American League predictions

Season Totals not quite ready yet. I have a few teams in mind but nothing concrete. Many of you may know im 8-0 in over for season win totals. Since 2007

Al East-

 Toronto. Love what they did in the off season. Alot of times teams who go all in it turns into a disaster but there are to many team guy here. Toronto has the goods to win the East. 93-96 wins. Player TO Watch (PTW) Brett Lawrie

Rays. Not much offense but I feel they have just enough to sneak into second. I think they get alot from Will Myers and enough SP and decent RP to get by. 89-92 wins. PTW Will Myers

Red Sox. Sox who of course as a Yankee fan, are a team I love to hate but I feel they have picked up good team first guys. I def. think Lester bounces back and they should get something from Lackey. 86-89 wins. PTW Will Middlebrooks

Yankees. Losing Grandy willl hurt ALOT. losing a 40 home run guy for ten weeks will sting any team. A Rod may sit out the season. Derek Jeter is another year older. The only starter under 30 is Brett Gardner. The SP will be decent enough but they will have a lack of O outside of Tex who is declining, Jeter who is old and Suzuki who will be older then Jeter. 83-86 PTW Kevin Youkilis

Orioles. No way they do what they did last season. They will struggle to win 81 games. Just not enough pitching. 74-77 wins

AL Central

Tigers- A team this strong shouldnt be allowed! Miggy, Fielder, Martinez is back and then they sign Hunter? Verlander followed by Fister and Max? This team will make the playoffs where anything short would be an epic failure. 99-102 wins PTW  Andy Dirks

White Sox- Just seem to have enough to get into the wild card chase. Konerko is solid, Viciedo( sp) will hit 30 home runs, De Aza and Rios are solid enough. Peavy leads a decent staff with Cris Sale barring injury should end the season as a top 5 SP in the A:L 88-91 wins PTW Dayan Viciedo

Royals- Love the pick up of Shields. Didnt like trading Myers however its about time the Royals show they want to win. Lineup is above average as Hosmer should bounce back. He is too good not to. Rotation has a chance to be just good enough to contend for a WC 83-86 wins PTW Mike Moustakas

Indians- Signed some decent players. Swish is awesome in the clubhouse and is good for 25+ home runs. Bourn should be a nice spark. I think they are another off season away from doing any damage 74-77 wins PTW Trevor Bauer

Twins- Not much to say. Going htru a rebuilding phase. Bad SP bad offense. Will struggle to win 70 games. 68-71 wins PTW Trevor Plouffe

AL West

Angels- Head will roll is the Angels do NOT win the division if not the world series. SP is a big question mark after Weaver to many but I like Tommy Hanson and think they stoles him from the Braves. Weaver, Wilson who has arm problems and Hanson followed by Vargas and Blanton should be enough to win. They will pound ya also with that lineup. Maybe three of the top 5 hitters in the AL in one lineup. 95-98 wins PTW Tommy Hanson

As. Not other reason than Billy Beane is a fucking genius. Cepedes is a leader and Reddick broke out last season SO will be above average if not strong 82-85 wins PTW Brandon Moss

Rangers lost a alot during the off season and really didnt replace them. Losing Hammy will hurt but not as much as one would think. I love Mike Olt and think he will launch 30 home runs. Think Mark Trumbo. SP is a mess IMO  80-83 wins PTW Mike Olt

Mariners- Made alot of decent move in the winter but not enough to contend. Maybe its time t o bring up those highly touted rookie SP. Maybe a bat or two. 72-75 wins PTW Dustin Ackley

Astros. If you are a fantasy baseball guy like myself, id take a flyer on Cris Carter. He hit 16 homers in like 216 at bats for the As. He may double that in Houston 60-63 wins PTW Cris Carter

ALCS Tigers over Blue Jays 4-0

PTW means basically that his success will make a huge difference in the teams success. I didnt pick the obvious just the lesser player that you dont think of every day that could make a big difference.

Orioles. No way they do what they did last season. They will struggle to win 81 games. Just not enough pitching. 74-77 wins

I hope jpero doesn't see that but if he does he can just post a link the thread where he went berserk on me for suggesting the Orioles could (should?) decline
BOL

There is a concern on Hanson's velocity decline over the past two years. Curious trade by the Braves but with the velocity/money/arbitration issues, probably will work out for both teams.

Good Luck.

Enjoyed the read and agree on Lawrie and Brandon Moss this year. Good luck.

Don't see the Orioles finishing in last place.

for the tigers...i think they got batting power and theyre set defensively..i just think if they really want to make it they should just change the management..last season, i had high hopes for them..even during the world series..everyone knew that SF are the favorites but being swept? thats not actually a good thing..theyre a great team just need an overhaul..just my 2 cents.

I guess heads will roll then...Angels miss the playoffs!

 

Good read bro thanks

Nice work ...best of Luck brother 

No way the Orioles finish in last. Not sure they can repeat what they did last year,but not last place. No pitching? Check out their depth at pitching..it's the run production I'm worried about. Good luck this year!

Well Rat the only team that may finish below is um or yea um who? The Rays have superior pitching, The Jays have good pitching and what could be a 900 run offense, The Yankees although injured will still win at least 85 games hopefully. The Red Sox got better also. I cant see how the Os compete in this division.

Hey love your work - and WAITING anxiously for your season total bets :)

keep rewriting history fool

You said the ONLY reason they wouldn't repeat was because 1 run games and extra inning games.

You then ignored that the Orioles used a hogwash of players and when they finally figured out their 25 man roster (after Manny was brought up) they finished with the best record in baseball in the 2nd half of hte seaosn and the 2nd best run differential.

Dont let facts kick you in hte behind on the way out

Raging-

YOu are way off with the O's not having pitching depth. THey have the most pitching depth of any team in the majors bar none.

Jason Stark, Buster Olney, and Keith Law were extremely low on the Orioles before spring training started (with the same misguided thought process as Key) but after going to spring training they all changed their opinions of the Orioles finishing last or 4 to winning the division or coming in 2nd....

And the reason for that was their RIDICULOUS pitching depth. NO team in the majors has 5 pitchers in the minors who would be in other teams major league rotation.

Britton, Arrietta/Matusz (1 will make the rotation), Steve Johnson, Jair, Gausman, Bundy

THe Yankees dont even have 5 starters nevermind 10. The Jays have question marks along with the Red Sox for pitching.

Rays are the only team with pitching depth to compare.

https://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=9074457

go to 19:50 thats where Buster Olney and Jayson Stark start admitting how wrong they were about the O's and their unparalleled pitching depth

What did I tell you about jpero? This one trick pony that spends his life as a pimp and apologist for the Orioles is back. Heaven help us.

I think Cleveland gets above their listed total of 77.5

Good stuff storm 

Heads will not only roll in Anaheim if they do not get to playoffs. They will also roll in New York if the Yankees finish in fourth place.  

Keep calling me out its your MO

Your exact reasoning for the O's not being able ot repeat last year was 1 RUN and EXTRA INNING GAMES... Dont lie to everyone in here. I posted data, facts, nothing that could be debated in that other thread and you stuck your tail between your legs and had ZERO RESPONSE. All you said was they will regress because of 1 run games and extra inning games...

I showed that those extra inning games and 1 run games came mostly during the first half of hte season. YOU STILL REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE that once Manny was brought up and the 25 man roster was set in stone (they used over 60 players last year, let that sink in while the league average was 42)

From that time forward they were the best team in baseball for over 70 games. Not a fluke. ALso every keeps mentioning extra inning games yet the O's played about the same as every other team in the league and actually played LESS 1 run games than 5 other teams yet NO ONE is mentioning those 5 teams that won more 1` run games as regressing because NO ONE ACTUALLY RESEARCHES and compares those things. I broke it donw in the other thread.

I have the Orioles at around 81-88 wins. THey will regress but not because of 1 run and extra inning games. They will regress because the division got tougher and ultimately those 1 run and extra inning wins will not be won at a 75%.

I broke donw the percentages in the other thread and pretty much it came down to a 3 game win difference for 1 run and extra inning games. WOW so 3 game difference is oging ot cause a 20 game regress give me a break.

Red Sox/Yankees will finish bottom 2

Jays/O's/Rays will finish top 3

Red Sox didnt add all that much and management pretty much came out and said this is a transition period until their minor leagues come up. So this year is a throw away year that they just added players to make them respectable until their youngsters are ready.

Yankees are on a steep decline. No tex for the year (huge loss), Grandy out the first month maybe 1.5 months (thats 1/5 of the season thats a lot to make up), Jeter older/less range/in decline (every non yankees fan hero to see at SS because he so bad there)... Russell Martin gone so Cervelli the answer? CC is still a great pitcher but hes no longer top 10 or top of hte line. Kurodo is solid but after that you have question marks Pettitte is league average, Nova has numbers that continue to fall to the level of his peripherals (he was pitching over his head a couple years ago this decline was forseen) and then there is Hughes (Ive always been a fan but he has been inconsistent).... Bullpen not as strong as last year

Jays - Bunch of superstars but not much depth. Romero? what happened to him... JJ injury concerns. Buerhle is a little better version of Pettitte... Joey Bats returning from wrist injury (usually takes 2 years to fully recover and regain power).... They have a lot of talent but a lot of injury concerns that could turn this into an unmitigated disaster or they can avoid those injury concerns and run the table

Rays - most solid and predictable of all the teams. They have the best pitching and maybe the best defense. They play the best small ball and dont make mistakes. PItching and defense wins games and thats what the Rays have. They also have a lot of pitching depth and positional talent to help supplement the offense. The offense will be the deciding factor of if they win the division of finish 3rd.

O's - everyone returns to the best bullpen in baseball last year. They have the best defense in baseball up the middle (Wieters, JJ, Ajones) and add a great defender at 3rd in Manny. Riemold is back from injury, Markakis returns after missing the last month last season, and the pitching is as deep as it gets. They have players who are entering their prime and pitchers who have learned to pitch at the MLB level the past few years. They have far less question marks than everyone in the AL East except Tampa. The culture and training that Buck and Brady have instituted is well observed.

Once again just listen to the podcast I posted it gives the viewpoint of Olney who believed the Os were a fluke and woudl finish last but then he attended their spring training and

Olney believed the O's would finish last or 4th but then attended spring training and thinks they will win the division or finish 2nd.

He was in the same boat as Key and thought they were a fluke and no chance to even be good until he went and saw things with his own eyes.

He discusses the whole AL East not just the O's... THe O's part starts at 19:50

Only 1 team from the AL East will make the playoffs. Wild cards will come from west and central.

Unbalanced scheduling will real its ugly head and have the AL East beat up on eachother to the point that no team will win more than 92 games... I think 88 wins the division

This is a good O's team. To argue whos going finish below them, it could be anyone. This Yankees team is just awful right now, but why underestimate them? Red Sox could struggle and O's might not win all those close ones. You can predict this but to argue about it is insane. Nobody knows where this season is going to go.