2014 Baseball Predictions

I did not fare well last season, but that will not stop me from making bad predictions this year. That is not true, I plan on being remarkably accurate.  Predicting sports seems like it should be fairly easy.  Unfortunately there is always at least one team that surprises everyone and does well and another one that sucks.  Ends up ruining all of your careful predictions.

AL East
Red Sox
Rays
Orioles
Yankees
Blue Jays

The Red Sox did not change too much and should still be pretty good.  This division should be very tight all year.  In fact, I could see these teams all having winning records and being competitive with each other all season.  A bunch of 80 win teams.  OR, one of them goes on a ridiculous streak and runs away with the season.  Either/or.

INSANE DIVISION PREDICTION:  The Yankees finish below .500 after everyone is injured.

AL Central
Tigers
Royals
Indians
White Sox
Twins

The Ian Kinsler/Prince Fielder swap was pretty huge.  I feel like this will make their defense much better, which could help to offset the difference in production between the two.  Obviously having Verlander and Cabrera will allow the Tigers to compete forever.  I am seeing a huge year from Eric Hosmer and the Royals could actually compete like the Pirates did last year (they did finish above .500).  I am still not a believer in the Indians, and the White Sox and Twins are rebuilding.

INSANE DIVISION PREDICTION:  The Central will have three players compete for MVP:  Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Santana, and Eric Hosmer.  The IDP on this one is that they will finish 1-2-3 in the voting.  That would be crazy.

AL West
Rangers
Athletics
Angels
Mariners
Astros

It is easy to predict where the Astros will finish.  My god are the terrible.  I seriously think you could substitute the Indianapolis Indians for them and you would see about the same results.  The Rangers improved with Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo.  The Angels should not be as bad as last year.  I never really understand how the A’s win, but whatever, I will not bet against them.  The Mariners…hey they have Robinson Cano…

INSANE DIVISION PREDICTION:  Cano does not live up to the expectations.  He only hits .260 with 13 HRs.

AL WILDCARD:  Rays over Athletics
AL DIVISION SERIES:  Rangers over Rays, Tigers over Red Sox
AL CHAMPIONSHIP:  Tigers over Rangers
AL MVP:  Miguel Cabrera
AL CY YOUNG:  Yu Darvish
AL ROY:  Xander Bogaerts
ROYALS RECORD:  89-73

NL East
Nationals
Braves
Mets
Phillies
Marlins

I feel like the Nationals will return to the top.  They started out last season off slow, but something tells me they may be more motivated this season.  The Braves will be right there all season.  The Phillies and Marlins will be terrible.  The Mets will be okay.  That is all I can really say about them.

INSANE DIVISION PREDICTION:  Stephen Strasburg will throw a no-hitter, most likely against the Braves.  C’mon, the Braves and Mets struck out the most in the NL last year, this is not that far-fetched.

NL Central
Cardinals
Pirates
Reds
Brewers
Cubs

I hate to say this, but the Cardinals are still the team to beat in this division.  The Pirates did not make any big moves, unless you count losing people.  The Reds will still be competitive.  I picture it being like last season with all three teams at each others throats.  The Brewers could be decent.  The Cubs are still bad.

INSANE DIVISION PREDICTION:  Pedro Alvarez hits 40 HRs and fans still call him a bum and want him traded when he goes into slump.

NL West
Dodgers
Giants
Diamondbacks
Padres
Rockies

The Dodgers are clearly the favorite for this division and most likely the favorite in the entire National League.  I have a feeling the Giants will be competitive all year, but the bottom three will actually be pretty bad.  Although, the D-backs have Trumbo and Goldschmidt, who will try to see if they can hit 100 HRs combined.

INSANE DIVISION PREDICTION:  The Rockies will be so terrible that they decide to trade Carlos Gonzalez to the Cardinals for a few prospects.  CarGo plays CF.

NL WILDCARD:  Pirates over Braves
NL DIVISION SERIES:  Dodgers over Pirates, Nationals over Cardinals
NL CHAMPIONSHIP:  Nationals over Dodgers
NL MVP:  Andrew McCutchen
NL CY YOUNG:  Stephen Strasburg
NL ROY:  Jameson Taillon
PIRATES RECORD:  90-72
WORLD SERIES:  Nationals over Tigers

I know what you are thinking:  how do you figure the Pirates will be in the playoffs even though you did not consider them to be all that improved.  Gregory Polanco and Jameson Taillon.  I keep seeing a few predictions out there that think Polanco could be the ROY.  If both of them play well, that is much better than some shitty free agent.

Give me your predictions in the comments.  We can have a fun discussion about them.

Author: Ngewo