Thanks to a great member of the Twins community, Josh Johnson, you’ll find most Twins blogs putting out their 2010 season predictions for the Twins and the rest of Major League Baseball. No, you probably won’t see me reposting this at the end of October, but that’s why we do it.
Here we go….
Twins Predictions
Twins MVP: Joe Mauer
Twins Top Pitcher: Kevin Slowey
Twins Best Rookie: Anthony Slama
Twins Most Improved Player: J.J. Hardy
AL Central Standings: Minnesota, Chicago, Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland
MLB Predictions
AL MVP: Joe Mauer
NL MVP: Troy Tulowitski
AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay
AL ROY: Brian Matusz
NL ROY: Jason Heyward
Playoff Predictions
AL: Twins over Yankees (Wild Card), Red Sox over Rangers = Red Sox over Twins
NL: Rockies over Braves (Wild Card), Phillies over Cardinals = Phillies over Rockies
World Series: Red Sox over Phillies
Look for more predictions from the MVB crew coming Opening Day! If you’re going to be at either exhibition game this weekend leave a comment and let me know what section you’ll be in.
PREDICTION: I’m going with a 6-4 Minnesota victory. Jon Rauch will pick up the win for Minnesota. Zach Miner collects the loss. A save for Joe Nathan and Delmon Young will be the MVP of the game.
With just about 7 hours until the opening pitch of the 2009 Major League Season, it’s time to make our fearless predictions for the year to come. Here is the panel.
John Meyer – That’s me the Twins MVB.
Dain TePoel – Columnist of “Off the TePoel” here at TwinsMVB.com. Dain brings the harsh reality about the Twins.
Cameron Webb – Cam is a Diamondbacks fan at heart but knows a thing or two about the Major leagues. Webb worked as an intern for MLB.com last summer in New York City and will be moving out to Seattle to work for the Mariners this summer. You can check out Cam’s writing over at Major League Blogging.
Andrew Wright – Wright is pronounced Twins fan and Yankees enemy. He’s going to speak his mind freely and doesn’t care what you think. Andrew will be a guest blogger for TwinsMVB.com this 2009 season.
Alright here we go… perhaps you want to save this post and at the end of October you can see how wrong we all are!
MVP
MVB
AL: Justin Morneau – Despite my bias, I really think the Twins will have a great season and Justin Morneau will be at the heart of it all. His previous award will help him in voting as well.
NL: David Wright – Wright will narrowly beat out a monster year from Hanley Ramirez because this year Wright gets the Mets into the playoffs.
TePoel
AL: Carlos Quentin (would have been last year, if healthy the whole way).
NL: Ryan Braun. He’s a stud.
CW
AL: Mark Teixeria, Sure, he just go a big contract , but “Tex” isn’t really one of those guys that plays for himself: he plays to win. I can’t remember the last time someone so humble played for the Yankees! Just another note: he’ll be a regular on ESPN with game-winning hits/home-runs. He’ll fill-in where A-Rod seems to lack in the Big Apple.
NL: Ryan Howard, He can hit, he’s young, and oh yeah… he’s CLUTCH. Even though he’s on a team that is in arguably THE toughest division in the NL, this guy is only getting better this year. That’s just scary!
AW
AL: Justin Morneau – Won it two years ago, and finish second in the voting last season despite having dropped off in the home stretch.
NL: Albert Pujols – Unless Manny has the kind of season he had after last year’s All-Star break, Pujols will show everyone why he is the best player in baseball.
Cy Young
MVB
AL:Jon Lester – This kid is a fighter and the Red Sox are going to win a lot of games. Many of those will be credited to Lester.
NL: Johan Santana – Now in his second year in the AAAA League, Santana will dominate all year en route to a 22-6 record.
TePoel
AL: C.C. Sabathia
NL: Tim Lincecum
CW
AL: Fautso Carmona, This guy can pitch. This year, he’s going to rock the AL Central with a mean fastball and all the run support a guy could want. Look for him to pick up from the season Cliff Lee had.
NL: Brandon Webb, This award will stay in the NL West… for the 4th consecutive year. Webb and Lincecum will battle all year, but Webb will ultimately come on top with Arizona making the playoffs. As long as Webb does not get injured (or hit by a line drive), he’ll win.
AW
AL: C.C. Sabathia – Always hurts to pick a Yankee to win anything, but let’s be honest the Yankees are going to win a lot of games this season and C.C. will likely contribute to his fair share.
NL: Johan Santana – The only thing stopping Santana could be his health, but he seems to be making a statement that he is “good to go” as Spring Training draws to a close. The Mets addition of Francisco Rodriguez can’t hurt Santana either.
Rookie of the Year
MVB
AL: David Price – Matt Wieters will make an impact in 2009, but Price will be why the Rays make it back to the playoffs.
NL: Cameron Maybin – The Marlins are working their way back to another World Series title. Maybin will be the catalyst to a great 2009 club.
TePoel
AL/NL: Rookies? I don’t know about rookies. I suck.
CW
AL: Matt Wieters, This guy is a stud. It’s looking like he’ll start the beginning of the season in the Minors but should be up in no time. Experts are saying he’s like Joe Mauer… with POWER!
NL: Cameron Maybin, He must be a stud since we share the same first name! Has a unique combination of speed and power. Look for him to absolutely WOW the masses with his finesse on the field.
AW
AL: Matt Wieters – I am going to jump on the bandwagon while I still can. Last year, Wieters hit for a .995 OPS against right handers and a 1.198 OPS against lefties. He may have only slightly more than a half season to prove me right, but I think this could be my safest pick.
NL: Jordan Zimmerman – This kid has a lot of support for his ROY campaign this year, but lack of run support could hurt.
Breakout Player of the Year
MVB
AL: Jason Kubel – No Joe Mauer? Have no fear, Kubel is going to be huge in 2009.
NL:Joey Votto – He came close to ROY last year, but I think Votto becomes a household name in 2009.
TePoel
AL: Matt Wieters – He’s going to scare some people. Maybe he’s ROY candidate.
NL: Jayson Werth
CW
AL: Brett Gardner, He just beat out Melky Cabrera for the starting CF gig. Only on the up and up! He’ll be an everyday name with in the next few years!
NL: Travis Ishikawa, He’s been an under-the-radar guy for so long. He’s consistent but has a low RBI total. Look for him to turn that around with the up and coming Giants this year.
AW
AL: Alex Gordon – Third year is always a breakout year. This guy was a hell of a college player and may finally have a supporting cast.
NL: Justin Upton – Third time’s the charm for Justin too. I think he will be better than his brother.
Last night as I watched the playoffs I wish I would have written a playoff preview. It’s too late to say that now, but all three of the teams I’ve picked to win won last night.
Coming into these playoffs I really thought the Cubs were overated and with the way Zambrano has pitched lately I’m worried the Cubs may go down 2-0 at home today. Plus I’d never want to mess with a Joe Torre team in the playoffs. I’ve always hated the Yankees, but I’ve always really respected Mr. Torre.
Also thought that regular season statistics don’t matter. Just because the Angels took 8 out of 9 from the Red Sox doesn’t mean we can crown them victorious in the first round. Boston knows how to play in October and as I watched Jon Lester, Jacoby Elsbury, Jed Lowrie, and Justin Masterson play critical roles in the Red Sox victory I couldn’t help but wonder how hard we tried to trade Johan Santana to Boson. Just wondering…
Phillies versus Brewers will be an interesting series. I think the Phillies are a dangerous team to go deep into this playoffs. Their offense is just so deep. Cole Hamels looked great yesterday, but C.C. Sabathia will attempt again to put this Milwaukee team on his back. Most importantly, today’s game 1 between the Chicago White Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays. If you can’t tell by the title I’m going for the Rays this October. What a great story! Plus, it’s another reason to root against Chicago. How about a sweep for Tampa Bay!
It’s finally here, the moment we all (or I) have been waiting for. The day when every team (well except for the Atlanta Braves b/c of last night) is in first place! It’s Opening Day across America today which means the start of the Major League Baseball season.
I am heading to the game tonight in Minneapolis to see the Twins take the field and watch Hunter stroll out to centerfield, but wearing a different cap. I’m curious to see if there will be more cheers or boos for Hunter, I’m guessing cheers. Expect a Opening Day post later this week recapping the entire event.
In honor of Opening Day, the Twins MVB will be making his 1st annual Season Predictions. The division winners are in bold. Here goes…
NL East: New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Florida Marlins NL Central: Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants NL Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies
Playoffs: Cubs over Phillies, Mets over Diamondbacks Mets over Cubs NL Pennant: Mets
AL East: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Tampa Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles AL Central: Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox AL West: Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland A’s, Texas Rangers AL Wild Card: Detroit Tigers
Playoffs: Tigers over Red Sox, Indians over Mariners Tigers over Indians AL Pennant: Tigers
National League Awards MVP: David Wright, Mets Cy Young: Johan Santana, Mets Rookie of the Year: Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
American League Awards MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Tigers Cy Young: C.C. Sabathia, Indians Rookie of the Year: Joba Chamberlain, Yankees
World Series: Tigers over Mets (6 games) CHAMPS: Detroit Tigers
There you have it, let me know your thoughts of the predictions. Agree? Disagree? Now we wait for October, and until then…
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