Preview/Prediction

In 2010, the Oakland Athletics took strides in the right direction, posting an 81-81 record to snap a streak of three consecutive losing seasons.  Though Oakland's pitching kept them competitive, lack of offensive production counteracted a solid rotation and kept the A's out of the playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Opening Day is less than two weeks away, which means everyone and his mother is spouting predictions for the coming MLB season.

With so many talking heads out there, where can you go to find a variety of opinions together in one place? 

With Francisco Rodriguez's talent and lack of competition on the Mets, he seems like a lock to be the NY Mets' closer this year and rack up plenty of saves. 

He certainly has a lot to prove.  Professional athletes who have run into negative press frequently, use success on the field as a way to earn their way back into the good graces of the fans and the media.

Baseball season is coming up and the American League Central is promising to be one of the most competitive divisions this season. I have come up with six different reasons why the White Sox will be the most exciting team to watch within this division.

The White Sox are always full of excitement, exemplified last year by the feud between Guillen and Williams, by the 30-game stretch in which the White Sox went 25-5, and by the addition of Manny Ramirez—one of the biggest characters in all of baseball.

In 2010, it was definitely the year of the pitcher. But early injuries so far have it looking as if the 2011 season may be the year of the injured pitcher.

During a normal spring training, I would be sitting here telling readers to go ahead and take a chance on someone like a Dontrelle Willis because, worst case scenario, you drop him two weeks in and you’re still fine.

Every year, there seems to be some trendy prediction that everyone loves to make before the season. For example, last year, everybody (myself included) seemed to think the Mariners were looking like a playoff team. Or the year before that, when several people were convinced that the Royals had a shot to be that year’s Rays.

This is Part 2 of a two-part series in which I will analyze a current Cy Young Predictor formula.  I offer a replacement formula to account for the change in philosophy for the Cy Young voters with the growing influence of new-age statistics (sabermetrics) and use this new formula to project the Cy Young race in 2011 and beyond.

Ten months removed from the freak accident that caused Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim first baseman Kendry Morales to miss the remainder of the season, and he is still not 100% recovered and ready to return to game action. His status on the Opening Day roster is now in question.

When Josh Beckett joined the Red Sox in 2006, he became an instant ace, anchoring the front-end of the Boston rotation, which at the time, was beginning to look a bit long in the tooth, thanks to the soon-to-be-retired Curt Schilling.

                                   2011 SF Giants Season Preview