By My Count ...: 2011 MLB Predictions: Just get to the inevitable already

Thursday, March 31, 2011

2011 MLB Predictions: Just get to the inevitable already

Opening Day is in March this year, but I was among the many who pretty much came away from this off-season's transactions basically concluding 2011 would be recorded as a Phillies-Red Sox World Series before it had even been played. If Cliff Lee had indeed gone to the Bronx for eleventy billion million dollars like we all assumed he was going to, then maybe we'd be wondering who the Yankees would be beating.

Of course, last year was another fairly pathetic showing for my own predictions—not that many people probably had the Giants beating the Rangers in the World Series. While I had four of the eight playoff teams correct, I only called a single division winner correctly (nailed the whole AL Central, actually) and had 10 of the 30 teams correctly called in their eventual final spots. Anyway, I need to get ready for work soon, so forgive me for rushing through these guesses a bit (I'll fix the layout issues later, I swear). At least we won't have to endure having Fox News on the television screens this afternoon:

American League East

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

Toronto Blue Jays

Tampa Bay Rays

Baltimore Orioles

The worst part of this year, of course, would be having to endure the 24/7 nostalgic romanticizing of Red Sox nation. Boston's lineup is scary good, but I have to believe that the Yankees will be determined to be the biggest players at the trade deadline. I'm guessing they'll do enough to grab a Wild Card berth this year.

Tampa Bay could still be interesting now that it's apparently where former Red Sox go to die, but I'm guessing the Blue Jays could be the real surprise in this division this year.

The Buck Showalter effect (which was ruined that year I'm linking to) is based on the first year for his replacement, so Baltimore will have to fire him before it translates to on-the-field success.

American League Central

Chicago White Sox

Detroit Tigers

Minnesota Twins

Kansas City Royals

Cleveland Indians

Went flawless here last year by playing it safe with the Twins, but the White Sox are in it to win it this year and—when he isn't striking out—Adam Dunn should hit some bombs at U.S. Cellular. The pitching won't be too shabby either. If the Tigers keep Miguel Cabrera on the wagon, they can certainly contend—and I'm in now way ruling out Minnesota, although that bullpen prevents me from picking a repeat here.

The Royals and Indians might give any one of those division rivals problems, but the rest of the league should enjoy beating up on the both of them.

American League West

Texas Rangers

Oakland Athletics

Los Angeles Angels

Seattle Mariners

The temptation for me here is to believe the Angels could return to the dominant form they had in recent years in this division, but even without Cliff Lee, I think the Rangers still have big enough bats in the lineup to counter the starting pitching of both California clubs. I could easily see those three jostling around the top spot over the course of the season.

Seattle, however, will probably appear at the bottom of the standings for much of the year.

National League East

Philadelphia Phillies

Atlanta Braves

Florida Marlins

New York Mets

Washington Nationals

Incredibly, after picking the Bravos to win not only this division last year but the World Series as well, now in a year when I'm going with the majority that have the Phillies winning this one, I've seen Atlanta becoming a trendy pick after Philadelphia endured more than a few setbacks this spring training. So consider this one of those picks I hope I'm wrong on, or an occasion in which I'm convincing myself that picking against my team will directly influence them winning it. I know, it doesn't make a lit of sense, but it did bring the Blackhawks the Stanley Cup in my mind—or I told myself that.

Anyway, remainder of the division breaks down just like I had it last year with the Marlins contending until about August, the Mets providing the occasional comic relief, and the Nationals getting something different this year in now being able to be disappointed with Jayson Werth.

National League Central

Milwaukee Brewers

St. Louis Cardinals

Cincinnati Reds

Chicago Cubs

Pittsburgh Pirates

Houston Astros

In perhaps the toughest race to call, finally color me a believer on the Brew Crew, I guess. It'll be a rough start, but this race seems to be the one bound to change after the All-Star Break. I still harbor too many doubts about both the Reds and Dusty Baker, which is probably a bit unjustified one year after Cincinnati won the division, but alas, I'm expecting a bit of a drop-off this year. Provided they can endure the early season setbacks and a tough May and June, the late season surge will be in Milwaukee. The Cardinals should also be involved the fight, with maybe even the Cubs surprising a few.

And the Astros and Pirates should be battling it out to avoid the cellar, with my belief being that Houston will end up being the bigger disaster when all is said and done.

National League West

San Francisco Giants

Colorado Rockies

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

Arizona Diamondbacks

Another race I sort of loath, mostly because I'm begrudgingly picking the Giants to repeat here. I'm hoping the Rockies can maybe contend throughout the year and steal this one, but I don't want either team to do so well that it eliminates the Braves from playoff contention.

The Dodgers could certainly be a factor this year too, but I obviously want nothing to do with that and hell if I'll pick it. San Diego was quite the surprise last year, but should be in for quite a struggle without Adrian Gonzalez this year.

And at least Arizona still has that swimming pool in the outfield, right? Right?

Divisional Playoffs