2013 MLB Forecast

Baseball Forecast:

(Joe's picks are in the parenthesis.)

AL East:
1. (TB) Tampa Bay. This is a team that won 90 games last year. They have Cy Young winner David Price and a healthy MVP candidate in Evan Longoria and a ROY candidate in Wil Myers. And they're scrappy!
2. (NYY) Toronto. They shipped in a bunch of all stars from Miami but you know what? Miami sucked.
3. (Boston) Boston. Too old.
4. (Toronto) New York. They still have Robinson Cano so they won't finish last.
5. (Baltimore) Baltimore. They made the playoffs last year by winning every single close game. This year that trend reverses.

AL Central:
1. (Detroit) Detroit. Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Prince... There are some stars on this team.
2. (Cleveland) Cleveland. Nice free agent signings but I'm more excited about the youngsters gaining experience. Kipnis, Santana and Chisenhall will be just as critical as Bourn, Swisher and Reynolds. If the pitching overachieves, the Tribe sneaks into a wildcard spot.
3. (KC) Kansas City. This will be the year they finish .500.
4. (Chicago) Chicago. Following the path of the overpaid, over-aged Yankees
5. (Minnesota) Minnesota. The Twins wish they had Cleveland's pitching. Their offense is just as bad.

AL West:
1. (LAA) LA Angels. Eventually when you spent $200 Million, you will win the division.
2. (Texas) Oakland. Underrated outfield with Crisp, Cespedes and Reddick.
3. (Seattle) Texas. The problem is that it's just too damned hot in Texas and they simply wear out when they're one strike away from winning the World Series. Twice.
4. (Oakland) Seattle. Their youngsters -- Seager, Ackley, King Felix, Zunino -- will turn things around in 2014.
5. (AAA Team X) Houston.

AL Wildcards: (Cleveland, New York Yankees) Toronto, Cleveland
AL Champion: (Tampa Bay) Detroit
AL MVP: (Evan Longoria) Prince Fielder
AL Cy Young: (Verlander) Jared Weaver
AL Rookie of the Year: (Wil Myers) Mike Zunino

NL East:
1. (Washington) Washington. Last time a team had #1 overall picks make it to the majors with the team that drafted them, it was Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez in Seattle. They never made it past Cleveland. Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg will win it all.
2. (Atlanta) Atlanta. It's a nice story about the Uptons and their pitching is strong. They might sneak the division.
3. (New York Mets) Philadelphia. Super pitching staff but the offense is just too old.
4. (Philadelphia) Miami. Baseball writers hate Jeff Loria but the '2012 Marlins team needed to be blown up.
5. (Miami) New York Mets. Baseball is sweeter when the teams from New York suck it.

NL Central:
1. (Cincinnati) St. Louis. Best thing to happen to the Cardinals was not signing Pujols to a 10-year contract.
2. (St. Louis) Cincinnati. If the Nationals don't win it all, I think it'll be the Reds.
3. (Pittsburgh) Milwaukee. The Brewers might not be as good as I think they are.
4. (Milwaukee) Chicago Cubs. Samardzija's a keeper. That's about it.
5. (Chicago Cubs) Pittsburgh. I'm rooting for another 20 years of losing baseball for this city.

NL West:
1. (LAD) LA Dodgers. I would love to see this team fail. I'm already tired of them.
2. (San Fran) Arizona. Yeah, they're gritty but what does that actually mean?
3. (Arizona) San Francisco. They've stolen two world championships with a mediocre team.
4. (Colorado) Colorado. This is a team that could surprise with one or two breakout pitchers.
5. (SD) San Diego. Ugh. Moving in the fences won't solve their problems.

NL Wildcards: (Atlanta, SF) Atlanta, Cincinnati
NL Champion: (Washington) Washington
NL MVP: (Matt Kemp) Bryce Harper
NL Cy Young: (Strasburg)  Clayton Kershaw
NL Rookie of the Year: (Jedd Gyorko) Jean Segura

2013 World Series Champions: The Washington Nationals (AGREED!!)