2013 Season Predictions

Miguel Cabrera will take home a wealth of hardware this year, leading the Tigers to their first championship since 1984.

Tonight is Opening Night of the 2013 MLB season. How long have we waited since the Giants raised the World Series trophy last year?  I’m not exactly why it’s fun to do predictions.  Things will change players will get injured and these prediction will turn to shit.  But what if they don’t?  That’s why we do it.  For the slim chance at the end of the year that you’ve got it all right.  Here’s our 2012 predictions.  My predictions may be worst than most, but they’re mine – and they’re better than yours.  Enjoy.

American League

AL East:
Toronto Blue Jays
New York Yankees*
Baltimore Oriole
Tampa Bay Rays
Boston Red Sox

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

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

National League

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

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

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

* Denotes Wildcard teams

Playoffs:
Wildcard Games:
Texas Rangers over New York Yankees
San Francisco Giants over St. Louis Cardinals

Wild Card Round:
Detroit Tigers over Texas Rangers
Toronto Blue Jays over Los Angeles Angels
Cincinnati Reds over Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants over Washington Nationals

ALCS/NLCS:
Detroit Tigers over Los Angeles Angels
San Francisco Giants over Cincinnati Reds

World Series:
Detroit Tigers over San Francisco Giants

Yes. These are the same teams that made it last year. I think Detroit has the most talent – even in a loaded AL and will easily get to set up their 4 man rotation for the playoffs. The only weakness they really have is defense a bit and a back end guy.  The Giants pick makes me nervous, but I think they’ll go on another run.  They have the pitching to do it and have done a good job coming up with a decent lineup for the post season.  Madison Bumgarner will take another step forward and lead them here.

Season Awards…after the jump.

AL MVP:  Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers – Yes, there was plenty of argument last year that he should not have one the award over Mike Trout.  I don’t think it was awful and don’t want to get into it except that it set’s up back to back MVPs for the first time since Frank Thomas in ’93 and ’94.  Cabrera is a hitting machine and the lineup has only gotten better given him better chances for RBIs and runs.

NL MVP:  Matt Kemp, LA Dodgers – He’ll have to stay healthy, but he was off to a torrid start last year when he went down with injury.  He has a great power speed combo and was only one homer shy of 40/40 in 2011.  The lineup in LA certainly won’t hurt him and I think there is a groundswell that he was robbed by Ryan Braun in 2011, especially given the allegations around PED use by Braun.

AL CY:  Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers – I’d love to go out on a limb here, but this isn’t bold predictions – I’m trying to be right. Verlander is so consistent and will be pitching for a big contract.  The other juggernauts in the AL have something that scares me.  King Felix pitches for a bad team and David Price doesn’t have the same history as Verlander.  He should get back to 20 wins and if he lowers his ERA a touch he’ll win his second Cy Young in three years.

NL CY:  Clayton Kershaw, LA Dodgers – Even sharing the same league with Stephen Strasburg, it’s so hard not to pick this guy to take home any pitching award.  He is simply incredible.  He didn’t have the wins last year,but every other number was in Cy Young territory.  The Dodgers should be able to put him close or past 20 wins which should lock up the award for him.

AL ROY:  Wil Myers, Tampa Bay Rays – The Rays will need the bat of Myers if they hope to contend for the playoffs.  He’ll start the year in AAA, but I think we’ll see him as soon as they save a year of service time for him.  The Trop isn’t a great hitting environment, but the other candidates won’t get the numbers to match Myers and he’ll immediately be the 3rd or 4th best hitter in the Rays lineup.

NL ROY:  Julio Teheran, Atlanta Braves – Maybe I’m buying snake oil here, but Teheran has gone off this spring with a 1.04 ERA.  He isn’t just showing up on the scene.  He has been ranked as high as the #5 prospect by MLB.com.  The braves should be good and get him decent run support and he won’t have to occupy a high pressure rotation slot.

AL Comeback Player of the Year: Victor Martinez, Detroit Tigers
NL Comeback Player of the Year: Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado Rockies

AL Manager of the Year: Terry Francona, Cleveland Indians
NL Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker, Cincinnati Reds
Team that will most resemble Cinderella: Seattle Mariners

AL Manager first fired/hot-seat: Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals
NL Manager first fired/hot-seat: Charlie Manuel, Philadelphia Phillies

AL Team Worst Record: Houston Astros – this is basically on purpose.
NL Team Worst Record: San Diego Padres – sucks to be down for so long.

Good luck to all the teams out there.  Give us a great season.