BOLD Predictions

[SilentJames]

BOLD Predictions.

What are your BOLD predictions for the Orioles, the division and the rest of baseball in 2012?

Everyone here has a nagging feeling about something or other that they are afraid to publish due to fear of ridicule - here you go, now is your time.

BOLD predictions:

- The Orioles will have multiple All Stars in Kansas City this year, at least two of Jones, Wieters, Markakis, Matusz.

- It will take fewer than 95 wins to win the AL East this year, but the top three teams will be separated by less than four games.

- The teams battling for the number one pick in the 2013 draft: Houston, Cleveland, Chicago AL, Oakland, Seattle, San Diego, Pittsburgh

- The Blue Jays will have a Cleveland 2011-type year, start strong but ultimately fade in the second half

[vab]

Adam Jones will be traded at the deadline.

[Rene88]

BOLD Predictions.

What are your BOLD predictions for the Orioles, the division and the rest of baseball in 2012?

Everyone here has a nagging feeling about something or other that they are afraid to publish due to fear of ridicule - here you go, now is your time.

BOLD predictions:

- The Orioles will have multiple All Stars in Kansas City this year, at least two of Jones, Wieters, Markakis, Matusz.

- It will take fewer than 95 wins to win the AL East this year, but the top three teams will be separated by less than four games.

- The teams battling for the number one pick in the 2013 draft: Houston, Cleveland, Chicago AL, Oakland, Seattle, San Diego, Pittsburgh

- The Blue Jays will have a Cleveland 2011-type year, start strong but ultimately fade in the second half

My predictions:

I think Toronto will win the wild card.

The Orioles will be bad, sorry.

The Nats make the playoffs.

The Pirates compete for the wild card, but ultimately miss out.

[Dipper9]

The Orioles finish over .500 for the first time in 15 years.

Matt Wieters is in the running for AL MVP.

And finally, the most bold prediction of all....

Tony Pente will buy a Mike Mussina Orioles jersey by the end of the year!

[NewMarketSean]

BOLD Predictions.

What are your BOLD predictions for the Orioles, the division and the rest of baseball in 2012?

Everyone here has a nagging feeling about something or other that they are afraid to publish due to fear of ridicule - here you go, now is your time.

BOLD predictions:

- The Orioles will have multiple All Stars in Kansas City this year, at least two of Jones, Wieters, Markakis, Matusz.

- It will take fewer than 95 wins to win the AL East this year, but the top three teams will be separated by less than four games.

- The teams battling for the number one pick in the 2013 draft: Houston, Cleveland, Chicago AL, Oakland, Seattle, San Diego, Pittsburgh

- The Blue Jays will have a Cleveland 2011-type year, start strong but ultimately fade in the second half

If by "bold" you mean "homer", then your picks are very, very bold.

I mean, come on. Baltimore is worse than every team you mentioned for the #1 pick next year except Houston.

If the O's have 2 all starts it will almost certainly be Wieters and Jones. Probably one of them though.

Looks like Toronto will be your new 2008 Rays, refusing to believe them to be any good, even if they lock up a post-season spot. If they get off to a 2011 Cleveland style start, they will make the postseason.

My bold prediction...Nats win the NL East.

[Sports Guy]

If by "bold" you mean "homer", then your picks are very, very bold.

I mean, come on. Baltimore is worse than every team you mentioned for the #1 pick next year except Houston.

If the O's have 2 all starts it will almost certainly be Wieters and Jones. Probably one of them though.

Looks like Toronto will be your new 2008 Rays, refusing to believe them to be any good, even if they lock up a post-season spot. If they get off to a 2011 Cleveland style start, they will make the postseason.My bold prediction...Nats win the NL East.

I thought the same exact thing when reading his initial post.

[Rene88]

Chen becomes the ace of the staff.

Chris Davis is waived before June 1.

Nick Johnson plays 120+ games (now that's BOLD)

Adam Jones doesn't take it to the next level

Nick Markakis doesn't get back to the next level

Adam Jones is not an Oriole next April

Tampa Bay wins the division.

Detroit wins the central.

Angels win the West.

Not sure Chris Davis being waived is bold:) Chen being the ace after yesterday's performance sure is though:)

Angels/Tigers are def the favs.

I think it is will be Yankees, Blue Jays, Tampa Bay, Red Sox, Orioles. Bobby V is the most overrated manager in the history of managers:)

[33rdst]

Not sure Chris Davis being waived is bold:) Chen being the ace after yesterday's performance sure is though:)

Angels/Tigers are def the favs.

I think it is will be Yankees, Blue Jays, Tampa Bay, Red Sox, Orioles. Bobby V is the most overrated manager in the history of managers:)

O's finish above .500

Hunter, Hamel, Arrieta win 12, 12, and 15 games respectively.

Jones hits 30

Markakis hits 20HR and gets 40 doubles.

Nick Johnson OBP is .370

Blue Jays win wild card. Rays finish fourth

[BrunoCherrytown]

Red Sox win the East.

Blue Jays land in second and grab wild card.

And I think it's more likely that Felix Pie retires and wins the reality show triple-crown of the Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars, and Hoarders (batting helmets), than the O's sniffing anywhere near .500.

[SilentJames]

If by "bold" you mean "homer", then your picks are very, very bold.

Baltimore is worse than every team you mentioned for the #1 pick next year except Houston.

If the O's have 2 all starts it will almost certainly be Wieters and Jones.

Looks like Toronto will be your new 2008 Rays, refusing to believe them to be any good, even if they lock up a post-season spot.

You guys don't want to see my bold predictions....it's hard to be overly positive about anyone on the team. I am sure there will be some pleasant surprises, but they'll probably be nullified by the usual horrific surprises...that aren't really even surprises.

Hey look it NMS coming in to crap on the fun.

Surprise!

Yeah I'm a homer. Crap sake I think the Orioles will win 75 games this year. You act like I am saying that they are world series champions.

You want to make your dire predictions go ahead and do it. Thats fine, but why crap on everyone else?

As for the comment about the Orioles being worse than all of those teams. The Orioles won more games last year than Seattle, were five games behind Oakland and both those teams have arguably gotten worse while the Rangers (my WS pick) and Angels have both gotten better. Pitt and Cleveland are going to come crashing down as neither did anything significant to build on their successes in the first half of last year. And The White Sox have a very early-2000's Orioles feel to me. I think they go into full rebuild mode at the all-star break and blow the thing up.

As for the less than 95 win thing. If the BJ's are better (and they ARE better) then that means the amount of wins the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays will claim are getting smaller. There will be more compression at the top of the division. Unless the Orioles are Cleveland Spiders-type bad (and I don't see how this team is markedly worse than last year's team) then the winner in the division will probably have fewer than 95 wins. That hasn't happened in since 2000 When the Yankees won it with 87 wins. IN that year the top three teams were less than 5 games apart from one another, I see another year like that.

The best team in baseball will still be in the AL East, but they will continue to beat the crap out of each other. The Tigers will have the best record because the AL Central is awful outside of Detroit this year. And because of that there will only be one WC coming out of the East, most likely Boston.

I think the Blue Jays will fade in the stretch because they have the most incomplete pitching staff of the AL East power-teams. Outside of Ricky Romero they have a mediocre starting staff when compared to the Sox, Rays and Yankees. Hence they will be strong but as the season wears on they will fade in the stretch. Now, if Brandon Morrow pitches like he is supposed to and Kyle Drabek does the same then the Jays might be able to make the jump, but they are going to need some help to get there this year.

[Sports Guy]

Chen becomes the ace of the staff.

Chris Davis is waived before June 1.

Nick Johnson plays 120+ games (now that's BOLD)

Adam Jones doesn't take it to the next level

Nick Markakis doesn't get back to the next level

Adam Jones is not an Oriole next April

Tampa Bay wins the division.

Detroit wins the central.

Angels win the West.

No one can possibly make a bolder statement than this one.

If you are right, Johnson will have a very good year.

[Sports Guy]

Hey look it NMS coming in to crap on the fun.

Surprise!

Yeah I'm a homer. Crap sake I think the Orioles will win 75 games this year. You act like I am saying that they are world series champions.

You want to make your dire predictions go ahead and do it. Thats fine, but why crap on everyone else?

As for the comment about the Orioles being worse than all of those teams. The Orioles won more games last year than Seattle, were five games behind Oakland and both those teams have arguably gotten worse while the Rangers (my WS pick) and Angels have both gotten better. Pitt and Cleveland are going to come crashing down as neither did anything significant to build on their successes in the first half of last year. And The White Sox have a very early-2000's Orioles feel to me. I think they go into full rebuild mode at the all-star break and blow the thing up.

As for the less than 95 win thing. If the BJ's are better (and they ARE better) then that means the amount of wins the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays will claim are getting smaller. There will be more compression at the top of the division. Unless the Orioles are Cleveland Spiders-type bad (and I don't see how this team is markedly worse than last year's team) then the winner in the division will probably have fewer than 95 wins. That hasn't happened in since 2000 When the Yankees won it with 87 wins. IN that year the top three teams were less than 5 games apart from one another, I see another year like that.

The best team in baseball will still be in the AL East, but they will continue to beat the crap out of each other. The Tigers will have the best record because the AL Central is awful outside of Detroit this year. And because of that there will only be one WC coming out of the East, most likely Boston.

I think the Blue Jays will fade in the stretch because they have the most incomplete pitching staff of the AL East power-teams. Outside of Ricky Romero they have a mediocre starting staff when compared to the Sox, Rays and Yankees. Hence they will be strong but as the season wears on they will fade in the stretch. Now, if Brandon Morrow pitches like he is supposed to and Kyle Drabek does the same then the Jays might be able to make the jump, but they are going to need some help to get there this year.

By staff I hope you mean rotation because their bullpen is ridiculously good.

[SilentJames]

By staff I hope you mean rotation because their bullpen is ridiculously good.

Yes I misspoke, their rotation is mediocre when compared to the rest of the power teams in the AL East. It will take some what-ifs in that rotation to fall on the good side for them to make the jump.

If any team is likely to help them though it is the Yankees. I think the Pineda thing is really going to hurt them, Ivan Nova has looked pretty bad this spring and relying on Nova, Hughes and Freddy Garcia to carry you all year could mean bad times in the Bronx. But then again so long as you are averaging 5.5 runs a game you don't need to have the greatest staff in the world and the offense will keep the Yankees in the hunt.

[Araqnid]

Mine:

- Riemold >30 HR

- Arrieta finishes season in AAA, but Tillman manages to eventually claim and hold a MLB spot.

- O's have a pitching staff that finishes in the top half of the majors

- .825+ OPS from Markakis.

- Red Sox miss the playoffs

- Nats don't miss the playoffs.

- Votto resigns with Cinci for at least $180M

[NewMarketSean]

Just for the record, the WS had a bad April and September. 3/4 of the other months they were above .500 and the one month they weren't above .500 they were 12-12.

When we took 3/4 games from them in April or May last year they looked like a team that would lose 100 games, and then they came close to breaking .500.

They are far from one of the worst teams in baseball unless they have some huge injuries. Add to that Adam Dunn was a complete non-factor last year and has had a good spring.