2013 Season

[Thorpe Groyney]

Not long to go until Barry Obama throws the first pitch. Thanks to the splendid MLB TV app on the Xbox I'm watching the pre-season Indians getting the better of the Diamondbacks at the moment.

Who's your picks for the season? All I'm hoping for is that the Padres continue from where they left off in the latter part of 2012.

 

[Jedi Shrimper]

I fully expect the Cubs to go all the way and win it all.




:hilarious:

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I think it's wide open this year. The Blue Jays seem to be a fashionable pick but I'm not entirely convinced that their big splash in the FA market will make up the difference between them and the Yanks, Rays and Os. The Angels also splashed the cash by signing my favourite junkie, Josh Hamilton. Their offense is a true murderers' row, but it was last year, and they failed to make the playoffs. The Tigers look set to continue as the team to beat in the AL Central, but they still look a few players short of an elite team.

In the NL, I like YB's Reds to continue where they left off last year, with stiff competition from the Giants. Dodgers and Nats. The NL West race should be epic, with the Padres and D'Backs no mugs.

My World Series pick would be Reds over Rays. The Rays need an injury free year from Longoria, a repeat performance from their bullpen and a weighty contribution from uber prospect Will Myers to make this a reality, but they have all the tools.

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

My World Series pick would be Reds over Rays.

This seems an excellent choice.

Shall we just cut straight to the World Series now?


Am expecting big things from Joey Votto now he's had time to recover from injury and from Mat Latos and Homer Bailey in the rotation as they seek to establish themselves as number one type pitchers. I expect sophomore slumps from Todd Frazier (3B) and Cozart (SS) but hope the extra bat of Shin-Soo Choo compensates for this, particularly as he'll be top of the order as we continually had the wrong players leading-off last year.

I'd have preferred the Cuban Missile in the rotation but it does mean the Reds' 'pen is looking pretty intimidating. Would like to see Hoover in that bullpen as well but think he'll be sent to triple AAA as he's got options left and the others don't.

If injuries don't de-rail things we should be looking at the National League Central title. I don't particularly fancy us in the play-offs though. I think we're more a regular season than post-season team and not sure of Dusty Baker's tactical acumen. Votto is awesome though. I'm hoping for MVP numbers from him once more - there are some weird/amazing stats out there about how he only hits on average one infield pop-up a season (mere mortals may do this several times a game)and has only once hit a foul ball into the stands. That's an amazing swing and hand-eye co-ordination to do that.