Monday/Tuesday Flyby - You Predicted, I Recap

This past Friday, I asked you for your predictions. Today, I recap what you predicted, and make a few of my own! Maybe.

Here’s a quick author’s note - because Opening Day fell on a Monday, I chose to have this submitted for Tuesday, as that is an off-day. Just because we don’t have Red Sox baseball doesn’t mean we can’t talk about the Red Sox.

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Wait ‘Til Last Year - On to Lansdowne Street

The main thing I want to focus on in these predictions is where you guys predict the Red Sox are going to finish, and who wins each division, wild card, etc. You guys went above and beyond in your predictions, and I’m glad when you all submitted big overarching predictions for other teams as well. But if I spend this post discussing everything, my editors will be very tired, and that would be bad.

OtLS predicts the Sox will finish at 94-68, winning the AL East, and pretty handily at that. The last time that any team in the division won it by 7+ games was 2014, when the Orioles were the only team to really be what you would call “good”. The Red Sox, of course, were miserable that year. That fluke season aside (because it was clearly a fluke, for the Orioles, and the AL East), you have to go back to 2009, when the Yankees won 103 game, and beat the Red Sox for the division crown by 8 games (that season the Sox finished at 95-67, which is still a game better than what OtLS is predicting).

What I’m driving at here, is that he believes not only will the Sox dominate the division, but they will do it while most of the division (sans the Rays) remain competitive. I’m not sure how much I agree with that, but I do look forward to the season, if this is what we can expect.

He believes the Tigers will shock people, and win the Central, and I wish this was a viewpoint more people had. The Tigers, while not the Indians, are not dead in the water, and it feels like a lot of people are discounting them for no real reason. The Central aside, I don’t feel he makes any other predictions that stand out as bold ones, and that might be for the best.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images

He, however, disagrees heavily with the MLB 17 the Show simulation, since not only does he not see the Angels making the World Series, he has them being one of the worst teams in baseball. When’s the last time the best (or second-best, not opening that can of worms today) player in baseball was on one of the single worst teams in the game? The Angels were not good last year, but this seems like a major step down to them. He has the Red Sox losing out to the Rangers in the ALCS, and the Dodgers winning the World Series over the Rangers.

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2017 MLB Primer: Previews and Predictions - painting_the_corners404

I want to take this moment to welcome PTC to the community! According to their profile, they’re not only a Royals fan, but a contributor to Crawfish Boxes (the SBN page for the Houston Astros). He made his first contribution to OTM with this submission, and I certainly hope they join us sometime in the future.

PTC predicts the Sox will finish at 98-64, which somehow exceeds that of what we expect for our own team in many instances, but it’s reassuring to hear this sort of statement from someone who isn’t necessarily a fan of our team. They list Mitch Moreland as our X-Factor, which I think a lot of us can agree with. Not only will his defense at first be much appreciated, but he could be sneaky good with the bat in Fenway as well.

It’s worth noting that PTC only believes two teams in the AL East will surpass .500, ours and the Blue Jays, who would finish 12 games behind the Red Sox, if these predictions end up being right.

PTC joins OtLS as being another prognosticator who believes the Tigers can win the Central this year (I swear, I thought I was the only one who thought they had a chance at the wild card, but I might be low on them compared to these guys).

Outside of their prediction that the Astros win the AL West by a landslide (it could happen, I’m just not sure I bet against the Rangers right now), none of their predictions seems all that out of place. I like how low they place the Cardinals, since it would do me a great service to see them below .500, and the piece, in general, is pretty well thought out. Definitely give it a quick read, if for no other reason, than to see how someone outside the OTM circle sees things.

Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

They believe the Sox are going to win it all, in six games, against last year’s champion Chicago Cubs.

The last thing I want to point out is how they believe Robert Gsellman will win the NL Rookie of the Year. It’s rare to see anyone give anyone besides Dansby Swanson credit, but it’s nice to see that someone else exists in the race. I personally can’t wait for a Swanson/Gsellman matchup.

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2017 MLB and Red Sox Predictions - SoxFanInDC

The last entrant by a FanPoster this weekend, a Sox fan living in DC wants you to know, the Red Sox are going to be very good. 95-67 good. I’m beginning to sense a theme with these predictions.

Another theme I’m gathering is that no one believes the East will be particularly close, just like the two above, this Sox fan believes the Sox will win it running away, by 7 games.

To me, the most interesting prediction isn’t who wins each division, but who flops. They have the Rangers being a near .500 ballclub, which is the one that stands out the most to me. Otherwise, their predictions fall in line with what I expected.

They believe the Red Sox will win the World Series over the Washington Nationals. I could watch Sox/Nats or Sox/Cubs in October and be happy. I could not possibly be happier watching a series.

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Matt Collins

Matt Collins chose to grant me his own predictions, outside of records, and I’m going to publish them.

Matt Collins

Matt Collins

His World Series prediction is that the Dodgers win.

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OOLF Style Predictions

AL East

1. Boston Red Sox - 92-70
2. New York Yankees - 86-76
3. Toronto Blue Jays - 84-78
4. Baltimore Orioles - 80-82
5. Tampa Bay Rays - 68-94

AL Central

1. Cleveland Indians - 94-68
2. Detroit Tigers - 85-77
3. Kansas City Royals - 80-82
4. Minnesota Twins - 74-88
5. Chicago White Sox - 63-99

AL West

1. Texas Rangers - 88-74
2. Houston Astros - 87-75
3. Seattle Mariners - 81-81
4. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of the United States of the Planet Earth... - 78-84
5. Oakland Athletics - 65-97

NL East

1. New York Mets - 92-70
2. Washington Nationals - 90-72
3. Philadelphia Phillies - 83-79
4. Atlanta Braves - 80-82
5. Miami Marlins - 68-94

NL Central

1. Chicago Cubs - 99-63
2. Pittsburgh Pirates - 84-78
3. St. Louis Cardinals - 78-84
4. Milwaukee Brewers - 76-86
5. Cincinnati Reds - 70-92

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers - 91-71
2. San Francisco Giants - 89-73
3. Colorado Rockies - 84-78
4. Arizona Diamondbacks - 78-84
5. San Diego Padres - 63-99

In the playoffs, I expect the Astros and Nationals move on to the Divisional Series. The Red Sox will beat the Rangers, the Indians will beat the Astros, the Mets will beat the Dodgers, and the Cubs will beat the Nationals.

With four teams left, the Indians will beat the Sox, and the Mets will beat the Cubs.

Then in the World Series, the Indians will beat the Mets. Hooray baseball.

Here’s hoping I’m wrong!

See you all on Friday!

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EDIT - 11:38 PM PT 4/4/17 - There was a late submission that got in today, that I think is worth reading. Check out this piece by tomisphere. It was a creative look at the season.