Well, back in July when Bramwell founded this blog, I made my picks for division and wild card winners. I did OK. I got 5 of the 6 division winners right. The only one I got wrong was the AL West. I can live with that, because I'm not sure anyone thought that Oakland would sweep the last three games of the season to dethrone the Rangers. Here is what my picks looked like versus what really happened.
My Picks (actual)
* = My pick for the Wild card playoff game winner. I only picked one wild card team in each league based on who I thought would win the one game playoff. I did not select two teams in each league for the wild card game.
AL East
New York Yankees (NY Yankees)
Tampa Bay Rays (Baltimore Orioles, Wild Card)
Boston Red Sox (Tampa Bay Rays)
Baltimore Orioles (Toronto Blue Jays)
Toronto Blue Jays (Bostom Red Sox)
AL Central
Detroit Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Chicago White Sox (Chicago White Sox)
Cleveland Indians (Kansas City Royals)
Kansas City Royals (Cleveland Indians)
Minnesota Twins (Minnesota Twins..told ya Mikey)
AL West
Texas Rangers (Oakland A's)
Los Angeles Angels* (Texas Rangers, Wild Card)
Oakland Athletics (Los Angeles Angels)
Seattle Mariners (Seattle Mariners)
NL East
Washington Nationals (Washington Nationals)
Atlanta Braves (Atlanta Braves, Wild Card)
New York Mets (Philadelphia Phillies)
Miami Marlins (NY Mets)
Philadelphia Phillies (Miami Marlins)
NL Central
Cincinnati Reds (Cincinnati Reds)
St. Louis Cardinals* (St. Louis Cardinals, Wild Card)
New York Yankees (NY Yankees)
Tampa Bay Rays (Baltimore Orioles, Wild Card)
Boston Red Sox (Tampa Bay Rays)
Baltimore Orioles (Toronto Blue Jays)
Toronto Blue Jays (Bostom Red Sox)
AL Central
Detroit Tigers (Detroit Tigers)
Chicago White Sox (Chicago White Sox)
Cleveland Indians (Kansas City Royals)
Kansas City Royals (Cleveland Indians)
Minnesota Twins (Minnesota Twins..told ya Mikey)
AL West
Texas Rangers (Oakland A's)
Los Angeles Angels* (Texas Rangers, Wild Card)
Oakland Athletics (Los Angeles Angels)
Seattle Mariners (Seattle Mariners)
NL East
Washington Nationals (Washington Nationals)
Atlanta Braves (Atlanta Braves, Wild Card)
New York Mets (Philadelphia Phillies)
Miami Marlins (NY Mets)
Philadelphia Phillies (Miami Marlins)
NL Central
Cincinnati Reds (Cincinnati Reds)
St. Louis Cardinals* (St. Louis Cardinals, Wild Card)
Pittsburgh Pirates (Milwaukee Brewers)
Milwaukee Brewers (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Houston Astros (Chicago Cubs)
Chicago Cubs (Houston Astros)
NL West
San Francisco Giants (SF Giants)
Los Angeles Dodgers (LA Dodgers)
Arizona Diamondbacks (Arizona Diamondbacks)
San Diego Padres (San Diego Padres)
Colorado Rockies (Colorado Rockies)
Milwaukee Brewers (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Houston Astros (Chicago Cubs)
Chicago Cubs (Houston Astros)
NL West
San Francisco Giants (SF Giants)
Los Angeles Dodgers (LA Dodgers)
Arizona Diamondbacks (Arizona Diamondbacks)
San Diego Padres (San Diego Padres)
Colorado Rockies (Colorado Rockies)
As you can see, I did very well in the NL, including a perfect NL West. Did you hear that? It was me tooting my horn. Unfortunately I put a lot of eggs in the Angels basket, and they couldn't pull it together.
Now, for more predictions. Here are my picks for the awards.
NL MVP = Ryan Braun
AL MVP = Miguel Cabrera
NL Cy Young = R.A. Dickey
AL Cy Young = David Price (I would like to see Fernando Rodney get it, 0.60 ERA...unbelievable, but they won't give it to a closer)
NL ROY = Todd Frazier
AL ROY = Mike Trout
NL Manager of the Year = Davey Johnson, Washington Nationals (even though their decision to take Strasburg out is going to haunt them in the playoffs)
AL Manager of the Year = Bob Melvin, Oakland A's (A very strong argument could be made for Buck Showalter of the Orioles, both amazing years. I pick Melvin because he took the lowest payroll in the majors and stole the division from back to back reigning AL Champs, the Texas Rangers, pretty impressive.)
There you have it. If Harper wins the ROY award over Frazier, I'll be furious. Harper had a good year, I'm not dogging him, but the only reason he is in the discussion over some of the other rookies, is because of the Hype that comes along with his name. Frazier played 4 different positions for the Reds all year long. He was consistent all year, and helped lead the charge when Votto went down. He stepped up and played a tremendous first base when the team needed him. He is quite possibly the Reds MVP this year. He didn't have the best stats all around on the team, but if we didn't have him to step up in a lot of different places for us this year, I don't think we are where we are right now going into the playoffs.
Agreed, sir. My bias nature will lead my finger to always point furvently at Johnny Cueto for the NL Cy Young award, but Dickey is very deserving. It is the ERA+ for Johnny that causes me to strongly believe he is the winner, but that most likely won't be taken heavily into consideration. He also led all NL starters in WAR, and I know how much you believe in that stat! Haha! NL ROY had better be my man Todd Frazier or I'm gonna to snap. NL MVP is probably Braun's. .319, 41 HR, 112 RBI, 30 SB. Doesn't matter if you didn't make the post-season when you have numbers across the board like that. McCutchen was the frontrunner for most of the year and Posey came on big time late in the season, but it's probably Braun's. AL Awards? You got all those right. Cabrera, Price, Trout. Managers in both leagues I agree with as well.
ReplyDeleteHey, I want Cueto too. I picked Dickey because I don't like to be wrong, and quite frankly I believe that is the way the vote will go. It doesn't make the process right, it just makes me right, haha. To say Dickey isn't deserving would be wrong, that guy had a hell of a year, and if he wins it, he earned. If Cueto wins it, he earned it as well. Posey had a great second half, and put up incredible numbers for a catcher. McCutchen had a great first half. Braun had a great season again. My only fear with this pick is that they will not give it to Braun because of the fiasco carried over from last year with his drug test, blah blah. If he does't win it, they are simply giving the award to a player that had an inferior year to Braun. Plain and simple, Braun had the best year int he NL, which by definition makes him MVP, but that's not how the biased voting goes all the time. Don't believe me? Ask Jeff Kent and Terry Pendleton, they were both gifted undeserving NL MVP awards over Bonds. WAR is the biggest load of crap there is. It is an inaccurate depiction of a players abilities, and it is laughable that it is taking over as the tell all stat. It is so flawed, that different sources figure it differently.
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