Every year fortune tellers everywhere will gather in the ritual known as Wrongly Selecting whom will win based on what a team did in the off-season and how they looked in Spring Training.
Now, Mind you, these people are professional writers whom have written about the sport for decades possibly and a lot of them probably even played a little baseball as well, if not into their adult life but enough of it to know the intricacies of the game better than probably some players do.
Last year, I correctly predicted that it would be the Tigers Vs Giants but I thought the Tigers were going to win. I was wrong about all of that. Very wrong. Some stuff is just left to chance and baseball is a sport based on chance and filled with redemption stories and every year, writers and fans make predictions with the hope of redemption, to say that we correctly, based on facts, intuition, Sportscenter, that we know who's going to win what and what's going to happen.
This is what I love about the sport. It's filled with stories of upsets, odd statistics and letting luck win above skill. So with all of that I begin my MLB Preview for 2013:
Wildcard: Rangers, Red Sox
ALCS: Tigers over Red Sox
Wild Cards: Nationals, Pirates
NLCS: Cardinals over Dodgers
World Series: Cardinals over Tigers
AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
AL CY Young: Justin Verlander, Tigers
AL Rookie of the Year: Jackie Bradley Jr, Red Sox
NL CY Young: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
NL Rookie of the Year: Hyun-Gin Ryu
This is a division that could be a major toss up. I mean a major one. Baltimore proved last year that there are always team you never see in the rear view mirror until it's too late and that you should've probably taken more seriously in your scouting reports. I feel a lot of teams do that. I feel it's human nature to base yourself on history instead of progress and then getting beaten by an upstart team with talent that many didn't know they had. If they had great scouts, they would've seen that statistically this was a team capable of winning the pennant. But they didn't. The Jays are favorites because what they did in the off season and because how sharp their players have looked in ST. Rays are always a threat. They spent years cultivating talent, drafting right and playing a blackjack game where they always seem to have a hand of '20' on most nights. Then there are the Sox and Yankees. It's weird to believe but these teams are either too old or too young to do anything this year except to raise the banner that says ' Wait Till Next Year'.
This division is the Tigers to lose. It really is. I believe the Indians are the undisputed most overlooked challenger for the division and if it can all fall into place for a perfect storm it could be them. The White Sox will make their usual appearance of greatness and ineptitude and we'll also see a much improved Royals team that if any team can sneak into the post season with the addition of another wild card slot, it could be the Royals.
Arguable the toughest and most competitive division in the AL if not the league, is a division where three teams can legitimately win the Division and the loser will probably get the wild card slot. Texas has a compelling case even without Josh Hamilton and the LA Angels have a compelling case with their lineup and rotation even if the bullpen is still somewhat suspect to me. And we can't overlook the A's. Because that's what everyone did last year and they won the division. This time they won't be rookies and they'll have post season experience to boost.
This division is one where you're seeing the changing of the guard. The once dominant Phillies are no longer locks and everyone's pick to win their division. Their window has closed and to me, this looks like a team that should sell their assets and begin the rebuild. They won their title and they should focus on the future. Washington is the new girl on the block that has all of the guys singing her praises. They're top built team from top to bottom. Great drafting, post season experience and a great bullpen. They have the look of 2010 Giant's pitching staff and 2011's Cardinals lineup. They can win. The Mets will be just another in the crowd.
The Reds will win this division. Without much fuss either. The Pirates will give them a scare. But the Cubs, the Brewers should just be competitive enough to win a few games down the stretch to play spoilers. The team that could give the Reds a run though is the team that played within one game of the World Series and that would be the St Louis Cardinals. Just a season removed from a championship, the Cardinals have a deep lineup and rotation that should be possible to win the division if the Red falter.
The rivalry division. This will come down to a We have money so love us Dodgers and the Giants and their we just know how to win games mentality. It's great for baseball and when their much overlooked West coast teams can start making news with two historic rivals playing meaningful games against each other. But not to take too much away from the Diamondbacks whom should be much improved after their dismal 2012 season which came just a year off from them winning the division in 2011. Was that a fluke season? The Padres are hoping to build off another strong finish to the season to build off their farm team but the Rockies will face another year where they're rebuilding.
