6 months ago, I looked into my crystal ball and tried to predict the outcomes of the upcoming baseball season. Now that the season has (mercifully) come to an end, and my predicted divison winners finished an average of just over 13 games back, let’s take a look back at how wrong I was.
American League
East: Red Sox
National League
East: Braves
Wow. Neither team won their division, though both had commanding Wild Card leads heading into September. Both ultimately blew those leads, missing out on the playoffs on the final day of the regular season. The Red Sox actually were one of, in not the best team in baseball for 4 months this summer, but they were horrible in the other two, April and September. The Braves can at least point to injuries to their starting rotation as the cause for their collapse.
Central: White Sox
Central: Brewers
Well, I managed to get one right. The Brewers won 96 games and managed to win their first division title since taking home the AL East in 1982. The White Sox, whose ad campaign this season was “All In”, thought they had a pair of aces and ended up holding a 2 and a 4. They finished in third place, 16 games behind the eventual champion Tigers, and are now looking for a new manager.
West: A’s
West: Rockies
These predictions keep getting worse as I work through the divisions. Both the A’s and the Rockies finished over 20 games back. The A’s have turned into a zombie franchise, playing out the string in Oakland until they are allowed to move to San Jose or someone buys them and abandons the Bay Area altogether. They can’t attract fans or free agents, and the early successes of Billy Beane’s Moneyball philosophy haven’t been working out recently. The Rockies just never seemed to put things together and cashed out at the trade deadline but dumping the underperforming Ubaldo Jimenez.
Wild Card: Yankees
Wild Card: Giants
The Yankees won their division, so I’ll give myself a little credit for putting them in the playoffs. The Giants still had their great starting pitching this year, but their offense was as anemic as the year before, and they were not able to overcome it, finishing 8 games behind the resurgent Diamonbacks.
Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
Cy Young: Ubaldo Jimenez
Felix Hernandez had a pretty good season for the Mariners, who once again finished in last place. Justin Verlander ran away and hid with this award, which will make the official announcement just a little anti-climatic. Ubaldo Jimenez struggled in Colorado and was eventually shipped to Cleveland. Clayton Kershaw seems to be the favorite to take the hardware home in the NL.
MVP: Adrian Gonzalez
MVP: Prince Fielder
Even before Boston’s late season collapse, Adrian Gonzalez was not going to win this award. He started strong, but seemed to lose strength down the stretch, likely because of his surgically-repaired shoulder. The AL award will likely go to either Justin Verlander or Curtis Granderson, former teammates who are currently facing off in the ALDS. In the NL, I may have gotten the team right, but not the player. If a Brewer does take home the hardware, it will be Ryan Braun, not Fielder, who late in the season seemed more interested in where he will play next season than this year’s postseason. There is an outside chance that Matt Kemp will sneak in and take the award, due to his surprising triple crown performance (3rd in BA, 1st in HR and RBI).