More than ever, it seems anyone’s guess about who will be winners and losers for the upcoming 2012 MLB season. Injuries, weather, schedules, surprise prospects, new stadium effects on statistics, El Nino or barometric pressure indices all have an effect upon whether it becomes a year for pitchers, hitters, baserunners or mascotts. What is certain is that baseball still boasts the longest, most grueling and most relevant proving ground to determine postseason contenders.
MLB’s 162-game schedule is unmatched but this year an extra wildcard team has been added. More importantly the balance of superstars seems to have migrated to the American League while baseball’s worst team resides in the National League (for now). New stars are sure to emerge while new-look teams debut in new stadiums and surprise teams assert their relevance either within their division or across leagues.
Enclosed below you will find my predictions of candidates for Cy Young, MVP and Rookie of the Year Awards. By midseason we will update these and predict possible winners based on performance.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD
American League Contenders:
Prince Fielder, DET .307 BA, 44 HR, 143 RBI
Albert Pujols, LAA .300 BA, 38 HR, 140 RBI
Evan Longoria, TBR .326 BA, 37 HR, 115 RBI
Miguel Cabrera, DET, .320 BA, 42 HR, 140 RBI
Jose Bautista, TOR .329 BA, 49 HR, 140 RBI
National League MVP Contenders
Joey Votto, CIN .309 BA, 35 HR, 103 RBI
Troy Tulowitski, COL .310 BA, 32 HR, 105 RBI
Ryan Braun, MIL .320 BA, 35 HR, 125 RBI
Matt Kemp, LAD .325 BA, 40 HR, 130 RBI
Hunter Pence, PHI .315 BA, 35 HR, 110 RBI
CY YOUNG AWARD
American League Contenders:
Justin Verlander, DET 22-9, 2.50 ERA
Felix Hernandez, SEA 17-12, 3.40 ERA
C.C. Sabathia, NYY 21-10, 3.00 ERA
Jered Weaver, LAA 18-10, 2.41 ERA
James Shields, TBR 17-11, 2.80 ERA
National League Cy Young Award Contenders
Clayton Kershaw, LAD 18-9, 2.33 ERA
Cliff Lee, PHI 21-7, 2.35 ERA
Cole Hamels, PHI 21-10, 2.02 ERA
Roy Halladay, PHI 18-11, 2.37 ERA
Chris Carpenter, STL 17-7, 2.48 ERA
AL ROOKIE OF YEAR
Yu Darvish, TEX
Yoenis Cespides, OAK
Matt Moore, TBR
NL ROOKIE OF YEAR
Bryce Harper, WAS
Drew Pomerantz, COL
Yonder Alonzo, SDP
2012 FINAL STANDINGS
…and finally… predictions for the 2012 Regular Season Finish. Postseason predictions still to come!
| AL East | ||||
| TEAM | Win Pct | Wins | Losses | GB |
| New York Yankees | 0.578 | 94 | 68 | - |
| Boston Red Sox | 0.549 | 88 | 74 | 6 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 0.534 | 85 | 77 | 9 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 0.479 | 76 | 86 | 18 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 0.457 | 73 | 89 | 21 |
| AL Central | ||||
| TEAM | Win Pct | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Detroit Tigers | 0.529 | 87 | 75 | - |
| Cleveland Indians | 0.503 | 83 | 79 | 4 |
| Chicago White Sox | 0.484 | 80 | 82 | 7 |
| Minnesota Twins | 0.452 | 74 | 88 | 13 |
| Kansas City Royals | 0.421 | 68 | 93 | 18 |
| AL West | ||||
| TEAM | Win Pct | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Texas Rangers | 0.565 | 93 | 69 | - |
| Los Angeles Angels | 0.548 | 90 | 72 | 3 |
| Oakland Athletics | 0.456 | 73 | 89 | 20 |
| Seattle Mariners | 0.433 | 69 | 93 | 24 |
| NL East | ||||
| TEAM | Win Pct | Wins | Losses | GB |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 0.542 | 90 | 72 | - |
| Miami Marlins | 0.542 | 86 | 76 | 4 |
| Atlanta Braves | 0.539 | 86 | 76 | 4 |
| Washington Nationals | 0.509 | 81 | 81 | 9 |
| New York Mets | 0.487 | 77 | 85 | 13 |
| NL Central | ||||
| TEAM | Win Pct | Wins | Losses | GB |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 0.546 | 90 | 72 | - |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 0.530 | 88 | 74 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 0.522 | 86 | 76 | 4 |
| Chicago Cubs | 0.457 | 74 | 88 | 16 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 0.444 | 73 | 89 | 17 |
| Houston Astros | 0.382 | 61 | 101 | 29 |
| NL West | ||||
| TEAM | Win Pct | Wins | Losses | GB |
| San Francisco Giants | 0.528 | 87 | 75 | - |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 0.515 | 84 | 78 | 3 |
| San Diego Padres | 0.490 | 79 | 83 | 8 |
| Colorado Rockies | 0.492 | 79 | 83 | 8 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 0.483 | 78 | 84 | 9 |
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Written by Christopher Rowe
Contributing writer Comcast Sports, NY Times contributing stringer 1996-2000, Contributing writer Yahoo Sports (2001 World Series). Contributing writer Newsday Long Island (1992-1994, Jets Training Camp) and Newak Star Ledger. Freelance Copywriter, Editor/Founder Atlantic Times Weekly (1993-2003) fantasy football magazine, produced screenwriter and general humorist. Hofstra University grad, Marist College honorary alum, Salesian; Purveyor of the Value and Valor of Philadelphia Eagles 1960 NFL Championship; Adrent believer that Eagles could have won Super Bowl XV...and Super Bowl XXXIX...plus modern decade of Eagles 5 NFC Championships... Believer in the Broad Street Bullies and the 1983 Sixers... Witness to Philadelphia Phillies World Series championships 1980 & 2008, Suffered Phillies first pro sports team to reach 10,000 losses,witnessed "1980 Cardiac Kids," 1983 "Wheeze Kids," 1993 "Macho Row" and many, many, many not-so-memorable seasons in-between... until the Philadelphia Baseball Renaissance of 21st Century, Five NL East division titles 2007-2011, 3 NLCS appearances 2008-2010, 2 consecutive World Series berths 2008 & 2009. 2008 World Champions of baseball [miss ya Harry and Richie]; "collector" of MLB ballparks (42 stadiums including 15 which are gone); Fantasy Football & Baseball player since 1992. Always a sports fan... Tenui Nec Dimittam Contact me christopherrowe@prosportsblogging.com
Steven Keys Apr 3 20126:37 pm
Per your final-standings predictions, I agree with most. I differ on these: move up Twins (didn’t like Cabrera to 3B before eye injury); flip TX / LAA; Braves 1st, Phils WC (Howard / Utley concern); like Cards if CC gets good, Brewers next; Dodgers in West, SF WC.
Brian Apr 3 20127:24 pm
New York with 96 wins, TB with 93, Boston with 89.
Tigers with 95, I’m guessing they’ll be the first team to clinch their division?
Would the Indians, White Sox, Twins, and Royals clinch a berth in the College World Series?
I like the Angels winning the West with 97 wins and also winning the AL and they’ll play your Phillies in the World Series.
J.P. Apr 4 20121:33 pm
Not much love for the Royals here.
I think people will be surprised what Moose, Hosmer, and Cain do with a full season in the majors.
Christopher Rowe Apr 4 20127:14 pm
AL Central teams have it so tough playing against the Monster Tigers plus the AL is top-heavy in general with 6 of the top 10 teams (Texas, Angels, Yankees, Tigers, Red Sox, Rays and knowing that Minnesota or Chisox could club you at any time. Royals have a strong nucleus but very young and need more time
Greginator Apr 12 201210:23 pm
After one week, throw this away and start over. This is hoiw it works in the Bigs!
Christopher Rowe Apr 19 201211:14 pm
Dodgers, Orioles, Nationals are in first place? What the hell is going on?
Adrian Fedkiw Apr 20 20121:13 am
I’m keeping my eye on the Nationals, I love watching them play, but hate that they’re in our division!
Can they sustain this for an entire season, well that’s why it’s fun to speculate after two weeks.
As for the Phils, I’m loving the pitching duels. Lee goes 10! And we still lose.
Worley tonight, 11 k’s, Cole tomorrow.
The offense, it’s reminiscent of Whitey Herzog’s Cardinals.
They’re trying to manufacture runs because they don’t have the pop in the lineup. It’s actually interesting to watch — although they’re not exactly capitalizing on every opportunity.
I’ve always been a fan of Juan Pierre, he plays the game the way its supposed to be played.
I like Detroit in the American League, and how about Texas’ starting pitching so far. Once again they’ve seized control of the AL West early.
I didn’t even pick the Rangers to make the playoffs, that was a dumb selection!
I picked the Angels.
I like NY in the East, along with Tampa Bay and Boston as the wild-cards. Tampa beats Boston in the play-in game.
In the NL I have Philly winning the East, with Arizona and Miami as the wild-cards.
I have St. Louis in the Central and SF in the West.
I have Philly and St. Louis in the NLCS and Detroit and LAA in the ALCS.
Detroit over Philly in the WS
Christopher Rowe Apr 22 20121:05 pm
Detroit over Philly? Arizona and Miami? I’m not predicting postseason pairings until the All-Star Break
Christopher Rowe May 29 20123:24 am
Two months in… AL…Orioles and Jays are better than yanks, Sox and Rays… Detroit’s sluggers and MVP/Cy Young have them barely keeping pace… Cleveland Indians are once again winning despite no one being home… Albert Pujols has as many HR as Freddy Galvis while the best team in baseball is the Texas Rangers (for the third year running).
NL… Are the Nationals for real or just front-running? NL East looks to be upside-down. Nobody can stop the Dodgers! St. Louis and the Reds will slug it out all season in the Central and oh boy are the Cubbies terrible. So terrible they trail HOUSTON, which is basically a minor league team! Has anyone seen or heard from the NL West? Hello? Padres? Rockies? D’backs? Giants? Nobody there… must be all seeing Dodger Blue…
Josh Hamilton really is “The Natural” while Edwin Encarnacion (“Return from Oblivion”), Adam Dunn (“Hit Your Weight and Win a Prize”) and Carlos Beltran (“Five Tools of Destiny”) vie for starring roles as Comeback Player of the Year AND both Prince Filder and Albert Pujols are tied with Nelson Cruz @ 7 HR on the season (and 15 other players)!!!!!
Never know what the season will bring – unless you’re Adam Jones in which case the answer is “MONEY”!!!!