Make three predictions about the upcoming 2008 MLB Season.

The Game Room
21

  1. The Cubs will best the Tigers in the World Series, 4 games to 2. Ryan Dempster will be the MVP of the series.

  2. The Dodgers will manage to off-load the albatross contract of Juan Pierre on the vaguely contending Seattle Mariners.

  3. The NL leader in Saves will be Kerry Wood with 43.

22

Interesting stuff you are smoking there, Mullinator. :smiley:

23

As a Cubs fan, I am required to dabble in hopeless optimism until either the magic number for elimination is 0 or the final out of a playoff series is recorded.

I feel better about my Cubs predictions than the one about Juan Pierre. Good grief, that was a horrendously dumb contract.

24
  1. The Yankees starters will be Ok. Wang & Pettitte will combine for 33+ wins.
  2. The kids will do the job and Moose will fall out of the rotation before the playoffs.
  3. The Yanks will take 1st place in the Division with Red Sox 2nd then Toronto, Tampa & Baltimore in last.
25

The Brewers will start well and then collapse in the last 1/3 or maybe 1/4 of a season (seem to do it every year)

Brian

26

Thank you, but we already have Richie Sexson…we don’t need another albatross.

27

  1. The AL’s dominance in interleague play will continue to fade. From .611 in '06 and .544 in '07, down to, say, .520 in '08, +/- .10. (This isn’t strictly covered by the categories in the OP, but I’m lobbying for an exemption).

  2. Johan Santana, ERA 2.75.

  3. Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez combine for fewer than 40 starts. (Again, specific enough for an exemption from listed categories?)
    Bonus Prediction: Lastings Milledge will be within 10 of the combined VORP for Ryan Church and Brian Shneider (the players for whom he was traded) in 2008.

28

My wacky-ass Malibu Barbie Dream Predictions:
[ol]
[li]The Phillies will come in second in the NL East by +/- 2 games but will win the NL Wild Card.[/li][li]Cole Hamels will pitch 6 complete games, but zero no-hitters.[/li][li]Jimmy Rollins will play every game this season again and finish Top-3 in NL MVP voting.[/li][/ol]
BONUS: For the 34th season in a row, the Phitin’ Phils will give me multiple seizures, heart attacks, strokes, and apoplectic fits – and they will all happen before the end of May. I won’t even guess what will happen when we get into June, because I have to live that long first. (The over is 25 of each.)

29

It’s quantifiable and pertinent to the regular season, and frankly is an interesting prediction, so I’ll take it :slight_smile:

Yeah, quite possibly, but Lastings can’t play behind the plate as well as the outfield at the same time, which should be factored in at the GM decision making level :wink:

(Not that I’m a big fan of the deal – I wonder what caused Lastings’ stock to drop so much in one year, when he showed a lot of energy and talent to go along with a healthy dose of immaturity – but filling in two holes with one trade is usually a good move.)

As for the Braves, a lot depends on the durability and effectiveness of their aging warhorse starters in Glavine and Smoltz, and the comeback status of Hampton (as opposed to the Mets, where a lot depends on the continued improvement, or at least even play, of their question-mark young starters, and the injury status of Orlando Hernandez). I could see them running away with the NL East, or struggling to play .500 ball. But I could easily say the same thing about the Mets or the Phillies: there are simply too many big X factors. I’m sure I’m biased but I’ll say that the Mets seem to have relatively fewer/smaller tangible X factors to overcome, while the Braves have the most/biggest ones.

I was very close to predicting that Glavine would retire before the end of the regular season, but on further thought, I don’t think that will happen. I think he will start out reasonably well, maybe even very well, but will fade out towards the end, just as he did with the Mets in 2007. He’s proud enough to want to keep pitching, thinking his next start will be a bounce-back effort, rather than to call it quits in late or mid-season. On the other hand, if he gets pounded in April and ends May with, say, five losses and a 6+ ERA, that same pride will probably result in him walking away.

I admire Glavine, and especially appreciate the level of professionalism it took for him to reinvent himself (after the age of 40 no less) into a successful pitcher again in his last 2+ years with the Mets. I for one won’t be booing him at Shea in a Braves uniform, despite his infamous last start in Flushing. At the same time, even if the engine has been re-tuned, he looks an awful lot like a guy with a tank that’s running dry.

As for the AL, here’s another thing I was very close to predicting, and will go ahead and throw in on top of my #2 prediction that whichever of the Yankees and Red Sox come out with a better record against Tampa Bay will win the division: at least one of them will actually have a tied or losing season series record against the Rays.

30

You know that drugs are illegal, even in Jersey, right?

31

Not true, plenty of legal drugs. Besides I only did them to help my team, yeah, that’s the ticket. :wink:

32

Not so much going out on a limb.

  1. The Rockies will finish in 4th place and lose more games then they win.

  2. The Marlins, despite their best efforts, will fail to finish in last (4th ahead of the Nats)

  3. The Brewers win their first division title since 1982.

33

I’m going to be very Royals-centric here, because a Royals fan is what I am:

  1. The Royals will finish ahead of the White Sox in the AL Central standings.

  2. Alex Gordon will hit 25 home runs.

  3. Joakim Soria will save 41 games.

34

Bump.