2015 MLB Predictions

Crystal ball time. I've done so well in the past, why stop now.  Below is my projected number of wins for each team, and a quick note or two about each one. Feel free to bookmark this so you can make fun of me in October.

AL East

Boston (88) -          Jackie Bradley Jr. will play a much bigger role for this team than anyone is currently anticipating. Mookie Betts and "future first ballot Hall of Famer" will be said in the same sentence a lot less than the Fenway Faithful are expecting, but that phrase will start to be heard about Xander Bogaerts again.

Baltimore (86) -      They lost many key players, but they won 96 games without Machado and Wieters last season. They could drop 10 games in the standings and still be in the division chase the last weekend of the year.

Toronto (80) –        Exciting team with lots of young future stars. Canadian fans should get excited about the team that AA is building up here. But not this year. A rocky summer will lead to John Gibbons being dismissed.

New York (80) –     What will they do without the season long Jeter ball-washing tour? Not to worry, there will be enough controversy in the Bronx to keep them on the front pages of the tabloids.

Tampa Bay (75) –   They still have some very good arms. Among the best rotations in the AL, but they’ll have difficulty scoring enough runs.

Red Sox Opening Day 25 man roster

Only a couple of days away. Still a lot of decisions to be made:
- What to do about the outfield logjam?
- What arms get the last couple of bullpen slots?
- Will Joe Kelly start on the DL?

With those questions in mind, here is my projection for the starting 25:

115,000 + Watch an Exhibition Baseball Game

That was seven years ago. As part of the Dodgers 50th anniversary of moving to California from Brooklyn, they hosted three exhibition games against the Red Sox, the main one at the LA Coliseum. I made the 24 hour drive to be able to witness history along with my son and 115,298 other fans. It was well worth it! Was able to talk to and obtain autographs from players from both teams, saw a bunch of celebrities, and witnessed some interesting baseball.

Kris Bryant... Should he Stay or Should He Go?

The Chicago Cubs are faced with a decision as to what to do with their prospect Kris Bryant. He is not only undoubtedly one of the best 25 players in the organization, but may very well be one of the best players on the Cubs, period.  Should he Stay or Should he Go? (i.e., have him start the season in the MLB, or send him to the minors)  Should be an easy enough decision. A team's main goal is to win(*), and the Cubs are a better player with him on the team than not.

But there is a wrinkle. You see, MLB (in its Collective Bargaining Agreement) has decided that when a player spends 172 days on an MLB roster, that is deemed to be a whole season. And a team has control of a player for 6 seasons, after which he can become a free agent.  So, if Bryant starts the year in the minors and is called up in a couple of weeks, he will only be on the MLB roster for....171 days. Convenient. From the CBA's perspective this is no different than a prospect getting a cup of coffee in late September. You don't really want to discourage that by counting it as a whole year, so they have arbitrarily (or through heated negotiations, I'm not really sure) used 172 days as the cutoff between playing a whole season, and just getting a callup that doesn't really count.

Opening Day is approaching. Where are my Predictions?

Opening Day is less than a week away. I want to publish my predictions for the Red Sox, but things still aren't settled.

Will Vazquez need to miss the entire season, or will just need a few weeks of recovery? Will Boston trade away Craig or Victorino to clear the outfield logjam? Cole Hamels rumours are still swirling. If Vazquez is out does that open the door for Swihart, or another trade?

Anyhow, I will post something shortly with my thoughts on the upcoming season. Bet you can't wait....