Diamond Hoggers 2011 Season Predictions Post

As part of our full-service primer for the 2011 season, we make our picks on everything so we can look back and see how everyone did at season’s end. Here’s our 2010 predictions. Last year was hit and miss, but we feel much more educated for this year. We’ve really studied up and feel confident as ever about how things will shake out. Here’s how I see things in baseball shaking down for the following season:

American League

AL East:

Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees*
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles

AL Central:
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Minnesota Twins
Kansas City Royals
Cleveland Indians

AL West:
Texas Rangers
Los Angeles Angels
Seattle Mariners
Oakland A’s

National League

NL East:
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals
New York Mets

NL Central:
Milwaukee Brewers
Cincinnati Reds*
Chicago Cubs
St. Louis Cardinals
Pittsburgh Pirates
Houston Astros

NL West:
Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles Dodgers
Arizona DiamondBacks
San Diego Padres

* Denotes wildcard teams

Playoffs:
Chicago White Sox over New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox over Texas Rangers
Cincinnati Reds over Philadelphia Phillies
Colorado Rockies over Milwaukee Brewers

ALCS/NLCS:
Colorado Rockies over Cincinnati Reds
Chicago White Sox over Boston Red Sox

World Series:
Colorado Rockies over Chicago White Sox in 4 games

AL MVP: Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox
NL MVP: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
AL CY YOUNG: Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox
NL CY YOUNG: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
AL Comeback Player of the Year: Ben Zobrist, Tampa Bay Rays
NL Comeback Player of the Year: Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves
AL Manager of the Year: Ozzie Guillen, Chicago White Sox
NL Manager of the Year: Jim Tracy, Colorado Rockies
AL Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
NL Rookie of the Year: Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds
Team that will most resemble Cinderella: Kansas City Royals (above .500 finish)
AL Manager first fired/hot-seat: Bob Geren, Oakland A’s
NL Manager first fired/hot-seat: Terry Collins, New York Mets
AL Team Worst Record: Cleveland Indians
NL Team Worst Record: New York Mets

Other Predictions from Notable Sources:

Sports Illustrated: Tom Verducci

SI’s Expert Picks (Heyman goes into detail)

ESPN Experts Picks/Awards (They never disappoint. Just so mainstream with everything.)

ESPN SweetSpot’s NL Central All-Stars

CBS Sportsline: Scott Miller/Other Experts

Hardball Talk

Jayson Stark – ESPN

New York Times: AL/NL

Jeff Pearlman: Picks the REDS to go to the World Series

Ken Rosenthal: Reds win the NL Central, Braves win the NL Pennant

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Reds heavy favorites

Yahoo (Brown, Henson, Passan): Jay Bruce picked to lead the NL in Home Runs by Passan. Very cool predictions.

Washington Post: Reds are picked to win the Central

Miwaukee JS: 6 of 8 writers pick the Reds to win the NL Central

Other stops in blogdome:

Bullpen Talk

Through the Fence Baseball

MLB Dirt

Southside Sox

Disciples of Uecker

Hardball Times

Double G Sports

Long Live Shea Stadium

Sully Baseball

The Golden Sombrero