Sunday, April 3, 2016

Bold Predictions for 2016

Predictions are silly but fun, so here goes.  Remember, these are BOLD so unlikely to come true.

1.  The Giants will win the NL West.

2.  The Giants will become the first National League team in history to win 4 World Series Championships in 7 seasons.

3.  Brandon Belt will hit at least 30 HR's.

4.  Joe Panik wins the batting title.

5.  Matt Cain makes 30 starts and wins at least 10 games.

6.  Mac Williamson is the Giants starting LF by the end of the season.

7.  Tyler Beede makes his MLB debut by the end of the season.

8.  Adam Duvall hits at least 25 HR's for the Cincinnati Reds.

9.  Santiago Casilla hangs onto his closer job all season.

10. Eric Surkamp wins at least 10 games for the A's.

Now for some not-so-bold predictions:

NL East:

1.  Mets
2.  Nationals(WC)
3.  Marlins
4.  Phillies
5.  Braves

NL Central

1.  Cubs
2.  Cardinals(WC)
3.  Pirates
4.  Reds
5.  Brewers

NL West

1.  Giants
2.  D'Backs
3.  Dodgers
4.  Padres
5.  Rockies

AL East

1. Blue Jays
2. Yankees(WC)
3.  Rays
4.  Orioles
5.  Red Sox

AL Central

1.  Indians
2.  Royals
3.  White Sox
4.  Tigers
5.  Twins

AL West

1.  Angels
2.  Astros(WC)
3.  Rangers
4.  Mariners
5.  A's

Nationals over Card in NL WC game.

Astros over Yankees in AL WC game.

Giants over Mets and Nationals over Cubs in NLDS

Blue Jays over Astros and Angels over Indians in ALDS

Giants over Nationals in NLCS

Angels over Indians in ALCS

Giants over Angels in World Series.

NL MVP:  Bryce Harper

AL MVP:  Mike Trout

NL Cy Young:  Clayton Kershaw(who else?)

AL Cy Young:  Dallas Keuchal

NL ROY:  Socrates Brito

AL ROY:  Tyler Naquin

10 comments:

  1. very interesting that brown made it as backup catcher

    bacci

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    Replies
    1. You get the feeling Giants management is almost more comfortable plugging holes with homegrown prospects than has-been veterans. That is a pretty big evolution from a decade ago.

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  2. Dr. B,
    I really like that the Giants are using homegrown talent and it is working. So many examples of aging players getting paid for what they have done, not what they can still do.

    My guess is you have Socrates Brito on your fantasy team. Great name!
    Hoping you are right with Adam Duvall-I have been pulling for him to do well in the bigs.

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    Replies
    1. Actually, I don't have Brito on my team but will be watching him closely.

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  3. On a negative note, I have a gnawing feeling this might the year all those innings finally catch up with Bumgarner.

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  4. I hope you are right about the first 2. Most even years I end up being pleasantly surprised that the Giants make the playoffs. And most of the time the Giants are the Dark Horse throughout the playoffs too. (They seem to do better as a dark horse anyway) I probably can't afford to not study for IM boards this Sept/October though.
    The Cubs appear to have quite a team going. Would not surprise me if they made it to the WS and won it.

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    Replies
    1. I don't think Jake Arrietta is going to be the monster he was last year and the Cubs will fall in the postseason to a team with deeper pitching.

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  5. 1. The Giants will win the NL West.
    (Agree, and not just because I'm a fan or hate the Dodgers. A much improved rotation, a healthy club and every weakness that we had Opening Day last year (except closer) has been upgraded/healed. Meanwhile the Diamondbacks just lost their second best player while the Dodgers have 10-men on the DL to open the season plus have the same rotation problems (at least on paper) that we had last year on Opening Day -- Ace & ????.)

    2. The Giants will become the first National League team in history to win 4 World Series Championships in 7 seasons.
    (I hope! But it's tough.)

    3. Brandon Belt will hit at least 30 HR's.
    (I wish, but have major doubts. AT&T really does eat power. If I remember right, Belt, Posey & Pence are all 30HR capable when you look at their road splits. However, none of them hit more than 6-to-8 HRs at AT&T in a season for the past two, or three perhaps, seasons. Now, if he played for the Orioles... Without a doubt. He'd hit 20+/year at Camden Yards alone plus there are two more LH friendly parks in the division.)

    4. Joe Panik wins the batting title.
    (It's an outside possibility with his advanced and hyper-mature approach to limiting slumps.)

    5. Matt Cain makes 30 starts and wins at least 10 games.
    (I agree. I wouldn't have two weeks ago, but against the A's he looked serviceable with only a few poor pitches and good movement/velocity on them most of the time.)

    6. Mac Williamson is the Giants starting LF by the end of the season.
    (It's possible during the roster expansion IF he's hitting well in AAA. But I don't see it before then.)

    7. Tyler Beede makes his MLB debut by the end of the season.
    (I'd say bold, but unless he gets hurt or melts down like Crick, I think it'll be inevitable bcause it's a very good learning experience for a pitcher being groomed to be a future starter.)

    8. Adam Duvall hits at least 25 HR's for the Cincinnati Reds.
    (I agree. I like him as a player and I think 1B is where he needs to be. And he's got very good power to go with a somewhat of a hitters park.)

    9. Santiago Casilla hangs onto his closer job all season.
    (Sigh, you just had to bring that up, didn't you? It was going so well until then...)

    10. Eric Surkamp wins at least 10 games for the A's.
    (I hope so. I have nothing against the As and it'd be nice to see Surkamp regain his footing even if he's no longer with the Giants organization.)

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  6. Opening Day falls on my birthday today! looking forward to a Maddie win in Milwaukee!

    I like your predictions, most importantly numbers 1 & 2! 4 in 8 is Gonna Be Great!

    Let's Go Giants!

    DtF!!!
    NWGiantsFan

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  7. I think I agree with all of these predictions! And I, too, think Brito and Naquin are likely ROY candidates.

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