dougiejays
General Manager 
Toronto Blue Jays
Posts: 4,357 
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Post by dougiejays on Feb 12, 2020 16:33:44 GMT -5
 The American League was the toughest division in baseball last year, with the 100-win Orioles losing a play-in game on the last day of the season to the eventual AL Champion Blue Jays for the Wild card, the Yankees leading the league in wins, and a competitive (if mostly irrelevant) Cleveland team hanging around the edges of contention. And then there were the Boston Red Sox. Boston’s 127-loss season might have set the record for baseball futility were it not for the 1980 Red Sox and their 135 loss campaign – if there’s one thing the Red Sox are good at it, it’s tanking. The division should see some more parity this year, however. The Boston Red Sox:Boston has acquired several competent pitchers in Dave Frost, Ralph Citarella, Steve Bedrosian and Don Heinkel and will likely see the debut of top prospects including first baseman Hal Morris and Moises Alou. While it’s unlikely they’ll be seriously competitive, they shouldn’t be threatening any more all-time loss records – we’d project them for about 55-60 wins. Our prediction: 55 wins The New York Yankees:The Yankees, meanwhile, seem to be going through a teardown of sort – especially of their pitching staff. After uber-talented swingman Mike Parrott left in free agency, ace closer Lee Smith was shipped to St Louis and 1989 AL wins leader Bill Gullickson was shipped to interdivision rival Toronto for prospects. The Bronx Bombers should still mash, but their weakened pitching staff will likely mean an end to a 10-year streak of winning the division. Our prediction: 90 wins The Cleveland Indians:Aside from the retirement of a few minor contributors, an 86-win Indians team returns mostly intact for the 1990 season. Their key piece of offseason business was inking reliever Doug Mansolino to a three-year contract. It’s easy to argue the Indians overachieved last year, so I have them down for an 81-win season and a fourth-place finish. Our prediction: 81 wins Which brings us to the two remaining behemoths of the East: Baltimore and Toronto. The two teams that battled it out for the AL Wildcard a season ago figure to go head-to-head for the division in 1990. The Baltimore Orioles:The Orioles’ key losses were starter Charles Hudson and right fielder Harold Baines, but they also lost a couple of decent relievers as well as two part-time corner players in Wayne Gross and Leon Durham. Hudson and Baines were replaced with free agent righty Rick Sutcliffe and right fielder Andre David (acquired in a trade with Milwaukee), but neither incoming player is as good as the guy he’s replacing, and Baltimore figures to see just a little bit of dropoff this season. The projection here is 95 wins and a second-place finish. Our prediction: 95 wins The Toronto Blue Jays:Toronto lost seventh-inning stud Mike Armstrong (sent to Atlanta in a sign-and-trade), fifth starter Jim Beattie, and utility infielder Randy Ready. They signed free agent reliever Dave Cheadle to replace Armstrong and acquired the aforementioned Gullickson from New York to fill Beattie’s role, and are also expected to debut top prospect Gary Sheffield in 1990. While the middle relief corps may be a little leakier than it was in 1989, a good offense and strong starting rotation could push them to a second straight 100-win season and the first division title in franchise history. Our prediction: 100 wins Final projected standings:Toronto 100-62 Baltimore 95-67 New York 90-72 Cleveland 81-81 Boston 55-107 |
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Reddington
General Manager
Atlanta Braves
Posts: 17,867
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Post by Reddington on Feb 12, 2020 20:07:39 GMT -5
Awesome, however a minor typo unless you were saying other teams got 127 wins at their expense? I'm too superstitious to do one of these for the NL east  |
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Post by CSCommish on Feb 13, 2020 7:24:25 GMT -5
7!
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Post by Boston Red Sox on Feb 13, 2020 17:46:15 GMT -5
The Red Sox are also good at going 5 straight years with a division title and a pennant  |
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Reddington
General Manager
Atlanta Braves
Posts: 17,867
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Post by Reddington on Feb 13, 2020 18:03:29 GMT -5
The Red Sox are also good at going 5 straight years with a division title and a pennant the Yankees said get back to them when you do 10 straight div titles and 3 WS over 10 yrs... |
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Post by Boston Red Sox on Feb 13, 2020 18:06:07 GMT -5
The Red Sox are also good at going 5 straight years with a division title and a pennant the Yankees said get back to them when you do 10 straight div titles and 3 WS over 10 yrs... Tell the Yankees IDGAF what their coasting off great talent from the start of the league asses have to say. |
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Reddington
General Manager
Atlanta Braves
Posts: 17,867
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Post by Reddington on Feb 13, 2020 18:09:33 GMT -5
the Yankees said get back to them when you do 10 straight div titles and 3 WS over 10 yrs... Tell the Yankees IDGAF what their coasting off great talent from the start of the league asses have to say. no, that was the 80's not the start of the league... |
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Reddington
General Manager
Atlanta Braves
Posts: 17,867
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Post by Reddington on Feb 13, 2020 18:10:42 GMT -5
1980-1989
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Post by Boston Red Sox on Feb 13, 2020 18:14:04 GMT -5
Yeah and how many times did I make the playoffs too those years lol
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Reddington
General Manager
Atlanta Braves
Posts: 17,867
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Post by Reddington on Feb 13, 2020 18:49:59 GMT -5
Yeah and how many times did I make the playoffs too those years lol looks like maybe 3 times as the number 2 team in the AL East with 100 or more wins those 3 seasons (85-87) |
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Post by Boston Red Sox on Feb 13, 2020 22:04:06 GMT -5
Yeah and how many times did I make the playoffs too those years lol looks like maybe 3 times as the number 2 team in the AL East with 100 or more wins those 3 seasons (85-87) Yup, would have been longer if I was more patient but I jumped the gun and decided to resell quickly instead of being terrible for 12 years it'll be 5-6. |
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dougiejays
General Manager
Toronto Blue Jays
Posts: 4,357
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Post by dougiejays on Feb 25, 2020 10:36:56 GMT -5
June update:
Boston - slightly underachieving projections. On pace for 43 wins.
New York - way underachieving projections (note: their teardown has only gotten more drastic since the article was written). On pace for 72 wins.
Baltimore - way underachieving projections. No idea what's wrong with them. On pace for 78 wins
Cleveland - overachieving projections. Backing up what they did last year, making me look sily for doubting them. On pace for 90 wins
Toronto - slightly overachieving projections. On pace for 113 wins.
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dougiejays
General Manager
Toronto Blue Jays
Posts: 4,357
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Post by dougiejays on Mar 29, 2020 1:46:36 GMT -5
Wow, except for myself I got this one completely wrong
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dougiejays
General Manager
Toronto Blue Jays
Posts: 4,357
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Post by dougiejays on Apr 6, 2020 12:59:51 GMT -5
End-of-season update...
Toronto Blue Jays: 114 wins, +14 compared to projection
Cleveland Indians: 95 wins, +14 compared to projection
Baltimore Orioles: 85 wins, -10 compared to projection
New York Yankees: 66 wins, -24 compared to projection
Boston Red Sox: 26 wins, -29 compared to projection
...in conclusion, I think the projection system needs to be upgraded.
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dougiejays
General Manager
Toronto Blue Jays
Posts: 4,357
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Post by dougiejays on Apr 6, 2020 13:02:27 GMT -5
While it’s unlikely they’ll be seriously competitive, they shouldn’t be threatening any more all-time loss records. *Promptly goes out and nearly ties all-time record for losses in a season* |
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Post by Boston Red Sox on Apr 8, 2020 5:50:49 GMT -5
While it’s unlikely they’ll be seriously competitive, they shouldn’t be threatening any more all-time loss records. *Promptly goes out and nearly ties all-time record for losses in a season* I gained fan interest, increased my cash influx, and gained a ton of good prospects this year by moving middling major leaguers. Success in my book |
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