Well,
the Yankees followed exactly what I had predicted in the beginning of the
season, as per my following quotes which I had posted in two of my spring
articles, “I predict the Yankees to win 87 games” and “this year’s team will at
least make the playoffs”. With that, I
am still disappointed that they only made it to the Wildcard playoff and lost
to the Houston Astros in an all-or-nothing game! I recently hoped they would have at least
gone a little further, but I still knew this team was not strong enough to make
it to this year’s World Series.
We all
know that the so-called experts predicted the Yankees to only win 81 or even
less games without making the playoffs.
Most of them also picked the Red Sox to win the division! Could anybody be more wrong? The Red Sox only won 78 as they finished dead
last!! It looks like the Yankees aren’t
the only American League team that needs to enhance themselves next season!
Speaking
of my predictions, the one that I failed to correctly make was relating to the
other New York team - the Mets. I had
predicted that they would only win 83, but they won 90! Most of that surprising success came from
their late July acquisitions and the failure of trading away their shortstop,
Wilmer Flores - as I detailed two articles ago.
Now
that the final 8 teams have all been set for the non-wildcard playoffs, it’s
time for another set of predictions as I pick 1 team from each league:
American
League:
Houston
Astros in Kansas City versus the Royals
Texas
Rangers in Toronto versus the Blue Jays
None of
these teams have been on fire lately, but the Blue Jays were collectively on
fire the most; the Royals look a lot like they did last year, which is a
positive thing for them; the Astros beat the
Yanks, but offer a lot of inexperience; and the Rangers offer a good overall
team with a good 1-2 punch in their starting pitching. Personally, I least want the Blue Jays or
Royals to win. I think the Blue Jays’
lack of a number 2 pitcher offers a disadvantage to them, but their hitting
easily makes up for that. My bold American
League prediction: Rangers
National
League:
Chicago
Cubs in St. Louis versus the Cardinals
New
York Mets in Los Angeles versus the Dodgers
Just as
I stated that the Yankees weren’t going to go too far, I don’t expect much more
from the Mets. Their starting pitchers
have been very good most of the year, but they don’t typically pitch 9 full
innings and that, together with their weak 7th & 8th
inning bullpen pitchers, along with their shaky defense makes them
vulnerable. The Dodgers have not been
great this year and have lost to the Mets more than they won; the Cardinals
have the best record in the Major Leagues with 100 wins and offer the best
overall team; and the Cubs won their Wildcard game against the tough Pirates
giving them a slight momentum with the second best record amongst the 8
teams. Personally, there’s no way I can
truly root for the Mets and, I’ve stated for the longest time, I have rooted
for the Cubs ever since I visited their great city years ago. It was 1908 since the Cubs won a World
Series. My love for their truest fans
and that over 100 years’ sentiment forces me to root for and select my
National League prediction: Cubs
