Since there are only 19 days left until pitchers and catcher report for spring training, baseball predictions and projections are starting to appear left and right with the Baseball Prospectus one really sticking out in my mind. I will just mention a couple of quick things right now and probably a more in-depth post before the regular season starts in a couple of months.
As of today, they have the Washington Nationals finishing at .500 (81-81) something they have not done since 2005 and finish 3rd in the NL East – another feat they have only accomplished once in the past 12 years (and they were the Montreal Expos at the time). Another good thing for the Nationals franchise is that the Montreal Expos will have a second item in their name in the Baseball Hall of Fame as Andre Dawson will be the sole inductee and will go in wearing an Expos hat.
I am not really surprised to see the Blue Jays projected to finish at 73-89 after their dumping of Roy Halladay and considering how they only won 75 games last year with Doc, I think that just might be a reach but crazier things have happened, so one can only hope. I think the Jays’ offense is being severely undervalued at the projection of only 726 runs which puts them last in the AL and bottom 6 in the entire MLB.
Finally, I hope that this year the New York Mets will not try to sell to their fans a major league team with a minor league roster. A very nice addition for them in Left with Jason Bay but they still have Pagan, Castillo, Murphy and a catcher which makes for a rather weak lineup in the NL East if they want to dethrone the Phillies especially if they are not aggressively trying to upgrade their pitching rotation. Mets at 78-84 is about what everyone is expecting but an upgraded part or two can certainly make them a contender with a win total in the mid-80s.
I usually try to make a couple of Yankee games a year just to see my ‘favorite’ team lose and I even made a trip down to Philly last year to see my second ‘favorite’ team lose, so hopefully this year will be no different. If you are interested in purchasing MLB baseball tickets, try that new site or the usual ones like StubHub or if you are lucky enough to get it from the team’s site without any additional markups.