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. [Read more...]

Tonight is Opening Night of the 2012 MLB season. How hard is that to believe? In honor of the special day which is similar to a second Christmas Eve, we make our picks on all things baseball so we can look back and see how everyone did at season’s end. Here’s our 2011 predictions. Last year was hit and miss, but we feel much more educated for this year. Here’s how I see things in baseball shaking out in 2012:

American League

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

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

AL West:
Anaheim Angels
Texas Rangers*
Seattle Mariners
Oakland A’s

National League

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

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

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

* Denotes Wildcard teams

Playoffs:
Wildcard Games:
Texas Rangers over Toronto Blue Jays
Colorado Rockies over Milwaukee Brewers

Wild Card Round:
New York Yankees over Texas Rangers
Anaheim Angels over Detroit Tigers
Cincinnati Reds over Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants over Miami Marlins

ALCS/NLCS:
Anaheim Angels over New York Yankees in 6 games
San Francisco Giants over Cincinnati Reds in 6 games

World Series:
Anaheim Angels over San Francisco Giants in 5 games

AL MVP: Albert Pujols, Anaheim Angels
NL MVP: Jay Bruce, Cincinnati Reds
AL CY YOUNG: Jered Weaver, Anaheim Angels
NL CY YOUNG: Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco Giants
AL Comeback Player of the Year: Adam Dunn, Chicago White Sox
NL Comeback Player of the Year: Ike Davis, New York Mets
AL Manager of the Year: John Farrell, Toronto Blue Jays
NL Manager of the Year: Ozzie Guillen, Miami Marlins
AL Rookie of the Year: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers
NL Rookie of the Year: Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals
Team that will most resemble Cinderella: Toronto Blue Jays
AL Manager first fired/hot-seat: Ron Gardenhire, Minnesota Twins
NL Manager first fired/hot-seat: Brad Mills, Houston Astros
AL Team Worst Record: Minnesota Twins
NL Team Worst Record: Houston Astros

Other Notable Predictions:

Hardball Talk

Jayson Stark

Sports Illustrated

ESPN

Yahoo Sports (Tim Brown, Steve Henson, Jeff Passan)

Scott Miller, CBS Sports

Fake Teams

FanGraphs