2009 Predictions
by gondeee on Apr 5, 2009 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintThe yearly futility of making predictions about how the season will turn out continues. Here are my picks for which teams will finish where:
| NL East | NL Central | NL West |
| Braves | Cubs | Dodgers |
| Phillies | Cardinals | Giants |
| Mets | Brewers | Diamondbacks |
| Marlins | Astros | Rockies |
| Nationals | Reds | Padres |
| Pirates |
Yes, I am a homer, and so I picked the Braves to win the East (and I'm serious). I think it will take some time for the Braves to come together and click, but by the end of the season they will be a hard team to beat. I pick them over the Mets and Phillies mainly because of depth. We have depth at just about every position, where the other teams in the division do not. I really think that the Mets and Phils are a key injury or two away from falling out of contention, but the Braves seem to be built to withstand several injuries.
The Cubs will be there in the Central and the Dodgers will easily win the West. I'll pick the Phillies for the Wild Card.
| AL East | AL Central | AL West |
| Red Sox | Twins | Angels |
| Rays | Tigers | A's |
| Yankees | Indians | Rangers |
| Orioles | White Sox | Mariners |
| Blue Jays | Royals |
I think it will be a good race in the AL East, but the Red Sox have a bunch of power pitchers making appearances on their roster half way through the season, and I think that will give them a good jolt without the need to make a trade. The Rays will win the Wild Card.
The AL Central is going to be tight, and I expect there to be four teams in a penant race right up to the end. The Angels have more than enough to win the West, but the A's will come on strong at the end.
Anyhoo, if anyone else cares to make any predictions feel free to put them in the comments section.
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anyone catch Boog not picking the Braves yesterday ? not even for WildCard
he is a HUGE Phillies fan.he used to have a radio show here in Miami and everyone would make fun of his Phillies. It must be hard to work for the Braves and be a die-hard Phils fan.
anyway
Phillies
Cubs
Diamondbacks
Braves-WC
Angels
Yankees
White Sox
Tigers -WC
Tigers?
If Tigers don’t get off to a good start and the SP does a BIG FAIL I see them being one the teams doing a FIRE SALE of Ordonez/Thames/Cabrera to retool into a cheaper and younger ball club. But anything is possible though the AL central will be a tough Division with the Twins/Indians/White Sox. Plus IMO WC will come out of the AL East to the team that doesn’t take the division Boston/Yanks/Rays.
Phillies
Cubs
LA
Braves WC
Boston
Indians
Angels
Yanks WC
i saw that
wonder how he’s gonna feel when the phils get swept to start the year. I like boog, but it would be better if he were a braves fan. I’m just glad don sutton is back.
Braves
Phils – WC
Cubs
Giants
Yankees
Red Sox – WC
Indians
A’s
BOATS AND HOES
hopefully not what's going to happen but...
Mets
Cubs
Diamondbacks
Phillies-WC
Red Sox
Twins
Angels
Rays-WC
boom
Mets
Cubs
Dodgers
Braves – WC
Red Sox
Twins
Angels
Yankees – WC
I saw on ESPN they picked the Braves to finish in fourth with only 74 wins or so.
Proof that when posting while high or intoxicated can lead to some really funny posts
Tim Kurkjian is really down on our offense
He said something like “The Braves just won’t score very many runs this year.”
PECOTA predicts us scoring just 4 fewer runs than the NY Yankees.
This is my 43rd year of being homer.
Regardless, I cannot realistically see the Braves getting into the post-season this season.
My predictions:
NL playoff teams: Mets, Phils, Cubs, and Dodgers.
Mets go to WS v. Yanks.
I think the Braves could win 90+ and be 50/50 for the wildcard if:
Chipper plays 150 games;
Frenchy plays at all-star level;
Schafer is ROY;
Hanson gets 15 starts in the 2d half and dominates; and
Top 4 starters and entire bullpen stay injury-free and perform at a solidly high level.
If all those happen we’ll be 105+ win team.
by soup du jour on Apr 5, 2009 10:42 AM EDT up reply actions
Even though Boog secretly pulls for the Phils and Marlins...
…I still like the guy. He’s funny as hell, and still enjoys watching the Braves play. You can hear it in his voice sometimes.
But I agree with most of gondeee’s predictions. I think the Braves and the Red Sox are going to the show this year. And the Braves are going to win it. That is my prediction.
"The future is no place to place your better days." - Dave Matthews
by Chief Noc-A-Homa on Apr 5, 2009 10:58 AM EDT reply actions
NL Division Winners
Mets
Cubs
D-Backs
Wild Card
Braves
Gonna make a risky call here and declare that the defending world champs will be left out of the playoffs. Cole Hamels has elbow problems, and there’s no telling what to expect from the rest of that rotation. The Mets’ bullpen was their biggest downfall last year and it now looks like a great strength. Braves will finish 2 or 3 games back, just edging out the Phillies.
AL Division Winners
Yankees
White Sox
Rangers
Wild Card
Rays
Had such a tough time picking the AL West. The Angels have more pitching on their DL than anyone else in the division-Kelvim Escobar, Ervin Santana, John Lackey. If all of those come back and can stay healthy for most of the year, they probably run away with it. I went out on a limb and picked the Rangers-Millwood led the AL in ERA just 3 years ago, and we all know Matt Harrison is going to be really good. I think they’ll probably lead the Majors in runs scored, so I’ll bank on their offense carrying them.
Yankees will mount a huge comeback late in the year to pull out the division and knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs.
AL Central was no picnic either. The White Sox look like the only team that isn’t counting on long shots panning out.
On ESPN.com, a couple guys named Jason Grey & Peter Pascarelli have us winning the wild card, and thats about all.
Jim Caple & Pascarelli have Schafer as ROY. Keith F’N Law has Larry as MVP. Orel Hershiser has the Braves as dark-horse team. Eric Karabell has Schafer as breakout player. Rob Neyer has Escobar as underrated player.
Congratulations, you now have no need to check out ESPN’s preview
SWAGGA LIKE BJONES, SWAGGA LIKE BJONES
My Preds
NL
Mets
Reds
D-Backs
Braves- WC
The Mets have again beefed up their bullpen in hopes of preventing another epic fail. As much as I love a good Mets fail, I don’t think they will this year. I think they actually win the division. The bottom of the Phillies rotation is questionable with Jamie Moyer and Chan Ho Park, and with Cole Hamels’ elbow, who knows. Surprised to see the Reds? Yeah, I’m going with a dark horse here, but the Reds have a strong, young team. They might be a year away, but they have a pretty strong rotation and if their bullpen can keep it together they should be able to score runs. I think the Braves will be able to squeeze past the Phillies and Cubs for the wild card.
AL
Red Sawks
Twins
Angels
Yankees- WC
Hard to argue with the Red Sox, top to bottom a great team. I think they still get past the Yankees for the division, even with C.C. and A.J. and Wang. I think it is hard to count out the Twins, and the only other options in the division the White Sox and Indians don’t impress me. Angels have it locked up in the west and that division continues to be pretty terrible. I don’t think the Rays will be much of a factor this year. I think the Yankees are much better than last year, and should easily make the wild card.
Braves will do just fine....
I had the MLB TV Package last year, and the only painful thing was having to listen to that announcer named “Boog”, John Schiambi, or whatever the hell his name is. God, is he boring. I have always liked Joe Simpson. If Boog does the games this year, well THANK GOD for the mute button.
HAHA
No way! I think Joe and Boog are great. I love listening to those guys.
Syndrome returns ’09!!!!
"The future is no place to place your better days." - Dave Matthews
by Chief Noc-A-Homa on Apr 5, 2009 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions
my predictionz....
NL
D-Backs
Cubs
Phillies
WC – Mets
I think losing chipper for the requisite month will kill us. I think otherwise we’ll be good and flirt with the WC until mid-september.
AL
Red Sox
Twins
Angels
WC – Rays
I really don’t understand why everyone (not everyone, but a lot of people) are discounting the Rays. They won the division last year, all their core pieces are young and only going to get BETTER, they added Pat Burrell, AND David Price for a full season. The Yankees look good if they’re healthy, but they’re old, so very old, and even the youngish pitchers they signed are injury risks from overuse (CC) and not playing in a contract year (Burnett). I don’t see the Yankees overcoming that.
But he’ll probably show up in the majors in May as opposed to September. So it looks like the whoops is on you. Nice try though.
Barring an injury, the Rays aren’t going to rush him. They’ve got 5 (well, 6 since I don’t think Hammel has been traded yet) starters, and they want to limit his innings.
SWAGGA LIKE BJONES, SWAGGA LIKE BJONES
On the plus side, Price vs. Hanson, AAA opener
Braves
Cubs
D-Backs
Phillies-WC
Red Sox
Twins
Athletics
Yankees-WC
I just like their team this year. The outfield should be much improved with Crisp added in center and DeJesus moving over to left. They moved Teahen to second base in place of a weak hitting option. Butler and Gordon have another year of experience. Mike Jacobs will drive in a ton of runs too. The pitching staff is still questionable after Meche and Greinke but Davies pitched really well in the spring and Ponson will probably produce at the league average. Overall, the team will score a lot more runs than they did last year, they have more depth than they have had for a while, and they have to ability to comeback and win a game with one swing of the bat. If Guillen just goes back to producing like he did for the Mariners then they actually have a shot at finishing over .500 this year.
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