So I know, its been a while, but now I am more determined then ever to blog more often, and I'm going to start with baseball predictions. There's only one way to do this and thats to break down the divisions, with a little about each, then my award winners and playoff teams, so this will be a series of my opinions and predictions. I'm going to start with the division I know best, simply because my favorite team of all time plays in it, the AL Central, the Chicago White Sox. I will do my very best to not make these too personal, but I cannot promise that they will be totally unbiased, but that's the nature of sports fandom if you ask me. So I'm going to break this down to 2 teams a day before opening day, I don't have the time to do more then that at one sitting. Some teams like these two I know better then others, its not bias, its just I don't know that much about them compared to others.
392 × 465 - sportslogos.net
Chicago White Sox:
2012 Record: 85-77 3 games back
Manager: Robin Ventura entering 2nd year
2013 projected starters: John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Jake Peavy, Chris Sale, Hector Santiago
2013 Projected fielders: C Tyler Flowers, 1B Paul Konerko, 2B Gordon Beckham, SS Alexei Ramirez, 3B Jeff Keppinger/Brent Morel, LF Dayan Viciedo, CF Alejandro De Aza, RF Alex Rios, DH Adam Dunn
2012 recap: This team was not expected to do much of anything, but surprisingly they had the division lead for over 100 days, only to give it up in the end to the AL Champion Detroit Tigers. They had a new manager, and were going to be depending on plenty of rookies or players with not much time in the majors. They surprised a lot of people, including myself, and were able to acquire both Brett Myers and Kevin Youkilis midseason for a relatively low price for prospects, which was refreshing for them. The collapse at the end really put a damper on the season for the White Sox and their fans, but it gave hope for the turnarounds experienced by Dunn Peavy and Rios over the previous years.
2013 outlook: This is one that will be hard for me to keep my personal feelings out of my outlook for them which quite honestly is bleak to say the least. They did manage to resign Jake Peavy, who was easily the second best starting pitcher on the free agent market at the end of last year, but sadly that was really all that they added. The losses for the team were not many either however, they did not resign Youkilis or Myers, but those were the only real losses for the team, albeit large losses for who they were replaced with. Manager Robin Ventura enters his second year as manager, but I have to question his lack of fire compared to his predecessor Ozzie Guillen, and whether or not that might have cost the White Sox last year. Robin Ventura did surprisingly well last year in his first year as manager at any level, but just doesn't have any fire to him, especially when you compare him to Ozzie Guillen. I have to say, that with the White Sox lack of moves this offseason compared to the other teams in their division, I cannot with any real confidence predict a playoff appearance for the team.
Prediction for wins: 75
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Detroit Tigers:
2012 Record: 88-74 Division and AL Champions lost to San Francisco Giants in WS
Manager: Jim Leyland
Projected Starters: Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello
Projected Fielders: C Alex Avila, 1B Prince Fielder, 2B Omar Infante, SS Jhonny Peralta, 3B Miguel Cabrera, LF Andy Dirks, CF Austin Jackson, RF Torii Hunter, DH Victor Martinez
2012 recap: One could probably say that they underachieved for the majority of the season compared to expectations, and wouldn't get much of an argument. They lost Victor Martinez before the season started, and it took them awhile to get going, but credit has to be given to them for catching the White Sox and making it to the World Series. This sets up for something bigger, due to the fact that they added more talent to that offense in Torii Hunter and Victor Martinez.
2013 outlook: I have to say that they will continue to dominate this division, they only got better, and while other teams added pieces, I can't see the Tigers struggling the way they did to start 2012. World Series again would be a stretch at this point, but I do see them winning the division, and at the very least making the ALCS. Of course, as with any team injuries could derail their season, but I can't honestly see them not making the playoffs barring something drastic happening.
2013 Wins: 92, but I doubt it will take that many to win the division
