Normally I would have an “all predictions guaranteed” joke here, but I don’t have one this year. Sorry.
NL EAST
Atlanta
Philadelphia (WC)
NY Mets
Washington
Florida
NL CENTRAL
Chi Cubs
St. Louis
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Cincinnati
Houston
NL WEST
Arizona
Colorado
San Diego
LA Dodgers
San Francisco
NLCS
Braves over DBacks
MVP
Mark Teixeira
Cy Young
Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year
Colby Rasmus
Manager of the Year
Bobby Cox
AL EAST
Boston
NY Yankees (WC)
Tampa
Toronto
Baltimore
AL CENTRAL
Detroit
Cleveland
Kansas City
Chicago
Minnesota
AL WEST
LA/Anaheim
Seattle
Oakland
Texas
ALCS
Boston over Detroit
MVP
Miguel Cabrera
Cy Young
Felix Hernandez
Rookie of the Year
Evan Longoria-Parker
Manager of the Year
Trey Hillman
WORLD SERIES
Braves 4, Red Sox 3
WS MVP
John Smoltz
I am allowed to be a homer.
I like your picks. Though I thik we take the Sox down in 6.
Mac,
You forgot NL Comeback Player of the Year–Mike Hampton.
I should point out that if Colby Rasmus wins the ROY we’re going to look even stupider for picking Joey Devine one pick ahead of him.
Not that I think it will happen, but is Escobar elgible for ROY, or does he have too many at-bats?
That’ll all work for me. St. Louis ahead of Milwaukee, though? Regression for Milwaukee and unexpected surge from St. Louis or just that it’s a bad division?
It’s a bad division. I don’t expect anything from Sheets anymore, and without him the Brewer pitching staff is basically one kid and a bunch of soft tossers. That can work if you have a great defense. The Brewers are probably the worst defensive team in baseball.
Joey Devine is gonna be an all star! Count it!
so is Andy Marte 🙂
I still can’t get all bothered about giving up Joey Devine. 1) he still goes by Joey, b) he was never going to gain Booby’s trust, 3) he appears to be a ROOGY and that’s not as good as being a LOOGY, which isn’t all the great to begin with. So I just have never been all that upset about losing him.
At 9. I don’t know whether “Booby” is a typo, but I like it either way. And I had forgotten about how bad the Brewers’ defense was.
By the way … the ides of March have passed and I’m pretty sure Smoltz is still standing. Dix’s prediction seems to have been faulty.
I don’t know if Sheets can offer much, but if he is going to put it back together then now would be the time. He seems to be healthy for the time being, apparently he’s refound his arm slot, and it’s a contract year. We’ll see.
I think the brewers will score plenty of runs, but that defense is pretty brutal (and arguably their best defender has to sit out 25 games).
They have a good chance to finish ahead of St. Louis.
Wow, the Mets finishing 3rd?
With the pitching they have I don’t see how you can pick them for anything less than 2nd, if not 1st.
You rule, Mac.
However, is there any way you can exclude the Yankees and Red Sox from the playoffs along with the Mets?
“Booby” is my special nickname for our beloved manager. Its amazing that this man can win so much while making decisions like platooning Diaz with Willie Harris for four months, or consistently using Tyler Yates in consecutive games. Its like having dumb luck I guess.
Mets have serious problems. No way Cincy finishes so poorly.
Yep, Bobby’s had dumb luck for 30 years. It’s amazing, really.
The Mets have Santana — who I picked to win the Cy Young — but there are still some cracks in the pitching. Maine wore down badly as the season went on, Perez is inconsistent (except against us) and Pedro’s shoulder is always a concern. And if Wagner goes down, there’s nobody to take his place.
But mainly I think their hitting is a concern. Wright will be great, but Beltran’s knees are bothering him, Alou is already out, Castillo is done, and Delgado has gone Mo Vaughn on them.
I said in comments to the last post that I thought that the Rays could catch the Yankees… but I wouldn’t bet on it.
Mac, I love your picks. here are mine for simple posterity:
NL East
1. Braves
2. Mets* (WC)
3. Phils
4. Nationals
5. Marlins
NL Central
1. Cubs
2. Cardinals
3. Brewers
4. Astros
5. Reds
6. Pirates
NL West
1. Diamondbacks
2. Padres
3. Dodgers
4. Rockies
5. Giants
*For the most part, mac, I agree with you on the Central. I think the Mets are better than Philly, though.
MVP:
Alfonso Soriano
Cy Young:
John Smoltz
Manager:
Bobby Cox
NL Playoffs:
Braves over Cubs
Mets over Diamondbacks
Braves over Mets (NLCS)
Al East:
1. Red Sox
2. Yankees
3. Blue Jays
4. Rays
5. Orioles
AL Central:
1. Tigers
2. Indians (WC)
3. Twins
4. Royals
5. White Sox
AL West:
1. Angels
2. Mariners
3. A’s
4. Rangers
MVP:
Miguel Cabrera
Cy Young:
Josh Beckett
Manager:
Terry Francona
Al Playoffs:
Red Sox over Indians
Tigers over Angels
Tigers over Red Sox (ALCS)
WORLD SERIES:
Braves over Tigers (6 games)
ummmmmm…no
if this team gets to the post-season, and that’s a BIG IF (most scouts, though, think our youngester…Escobar, Johnson, Frenchy and BMac look REALLY good now), we go to the world series…our 1-2 of Smoltz and Huddy should beat any 1-2 in the NL (sorry Mets Homers who troll here) and our OFFENSE will be sick…
but getting to the post season is gonna be tough
I don’t think that the Braves winning the division is an unreasonable notion.
Again, the Phils will be a crazy, fun team to watch. High-powered, sure, but with their pitching & that ballpark certainly no lock. I can see them taking the division again in a close race, but I don’t see them running off & hiding.
The Mets lineup troubles are well-detailed. Lotsa ifs with that team. If Santana is Santana, if Maine & Perez hold up their ends & if Pedro comes back with anything approaching his old self, they’ll be tough—but not impossible.
BTW, the NL Central is woeful.
Hopefully, we’ll do a whole lot better than 22-20 this year. And we simply gotta improve on that 1-6 mark vs Cincinnati.
Mac,
Anyone who has followed the Braves has got to admit that Booby’s won despite some humurous platoons and lineup orders. He’s also not been the best manager for bullpens which is pretty important these days with appearances at an all time high. Maybe dumb luck is the wrong phrasing, but you have to admit that the Braves have won just as many games inspite of his decisions as they have as a result of his decisions.
The Astros have completely collapsed, by the way. They have two stars (Berkman and Oswalt), one good player (Lee) and 22 guys who wouldn’t be out of place on the Marlins (if young) or Giants (if old). In the Central, that might be enough to compete.
Also, if he becomes the star I expect he will, Colby Rasmus will officially be renamed “Columbus Native Colby Rasmus, Whom The Braves Were Supposed To Pick But They Took Joey Devine Instead.” Or CNCRWTBWSTPBTTJDI for short. Not since Tyler Houston over Frank Thomas… Hey, Thomas was from Columbus, too. What’s their problem with people from Columbus?
The other top active player from Columbus is Tim Hudson. He wasn’t a first-rounder, of course; the A’s took him in the sixth. The Braves’ fifth-round pick was… Horacio Ramirez!
Justin @ 21,
I generally agree but I think you could say that about pretty much any manager that has ever lived. The problem is managing has traditionally been such a seat of the pants affair compared to, say coaching football, where they study film and so forth. In baseball, even great managers do a lot of things by instinct and habit and sometimes they end up doing weird things. In general, I think baseball strategy is vastly overrated and how you handle the clubhouse is much more important. And having real good players helps too. Bobby has been great on both those last two counts. I do think that a manager that really was up on statistical analysis and so forth could take advantage of a “market inefficiency” but such a guy, if he exists, would probably not get hired and, second, might have a problem in the clubhouse because players don’t like the statistical approach. Davey Johnson used stats to some extent with the Orioles (he was a math major apparently) and he had success but obviously rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.
I hope your right… although making back to the playoffs have to be priority 1 then we see how far we can go from there. It all could happen… I just wish I was that optimistic.
I’d have picked the WC from the NL West, but I couldn’t say who will win the division!
Will the interleague games prove such a buzzsaw for the Brave this year?
We don’t have to play the Red Sox (until the World Series, of course!) this year. AL teams are:
Oakland
Texas
Seattle
Toronto
dang it, doping has begun in billiards
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/7923510/German-billiards-champ-tests-positive-for-EPO-agent
This just in: Hampton splits himself in half!
(A slight exaggeration)
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080317&content_id=2432419&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
With those interleague opponents would Braves have won division last year? Or just not traded for Tex?
With the Braves playing Seattle, I am now torn between wanting to see Bedard pitch in one of those games and not wanting to see half the lineup strike out every time up against him.
I’m glad they aren’t playing the teams they played last year, but I think scheduling in baseball is a bit overrated. If the Braves had gone 6-1 against Cincinnati, they would have won the division (or, tied, I guess). It really depends on how your team is playing and how the other team is playing at a given time. They won the series from Cleveland and got crushed against the Tigers, yet Cleveland ended up winning the division.
Might as well put mine out:
NL EAST
Atlanta
Philadelphia
NY Mets
Florida
Washington
NL CENTRAL
Milwaukee
Chi Cubs
Cincinnati
St. Louis
Pittsburgh
Houston
NL WEST
San Diego
Arizona (WC)
LA Dodgers
Colorado
San Francisco
Round 1
Braves over Arizona
Padres over Brewers
NLCS
Braves over Padres
MVP
Ryan Howard
Cy Young
Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year
Fukudome
Manager of the Year
Ned Yost
AL EAST
Boston
Tampa (WC)
NY Yankees
Baltimore
Toronto
AL CENTRAL
Cleveland
Detroit
Kansas City
Minnesota
Chicago
AL WEST
Anaheim
Texas
Oakland
Seattle
Round 1
Boston over Angels
Tampa over Cleveland
ALCS
Tampa over Boston
MVP
A-Rod
Cy Young
Sabathia
Rookie of the Year
Adam Jones
Manager of the Year
Joe Maddon
WORLD SERIES
Braves 4, Tampa 2
WS MVP
Kelly Johnson
World Series MVP KJ? lol, way to aim high!
I remember the draft we took Devine in. It was a major curveball which the Braves threw.
They supposedly had some interest in Pennington ( who the A’s took ) and Rasmus.
I think lot of people had the Braves pegged for picking Rasmus then.
We did pick up a Rasmus, just a year later!
The rong Rasmus.
NLE
1. Braves 2. Phils 3. Mets 4. Nats 5. Fish
NLC
1. Cubs 2. Brewers 3. Reds 4. Pirates 5. Cards 6. Astros
NLW
1. D-Backs 2. Pads (WC) 3. Dodgers 4. Rocks 5. Giants
MVP
Teix
CY
Peavy
ROY
Rasmus
MOY
Booby
NLCS
Braves over Cubs
ALE
1. Sox 2. Yanks 3. Blue Jays 4. Rays 5. Os
ALC
1. Tigers 2. Indians 3. White Sox 4. Royals 5. Twins
ALW
1. Ms 2. Angels 3. As 4. Rangers
MVP
Miggy C.
CY
Dice-K
ROY
Adam Jones
MOY
Whoever the Ms’ manager is.
ALCS
Tigers over Sox
WS
Braves over Tigers
Mac,
Both Tim Hudson & Colby Rasmus were born in Columbus, but they’re really Phenix City guys, Both went to high school on the other side of the river.
Frank Thomas & Edwin Jackson are genuine Columbusites—Columbus High & Shaw High, respectively.
NL East: Braves, Mets, Phillies, Nationals and Marlins.
NL Central: Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Cardinals, Pirates and Astros.
NL West: Padres, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Dodgers and Giants.
Wildcard: Mets
NL MVP: Mark Teixeira
NL Manager of the year: Lou Pinella
NL Cy Young: Brandon Webb
AL East: Red Sox, Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and Orioles.
AL Central: Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Royals and Twins.
AL West: Mariners, Angels, Rangers and Athletics.
AL wildcard: Indians
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
AL Manager of the year: John McLaren
AL Cy Young: Erik Bedard
World Series: Braves over Tigers in six.
World Series MVP: John Smoltz
So far, Braves over Tampa in the WS is my fave.
I’d take that, of course, but I still have this one last year to realize my all-time dream: Braves win Game 7 of the WS in Yankee Stadium.
“Baseball Prospectus’ John Perrotto says the Phils indeed desire a southpaw reliever for Helms, who is drawing interest from the Braves and Marlins (both clubs he’s played for previously).”
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/03/what-to-do-with.html#comments
Surely not. Not Wes Helms again. I fear a Royce Ring for Helms trade coming though.
What the hell would we do with Smelms?
Sign him to an extension and, BINGO, there’s your Teix insurance.
Oh, okay.
NL East: Braves, *Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins
NL Central: Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Cardinals, Astros, Pirates
NL West: Dodgers, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Padres, Giants
Al East: Red Sox, *Yankees, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Baltimore
Al Central: Tigers, Indians, White Sox, Royals, Twins
Al West: Anaheim, Oakland, Seattle, Texas
NL MVP: Chase Utley
NL Cy Young: Johan Santana
NL ROY: Jay Bruce
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
AL Cy Young: Erik Bedard
AL ROY: Evan Longoria
NLDS: Braves over Cubs, Mets over Dodgers
ALDS: Red Sox over Angels, Tigers over Yankees
NLCS: Braves over Mets
ALCS: Red Sox over Tigers
World Series: Red Sox over Braves (sigh…)
WS MVP: Daisuke Matsuzaka
Ububba,
It’s happened before (1957)during my lifetime (barely).
anyone know anything about this guy?
“Sergio Valenzuela (RHP, CIN/ATL): Valenzuela was sold back to the Braves after not making a single appearance in a spring game. The Braves then traded Valenzuela to a team in the Mexican League. Which begs the question…Are “future considerations” from the Mexican League worth the $25K the Braves dropped to bring him back? Talking Chop finds the entire situation funny and is not surprised that Valenzuela did not stick with the Reds. “
Marc,
I know, and if I was a 60-year-old guy from Wisconsin, I’m sure I’d think about it all the time.
Wes Helms:
If we’re just talking bench/part-timer, Helms looks like Tony Perez compared to Pete Orr & Chris Woodward.
Smelms also makes about $3 million this year.
mac and ubba……….yes, it happened before…………i was 8 years old in 1957 and the only thing i knew about baseball was that you were supposed to hate the yankees. the braves did it and BINGO ! lifelong braves fan……….. since i was a natural-born yanks hater, it was a cinch to become a redsox fan too since i needed an AL team to root for. well, that and the fact that i learned a lot about ted williams at an early age…………………..inter-league play has tested my loyalties and when the braves and redsox play, i find myself pulling for the braves every time. the world series would be awesome.
Well, Mac, if we give them Ring and Jeff Locke, I bet we’ll only have to pay him $500K.
Eddie Mathews was my favorite player when the Braves moved to Atlanta (I was 10) and I read a lot about the play he made to end the Series in 1957. It would be cool if Chipper made such a play to end the 2008 Series, huh?
NL
East: ATL, NYM, PHI, FLA, WSH
Central: MIL, CHC, CIN, STL, PIT, HOU
West: ARZ, SDP, COL, LAD, SFG
MVP: Mark Teixeira
CY: Johan Santana
Manager: Ned Yost
RoY: Jay Bruce
AL
East: BOS, NYY, TBR, TOR, BAL
Central: CLE, DET, MIN, KC, CWS
West: LAA, SEA, OAK, TEX
MVP: Travis Hafner
CY: Scott Kazmir
Manager: Eric Wedge
RoY: Adam Jones
NLDS: ATL over MIL, NYM over ARZ
ALDS: DET over BOS, CLE over LAA
NLCS: ATL over NYM in 7
ALCS: DET over CLE in 6
WS: ATL over DET in 7
WSMVP: Jordan Schafer (who makes a diving catch in right-center to end the series during the bottom of the 9th at spacious Comerica Park)
Has anyone not picked Boston to win the AL East?
Re NL Central–count me among those doubting the Cards are good enough for 2nd even in that crummy division. I’ll go with Reds 2nd, Brewers 3rd, then the Cards in 4th.
Re Astros–Hunter Pence is decent–0.899 ops last year. He’ll outperform Kotsay and anyone else who mans CF for ATL this year.
Helms for Ring: Ring has looked bad this spring and Helms might be an upgrade over Thorman. They were equally misearable last year (both had ops of 0.650 or so) but Helms was over 0.800 the previous two years. He can also back up third when Chipper gets his annual injury. Thorman is 6 years younger, though, so there’s a chance that he might still improve.
csg,
It cost the Reds $50,000 to pry Valenzuela away from the Braves, so even after paying $25,000 back they come out ahead.
My prediction: the Braves win the pennant on a walk-off home run. By Chipper. Against the Mets. In the last game ever played in Shea Stadium.
@57
If that happened it would easily be in the top five best days of my life
Basil,
FYI– That’s patently impossible.
Yep, you’re right. My daydreams don’t always conform to reality.
🙂
Not impossible. Turner Field has a locust infestation that would take weeks to clear, so they move game seven to Shea, but it’s still a “home” game on the scoreboard.
It’s not unprecidented for a New York sports team to get an extra home game due to a natural disaster rendering a venue unusuable.
I guess its hard to follow all the teams, but the Brewers comments are clearly rooted in some sort of emotion rather than reality. The “soft tossers” besides Sheets, are Gallardo, Villaneuva and Parra. Does any other team have guys like that after their one?
And the whole defense is terrible shtick is uninformed. They were league average before the improvements. I’ll bet they finish ahead of the Braves in runs allowed. Actually I’m looking forward to the Braves games this year. I hope the mighty Braves have to go against one of their soft tossers.