UB Writers MLB Predictions

Opening Day is finally upon us. Even though the Sox have to wait an extra day, several teams have kicked off their regular season schedules. If you're a baseball fan, you're smiling -- it's the greatest time of the year. Even for the casual sports fan here in Boston, this marks the best time of the year, too. Bruins and Celtics heading for their playoff schedules (playoff tickets anyone?) and the Sox kicking off their long tourney aimed at a World Series title. Nonetheless, three UB writers, including myself, have made their full set of player predictions for the upcoming season. We'll include a team prediction sometime soon as well, with standings and postseason predictions. But for now, take a look at the future of this season according to DRob, Average Joe, and Burga.

30 Teams, 30 Predictions

This is the first of hopefully many preseason blogs that I'll write before the games get underway. The premise is simple, I'll list each of the 30 MLB teams and make a prediction for a player on that team for the upcoming season. It might be predicting a breakout, or a bust, or somewhere in between. Some might seem pretty mild, whereas others might just seem crazy. But hey, that's why we call them predictions. Comments are welcome if you wish to address one of my predictions or make a couple of your own.

My Predictions:

Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters finally has the breakout season we've been waiting for, posting a 81/28/90 stat line to go along with a .298 average and finishes second among fantasy catchers, behing Joe Mauer.

Boston Red Sox: Adrian Gonzalez has his best season yet at Fenway, hitting .304 with 40 homers and 118 RBIs, good enough for the AL MVP.

New York Yankees: Mariano Rivera finally lets age catch up to him, blowing 4 saves in his first 15 appearances with and ERA over 5.00. He loses the starting job to Rafael Soriano by June and announces his retirement at the end of the season.

Tampa Bay Rays: David Price, who was among the top of the league for Runs Scored per start, sees some of that luck go away this year. Hitters start to figure him out, and although he has flashes of brilliance, he finished with a 11-10 record with a 4.11 ERA.

Toronto Blue Jays: Jose Bautista starts off hot again, making people think maybe last year wasn't a fluke after all. He'll cool down but finish with 32 homers and a respectable .270 average.

Chicago White Sox: Adam Dunn will flourish in the windy city, seeing a very favorable park and the best lineup hes played in in years. He hits 42 homers with 112 RBIs. Juan Pierre will also set his career high with 70 steals.

Cleveland Indians: Chris Perez will finish the season with 38 saves and a 2.08 ERA, making him one of the better closers to own in fantasy.

Detroit Tigers: Max Scherzer continues the success that he had in the second half of last year, finishing the season sporting a 15-7 record with 212 strikeouts and a 3.07 ERA.

Kansas City Royals: Billy Butler will take a small step forward, but not quite have the breakout season everyones been looking for. He'll put up another great average while hitting 25 homers, solid production at the deep first base position.

Minnesota Twins: Joe Nathan will regain his dominance, recording 43 saves and earning a healthy 2.33 ERA. Those who question his injury status will regret it.

Los Angeles Angels: Jered Weaver will regeress after his huge year, failing to break 200 K's again and winning only 12 games as the Angels' offense will struggle.

Texas Rangers: Mike Napoli, who will rotate at catcher, first base, and DH, will post career highs across the board with 30 homers, 64 runs, 72 RBIS, and .273 average. There's no way he won't flourish at a hitter-friendly field amidst a studded lineup.

Oakland Athletics: Brett Anderson, who was dominant before falling to injury, will regain form and be a Cy Young candidate with 12 wins, 2.74 ERA and 193 K's.

Seattle Mariners: Remember Erik Bedard? He's looking healthy and has been excelling in spring training. He's finally going to justify the package the Mariners gave up to get him by winning 13 games and posting a 2.69 ERA with 201 K's.

Atlanta Braves: Jason Heyward suffers from a sophomore slump, batting just .245 in the first half of the season with 11 homers. Watch out for his second half though, when he becomes one of the hottest players in baseball and doesn't look back.

Florida Marlins: Mike Stanton, who might struggle early on after coming back from a minor quad injury, will show everyone that the hype on him is for real, finishing with a monster 36 home runs and a solid .275 average.

New York Mets: In his contract year, Jose Reyes will play like a beast and earn a monster payday. He'll hit .300, score 115 runs, and steal 42 bases. This is partly depended on a healthy Mets lineup but I have confidence in them and Reyes will benefit from it.

Philadelphia Phillies: With injuries to half their starting lineup, the Phillies offense might struggle a bit. Cole Hamels will be traded halfway through the season for some offensive pop to make up for their injuries. Lidge comes back healthy and saves 41 games.

Washington Nationals: Jayson Werth, coming off a HUGE pay day and going from a World Series team to the lowly Nationals; will have a down year. Look for 22 homers and a .271 average in the disappointing season for Jayson.

Chicago Cubs: Aramis Ramirez, heading into a contract year as well, will finally stay healthy and put up monster numbers that mirrors his 2006 season, hitting 34 homers, knocking in 108 RBIs and boasting a .304 average.

Cincinnati Reds: Remember Carlos Gonzalez last year? This year it'll be Jay Bruce. He ended last year batting .306 in the second half and hit 15 homers in the last 34 games. Sound familiar? Look for Bruce to hit at least 30 homers this year and pushing 100 RBIs.

Houston Astros: This will be a productive year for the Astros' outfield. Hunter Pence will take the next step, hitting 30 homers with 100 RBIs, Carlos Lee will have a comeback year with 28 homers and 95 RBIs with a good average, and Michael Bourn will steal at least 60.

Milwaukee Brewers: And the good get better. Ryan Braun will post his best stats in his career, hitting .326, score 115 runs and knock in 120. And, for the first time ever, he will reach the 40 homer plateau, earning the NL MVP award.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Jose Tabata will take over the starting role and steal 45 bases, good for fourth in the league. This kid is fast.

St. Louis Cardinals: Pujols, Pujols, Pujols. Contract year. The machine will do it all. 50 homers? Sure. 120 RBIs? Easy. Batting average of .340? Check. He reveals that he actually is, in fact, a robot? Possibly...

Arizona Diamondback: Justin Upton takes another big step, popping 35 homers and stealing 25 bases. He'll struggle a little bit with average, hitting .265, but will finish among the top 20 players in fantasy baseball.

Colorado Rockies: Look for CarGo to regress a little, hitting .300 with 26 homers. He'll be very slow out of the gate, coming back down to earth from last season. When Tulowitski's undoubted power surge comes, Gonzalez will go along for the ride.

LA Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw will be the best pitcher in baseball. With a 17-4 record, 226 K's, 2.39 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP, he'll finish in the top five players in fantasy baseball and win the NL Cy Young.

San Diego Padres: Ryan Ludwick will give us another taste of his '08 season, hitting 32 Homers and knocking in 95. However, his average won't top .280. He'll be a solid 3rd outfielder in typical fantasy formats.

San Francisco Giants: Both Jonathon Sanchez and Matt Cain will finish above Tim Lincecum. With Lincecum's struggles last year and the pressure he puts on his arm, he's bound to hit a wall eventually and I say it happens this year.
 

Duckboats or Devastation?

Brad Marchand's late third-period goal lifted the Boston Bruins to a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers last night, clinching a playoff spot for the black and gold for the fourth consecutive season. Tim Thomas was spectacular and the game was a little bit reminiscent of the way Boston played last season down the stretch. Sound fundamentally, protecting their own goal as a first priority. It's no secret that Bruins fans are excited. Hell, they have even gained quite a few "fans" recently. It happens every year come playoff time -- the bandwagoners jump in, acting like they haven't missed a beat all season. But whatever. The main point of discussion is about this team, not its fan base. Can the Bruins finally make the run this city has been waiting for since 1972? Will this season end with duckboats, or will just get our usual annual dose of devastation from the boys?

If you think I'm going to answer that question, you've gone crazy. Anyone who tries to answer that question has gone crazy -- well, at least if you try to answer with the "duckboats" choice. That's as silly as predicting the Red Sox were going to win the world series in any year from 1919 through 2003. But then again, it would have been foolish to predict that same world series championship in 2004. All droughts must end eventually, right? The rain will fall on this city at some point. But doesn't the 86-year curse make you cringe? Thinking about the idea that the Bruins could have a drought that long? For the math-challenged readers out there, that would mean the B's would go cup-less until the 2058 season. My far-from-existant grandchildren might be in high school by then.

By the same token, it could end in a mere two months. This squad was pretty close last season, despite the brutal ending they suffered. With a more improved team and a better seeding (although we still had home ice against Philly last May), could this B's unit quiet its critics and join the rest of the championship-littered Boston sports shrines of the 21st century? It starts from the top. Claude Julien will need to get these guys motivated every single night, period. It's not about X's and O's with Julien at this point. The B's have a system, and the players know the system. Right now, it's about chemistry, player management, roster management, and motivation. Being a moderator. If the Bruins will be able to find the grit to move past their previous failures, it will need to be instilled by their head coach, first and foremost.

But the coach can only do so much. This team needs to show the heart that it has shown for stretches this season. It needs to prove its critics wrong, the ones who say they have no balls come playoff time. Who's to say those critics are wrong? What as Boston shown us come playoff time? In my lifetime, nothing. In my parents' lifetime -- most of it, anyway -- likewise. Although Glen Wesley did come pretty close once. Those empty nets can be awfully hard to hit with the Stanley Cup on the line for a championship-deprived city.

There's loads of history and tradition on the line. How much longer can we wait for the Bruins to come around? The more years that go by, the more elusive that promised land seems to become. It takes a truly special group of men to win a Stanley Cup. I cannot say whether or not this is that special group. But they play the games for a reason, and all bets are off in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I'll be counting the days until Game 1.