A Quick Look Back At Some Preseason MLB Predictions

Back in April we all made our picks for the divisions and the major awards on the blog. Some were great and make us look downright prophetic. Some were awful and made us look downright pathetic. Let's take a look at the good and bad of our MLB preseason predictions:

Our predictions came on opening night but Yanks, Rays, and Sox are still close

AL East
Hits: Jay picked the Yankees to win the division and the Rays to win the Wild Card while Ari, Ben, and I all took the Yankees to win the division and the Red Sox as the Wild Card. Saying "While the Yankees could be undone by injuries, the Red Sox injury risks...are equally as present. What remains to be seen if Jonathan Papelbon has any ill effects from his implosion in last year's deciding game of the ALDS. The Fenway Faithful may not be too forgiving if he blows a game or two..." Writing that the Yankee Stadium crowd would not be too kind to Javy Vaquez if he starts the season off slowly.

Misses: I think we all underestimated Toronto. Jay saying "Joba Chamberlain will excel in his return to the bullpen."  Ben saying "Mark Teixeira will win the Triple Crown." Mostly all of our AL MVP predictions (Ari and Jay picked A-Rod, Ben picked Mark Teixeira, and Sarah picked Kevin Youkilis). My pick of Brian Matusz as Rookie of the Year

Too Close to Call: Ben saying "Tim Wakefield will start at least 20 games for the Red Sox." (he has 16 but is currently in the 'pen). My MVP prediction for Evan Longoria (still has a shot). Ari taking CC Sabathia and Sarah taking Jon Lester as Cy Young picks.

AL Central

Grady Sizemore was never even close to the MVP (SI)

Hits: Claiming that the White Sox bullpen and rotation were deep was also a good move. Saying "The Royals are awful and with acquisitions like Kyle Farnsworth and Jason Kendall, they seem to be going in the wrong direction" Jay saying "Joe Mauer will regress from his 2009 form." My claiming that the following statement was fiction "Dontrelle Willis' wildness has been cured"

Misses: Ari taking the Tigers (at least as of now). Sarah and Ari's Rookie of the Year picks of Scott Sizemore and Michael Brantley, respectively (though, to be fair, I may have made those picks for them). Me saying "The Tigers pitching staff will suffer from bad team defense to the point Jim Leyland decides to sit some of his more productive hitters." Me suggesting that Carlos Pena may get traded. Talking about Grady Sizemore and MVP in the same sentence.

Too Close to Call: Picking the White Sox to win it (Ben and I did that) with the Twins and Tigers 2nd and 3rd. Sarah and Jay picking the Twins may work out as well. Ben's pick of Justin Verlander as Cy Young and Austin Jackson as AL Rookie of the Year.

AL West

Washington & his Rangers have surprised (Bleacher Report)

Hits: Me saying "The Rangers should have a really, really good lineup and Elvis Andrus will add to that this year..." (though after that it was a total miss). Ben saying "Milton Bradley will be suspended on multiple occasions. My claim that "the Mariners will save a ton of runs defensively but they got outscored by a lot last season, have Cliff Lee injured already and huge questions marks behind the Big 2 in the rotation and an iffy bullpen." 

Misses: Just about everything else. Ben, Jay and I went with the Angels to win the division and Sarah and Ari went with the Mariners. I thought Ron Washington wasn't safe in his job and wrote "questions surrounding the manager, the rotation, and the health and mental fragility of Josh Hamilton may be too much for this team to overcome. Plus, I think that this team will miss Kevin Millwood a lot more than they previously thought."

Too Close to Call: Claiming it was fiction that "The Angels plan to play Hideki Matsui in the outfield will not backfire". Me picking Felix Hernandez for Cy Young. Jay picking Neftali Feliz for Rookie of the Year.

NL East

Losing Chipper could derail the Braves (ABC)

Hits: Writing " I do not like the Placido Polanco signing and I thought they should have gone with Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay for one season". Claiming "The Mets are a mess" and that "Brad Lidge's problems closing are done" was fiction. Ari writing that the Mets would not make the playoffs. Me saying "I see a bounceback year from Cole Hamels"

Misses: Sarah picking Chase Utley as NL MVP (good choice but has just been injured) and Stephen Strasburg as NL Rookie of the Year. Me writing "the loss of Javy Vazquez is huge and cannot be made up by Tim Hudson". Me saying "I think Phillippe Aumont, the top prospect they got for Cliff Lee, may slot into a late inning role by the end of the season."

Too Close to Call: I picked the Phillies and Braves to make the playoffs and the 3/4/5 teams to be the Marlins, Mets and Nationals. We all were on with the Phillies here (though a playoff spot is anything but locked up, it looks pretty good right now that they'll be in it to the end).Ari, Ben and Jay going with Jason Heyward as NL Rookie of the Year. Ari, Ben, Jay and myself picking Roy Halladay as the NL Cy Young. The myriad of predictions that the Mets would finish below .500 and that Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya would not be employed.

Will Albert win the Triple Crown or MVP? (AJC)

NL Central
Hits: Ari, Ben and Jay going with the Cards for the division (they at least look like they'll be close to the very end). I predicted that the Astros would trade Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt. Writing that the Pirates "don't have the pitching they need to win." Saying about the Cubs that "the curse will be extended another year".

Misses: Me picking the Brewers to win the division and Ari for them to win the Wild Card. Sarah picking the Cubs to win the division. Me picking Prince Fielder to win the MVP and Alcides Escobar as the NL Rookie of the Year. Me suggesting that Aramis Ramirez may get traded. Jay saying that it was  "Chris Carpenter makes it through the whole season without an extended trip to the DL" (well, so far anyways).

Too Close to Call: Ari, Ben and Jay going with Albert Pujols as the MVP. Me commenting that Yovani Gallardo was a darkhorse Cy Young candidate. Ben predicting that Albert Pujols will win the Triple Crown and Jay predicting against it (it could be close).

NL West

The Padres have surprised us all (SanDiego.com)

Hits: Writing "Carlos Gonzalez is ready for a breakout season...Ubaldo Jimenez and the rest of the rotation is really good." Picking against the D-Backs. Jay saying that Adrian Gonzalez would not get traded.

Misses: Picking the Rockies to win the division (Jay and Ari did the same with Sarah picking them as her Wild Card. I stupidly picked them to go to the World Series). Saying that Pablo Sandoval was the only bat of value in their lineup. Claiming Adrian Gonzalez would get traded. My trashing of the Padres and especially their rotation.

Too Close to Call: Ben picking the Giants and Sarah picking the Dodgers to win the division. Sarah's pick of Tim Lincecum for Cy Young. My darkhorse pick of Ubaldo Jimenez as the Cy Young.

So how will we end up doing in the end? We'll find out in October!