At the beginning of the of the 2011 season, if you would have said that Curtis Granderson was going to hit 40+ home runs and Ian Kennedy would reach 20+ wins people would have called you crazy. But those uncanny things happen each year; those players finished with 41 home runs and 21 wins respectively.
This year is going to be a big year for the MLB, more teams are starting to assemble superstar squads while other teams are calling up prospects getting ready for the future. There will be something that happens to each team that no one has thought of, these will be my bold predictions of the 2012 season.
AL West
Seattle Mariners– Ichiro clubs out a career-high 17 home runs. He has always had pop in his bat but never used it because he was a leadoff hitter. Now he is batting third and knocking some runs in. Also, Jesus Montero will start less than 20 games at the catcher position.
Los Angeles Angels– Mark Trumbo struggles to get implemented/ keep his spot in the lineup (1B, 3B, DH, OF). He won’t even hit 19 home runs and he won’t be able to keep his average above .240. On a positive note, Kendrys Morales will stay healthy for the most part and knock out 26 home runs while C.J. Wilson gets a team-high 24 wins.
Texas Rangers– Mike Napoli ends up getting moved, again, at the trade deadline. Neftali Feliz has an impressive 13-8 record as a starter. Joe Nathan gets hurt (not bold) and Alexei Ogando becomes the closer getting 33+ saves.
Oakland Athletics– Yoenis Cespedes scorches 37 doubles and leads the team with 22 home runs and 89 RBI. Pitcher, Brandon McCarthy, makes the All-Star team and finished the season with 14 wins and a 2.96 ERA with a sub-1 WHIP. Manny Ramirez also takes the DH spot from Jonny Gomes after serving his 50-game suspension and he hits 13 dingers.
AL Central
Detroit Tigers– Alex Avila struggles on offense while the rest of the Tigers do not. Austin Jackson finally proves that the Tigers made the right choice in trading Curtis Granderson for him and company. Jackson steals 34 bases and hits a career-high .294.
Cleveland Indians– Josh Tomlin leads this team in wins with only 12. Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore miss over a combined 210 games. Ubaldo Jimenez still can’t find his groove in Cleveland.
Minnesota Twins– Bottom-dwellers of the AL Central and the league for that matter, which ends up being the worst division in the MLB. Mauer does play, and hits .318, but it doesn’t help the team. Ben Revere ends up taking Denard Span’s CF spot and steals 51 bases.
Kansas City Royals– Royals finish second in division with 88 wins. Eric Hosmer wins the AL MVP despite not making the playoffs. He bats: .330, 29 long-balls and 117 RBI. Mike Moustakas hits 26 home runs and Tim Collins makes the All-Star team as a setup man.
Chicago White Sox– Jake Peavy finally makes a comeback, dealing out a team-leading 14 wins. Matt Thornton finishes the season as the closer but not a good one and Konerko is the only player on the team to bat over .300.
AL East
Boston Red Sox (World Series Champs)– Mark Melancon was brought in to be a setup man but he ends up leading the club in saves (28). Salty hits 23 home runs but Ryan Lavarnway will takeover as catcher by the end of July. Defensive prodigy Jose Iglesias gets called up and sent back down because he doesn’t know how to use a bad and Crawford is still irrelevant by the end of the season.
New York Yankees– Ivan Nova becomes the most consistent pitcher. Curtis “The Grandy Man” Granderson hits only 23 home runs while Jeter and A-rod combine for 26. Cano finishes third in MVP voting behind Hosmer and A. Gonzalez.
Toronto Blue Jays– Ricky Romero wins AL Cy Young Award, getting 227 K’s and 18 wins with 26 quality starts. Yunel Escobar hits .310 with 84 RBI and 22 steals. Kyle Drabek doesn’t make his way into the rotation either.
Tampa Bay Rays– Ben Zobrist hits 24 home runs while snatching 26 bases and he will start games at 2B, 1B, LF, RF and DH. Desmond Jennings hits a shocking 26 HR and B.J. Upton gets traded to Houston.
Baltimore Orioles– Mark Reynolds moves to 1B, Brian Roberts comes back and Robert Andino plays most of the year at 3B. Jake Arietta wins only 9 games but has a 3.20 ERA. Adam Jones gets traded so Baltimore can stockpile on prospects… I don’t know why they want to though.
NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks (Lose in World Series)– Trevor Cahill shows he misses pitching at the Coliseum and gets rocked. Ian Kennedy doesn not have the same type of season as last year. Tyler Skaggs gets promoted early and leads the team in strikeouts and ERA. Justin Upton hits 34 HR and steals 28 bases.
San Francisco Giants– Freddy Sanchez hits only .263, no one on the team hits over 23 home runs and Lincecum has a 3.49 ERA. Brian Wilson is lights out this year but he will have no save opportunities, only gets 31 saves.
Colorado Rockies– Dexter Fowler becomes a superstar. Jamie Moyer gets 13 wins, Tulowitzki wins NL MVP and Jordan Pacheco hits 24 home runs from the hot corner. Helton and Giambi both announce they will retire at end of season, freeing up first base for 3B prospect Nolan Arenado who will move to 1B.
San Diego Padres– Carlos Quentin hits only 16 home runs. Cameron Maybin leads the team with 26 bombs and 38 steals. Edinson Volquez and Corey Luebke both tie with 15 wins but the Padres still struggle.
Los Angeles Dodgers– Dee Gordon hits well over .300 but Andre Ethier becomes the team’s MVP. Ethier his .328 and knocks in 108 runs while Kemp struggles to hit 25 home runs and doesn’t even reach 100 RBI. Kershaw wins Cy Young by a landslide.
NL Central
Houston Astros– Jordan Lyles leads the team in wins with 13 and Jordan Schafer robs 23 bases. Unfortunately, a bunch of prospects get called up too early and end up having terrible numbers.
Chicago Cubs– Anthony Rizzo is a disappointment, hitting less than five home runs. Marmol gets traded along with Matt Garza (separate deals), leaving Jeff Samardzija to have the best season as a Cubs pitcher in 2012.
Cincinnati Reds– Aroldis Chapman eventually becomes the closer and strikes out over 100 as a reliever. Votto has a bad year after signing a monster contract, 20 HR and bats only .289. Chris Heisey leads the team as a platoon OF with 27 HR.
Milwaukee Brewers– Mat Gamel provides some pop with Prince Fielder gone. Braun has another 30/30 season, K-Rod gets traded and George Kottaras becomes everyday starting catcher.
Pittsburgh Pirates– McCutchen becomes elite, hitting 31 home runs and getting 34 steals, he earns the highest WAR (Wins Above Replacement). Erik Bedard doesn’t even start 21 games and James McDonald gets 197 K’s.
St. Louis Cardinals– Jon Jay has a breakout season and Wainwright gets 18 wins. David Freese loses his spot in the lineup and Matt Holliday only hits 18 homers. Jason Motte blows a bunch of saves and Fernando Salas takes over.
NL East
New York Mets– Jason Bay is back and hits 22 home runs. David Wright knocks 19 out of the park before getting traded to the Chi-Sox in exchange for Gavin Floyd and Alexei Ramirez.
Atlanta Braves– Michael Bourn hits an abysmal .268 but still steals 59 bases and scores 99 runs. Jason Heyward stays healthy all season and knocks out 38 home runs and wins the Home Run Derby.
Miami Marlins– Hanley Ramirez is runner-up for the NL MVP Award, hitting 33 home runs and knocking in 114. Ricky Nolasco rings up 132 batters and gets 16 wins. Miami Marlins win the division. Oh yeah, Giancarlo (formerly Mike) Stanton leads the MLB with home runs, dropping 48.
Philadelphia Phillies– As Chase Utley comes back, Jimmy Rollins gets hurt, leaving Freddy Galvis in the lineup and moving him back to his natural shortstop position. Hunter Pence is the unsung hero and hits a quiet 30 home runs.
Washington Nationals– Bryce Harper is called up right after the All-Star break but is not successful in his first half-season. Ian Desmond gets traded and Strasburg gets shut down early for precautionary reasons. Washington finishes third in division.
Adrian Gonzalez-Boston Red Sox
I’m assuming the front office of the Cubs will have a talk with him and he will keep improving his numbers. Great for dynasty leagues: only 21 years old and numbers improved in each of his first two seasons. Career averages: .304 BA, 16 SB, 54 RBI, 173 hits.
Two years ago Mike “Moose” Moustakas was arguably the best hitter in the minor leagues. In 2010 (AA-AAA) Moustakas posted a .322 average, 36 home runs, 124 runs batted-in and 51 walks (10 intentional). Last year, Moose was called up to the Royals and didn’t do to great. In 2012, look for the Royals to have a good offensive year. Moustakas will most likely be hitting 5th, behind Eric Hosmer. With this prospect-studded lineup, Moose will have a lot of men on base to hit in. Third base is a very thin position for fantasy and if you can find a power guy there in the later round you will be all-set. Ned Yost said Moustakas is in amazing shape and is chiseled, even stronger than last year. I am projecting him at a .290 batting average, 26+ homeruns, and somewhere around 85 for runs batted-in.
Boston fans should soon forget this baseball with the Bruins season right around the corner and the Patriots being 2-1. It is never too early to start talking about next years Sox season though. This off season will be very interesting for Boston (as it is every year). Boston has some monstrous contracts but they also have expiring contracts coming up in the next 2 offseasons (Papelbon, Drew, Scutaro, Matsuzaka and Ortiz). Boston is also going to be looking for a new skipper. The only two options I see for the Sox would be Demarlo Hale and Tony La Russa. La Russa could be a gamble, it is unknown if he will pickup the option for a final season in St. Louis or he could possible end up becoming the Chicago Cubs manager. If Pujols ends up signing with the Cubs (seems like the only option for Pujols besides staying in STL) it is very possible that La Russa follows.
The Bo-Sox need a starting pitcher because some of our recent signings have been devastating. Clay Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka cannot seem to stay healthy. Even when Matsuzaka is healthy he and Lackey has not been what we had expected them to be. It seems like it will be another one or two years before Pawtucket prospects Felix Doubront and Kyle Weiland will be able to be effective in the MLB. Potential starters for the Sox could be: Bruce Chen, Joel Pineiro who would both be cheap and short-term or they could go all out and try to sign C.J. Wilson. It looks like Wilson will be out of Texas after this season, there are only two teams that have already showed interest in him and those two teams are the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees. Boston could jump into this free agent bidding process either because they want him because they want him, or to jack up his price and make the Yankees overpay him.
It seems that for the past two years set-up man Daniel Bard has been labeled the closer of the future for the Red Sox. He might have to re-earn that title because he was horrible in the later part of the season for the Red Sox. Bard posted a 2-9 record and had five blown saves. However, Bard did have 34 holds, but it seemed that when we needed him to come up big late in the season he would just walk batters that you can’t afford to walk and then he would give up crucial runs. Daniel Bard could be potential trade bait because he is: young, throws steam and he has shown that he can be effective in a big market but he needs to show that he has that “clutch” gene. The Red Sox could get a bunch of prospects if they choose to trade Bard and Reddick. Or they could trade Bard and a player like Drew to free up some money. Whether Bard is or is not on the Red Sox roster I firmly believe the Sox try very hard to bring in free agent Heath Bell. Bell has mentioned that he wants to go to a contender and the Sox should be just that next year; another year older, another year together and a whole lot to prove.
AlexFarnworth 