Our columnists forecast the 2013 Major League Baseball season.
MONTE POOLE predicts…
Giants: 90-72, second place. They’ll need great pitching to repel Dodgers. They’ll get good pitching.
A’s: 86-76, second place. No sneaking up this year, but they’ll still make a run in September.
NL West champ: Dodgers, 91-61. This franchise is on a mission. They’ll receive a measure of reward.
AL West champ: Angels, 89-73. They’ll be good early and get better after trade-deadline deal for an arm.
NL Champ: Washington. Too much talent — hitting and pitching — to keep down.
AL Champ: Angels. Easy call — as long as Josh Hamilton is sober and focused.
World Series champ: Angels in 6
Giants win leader: Madison Bumgarner, 19. That’s one more win than Matt Cain, six more than Tim Lincecum.
All-Stars: Bumgarner, Cain, and Buster Posey. (Brandon Belt has to wait another year.)
A’s win leader: Brett Anderson, 16. His breaking pitch is back and it’s filthy.
All-Stars: Anderson and Yoenis Cespedes. He’s fit, comfortable and a legitimate MVP candidate.
NL Home Run King: Matt Kemp, 41
AL Home Run King: Josh Hamilton, 45
—————————
MARK PURDY PREDICTS…
Giants: 90-72, second place. Law of averages says things can’t go as swimmingly as last year but as long as pitching holds up, Giants are playoff team.
A’s: 90-72, second place. I like the pitching staff, like the outfield, love the bullpen — but the Angels’ roster screams at me that this will be their summer.
NL West champ: Arizona. I’m a big fan of manager Kirk Gibson and see no major weakness on the roster, in spite of no superstars — but 1B Paul Goldschmidt is ready to become one.
AL West champ: Angels. Top of their batting order is Trout, Aybar, Pujols, Hamilton. If they can’t win a division with that, shame on them.
NL champ: Washington. Best team in baseball if Strasburg can pitch to the finish line. Harper is likely MVP. Last year’s playoff experience will toughen them.
AL champ: Tampa Bay. I guess some of it is wishful thinking because I love it when the little guys win — but that rotation is legit and the Rays always find a way to score runs when needed.
Giants win leader: Madison Bumgarner. He just seems to be the right age and the right skill set to have a true breakout season
Giants HR leader: Hunter Pence. His bat looked strong in the spring and I don’t think the Giants have seen the best of him yet — until now.
All Stars: Bumgarner, Pence, Matt Cain, and Buster Posey.
A’s win leader: Tommy Milone. I’m not the first one to draw a comparison between him and Tom Glavine. Milone doesn’t overpower you, he out-thinks you.
A’s HR leader: Yoenis Cespedes. As a believer in Cespedesanity from the minute he showed up in Oakland, I’m hardly backing away now. Every plate appearance will be mandatory viewing.
All Stars: Cespedes, Milone, and Brett Anderson.
Pablo Sandoval: He’ll miss 50 games minimum because of injury issues, some caused by his weight, some not. He’ll probably hit his weight but not much more. Giants really need to assign someone to drive him directly home from games instead of stopping at every food truck.
Sergio Romo: Not as good as last September and October. The slider can only go so far and he’s not a big guy so his durability will be an issue until proven otherwise.
Hiroyuki Nakajima: He’s going to have honest plate appearances and drive in some big runs but also strikes out too much. Overall, a modest plus.
Josh Reddick: He batted .242 with 32 homers last season. He can easily match that with Cespedes behind him in the order.
