Only 3 more days till the 2015 baseball season is underway with the Dodgers starting a day later at Chavez Ravine or better known as blue heaven on Earth. Every team is equal on that 1st day and I know you can't wait for that 1st pitch to be thrown out and get this season going. I sure can't. As a Dodger fan I have high expectations as always for my team and with the way the team is structured right now their window for a long overdue championship is slowly closing. Maybe 3-4 years at best but help is on the way in the likes of Corey Seager, Julio Urias and many others. But that is the future and we are in the now and since everyone else is giving their ideas on what will happen in 2015 here are my insights.
Awards :
NL Manager of the Year : Joe Maddon of the Cubs
AL Manager of the Year : Robin Ventura of the White Sox
NL Rookie of the Year : A Cub ( Jorge Soler or Kris Bryant, too close to call)
AL Rookie of the Year : Carlos Rodon of the White Sox
NL CY Young : Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers
AL Cy Young : Felix Hernandez of the Mariners
NL MVP : Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlns
AL MVP : Mike Trout of the Angels
Division and Wild Card Winners :
NL West : Dodgers
NL Central : Cardinals
NL East : Nationals
NL Wild Cards : Marlins and Padres
AL West : Mariners
AL Central : Tigers
AL East : Red Sox
AL Wild Cards : Angels and White Sox
NL Wild Card Round : Padres over Marlins as San Diego takes advantage of home field advantage
AL Wild Card Round : Angels over White Sox as Trout shows up this year
NL Divisional Round : Nationals over Padres. Washington has best record in the NL
NL Divisional Round : Dodgers over Cardinals. Clayton Kershaw and the blue finally overcome their playoff rivals.
AL Divisional Round : Mariners over Angels. Trout can't do it all while the AL's best record Mariners and Felix Hernandez shuts down everyone but Mike.
AL Divisional Round : Red Sox over Tigers. Cabrera starts to show his age and the Tigers pitching is exposed yet again.
NL Championship Round : Dodgers over Nationals. Clayton comes up big on the road in game 7 at Washington as both teams are evenly matched,
AL Championship Round : Mariners over Red Sox. Pitching is key as the Mariners staff bests Boston's in a hard fought 6 game series
World Series : The drought is over as the Dodgers pull it out in 6 games.
So, am I bias? Maybe just a tad but I still use logic and match ups for my predictions. The AL is top loaded unlike the NL so the Dodgers and Nationals should be head and shoulders over everyone and should meet up in the championship round. The AL is going to be close with a lot of the races undecided going into the final few days.
I think that the city of Chicago is going to have a revival on both the south and north sides as both their teams will be vastly improved hence why I think they will clean up in award season. I believe the ChiSox have an easier chance to get to the postseason as the Cubs have at least two (Pirates and Cardinals) to climb over and that's just in their division and that's not accounting for the other teams in the 2 other divisions. 2016 though watch out.
So what are your thoughts and predictions?
Thank you for reading and have a blessed day.
-Penguin
I posted my predictions on my blog yesterday. We are actually pretty similar. I think the Nats and Dodgers will fight for overall best record, but the playoffs are just a crap shoot. I just picked the world series that would annoy me the most because I know that is what will happen (Cards, Red Sox). I'm hoping you guys don't have to play the Cardinals again.....
ReplyDeleteHard not to pick Trout as I really see no player taking his crown away. He should already have 2 awards.....maybe 3. Maybe if he was in the NL it would be a little closer as Stanton, Cutch, Kershaw and Tulo could put up monster seasons.
I had a lot of trouble with that last NL wildcard team. You can make the argument for about 6 or 7 teams. Padres were on my shortlist but I went with the Cubs.
I just looked over at yours.
DeleteTrout should be at 2. I can live without the 3rd as Miggy did have a triple crown year even though in WAR and other stats Trout was above him.
The reasoning behind my wild cards was that the Cubs have too many other teams to climb over and they will beat each other in the division. Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs. In the east its the Nationals and everyone else and the west the Dodgers and everyone else which makes it easier to get the wild card out of those divisions. Of course you have to play the games and we both could be wrong on every level. Lol. God, Red Sox vs Cardinals would be the bane of baseballs.
I like Tulo but till he can prove to stay on the field then I cant vote on him. Stanton probably would have won last year if he didnt get hurt and this years team is better so I think his stats will be better and I just cant see baseball giving Kershaw the MVP two years in a row. All the eggs had to line up in a row for last year.
It will be fun to see how it plays out.
Pittsburgh.... August.
=)
Stanton and Tulo are my two favorite non Pirates, so I'm always pulling for them. I think you are right about Stanton. He would have had some great numbers last year plus the Marlins might have stayed above .500 which is always key for mvp voters.
DeleteI agree about Miggy. He just shouldn't have won that second one. Like I said before voters love counting stats. I think of the MVP as an overall award....some people just base it on hitting.
The Central got both wildcards two years ago so it can be done.
I actually have tickets for the Saturday Dodgers game now. My mother in law got them for me for Xmas. I'm actually staying the night up there that night. I'll buy you a beer! O.A.R is playing a concert after the game.
Trout along with Stanton are my two fav non Dodgers. Watching both just crush balls is a joy. Tulo is good and man back in that year in sept when he was doing Babe Ruth things (45 rbi's,etc) it was great to watch. Even when he was here at Dodger Stadium it was hard to root against him and history.
DeleteAgree with you and Miggy. People just look at stats (or at least odd timers do) hence why it was nice to see Kershaw win last year as he was the most VALUABLE player. He affected the staff 3 out of 5 days. Stanton will near 50 home runs this year and I think that will put him in the drivers seat for the award. Now if CK goes 26-0 then there is a debate.
lol.
They did and it could happen again I just think with the Cardinals probably coming down a tad they will beat each other too much to get both WC. I can still see one but if that then I see the Pirates winning it. Another year for the Cubs.
We are probably going to Fri and Sat but would love to meet up after/during Sat game. I saw that a couple weeks ago and the wife loves her some live music. That is her thing as movies and baseball is mine. Look forward to it.