Right Divisions, Wrong Choices

by Tyler Bleszinski on Oct 11, 2007 11:19 AM PDT in News

So as we close in on the final four of baseball, I decided to look back at some of my predictions for 2007.

I would've had the NL East right had the Mets not pulled the monumental tank job (think Minaya might want to turn back the clock and make that deal for Blanton now?). And I picked the Marlins as a surprise pick which proved very wrong.

I also had the Brewers winning the Central and I was right for the majority of the season. I mistakenly had the Cards as second place.

As for the NL West, I had the Dodgers winning the division followed by the Diamondbacks (my wild card pick) and Rockies. Although I mistakenly believed that Randy Johnson would be a big part in that resurgence.

I got the AL East right with Boston winning and New York coming in second. The AL Central I had Detroit as the winners and Cleveland in second place. And I had the Angels winning the division, but I really messed up with the other teams, having Seattle finishing last, although I did say, "One thing is for sure, I'm betting the A's don't win 17 of 19 from this team again this year."

And my prediction was that the Tigers would win the World Series over the Dodgers. I really thought the Tigers had enough this year between their excellent starters, flamethrowing relievers and great supporting offense. But it very well could be the Indians against the Diamondbacks. Although I must say that I'm kind of rooting for the Rockies at this point. Nothing would make Bud Selig's skin crawl more than seeing Cleveland against Colorado in the Fall Classic. And that just makes me smile.

Where did you get things right? And wrong?

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Comments

I think I'll go post the actual finals in there

right now, as a "prediction", and see if anyone notices the date stamp...

It kind of sounds corny, but you develop a bond with your pumpkins.

by Poppy on Oct 11, 2007 11:13 AM PDT reply actions

I don't remember posting any predictions

but I think at the beginning of the season I was expecting this, more or less:

NL
East: Mets
Central: Cubs
West: Dodgers
Wild Card: Padres or Diamondbacks

AL
East: Red Sox
Central: Tigers or Indians
West: Angels
Wild Card: Indians or Tigers

by OaklandSi on Oct 11, 2007 12:40 PM PDT reply actions

I predicted armageddon in August

so I was at least two months off.

"Female ass are strange creatures. They come and go as they please." -- Sigourney Weaver

by oblique on Oct 11, 2007 12:42 PM PDT reply actions

I was a little off....okay, a LOT off...

Picking the Yankees to win the whole thing. But I figured that, for sure, the A's would be #1 in their division. And I had hoped the Rangers, with all that hitting talent and great coaching from former A's coaches, would be #2 in the AL West.

That's what you gotta love about baseball. There may not be parity, but there sure is unpredictability.

by catattack on Oct 11, 2007 12:56 PM PDT reply actions

Define parity

It seems like every team has a chance if they are creative. I think there is just as much parity as any other sport. All the teams this year playoff wise were different then last year except for the Yankees who shouldn't have been there. Isn't that parity?

by A'sfansince1970 on Oct 11, 2007 1:00 PM PDT up reply actions

eleven different teams

have made the last three Final Four's (with St. Louis being the only repeat visitor to the dance). And the Yankees haven't made it once. Sounds like parity to me.

"Hitting is better than sex." Reggie Jackson

by 67MARQUEZ on Oct 11, 2007 1:06 PM PDT up reply actions

My natural aversion to fundamentalists...

...of any stripe, sees me hoping for a Rockies exit soon.

Who bans Maxim from the clubhouse? Seriously now.

We should play Jack Cust at shortstop for a week, just so we can feel good about Crosby again.

by Ozzz on Oct 11, 2007 1:13 PM PDT reply actions

Whoa there

I'm with you on the Rox as far as that goes, but Maxim should be banned everywhere, or at least you should have to be below the age of 15 to buy it.

by mikeA on Oct 11, 2007 1:24 PM PDT up reply actions

Or a 15 IQ

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Oct 11, 2007 4:58 PM PDT up reply actions

5 of 8

Yankees, Angels, Twins, Red Sox
Brewers, Phillies, D-backs, Mets

too bad the brewers and mets fell apart at the end.
and i can't believe i thought rich harden would be the AL cy young winner...

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 11, 2007 2:15 PM PDT reply actions

Don't feel bad about the Harden thing

Maybe next year he will pitch 30 innings and get Comeback Player of the Year.

by ozzman99 on Oct 11, 2007 3:04 PM PDT up reply actions

<laughs, then cries>

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 11, 2007 4:37 PM PDT up reply actions

Harden won the Cy Young

in the Mirror, Mirror A's universe.

And Evil Rich Harden has a goatee and a sash.

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Oct 11, 2007 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions

Predelictions:

Where I went right: Drinking that bottle of absynthe.

Where I went wrong: Thinking there's no way a chick that hot could be a dude.

"Just because the horseradish is a cultivar of different color and geographic origin doesn't make it less of either." - monkeyball

by McFood on Oct 11, 2007 2:40 PM PDT reply actions

You drank a BOTTLE of absinthe?

This isn't your picture, is it?

"And Julio Franco is batting right-handed!" -- Wayne Hagin, A's radio play-by-play, mid-80s

by Nick on Oct 11, 2007 5:01 PM PDT up reply actions

It could be

worse.

Maybe the dark is from your eyes.

by andeux on Oct 11, 2007 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions

Also 5 of 8

My picks

Got all 4 AL playoff teams and the DBacks. My other picks were near misses the Mets and Brewers, and slightly farther miss the Braves.

Overrated by 10+ games: Oakland (pred. 89 wins) and SF (82).
Underrated by 10+ games: Seattle (78), Colorado (71), and Washington (58).

Did anyone have the Rockies making the playoffs?

Maybe the dark is from your eyes.

by andeux on Oct 11, 2007 2:42 PM PDT reply actions

think Minaya might want

to turn back the clock and make that deal for Blanton now?

No.

On Sunday, Minaya ticked off a list of candidates to join the rotation, and for once this season, none of them was Jose Lima.

by rfloh on Oct 11, 2007 2:45 PM PDT reply actions

Care to expand on that point?

by Tyler Bleszinski on Oct 12, 2007 9:48 AM PDT up reply actions

No, I don't have any inside info

if that's what you're wondering.

I'm just pointing out that Milledge has shown that he isn't a prospect. He is already a league average or thereabouts starter, at the age of 22. OPS+ of 106, about 2 runs above average offensively, at age 22. He is a comparable prospect to Adam Jones of the Mariners, and Chris Young of the DBacks.

Cupcakes has had very good year, obviously, improving his BB /9, and K / 9; Milledge made the step forward that he needed to.

The Mets didn't miss the playoffs because they didn't trade Milledge for Blanton / Harden. They missed the playoffs because Minaya put together a poor bullpen, which was poorly used by Willie Randolph.

Guillermo MotaF*kker put up a 74 ERA+ as a reliever. 74! For comparison, the much maligned Scott Sauerbeck had a 89 ERA+ with the As. 100 is league average. And MotaF*kker got 59 innings. Willie Randolph stubbornly continued to run him out there in high leverage and fairly high lev situations, as if daring Minaya to cut MotaF***er. Just because he had a good couple of weeks at the end of the season, they refused to admit that that greatness last year might have been due to the steroid use for which he was suspended.

Scott Schoeneweiss was signed to $10.8M /3 contract by Omar. Willie apparently felt that this meant that he HAD to be used, never mind the 85 ERA+ in 59 IP. Schoeneweiss has his uses, as a LOOGY. Randolph did NOT use him as a LOOGY. Randolph stubbornly used him against RHs despite him allowing a 963 OPS against RHs this year, 830 against for his career.

Jorge Sosa was switched to a relief role after doing so-so as a starter. Good move. He has a severe platoon split, 938 OPS allowed to LHs, 549 OPS to RHs. He should have been used as a ROOGY in tandem with Schoeneweiss as a LOOGY. This did NOT happen.

Willie Randolph continued to stubbornly give starts to proven veteran Shawn Green, even though it was freaking obvious that Milledge is a better player NOW; just as good offensively, much better defensively. Just for kicks, Randolph would occasionally select Jeff Conine over Milledge. He even selected Carlos Gomez over Milledge. Gomez is a good prospect, but Milledge is a much better player NOW.

/end rant

On Sunday, Minaya ticked off a list of candidates to join the rotation, and for once this season, none of them was Jose Lima.

by rfloh on Oct 13, 2007 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions

My picks were close to yours...

...so whatever. :)

I'd really like to see Cleveland vs. Colorado in the World Series -- the team that hasn't won it all since 1948 and the team that came out of no where to possibly make it to the Series for the first time. No offense to Arizona, but it won in 2001, and I'm just plain tired of the Red Sox.

"Former Huntsville Star Eric Chavez..."

by FormerHuntsvilleStar on Oct 11, 2007 4:04 PM PDT reply actions

6/8

(and the A's were really a bravado pick; I'm picking them next year, too). Sort of hard to take credit for the D'Backs though. I thought their young hitters would do well, but their offense wound up pretty bad.

by mikeA on Oct 11, 2007 4:10 PM PDT reply actions

link or it didn't happen

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 11, 2007 5:00 PM PDT up reply actions

same diary as your link

by mikeA on Oct 11, 2007 6:09 PM PDT up reply actions

I was a hundred percent right dead-on

count-down to ST.

by ak_A on Oct 11, 2007 4:22 PM PDT reply actions

What about your Langerhans for MVP prediction?

REJECTED!

"Just because the horseradish is a cultivar of different color and geographic origin doesn't make it less of either." - monkeyball

by McFood on Oct 11, 2007 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions

<looks back at summer notebook>

let quote the shorthand comment I put on the day of the Langerhand trade. "this guy won't last long, i am thinking 48 hours or so then I got an inkling that he may go back to NL, maybe Nationals."

count-down to ST.

by ak_A on Oct 11, 2007 4:45 PM PDT up reply actions

It's not too late...

You never know.

by Rocktopus on Oct 11, 2007 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions

oh yeah, 6 of 8

i changed it from the twins to the indians for baseball prospectus, so i only missed on the mets and brewers. i forgot about that, thanks andeux...

i was totally off (10+ games) on: mariners, nationals, twins, rockies.
0 games off: braves, dodgers, mets, phillies
1-2 games: white sox, reds, rangers, blue jays, d-backs, tigers, yankees, padres
3 games: brewers :-(

A's v Giants "is kind of like the difference between going to see the Ramones and going to see the Bee Gees. A's fans will go see the Ramones." -BB 07/27/05

by xbhaskarx on Oct 11, 2007 4:59 PM PDT reply actions

I can't remember preseason

But last week I called every divisional series wrong.

by Brian in 317 on Oct 11, 2007 9:24 PM PDT reply actions

my WS is still in place

I had Dbacks/Indians in the WS. But, errr, I had just about everything else wrong. My predictions went like this:

NL:
Braves
Brewers
Dbacks
Dodgers (WC)

DBacks in the WS

AL:
Yanks
Indians
Tigers (WC)
A's (I was quite the optimistic donkey fan)

Indians in the WS

by Eric in Atlanta on Oct 12, 2007 7:41 AM PDT reply actions

Why the Selig dispise?

I know its pretty common for baseball fans and especially the media to use him as a punching bag, not trying to pick on Blez. I also know I'm biased because he helped bring a team back to Milwaukee (my area) and keep it there when he could of easily bailed. Hes a true baseball fan with his best interests in the game, I honestly believe that. He also has done pretty well with the growth of the game and revenue, which is part of his job. He can come across as a weiner, I agree. He also had an idiotic stance with the TV packages this spring, trying to justify that it doesn't need to be available on cable. Anyways, thats my rant. I'm sure he'd like to see Boston in it for the ratings but he'd prefer to see some good baseball played just as much.

Gas to Chicago- $23.87 A's/White Sox Tix- $28 Watching the A's whipping the Sox in July 05'- Priceless

by WiscoFan on Oct 12, 2007 8:02 AM PDT reply actions