This is always fun to do. I dug up the predictions for the 2012 season from our staff, and some of them were dead-on…and some were way, way off. Some of the highlights and lowlights for all of us…
Joe Lucia: I'm proud of the fact that I picked the Rangers and Yankees to win the AL wild cards, which is still in play. However, I only got half of the playoff teams correct, and completely whiffed on all of my awards picks (though my Longoria/Votto MVP picks were due to injury as opposed to all-out awful play), with Dan Haren as AL Cy Young or Jesus Montero as AL ROY looking like my worst picks.
Scotty Allen: Scott also got five of the playoff teams correct, but his Angels-Diamondbacks World Series pick was a swing and a miss. Scott nailed the Red Sox as a disappointment in 2012, and his biggest whiff would probably have to be Colby Rasmus as breakout player of the year.
Garrett Wilson: Our other Angels fan on staff got six of the playoff teams picked, and ended up going all-in with his Angels fandom, choosing Albert Pujols to win AL MVP and Zack Greinke (who would later get traded to the Angels) as NL Cy Young. Garrett was also one of two writers not to choose the Phillies to make the playoffs. But Dustin Ackley as a breakout player was a miss, as Ackley took a huge step back in 2012.
Tim Livingston: Tim also got six playoff teams correct, and our prospect guru nailed both Mike Trout and Bryce Harper as ROY winners (though the NL award is much more in question than in the AL). Tim really didn't horrendously miss on anything, though Roy Halladay as NL Cy Young looks bad after he finally got hurt, and Brett Lawrie didn't break out anymore than he did in 2011.
Matt Lindner: Matt only correctly picked four playoff teams, though his choice of the Blue Jays to win the AL East and Marlins to take an NL Wild Card look really bad in hindsight. Matt was the one writer to not pick the Yankees to make the playoffs. He also was in the same boat as me, choosing a pair of players that missed a lot of time with injury to win the MVP awards: Votto and Jose Bautista.
Pat Lackey: Pat hit on eight playoff teams, including the entire National League (only swapping the Nationals and Braves qualification methods). Pat is also the only one of us to have his World Series matchup still alive (Rangers vs Braves), and was the other writer to choose the Phillies as a non-playoff team. But, like all of us, Pat's awards picks were off, including Adrian Gonzalez as AL MVP and Devin Mesoraco as NL ROY.
Charlie Saponara: Charlie was also on the low end of the totem pole with four playoff teams chosen correctly, but he gets bonus points for picking Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Braun as MVPs. Charlie also joined Scott in picking the Red Sox as the biggest disappointment team, but his biggest misstep was going with Trevor Bauer as NL ROY.
Now, some fun facts about everything in general….
-All seven of us chose the Angels to make the playoffs, and six of us chose the Rays
-No one picked the Orioles or A's to earn playoff berths
-Only Matt and Tim chose Mike Trout to win the AL ROY, and only Tim chose Bryce Harper in the NL
-Four of us picked Yonder Alonso to win NL ROY, and he's not even the most valuable rookie on his own team (Yasmani Grandal leads him in fWAR, 2.6 to 2.0)
-Clayton Kershaw was the only NL pitcher who finished in the top five in fWAR to be a Cy Young pick
-Of our choices for "surprise team", the only playoff team of the bunch was the Nationals, chosen by Tim and Pat
-The only one of 11 six win players in the NL to be chosen for MVP was Ryan Braun, chosen by Charlie
-The only remaining World Champion pick to actually make the playoffs was Pat's choice of the Rangers
-The only division that no one correctly picked the winner for was the NL East, though the AL East can join it if the Orioles manage to overtake the Yankees
So keep this in mind six months from now when we make our picks for the 2013 season…we're not always right. Hell, we're not even right most of the time. There's no need for anyone to start getting offended about a lack of respect for you team…because normally, half of our playoff predictions will be wrong anyway.
