Baseball is starting today in earnest, so in honor of the event, here are some predictions for the upcoming season.
1. The American League MVP will be Adrian Gonzalez.
2. The Albert Pujols-less Cardinals of 2012 will win more games than last year's version.
3. Three Kansas City Royals will have monstrous breakout seasons: Eric Hosmer, Billy Butler, and Lorenzo Cain.
4. On that note: Eric Hosmer will have a better year than Prince Fielder.
5. While we're at it: the Royals will score more runs than the Tigers (by far my favorite prediction).
6. Giancarlo Stanton will lead the National League in home runs.
7. David Wright won't finish the season as a New York Met.
8. The Cy Young winner in the National League will be Zack Greinke.
9. One season after hitting .169 with 11 home runs, Adam Dunn will hit at least .230 with 35 home runs.
10. Madison Bumgarner will earn more Cy Young votes than either Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain.
11. Prince Fielder will fail to hit 30 home runs.
12. A season after struggling to a .243 batting average with 10 home runs, Hanley Ramirez will make a run at the MVP with a massive bounce-back season.
13. Yet the newly-minted Miami Marlins won't get a playoff spot.
14. The once-downtrodden Pirates, Royals, and Nationals will all finish at or above .500.
15. The National League Rookie of the Year will be Trevor Bauer.
16. Alex Rodriguez will finish in the top ten in A.L. MVP voting. (And as Kobe Bryant continues to lead the NBA in minutes, a certain German doctor is about to become very popular.)
17. San Diego's Cory Luebke and Edinson Volquez will be more valuable than Cincinnati's Mat Latos and Johnny Cueto.
18. The new Dodgers ownership group, desperate to make an immediate impact, will push for at least one shortsighted trade that will hurt the franchise long-term.
19. A season after hitting 32 home runs, Jacoby Ellsbury won't hit 15.
20. They were once traded for each other, but Drew Pomeranz of the Rockies will outpitch Ubaldo Jimenez of the Indians.
21. The Philadelphia Phillies will sign Cole Hamels to an extension worth more than what Matt Cain got.
22. The Cy Young winner in the American League will be David Price.
23. Brian Matusz's ERA will be top 15 in the American League after it was over 10.00 last year.
24. Daniel Bard will flop in the rotation; Chris Sale will not.
25. The best first baseman in the National League not named 'Votto' will be Ike Davis.
26. The National League MVP will be Justin Upton.
27. The first manager to get canned will be Brad Mills of the Astros.
28. Andre Ethier will have a better season than Matt Kemp.
29. Neither one is currently on a 40-man roster, but at some point in 2012, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt will pitch against each other.
30. Mariano Rivera will be the only closer in the AL East with at least 30 saves.
31. Desmond Jennings will have a better season than Carl Crawford (at about 2% of the cost, mind you).
32. The Comeback Players of the Year will be Kendrys Morales and Adam Wainwright.
33. Yu Darvish will be the AL Rookie of the Year...
34. ...but Matt Moore will have better numbers...
35. ...and Derek Holland will be the Rangers' ace.
36. At the end of the season, we will look back on Billy Beane's three big trades (of Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, and Andrew Bailey) and tentatively declare Oakland the winner of all three.
37. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau will have tremendous comeback seasons.
38. For the second consecutive season, the Houston Astros will win the fewest games in baseball.
39. Bobby Valentine will be a more controversial and obnoxious manager than Ozzie Guillen.
40. Matt Wieters will become the best catcher in baseball.
41. The Detroit Tigers, even with Prince Fielder, will win fewer games than they did last year.
42. The San Francisco Giants will not make the playoffs if Aubrey Huff gets more at-bats than Brandon Belt.
43. Robinson Cano will lead the majors in RBIs.
44. For the third consecutive season, the Boston Red Sox will not reach the postseason.
45. Forget Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez--the Nationals' most valuable pitcher will be Jordan Zimmermann.
46. Starlin Castro will lead the majors in hits.
47. A season after going for 49-for-49, Jose Valverde will blow at least seven saves.
48. The Toronto Blue Jays will win 90 games.
49. The World Series winner will be from the American League.
50. Our 2012 champion will be the Texas Rangers.
And away we go.
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