angels
AL Wild Card:
Yankees
AL 2009 version of the Rays - KC Royals - won't make the playoffs but probably will be in the race until September.
NL Division Champs:
Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers
NL Wild Card:
Brewers
The New York Mess will once again fail to make the playoffs despite their rebuilt bullpen.
Posted by dboisver | March 31, 2009 2:48 PM
Posted on March 31, 2009 14:48
You would pick the Phillies!
Agree with you on the Royals...originally had them 2nd in the division, but upon closer inspection, the starting pitching just doesn't hold up over 162 games. Where I see the Tigers at least trying to do something to upgrade the team in-season, the Royals are more likely to trade off assets for cheaper future players. You know they're not going to ADD payroll for the pennant drive.
Posted by Teddy P. | April 2, 2009 7:06 AM
Posted on April 2, 2009 07:06
As long as the Phils have Howard/Utley/Rollins (and Werth and Ibanez) in their lineup and Hamels on the mound I don't see too many teams in the NL that can compete.
Right - I think KC will wilt when the other teams pick guys up and they can't. Their manager seems to be instilling a Japanese-like work ethic in their young players so if they keep their young core together I think they'll be very good when they manage to find another starting pitcher or two. Cleveland could surprise in that division. Cliff Lee won't have a year quite like last but as long as his control doesn't fall off the map he can still win 16-18 games on that team and they have a pretty strong bullpen. Really they are all close enough you can sort of make a case for any of them finishing 1st.
Funny to read just how many pundits pick the Yankees to not only take the AL East but the World Series as well. Last I checked games were not played on paper. I look at them as a fantasy BB team - let's see how it comes together for them on the field before handing them the WS trophy...
Posted by dboisver | April 3, 2009 11:43 AM
Posted on April 3, 2009 11:43
ESPN and Baseball Prospectus just came out with their PETCOA projected rankings for both the NL and the AL and here are the results for the AL
Central W-L RS RA AVG OBP SLG
Indians 86-76 818 774 .260 .336 .431
Tigers 80-82 789 802 .262 .327 .421
W Sox 76-86 779 828 .253 .322 .431
Twins 76-86 746 792 .264 .326 .394
Royals 75-87 737 792 .262 .321 .407
W-L RS RA AVG OBP SLG
Athletics 84-78 781 755 .252 .332 .406
Angels 81-81 777 777 .264 .326 .410
Mariners 77-85 719 753 .260 .318 .399
Rangers 70-92 795 909 .261 .327 .430
American League East projected standings
East W-L RS RA AVG OBP SLG
Yanks 99-63 801 634 .264 .337 .413
Sox 95-67 846 715 .268 .346 .434
Rays 94-68 814 690 .255 .336 .418
Blue J 76-86 713 755 .254 .320 .405
Orioles 75-87 822 891 .268 .336 .431
This is the system that predicted that the Rays would be well over .500 last season, so it's not just something to shrug off. I have to agree with the projection of the Indians at the top, but do think that KC will be better than last year. However, that's not saying much...
Posted by Kevin J | April 3, 2009 5:29 PM
Posted on April 3, 2009 17:29
Kevin, Kevin, Kevin....you know there's no place for statistical analysis on this blog. We want half-baked opinions....strong, stubborn ones at that! LOL
Seriously, the Central was the one division I had no strong feelings about either way...I can see anyone winning it, even the Royals to be honest.
Here's why I don't like the Indians.....They were a huge disappointment last year and they still had Sabathia for most of the year and a Cy Young winner in Lee that'll be lucky to pitch .500 ball again. He had to be, by far, the biggest fluke ever to win the Cy. I know spring starts don't mean anything, but check out what he's done in February and March. The Devil will collect his side of whatever bargain Lee made to pitch totally out of his mind in '08.
Posted by Teddy P. | April 3, 2009 6:19 PM
Posted on April 3, 2009 18:19