I have to say, it does not take much to pick the NL winners. And based upon the, somewhat, biased opinion of my friends we are all aligned on the best 6 teams in the NL. Everything changes for the AL this year. Here are my thoughts:
AL East
Baltimore
Toronto
New York
Tampa Bay
Boston
I'll try to defend my picks here, but it honestly was a crap shoot. If you said that Tampa or New York was the best and backed up your argument, I would have a hard time fighting your thoughts. But, with that said, I am going for an overhaul in the east. Baltimore had a strong season last year and I am going to say that they are going to add on that big year with experience. Who does Baltimore have, you ask? Great question...but those no names can play ball as a team. Sticking my neck out there, Baltimore to win the east. Why? Toronto is not buying a champion in year one. They made tons of moves and some amazing moves...but it takes time to gel. It is not their year. Exactly why I have Baltimore in first. They have gelled. If I could have picked all 5 teams to finish 3rd, I would have. But the best of the rest will be NY. Mainly because they will do what they have to do not to lose. Next I have Tampa Bay clawing at the heals of NY. Longoria and Price are amazing, but I don't think they have the depth. There is other talent there, but not to the level of the elite. Then comes the rebuilding Boston club. There is just not enough there this year to compete, and I see another implosion. All of the teams will have good records and beat each other up, but Boston is in the cellar.
AL Central
Detroit
Kansas City
Cleveland
Chicago
Minnesota
Another tough division to handicap after you put Detroit in a class of their own. Seriously, who is going to compete with Detroit? Kansas City made some great moves, but not enough for the division. Maybe making a Wild Card run...but that is still remarkable. Cleveland has removed dead weight with some solid role players. They will compete for awhile, but they are not in Detroit's league and Kansas City was better in the offseason. Chicago and Minnesota will find themselves at the bottom. A far cry from where they were just a few seasons ago when the two of them led the division year after year.
AL West
Los Angeles
Oakland
Texas
Seattle
Houston
The west will be interesting and it is hard to not go with LA. Hamilton to the mix is enough to give them the west alone. But, you can't count out Oakland. They have no business being part of the race, but like Baltimore, they have chemistry of their no names. They will feast on Houston and scare up enough wins to make LA uncomfortable. Texas had a tough offseason and falls back to earth and the middle of the division. Seattle will try to bring in more offense with shorter fences, but they only stacked their team with DH's and random 1B who are only good for the long ball. They don't have enough, even with King Felix, to be .500. Then there is Houston...let's just say that 100 loses would be a good season.
Here are my NL predictions.
Serge
Monday, February 11, 2013
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Pre-Spring Training Predictions
Cardinals pitchers and catchers report tomorrow. It is 55 degrees outside in St. Louis at 7:00 in Feb. I have spring fever. Let me try to infect you as well.
I was thinking about who the teams to beat this year are while I was driving home from Nashville. Below are my pre-spring training predictions for the NL. AL to come separately (I'll add a link to navigate easier later).
I reserve the right to update my predictions once a few more signing occur during spring training. Final predictions will be posted for all to gawk and ridicule before opening day. Feel free to leave your thoughts too.
NL East
Washington
Atlanta
Philadelphia
New York
Miami
Washington has the hitting and now an unrestricted Strasburg. They were a few innings away from going to the second round of the playoffs last year. That experience and an ace for the entire season will keep them at the top. Atlanta has revamped their outfield with the brothers Upton. Chipper will be a tough player to replace but their upgrades and another year of seasoning for their young pitchers and hitters will challenge Washington. Philly made a huge upgrade with Michael Young. Other than that, not much more to compete with the top two. New York would have been in the cellar had it not been for Miami's garage sale. These two teams will provide Washington, Atlanta and Philly with plenty of in-division wins. Expect the wild card to come from the East.
NL Central
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
Milwaukee
Chicago
Yes, it is a bit of a homer vote to ride St. Louis to first place, but even without Carpenter, I still don't think any team in the central has the skill to knock them off. Beltran will need to put up similar numbers and secondbase needs to be productive. Cincinnati is moving Chapman to the rotation with an innings cap - he is more of a weapon out the pen. Choo is an nice addition to the outfield, but they always seem to get in their own way. Pittsburgh just might find a way to win 82 games this year and finally be over .500. They keep improving, but still not elite. Milwaukee needs the Braun supporting cast to have career years all at once. Too risky. They'll chase Pittsburgh. Chicago - welcome back to your home...in last place. Without Houston in the division the wins total will decrease for all teams. I expect St. Louis to win the division with 90 wins - that means that Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will be close until the last week of the season.
NL West
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Arizona
Colorado
San Diego
How do you go against Los Angeles? Additions of top notch pitching and hitting should all but guarantee them the NL West title. San Fran will have something to say about that, but we all know how hard it is to repeat. They'll give it a good run, but LA is too much. Arizona has made a bunch of moves this offseason, which in many divisions may be enough to compete, but not in the west. Colorado and San Diego will both get pushed around by the top three in the division.
No huge surprises, but that's how the offseason has shaped up. It is somewhat clear to distinguish the haves from the have nots. Here are my AL predictions.
Serge
I was thinking about who the teams to beat this year are while I was driving home from Nashville. Below are my pre-spring training predictions for the NL. AL to come separately (I'll add a link to navigate easier later).
I reserve the right to update my predictions once a few more signing occur during spring training. Final predictions will be posted for all to gawk and ridicule before opening day. Feel free to leave your thoughts too.
NL East
Washington
Atlanta
Philadelphia
New York
Miami
Washington has the hitting and now an unrestricted Strasburg. They were a few innings away from going to the second round of the playoffs last year. That experience and an ace for the entire season will keep them at the top. Atlanta has revamped their outfield with the brothers Upton. Chipper will be a tough player to replace but their upgrades and another year of seasoning for their young pitchers and hitters will challenge Washington. Philly made a huge upgrade with Michael Young. Other than that, not much more to compete with the top two. New York would have been in the cellar had it not been for Miami's garage sale. These two teams will provide Washington, Atlanta and Philly with plenty of in-division wins. Expect the wild card to come from the East.
NL Central
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh
Milwaukee
Chicago
Yes, it is a bit of a homer vote to ride St. Louis to first place, but even without Carpenter, I still don't think any team in the central has the skill to knock them off. Beltran will need to put up similar numbers and secondbase needs to be productive. Cincinnati is moving Chapman to the rotation with an innings cap - he is more of a weapon out the pen. Choo is an nice addition to the outfield, but they always seem to get in their own way. Pittsburgh just might find a way to win 82 games this year and finally be over .500. They keep improving, but still not elite. Milwaukee needs the Braun supporting cast to have career years all at once. Too risky. They'll chase Pittsburgh. Chicago - welcome back to your home...in last place. Without Houston in the division the wins total will decrease for all teams. I expect St. Louis to win the division with 90 wins - that means that Cincinnati and Pittsburgh will be close until the last week of the season.
NL West
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Arizona
Colorado
San Diego
How do you go against Los Angeles? Additions of top notch pitching and hitting should all but guarantee them the NL West title. San Fran will have something to say about that, but we all know how hard it is to repeat. They'll give it a good run, but LA is too much. Arizona has made a bunch of moves this offseason, which in many divisions may be enough to compete, but not in the west. Colorado and San Diego will both get pushed around by the top three in the division.
No huge surprises, but that's how the offseason has shaped up. It is somewhat clear to distinguish the haves from the have nots. Here are my AL predictions.
Serge
Friday, February 8, 2013
Flexibility Earns Loyalty
It's a tale of two customer service approaches.
I was scheduled to go to NYC this weekend for a weekend get-away with Misty. Then comes Nemo, not the fish, but the Winter Storm Nemo. 24 hours before our scheduled flight to Laguardia (LGA) we hear that our flight has been cancelled. This flight was on American Airlines and with a quick call options were discussed and I had to cancel my flight completely as I would only get to NYC in time to turn around on Sunday.
American refunded the fare. End of story. Happy customer.
Actually, not end of story...
My return flight is on US Airways on Sunday. Like my flight to LGA, it is a one way flight. I call US Airways and sit on hold for about 15 minutes...typical...I can handle that. When I do get a representative I am told that their "current policy" only impacts Friday and Saturday flights. I explained that "I will not be in NYC to get on your flight due to flights being cancelled to NYC on the dates you are stating". All I get is a response that I can cancel my flight and I will be charged an additional $150 to rebook the flight at a later date...plus any change in airfare.
Let me say that my flight was less than $150 on US Airways.
So my best option is to hope this storm sits over the city for an extra 24 hours so they cancel flights on Sunday too. Then there might be some leniency as to rebooking.
So I sit here still with a useless ticket to get me from LGA to STL on Sunday...hoping that a storm sits on NYC for an extra day. I am sure there will be many people displaced from other NYC flights today and tomorrow who would love to have that ticket to get out of town. But thanks to US Airways policy. They will likely be stranded in NYC, I'll be holding a ticket in STL. Brilliant!
Guess which airline I will go to first when I have to book my next flights as a frequent traveler? I appreciate American for their flexibility...they will continue to get most of my travel dollars.
I was scheduled to go to NYC this weekend for a weekend get-away with Misty. Then comes Nemo, not the fish, but the Winter Storm Nemo. 24 hours before our scheduled flight to Laguardia (LGA) we hear that our flight has been cancelled. This flight was on American Airlines and with a quick call options were discussed and I had to cancel my flight completely as I would only get to NYC in time to turn around on Sunday.
American refunded the fare. End of story. Happy customer.
Actually, not end of story...
My return flight is on US Airways on Sunday. Like my flight to LGA, it is a one way flight. I call US Airways and sit on hold for about 15 minutes...typical...I can handle that. When I do get a representative I am told that their "current policy" only impacts Friday and Saturday flights. I explained that "I will not be in NYC to get on your flight due to flights being cancelled to NYC on the dates you are stating". All I get is a response that I can cancel my flight and I will be charged an additional $150 to rebook the flight at a later date...plus any change in airfare.
Let me say that my flight was less than $150 on US Airways.
So my best option is to hope this storm sits over the city for an extra 24 hours so they cancel flights on Sunday too. Then there might be some leniency as to rebooking.
So I sit here still with a useless ticket to get me from LGA to STL on Sunday...hoping that a storm sits on NYC for an extra day. I am sure there will be many people displaced from other NYC flights today and tomorrow who would love to have that ticket to get out of town. But thanks to US Airways policy. They will likely be stranded in NYC, I'll be holding a ticket in STL. Brilliant!
Guess which airline I will go to first when I have to book my next flights as a frequent traveler? I appreciate American for their flexibility...they will continue to get most of my travel dollars.
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