2003 MLB Predicitions

[Guest The Czech Republic]

Go Brewers!!!

Ah, screw the Brewers. They just flagrantly suck. At least the Cubs do it with style. And waltzing into the NL to start a rivalry with Chicago...you guys are pathetic, you cheese-wearing beer-swilling pronouncing-bag-as-baig goons.

[Guest ant_7000]

AL

East: Yankees

Central: White Sox: Maggs MVP Ya heard it!!!!!!!

West: Angels

AL Wildcard: A's or Twins

 

NL

East: Braves

Central: Astros

West: Giants

NL Wildcard: D-Backs

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

The Blue Jays are taking it this year, I feel it.

 

Let's...Go....JAYS!

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Central: White Sox: Maggs MVP Ya heard it!!!!!!!

While I don't think the White Sox will win the Central. They should make it a close race. I did pick Ordonez for MVP.

[Guest DerangedHermit]

AL East:

New York Yankees

Boston Red Sox (Wild Card)

Baltimore Orioles

Toronto Blue Jays

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

 

AL Central:

Minnesota Twins

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Kansas City Royals

Detroit Tigers

 

AL West:

Oakland A's

Seattle Mariners

Anaheim Angels

Texas Rangers

 

NL East:

Philadelphia Phillies

New York Mets (Wild Card)

- (They're going to struggle at first, but gain steam going further into the season. If Alomar returns to pre-2002 form, they'll get the WC.)

Atlanta Braves

- (If Hampton has his stuff, Atlanta wins the East or gets the WC.)

Montreal Expos

Florida Marlins

 

NL Central

- (close between St. Louis, Houston and Cubs)

St. Louis Cardinals

Houston Astros

Chicago Cubs

Pittsburgh Pirates

Cincinnatti Reds

Milwaukee Brewers

 

NL West:

San Francisco Giants

Arizona D-Backs

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

Colorado Rockies

[Guest Bosstones Fan]

AL EAST:

1. NY Yankees -- still the best total team in the division

2. Boston -- improved, but not enough to catch the Yanks

3. Toronto -- Halliday should REALLY blossom this year

4. Baltimore -- nobody on team who can hit 20 home runs

5. Tampa Bay -- no comment necessary

 

AL CENTRAL:

1. Minnesota -- last year's run to ALCS was no fluke

2. Chicago -- Colon/Buerhle (sp?) are solid 1-2 combination

3. Cleveland -- might become intriguing in 2004

4. Kansas City -- yeah, whatever

5. Detroit -- least talented major league team EVER?

 

AL WEST:

1. Oakland -- Mulder/Zito/Hudson a lethal trifecta; Tejada pretty good as well

2. Seattle -- aging, but they have one last stand in 'em

3. Anaheim -- everything broke right for them in 2002; it won't this year

4. Texas -- my high school team had better pitching

 

AL WILD CARD: Boston or Chicago

 

AL CHAMPION: Minnesota (over Oakland)

 

 

NL EAST:

1. Atlanta -- replacement parts keep the machine running smoothly

2. Philadelphia -- Rolen who?; should at least win wild card

3. Florida -- young arms should finally start to mature; losing Preston Wilson leaves them with little power

4. NY Mets -- too many questions; I won't be shocked if they head for 5th place again

5. Montreal -- basically play 103 road games this year, which will kill them

 

NL CENTRAL:

1. St. Louis -- patchwork rotation will be "good enough"

2. Chicago -- my Cubbies, if they score any runs at all, should make EVERYONE nervous

3. Houston -- too many mediocre position players (outside Berkman/Bagwell/Kent); 3/5 of rotation is too shaky...no bullpen depth

4. Pittsburgh -- improving, but won't be any factor

5. Cincinnati -- Griffey will hit 50, but starting pitching will probably kill them right out of the gate;

6.Milwaukee -- Ben Sheets is a nice, young pitcher

 

NL WEST:

1. Arizona -- it's all Johnson/Schilling, baby!

2. San Francisco -- adequately replaced Kent (Alfonso), but without Dusty, they're going to slip

3. Los Angeles -- they better hope Brown/Dreifort are healthy or it could be a long year

4. Colorado -- fourth different "plan" in four years

5. San Diego -- oh my...the last thing they needed was to lose Nevin and Hoffman

 

NL WILD CARD: Philadelphia or Chicago

 

NL CHAMPION: Arizona (over St. Louis)

 

 

WORLD SERIES: Arizona over Minnesota in 6

[Guest Mik at Cornell]

Jesus, no love for the Marlins. I guess no one thinks a club can win playing small ball with good defense and pitching. I believe.

[Guest Bosstones Fan]

Jesus, no love for the Marlins. I guess no one thinks a club can win playing small ball with good defense and pitching. I believe.

I like the Marlins. I really do. Their pitching could be really good, but they just don't have enough pop in their lineup. And in the fact that they're stuck in the same division as both the Phillies and Braves, and you've got all the makings of a third place team. 80-85 wins is very possible...but I'm afraid it won't be enough.

[Guest alkeiper]

Jesus, no love for the Marlins. I guess no one thinks a club can win playing small ball with good defense and pitching. I believe.

 

Small ball is a nice way of saying "your offense sucks." The Marlins can have their small ball. I'll take Thome's 50 home runs thank you. As for the pitching, Burnett is a blown arm waiting to happen. The Marlins are horrible at protecting their pitchers.

[Guest geniusMoment]

Marlins pitching won't be as good as everyone thinks. Burnett is great, Penny is good but very inconsistant, Beckett still too inexperienced to be dominating, Redman not to good. Their bullpen won't exactly win any awards either.

[Guest DrTom]

4. Baltimore -- nobody on team who can hit 20 home runs

So Tony Batista, who's hit 41 before, and Jay Gibbons, who hit close to 30 last year and looks to be poised for a breakout season, can't hit 20 homers? Cordova could do it if he's healthy the whole year, ditto Segui. And don't forget about Jack Cust in AAA, whom the Orioles should realize is better than washed-up guys like Surhoff before long.

 

I don't care if you slag my team, but do it for the right reasons.

[Guest Bosstones Fan]

4. Baltimore -- nobody on team who can hit 20 home runs

So Tony Batista, who's hit 41 before, and Jay Gibbons, who hit close to 30 last year and looks to be poised for a breakout season, can't hit 20 homers? Cordova could do it if he's healthy the whole year, ditto Segui. And don't forget about Jack Cust in AAA, whom the Orioles should realize is better than washed-up guys like Surhoff before long.

 

I don't care if you slag my team, but do it for the right reasons.

Sorry Tom...you'll have to forgive me. The Orioles don't get much love down here in H-town. They're still headed for 4th place, however...

[Guest Some Guy]

We should keep track of these and look back at the end of the season. Anyway.....

 

AL East: Boston. There, I said it. The Red Sox didn't pick up a high valued free agent, but their low level moves speak volumes.....

 

1. Replaced Shea Hillenbrand with Bill Mueller. Hillenbrand sucks. Mueller boasts a .370 OBP, a big improvement over Hillenbrand's .313 career mark. And Mueller's a better fielder too.

 

2. Replaced Rey Sanchez with Todd Walker. Rey's fielding is nice, but he can't hit.

 

3. Replaced Jose Offerman/Tony Clark with Jeremy Giambi. Clark and Offerman were pathetic last year, and one of these days, Jeremy might resemble Jason at the plate.

 

4. Replaced Carlos Baerga with a David Ortiz/Kevin Millar platoon.

 

Not to mention they already have superstars in Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe, and Pedro Marinez.

Hillenbrand is the starting 3rd basemen as of now and will move over to first late in games and Mueller will come in. Shea is a much more dynamic player. I'm not into this OBP. shit unless the guy can run. Mueller is slower than Shea. He is a better defensive player though.

For example Jeremy Giambi has done nothing in his entire career to impress me, but he can draw a walk and hit 20 solo shots a year so he gets a job. Teh guy batted like .220 last year. So Giambi can draw a walk and get on, ok now what? He's slower than dog shit in the winter.

 

I wished they kept Rey to back up Walker. I di like wlaker a lot form what I've seen. He's got good power to the gaps ad hits tons of doubles, with Damon in front of him he'll put some points on the board.

 

Millar will be teh first basemen, Giambi is useless anywhere in the field. Offerman and Clark were pretty good in at first but their bats sucked. Millar/Shea/Ortiz should be a big upgrade.

 

Baerga was replaced by Giambi. That is how it will turn out.

 

The Soc in theory should be a lot better this year. They have a much better bullpen and that is pretty much to only reason they didn't win the division last year, the Yanks weren't that great despite winning 103 games. All of their weaknesses showed when the Angels killed them.

 

I'm not a fan of predicting anything but I will say that if the Yanks pitching goes out on them and the our's holds up the Sox will win the division.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

The Marlins aren't completley lacking in power hitters. Derek Lee, Mike Lowell, Preston Wilson, and Juan Encarcion all can possibility hit 20-30 HR's.

[Guest DawnBTVS]

Preston's in Colorado Vern...

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Oh yeah. Well 3 outa 4 aint bad.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Hey, no love for the Jays?

 

That's okay, I believe.

[Guest Phr33k]

Hmmm...

 

AL EAST

 

1. New York Yankees

2. Boston Red Sox

3. Toronto Blue Jays

4. Baltimore Orioles

5. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

 

AL CENTRAL

 

1. Minnesota Twins

2. Chicago White Sox

3. Cleveland Indians

4. Kansas City Royals

5. Detroit Tigers (potential worst team EVER. Not just this year. EVER.)

 

AL WEST

 

1. Oakland Athletics

2. Anaheim Angels

3. Seattle Mariners

4. Texas Rangers

 

NL EAST

 

1. Philadelphia Phillies

2. Atlanta Braves

3. Montreal Expos

4. New York Mets

5. Florida Marlins

 

NL CENTRAL

 

1. St. Louis Cardinals

2. Houston Astros

3. Chicago Cubs

4. Cincinnati Reds

5. Pittsburgh Pirates

6. Milwaukee Brewers

 

NL WEST

 

1. Arizona Diamondbacks

2. San Francisco Giants

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

4. Colorado Rockies

5. San Diego Padres

[Guest alkeiper]

Hillenbrand is the starting 3rd basemen as of now and will move over to first late in games and Mueller will come in. Shea is a much more dynamic player. I'm not into this OBP. shit unless the guy can run. Mueller is slower than Shea. He is a better defensive player though.

 

Two points here. First off, think of on base percentage as an out percentage. A player with a higher on base percentage gets outs less often. Second, rest assured your new GM is most definately an OBP fanatic.

 

For example Jeremy Giambi has done nothing in his entire career to impress me, but he can draw a walk and hit 20 solo shots a year so he gets a job. Teh guy batted like .220 last year. So Giambi can draw a walk and get on, ok now what? He's slower than dog shit in the winter.

 

He hit .259 last year. His 20 home runs came in 313 at bats. Give him 500 at bats, and that translates to 32 home runs. As for drawing the walks, baserunners = runs. You'll be presently surprised by Giambi. I loved watching him in Philly last year, because he battles in every at bat. He's not an easy out.

 

Millar will be teh first basemen, Giambi is useless anywhere in the field. Offerman and Clark were pretty good in at first but their bats sucked. Millar/Shea/Ortiz should be a big upgrade.

 

Millar isn't much better at first. Fortunately, you don't really need a good first baseman. Someone who can catch the ball will do just fine.

 

Hey, no love for the Jays?

 

Scroll up, they're on my surprises list.

[Guest cartman]

Millar isn't much better at first. Fortunately, you don't really need a good first baseman. Someone who can catch the ball will do just fine.

When you have guys like Hillenbrand and Nomar throwing to you, you need to be pretty efficient defensively at First.

[Guest alkeiper]

I've never heard anyone suggest Garciaparra is a bad fielder, much less a Red Sox fan.

[Guest Mik at Cornell]

Well, Vern also forgot Pudge. Who is due for a career ressurection in the NL. I know it.

[Guest DawnBTVS]

I've never heard anyone suggest Garciaparra is a bad fielder, much less a Red Sox fan.

I think he meant throwing wise. Being a fellow Boston fan, Nomar's throws tend to be wild sometimes, especially on his backhand stabs. Shea did make 23 errors last year in the 2nd half too...

[Guest alkeiper]

I'll be shocked if Hillenbrand's starting past mMay, so his fielding doesn't worry me.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Why does MLB schedule cold weather teams to start the season at home? There are 16 warm weather or indoor teams that can play at home. Why bother taking a chance with weather in places like Chicago, and Detroit.

[Bored 0]

Why does MLB schedule cold weather teams to start the season at home? There are 16 warm weather or indoor teams that can play at home. Why bother taking a chance with weather in places like Chicago, and Detroit.

Before last year (or the year before I forget which) when they went to the unbalanced schedule they usually did avoid that by scheduling teams from the east to play on the west coast. Now with the unbalanced schedule they try to get in a bunch of division games to start the season.

[Guest undisputedjericho]

AL East

New York

Boston

Toronto

Baltimore

Tampa Bay

 

AL Central

Minnesota

Chicago

Cleveland

Detroit

Kansas City

 

AL West

Oakland

Anahiem*

Seattle

Texas

 

NL East

Atlanta

Philadelphia

New York

Montreal

Florida

 

NL Central

St. Louis

Houston*

Cincinatti

Chicago

Pittsburgh

Milwaukee

 

NL West

Arizona

San Fransisco

Los Angeles

Colorado

San Diego

 

* Wild Card

 

World Series

Oakland vs. St. Louis

 

Post-season prediciton: Tejada to Mets

[Guest Y2BigJ]

AL EAST:

1.Boston Red Sox

2.New York Yankees*

3.Toronto Blue Jays

4.Baltimore Orioles

5.Tampa Bay Devil Rays

 

AL CENTRAL

1.Minnesota Twins

2.Chicago White Sox

3.Cleveland Indians

4.Detroit Tigers

5.Kansas City Royals

 

AL WEST

1.Oakland A's

2.Anaheim Angels

3.Seattle Mariners

4.Texas Rangers

 

NL EAST

1.Philadelphia Phillies

2.Atlanta Braves

3.New York Mets

4.Montreal Expos

5.Florida Marlins

 

 

NL CENTRAL

1.St. Louis Cardinals

2.Houston Astros*

3.Cincinatti Reds

4.Chicago Cubs

5.Milwaukee Brewers

6.Pittsburgh Pirates

 

NL WEST

1.San Francisco Giants

2.Arizona Diamondbacks

3.L.A. Dodgers

4.San Diego Padres

5.Colorado Rockies

[Guest Kingpk]

AL

 

East: Red Sox, In a REALLY tight race, the Yankee pitching will be their downfall. Clemens will get 300, though.

 

Central: Twins. I don't know where all this Twins love is coming from, though, they'll play the Tigers, Royals and Indians half the season.

 

West: Athletics. Still will be the most competitive division in baseball. Hey, maybe the Rangers will be out of it by August instead of late June this time!

 

WC: Either will be the Yankees, White Sox, Mariners, or Angels, I dunno.

 

I don't really follow the NL much, so I'll just pick the Phillies (they HAVE to do well considering how much they spent), Cardinals, Diamondbacks and Astros as the WC.

[Guest bravesfan]

I'm a bit shocked at the lack of posters putting faith in the Astros to win the Central. A young rotation, strong bullpen and stock-piled offense won my vote in the predictions, but the Cardinal love is still in full force (along with the Giants love, which I CERTAINLY don't advocate this season, considering their offseason losses).

 

I mean, really, what do the Cardinals have, that the Astros don't?

 

(Just trying to start a healthy conversation in the folder to keep interest.)