Bold Predictions for the 2015 Season

Rasputin · Mar 17, 2015

AL MVP = Xander Bogaerts

Also, Christian Vazquez will hit better than most people think.

Frank Fenway · Mar 17, 2015

-Sox will win the east

-Nationals will win the series

-Cats and dogs living together

-Mass hysteria

Savin Hillbilly · Mar 17, 2015

Rasputin said:
AL MVP = Xander Bogaerts

He'll actually fall just short, losing by a hair to Josh Donaldson, who will lead the Blue Jays to a wild-card berth and their first 90-win season in 20 years. Cafardo will devote his entire Sunday column to explaining that he cast the deciding vote for Donaldson because Xander's name is too hard to spell.

Playoffs:

AL WC: Blue Jays vs. White Sox; WS advance
AL DS1: Angels vs. White Sox; WS win 3-2
AL DS2: Indians vs. Red Sox; Sox win 3-1
ALCS: Sox vs. Sox; Red Sox win 4-1, stay in Chicago to face Cubs (see below)

NL WC: Cubs vs. Cardinals; Cubs advance
NL DS1: Nats vs. Pirates; Nats win 3-1
NL DS2: Dodgers vs. Cubs; Cubs win 3-2
NLCS: Nats vs. Cubs; Cubs win 4-3

WS: Theo vs. Ben. Eduardo Rodriguez outduels Lester as both go the distance in a 1-0 7th game decided by a Mookie Betts inside-the-park HR on a 2-out, 0-2 Lester cutter. Cafardo's brain explodes.

BestGameEvah · Mar 17, 2015

Cubs don't belong in the conversation with those others....yet.

Savin Hillbilly · Mar 17, 2015

BestGameEvah said:
Cubs don't belong in the conversation with those others....yet.

That's what makes it a BOLD prediction.

Rasputin · Mar 17, 2015

Wow, we win an awesome world series and Cafardo's head explodes. I don't think we could handle that much happy.

glennhoffmania · Mar 17, 2015

-ARod hits 30 homers and comes out of the closet

-Jose Abreu sucks

-Tulo plays at least 140 games

- MVPs: Heyward and Cano

-Cy Youngs: Harvey and Verlander

-Champs: Seattle

EvilEmpire · Mar 17, 2015

Boston's rotation implodes and the offense isn't enough to get them past 3rd in the division. "Deep depth" becomes a punchline on twitter.
New York's rotation doesn't implode and that plus a good bullpen carries them to a wild card.
Once Toronto realizes they are competitive for the division they make a trade for Hamels and go on to win the AL East.
The Nationals win it all.

Lars The Wanderer · Mar 17, 2015

NL wins the All Star Game.

Nats vs. Seattle in the World Series. Nats win 4-2

Snodgrass'Muff · Mar 17, 2015

The Yankees will make the playoffs and lose to the Red Sox in the Wild Card play-in game when Sonny Gray, who was traded for at the deadline (for a package including Swihart), throws 8 scoreless innings and new closer, Matt Barnes does his best Papelbon (circa 2008) impression to mow down the heart of the Yankees order in the 9th.

The Red Sox lose in the divisional round to the eventual World Series Champions, the Chicago White Sox.

The Atlanta Braves look like geniuses when they beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL play-in game.

MVP's: Mike Napoli and Kris Bryant

Cy Young winners: Garrett Richards and Jake Arrieta

The Dodgers will miss the playoffs.

Dahabenzapple2 · Mar 17, 2015

Papi hits 34 HR's to reach 500. Sox beat the Cubs in the World Series on a Papi 9th Inning grand slam down 5-2 in the bottom of the 9th and then he retires immediatly after the game.

Certain NY writers still refuse to vote him into the HOF

Mookie Betts wins the MVP

Yankees implode and win 72 games

A-Rod is the lone shining light with 25 homers going into September when he is again busted for PEDs

Yelling At Clouds · Mar 17, 2015

Braves finish behind the Phillies. Yankees make the playoffs.

Snoop Soxy Dogg · Mar 17, 2015

EvilEmpire said:
Boston's rotation implodes and the offense isn't enough to get them past 3rd in the division. "Deep depth" becomes a punchline on twitter.
New York's rotation doesn't implode and that plus a good bullpen carries them to a wild card.
Once Toronto realizes they are competitive for the division, they make a trade for Hamels and go on to win the AL East.

:lol:

Excellent.

JohntheBaptist · Mar 17, 2015

Blue Jays, Indians and Mariners win divisions in AL; Nationals, Pirates and Dodgers in the NL. Red Sox edge White Sox and Cardinals beat the Padres in the play-in games.

Nationals over the Indians in the World Series.

Mookie Betts is in the top 10 AL MVP voting.

Jon Lester's ERA is under 3.5 but loses more than 10 games. The Cubs flash brilliance but struggle against expectations.

Mark Teixeira and Evan Longoria have big bounceback years, Brian McCann and Brett Lawrie do not.

The Phillies trade Cole Hamels to TOR at the deadline for a middling return.

Koji Uehara does not throw another pitch after June 15.

The Mets make a run at the wild card but fall short when their young pitching tires/ runs up against inning limits. They make a stupid trade at the deadline.

CYA: Felix Hernandez, Madison Bumgarner

MVP: Evan Longoria, Ian Desmond

edit--ARod neither faceplants nor excels, plays sporadically, hits 255/315/425 with 19 HR and has a three-week stay on the DL for his hip.

WenZink · Mar 17, 2015

Josh Hamilton comes off his drug suspension and leads the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the best record in the American League.

BUT Hamilton relapses the weekend before the playoffs, and the Angels get swept by Your Boston Red Sox in the ALDS.

The Sox go 91-71, win the #1 Wild Card spot, beat the Cleveland Franconas in the WC game, defeat the Angels in the ALDS, the Jays in the ALCS, and. (for the third time in 11 years) they defeat the St. Louis Cards in the World Series,

Tony Mazz proclaims that the "2015 Red Sox pulled this one out of their asses! A bunch of Bullcrap!"

Criminal charges against Cody Kukuk are dropped on a technicality. Signs with Brockton Rox and goes 6-1 with an ERA of 2.46.

rotundlio · Mar 17, 2015

Joey Votto and Xander Bogaerts win MVP.

NL Cy Young is a two man race between Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole. Strasburg narrowly takes it; the Nats are a powerhouse. Félix Hernández in the AL, with Taijuan Walker receiving votes. Both win 20+ games.

The Indians rotation is the best in baseball. Zach McAllister comes out of the pen and leads all major league pitchers in win probability added. The city of Cleveland claims its second championship in five months.

Mark Teixeira wins Comeback Player of the Year. Chase Whitley and Michael Pineda are very good and CC Sabathia is excellent, though Tanaka pulls a Nomo. All told, the Yankees comfortably exceed expectations.

Marcus Semien and Héctor Olivera win Rookie of the Year. Carlos Rodon is dominant but languishes for months in Triple-A.

The Tigers bullpen is a strength and Bruce Rondon a revelation.

Johnny Cueto, Ian Desmond, Sonny Gray, Michael Brantley, Zach Britton, Chris Archer, and all the Toronto pitching prospects underwhelm.

Teams at long last begin to move away from innings-based bullpen roles.

The Chicago Cubs win the Wild Card Game.

Leskanic's Thread · Mar 18, 2015

Due to a rise in complaints about daily interleague games, and in a desire to shake things up in his first year, Rob Manfred makes the radical decision to move an NL team to the AL at the All-Star break. The lowly Marlins, who had been far behind the Nationals in the NL East, take the shuffling as an insult, and string together enough wins in the dog days of summer to push into the second Wild Card slot. Further baffling all pundits, they topple the Red Sox in the play-in game, and go on to beat Seattle in the ALDS and Cleveland in the ALCS. Their Cinderella ride ends, however, when they are downed by the Theo/Maddon Cubs in four straight World Series games.

The deciding Game 4 will be played on the evening of October 20.

JohntheBaptist · Mar 18, 2015

Leskanic's_Thread said:
Due to a rise in complaints about daily interleague games, and in a desire to shake things up in his first year, Rob Manfred makes the radical decision to move an NL team to the AL at the All-Star break. The lowly Marlins, who had been far behind the Nationals in the NL East, take the shuffling as an insult, and string together enough wins in the dog days of summer to push into the second Wild Card slot. Further baffling all pundits, they topple the Red Sox in the play-in game, and go on to beat Seattle in the ALDS and Cleveland in the ALCS. Their Cinderella ride ends, however, when they are downed by the Theo/Maddon Cubs in four straight World Series games.

The deciding Game 4 will be played on the evening of October 20.

Wish I could go forward in time. Put some money on the Cubbies.

Oppo · Mar 18, 2015

Hanley hits 35 hr and is second in MVP to Trout

CC wins zero games

Stanton hits <10 hrs

Billy Hamilton steals 99 bases

Don Mattingly fired by all star game

Eovaldi surprise cy young candidate

Bryce Harper kicked off team, Nationals go on to win WS

Papelbon and Hamels traded midseason to Boston for Owens, Cecchini, JBJ, and Nava

santadevil · Mar 18, 2015

Mike Napoli breaks Bonds single season homerun record by hitting 76 dingers. 25 of those are 420+ feet.

Hanley hits 7 homers all year, but leads the team in team suspensions with 3.

Houston Astros get in the wildcard game and beat out KC to move on to the ALDS against a surprising Rangers team.

St. Louis wins 73 games. Colorado losses 100.

CY: Joe Kelly (BOS), Zimmerman (WAS)
MVP: Napoli (BOS), Springer (HOU)

WS: Rangers

Monbo Jumbo · Mar 18, 2015

Steven Wright, double-digit wins.

That bigger strike zone helps knucklers even more than ground ball pitchers.

Hank Scorpio · Mar 18, 2015

- Season long argument about Mookie Betts' batting average, as he spends most of the season batting between .360 and .380... Naysayers argue that it's a BABIP fueled fluke. Others counter that "maybe he's just that good".

Meanwhile, a thread appears projecting how many home runs Mookie would have if he hadn't been robbed by the 20+ rocket line-drive doubles he hit right off the Green Monster.

Others criticize him for having a dismal walk rate, a .393 OBP in mid-July, to go with his .377 BA.

Mookie Betts finishes the season with a .368 average, 54 doubles, 18 triples and 22 home runs. He steals 47 bases, drives in 86, and scores a record-breaking 200 runs thanks in large part to strong seasons from Pedroia, Papi and Hanley.

He then finishes third to Mike Trout (.328-34-126) and Miguel Cabrera (.284-41-135) in a tight MVP race. One NY writer who doesn't vote for Mookie at all states "I didn't vote for him because he hasn't paid his dues". Others cite HR and RBI totals as to why they chose Trout and Cabrera 1st and 2nd.

- Rick Porcello has a very strong season (15-7, 3.38), but gets less 1st place Cy Young votes (0) than Yu Darvish (3), who doesn't throw a pitch all season.

- A sinkhole causes part of the bleachers to collapse in Oakland Coliseum, killing 2 and injuring 178. The Giants still try to bar the A's from moving in on their turf.

- Poor performance, a general lack of disinterest and an unprecedented series of hurricanes from mid-August through late September cause the TB Rays to set a modern record for lowest attendance. TB brass laments that the Trop stands strong against the record breaking storms. The Rays are forced to cancel 14 home games down the stretch, and finish with a record of 60-88.

- But they still finish ahead of the Yankees (65-97) in the standings.

Dahabenzapple2 · Mar 18, 2015

Hank Scorpio said:
- Season long argument about Mookie Betts' batting average, as he spends most of the season batting between .360 and .380... Naysayers argue that it's a BABIP fueled fluke. Others counter that "maybe he's just that good".

Meanwhile, a thread appears projecting how many home runs Mookie would have if he hadn't been robbed by the 20+ rocket line-drive doubles he hit right off the Green Monster.

Others criticize him for having a dismal walk rate, a .393 OBP in mid-July, to go with his .377 BA.

Mookie Betts finishes the season with a .368 average, 54 doubles, 18 triples and 22 home runs. He steals 47 bases, drives in 86, and scores a record-breaking 200 runs thanks in large part to strong seasons from Pedroia, Papi and Hanley.

He then finishes third to Mike Trout (.328-34-126) and Miguel Cabrera (.284-41-135) in a tight MVP race. One NY writer who doesn't vote for Mookie at all states "I didn't vote for him because he hasn't paid his dues". Others cite HR and RBI totals as to why they chose Trout and Cabrera 1st and 2nd.

- Rick Porcello has a very strong season (15-7, 3.38), but gets less 1st place Cy Young votes (0) than Yu Darvish (3), who doesn't throw a pitch all season.

- A sinkhole causes part of the bleachers to collapse in Oakland Coliseum, killing 2 and injuring 178. The Giants still try to bar the A's from moving in on their turf.

- Poor performance, a general lack of disinterest and an unprecedented series of hurricanes from mid-August through late September cause the TB Rays to set a modern record for lowest attendance. TB brass laments that the Trop stands strong against the record breaking storms. The Rays are forced to cancel 14 home games down the stretch, and finish with a record of 60-88.

- But they still finish ahead of the Yankees (65-97) in the standings.

Good to see someone else as filled with wonder/fantasy as I am.....

Darnell's Son · Mar 18, 2015

Christian Yellich will sign a 7 year, ~$50 million deal.

OzSox · Mar 19, 2015

I had a dream last night that the Nats were 90-10 through the first 100 games of the season ... so that's my prediction. The dream (and thus the prediction) didn't say whether they collapsed down the stretch or not.

Rasputin · Mar 19, 2015

OzSox said:
I had a dream last night that the Nats were 90-10 through the first 100 games of the season ... so that's my prediction. The dream (and thus the prediction) didn't say whether they collapsed down the stretch or not.

I was actually thinking of the Sox going 25-5 or so in the early going and just running away with the division.

It would be nice to just stomp the everlasting crap out of the league for once. Even in '13 we didn't have a really big lead until September.

Wingack · Mar 19, 2015

Eno Sarris over at Fangraphs just posted his Bold Predictions

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/eno-sarris-bold-predictions-for-2015/

I kind of like them all but they aren't crazy enough.

First, I should point out that my first bold prediction of the year is already coming true, Zach Wheeler getting TJ surgery (not sure when it is going to happen and that will impact whether I win the contest). Anyway...

Nationals win 110 games.

San Francisco Giants pull a 2014 Boston Red Sox and go from winning the World Series to finishing last in their division.

Michael Wacha wins 20 games and the Cy Young.

Evan Gattis leads the major leagues in HRs.

The Strasburg Rule is now renamed The Harvey Rule: Despite losing Wheeler, the Mets still make the playoffs but they shutdown Matt Harvey in September anyway because they don't want him to pitch .

The Detroit Tigers finish way under .500 and trade David Price to the Marlins at the trading deadline.

Billy Hamilton steals 90 bases.

DanoooME · Mar 19, 2015

A Rod leads the league in player ejections

Houston finishes over .500

At least 5 more pitchers will get injured and TJ'ed during the season

Ruben Amaro Jr. will get a contract extension

Willy Mo Pena will return to the states and play in a major league game

Harold Reynolds will get the shit beat out of him by a woman he sexually harasses

Some pitcher will end up with 300 Ks this season

3 different Red Sox starters will get Cy Young votes

The Yankees will lose 90 games and clean house in the front office

DJnVa · Mar 19, 2015

Bryce Harper GOES OFF and wins the NL MVP with something like .290/.380/.520, with over 40 dingers. He'll also catch grief for "not hustling" or something because he stops at second base instead of going for a triple because the double gave him the cycle.

Betts makes the All Star team, and Xander hits 20 HRs.

Someone hits 4 HRs in a game--I'll go with Rizzo. Anthony Rendon goes all Mark Whiten and has something like 12 ribbies in a game.

Dee Gordon hits 3 triples in a game.

Lester pitches well, but goes 15-12.

Wade Miley wins 17+ games for Boston and starts game 1 of the playoffs.

mauf · Mar 19, 2015

Kevin Cash is AL Manager of the Year as the Rays unexpectedly win the AL East.

The Pirates win the World Series.

VORP Speed · Mar 19, 2015

Maufman's prescience leads to a nomination for 2015 SOSH poster of the year, but he is denied his just deserts by bitter voters.

canderson · Mar 19, 2015

Joe Girardi is fired by the time rosters expand.

Frank Fenway · Mar 19, 2015

Angered after falling off the ballot for poor voting performance in 2016, Nomar comes out of retirement and signs with the Cubs. He hits 10 bombs in September, including a division clinching walk-off on September 27 versus the Pirates. He hit two grandslams in game 1 of the ALDS, but pulls his quad rounding the bases on the second one. He gets to watch the Cubs win the WS from the bench.

JohntheBaptist · Mar 19, 2015

Rasputin said:
I was actually thinking of the Sox going 25-5 or so in the early going and just running away with the division.

It would be nice to just stomp the everlasting crap out of the league for once. Even in '13 we didn't have a really big lead until September.

The 2007 Red Sox had a 10.5 game lead on May 20th. They started the year 20-10.

Snodgrass'Muff · Mar 19, 2015

One more prediction...

Mookie Betts will struggle out of the gate, with an OBP just north of the Mendoza/JBJ line going into May and Plympton will proclaim the player development machine dead and demand that Betts AND Swihart be packaged for Hamels. Mookie will then hit the cover off the ball for all of May and Plympton will declare that the only way to build a winner is to develop your own players and extend them, thus avoiding the pitfalls of free agency.

Rasputin · Mar 19, 2015

JohntheBaptist said:
The 2007 Red Sox had a 10.5 game lead on May 20th. They started the year 20-10.

And ended up winning by two games.

JohntheBaptist · Mar 19, 2015

The 2007 Red Sox decisively won their division, basically never left first place, and qualified the set of criteria in your post.

You missed one, it's OK.

Laser Show · Mar 19, 2015

JohntheBaptist said:
The 2007 Red Sox decisively won their division, basically never left first place, and qualified the set of criteria in your post.

You missed one, it's OK.

And would have won 100 games if not for Eric Gagne...

Rasputin · Mar 19, 2015

JohntheBaptist said:
The 2007 Red Sox decisively won their division, basically never left first place, and qualified the set of criteria in your post.

You missed one, it's OK.

I don't think I missed one so much as I phrased it poorly.

I mean, I knew the Sox got out early in 2007 and went to look up how things finished. If the current system were in place in 2007, there would have been some September angst.

Also, 2007 was like, a thousand years ago, dude.

bellowthecat · Mar 19, 2015

Clay Buchholz will throw a no hitter with 3 walks.

Ortiz will fail to hit 30 home runs.

Sandoval will finish with the highest BA on the Red Sox.

The White Sox will win the AL Central.

The Nationals will completely fall apart and trade Zimmerman at the deadline.

The Cardinals will not make the playoffs.

The Dodgers will win the world series, beating the Marlins and the Pirates to get there.

James Shields will post the same peripheral stats as always, but his ERA will be much worse.

Kershaw will be human.

JohntheBaptist · Mar 19, 2015

Rasputin said:
I don't think I missed one so much as I phrased it poorly.

I mean, I knew the Sox got out early in 2007 and went to look up how things finished. If the current system were in place in 2007, there would have been some September angst.

Also, 2007 was like, a thousand years ago, dude.

Haha--fair enough. 8 years ago, that is staggering to think.

I just always file 2007 in my head as the year they dominated and didn't really have the division challenged past May--I actually didn't remember it got down to 2 games at the end, although I think some of that was, as you said, the new playoff system not yet being in place and their feeling comfortable resting/ running Gagne out there with things sewn up.

keninten · Mar 19, 2015

Snodgrass'Muff said:
One more prediction...

Mookie Betts will struggle out of the gate, with an OBP just north of the Mendoza/JBJ line going into May and Plympton will proclaim the player development machine dead and demand that Betts AND Swihart be packaged for Hamels. Mookie will then hit the cover off the ball for all of May and Plympton will declare that the only way to build a winner is to develop your own players and extend them, thus avoiding the pitfalls of free agency.

If you`re going to put Plympton in here The trade is not for Hamels but Ellsbury.

Rasputin · Mar 19, 2015

JohntheBaptist said:
Haha--fair enough. 8 years ago, that is staggering to think.

I just always file 2007 in my head as the year they dominated and didn't really have the division challenged past May--I actually didn't remember it got down to 2 games at the end, although I think some of that was, as you said, the new playoff system not yet being in place and their feeling comfortable resting/ running Gagne out there with things sewn up.

If you want to stagger your thinking machine, ask yourself how many players are left from 2012 and consider that this team won a world series in that time.

Between the Punto trade and the 2012 trades, the Sox traded away Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Peavy, Doubront, Crawford, Gonzalez, and probably other guys who are not coming to mind. Ellsbury left as a free agent.

The Sox turned over almost their entire roster and won a World Series whole doing.

bluefenderstrat · Mar 22, 2015

Snodgrass'Muff said:
One more prediction...

Mookie Betts will struggle out of the gate, with an OBP just north of the Mendoza/JBJ line going into May and Plympton will proclaim the player development machine dead and demand that Betts AND Swihart be packaged for Hamels. Mookie will then hit the cover off the ball for all of May and Plympton will declare that the only way to build a winner is to develop your own players and extend them, thus avoiding the pitfalls of free agency.

And only 17% of the board will see those posts.

Schnerres · Mar 22, 2015

-the Red Sox will have four starters with 15+ wins

-the Washington Nationals+the LA Dodgers will combine to win more games than the New York Yankees+Philadelphia Phillies+Detroit Tigers combined

-David Peralta, ARI, LF, will have the highest BA in the major leagues this season

-Billy Hamilton will record 8 steals in a baseball game

-Kris Bryant(CHC) will hit more HRs in MLB than two out of the four following players combined (each had 30+ last season):
Neifi Cruz(SEA), Lucas Duda(NYM), Jose Abreu (CHW) and Chris Carter (HOU).

HurstSoGood · Mar 22, 2015

New Yankee SS Didi Gregorius, after being repeatedly scolded for allegedly not "hustling" like Derek Jeter, ignores team-mate call-offs during a short fly to CF and violently impales Jacoby Ellsbury.
Gregorius and Ellsbury are both gone for the year and Jeter comes out of retirement to finish the season.

BestGameEvah · Sep 24, 2015

Savin Hillbilly said:
He'll actually fall just short, losing by a hair to Josh Donaldson, who will lead the Blue Jays to a wild-card berth and their first 90-win season in 20 years. Cafardo will devote his entire Sunday column to explaining that he cast the deciding vote for Donaldson because Xander's name is too hard to spell.

Playoffs:

AL WC: Blue Jays vs. White Sox; WS advance
AL DS1: Angels vs. White Sox; WS win 3-2
AL DS2: Indians vs. Red Sox; Sox win 3-1
ALCS: Sox vs. Sox; Red Sox win 4-1, stay in Chicago to face Cubs (see below)

NL WC: Cubs vs. Cardinals; Cubs advance
NL DS1: Nats vs. Pirates; Nats win 3-1
NL DS2: Dodgers vs. Cubs; Cubs win 3-2
NLCS: Nats vs. Cubs; Cubs win 4-3

WS: Theo vs. Ben. Eduardo Rodriguez outduels Lester as both go the distance in a 1-0 7th game decided by a Mookie Betts inside-the-park HR on a 2-out, 0-2 Lester cutter. Cafardo's brain explodes.

BestGameEvah said:
Cubs don't belong in the conversation with those others....yet.

Savin Hillbilly said:
That's what makes it a BOLD prediction.

Ok, Savin, I'm prepared to eat my hat!
Good for Ross, Lester & Dempster.
Can't bring myself to cheer for Maddon, tho.

bluefenderstrat · Sep 25, 2015

JohntheBaptist said:
Jon Lester's ERA is under 3.5 but loses more than 10 games. The Cubs flash brilliance but struggle against expectations.

Nearly perfect description of Lester's season!

Bold Predictions for the 2015 Season

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