TOC 2014 staff predictions

Opening Day is upon us, and what better way to get hyped for the season by looking at largely meaningless predictions by our staff?

Last year’s predictions were pretty terrible – none of us had the World Champion Red Sox even making the Postseason. We all had the Nationals and Angels making the playoffs, and five of us were high on the Blue Jays. You all know how that turned out. Hopefully, things work out a little better this year, but I’d bet against it.

AL East: Rays (5), Red Sox (2)
AL Central: Tigers (6), Royals (1)
AL West: Athletics (5), Rangers (2)
AL Wild Card: Red Sox (5), Angels (3), Rays (2), Athletics (2), Rangers (1), Orioles (1)

This is all pretty standard. Every one of our writers picked the Rays, Red Sox, and Athletics to make the playoffs, and all but one of us picked the Tigers to join them as well. The final playoff spot was a toss-up between the Angels, Rangers, and Orioles.

NL East: Nationals (6), Braves (1)
NL Central: Cardinals (7)
NL West: Dodgers (7)
NL Wild Card: Braves (4), Pirates (3), Giants (3), Nationals (1), Diamondbacks (1), Reds (1), Padres (1)

Well, now isn’t this…interesting. Every one of our writers has the Nationals, Cardinals, and Dodgers in the playoffs, while the Braves received a lot of support as well. The fifth spot is a mess – the Pirates, Giants, Diamondbacks, Reds, and Padres all received some love, with the Pirates and Giants finishing in a dead heat.

World Series: Rays (2), Nationals (2), Cardinals (1), Dodgers (1), Tigers (1)
AL Pennant: Rays (5), Rangers (1), Tigers (1)
NL Pennant: Cardinals (3), Nationals (2), Dodgers (2)

Our staff picked a total of six teams to make it to the World Series, and five of those six were chosen to win it. Yeah, there’s a lot of variability here.

AL MVP: Mike Trout (6), Evan Longoria (1)
AL Cy Young: Yu Darvish (6), Chris Sale (1)
AL Rookie of the Year: Masahiro Tanaka (4), Jose Abreu (1), Xander Bogaerts (1), Yordano Ventura (1)

A lot of chalk here. Our staff thinks Miguel Cabrera won’t make it three AL MVP awards in a row, and that Mike Trout will finally break through. Our staff is similarly optimistic about Yu Dravish winning the AL Cy Young award, even with his injury issues. As for the AL Rookie of the Year, Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees stands out as the favorite, with a trio of other players receiving a vote each.

NL MVP: Hanley Ramirez (3), Bryce Harper (2), Jason Heyward (1), Joey Votto (1)
NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw (5), Adam Wainwright (1), Stephen Strasburg (1)
NL Rookie of the Year: Billy Hamilton (4), Javier Baez (1), Gregory Polanco (1), Oscar Tavares (1)

These awards aren’t as clear cut as the American League. Hanley Ramirez gets the edge for NL MVP, but health is always an issue for him. On the mound, Clayton Kershaw is our pick to win his third NL Cy Young award, while Billy Hamilton picked up the majority of votes as the NL’s best rookie.

Here’s how each staff member voted.

Scott Allen
AL East: Rays
AL Central: Royals
AL West: Athletics
AL WC: Red Sox, Angels

NL East: Nationals
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers
NL WC: Braves, Padres