Category Archives: robinson cano

2012 MLB: American League Predictions

The American League had a productive off-season, in which they added two of the best players in the game, Albert Pujols & Prince Fielder. If you rank the best teams in the Majors, most of the best teams are in the AL. You have the mainstays like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rangers, but you have up-and-coming teams like the Royals and Blue Jays. This league has a nice combination of young talent and established veterans. The teams are deep and can pick guys out of their farm system to fill any holes, which is a huge luxury. The AL isn’t all great, since the Orioles and Twins expected to have bad seasons. Which teams will make the playoffs? Who will win the AL Cy Young and MVP awards? Will a mid-season call-up win the Rookie Of The Year?

AL Cy Young – Jared Weaver

AL Rookie Of The Year – Jacob Turner

AL MVP – Robinson Cano

AL East
New York Yankees – 97-65
Boston Red Sox – 95-67
Toronto Blue Jays – 85-77
Tampa Bay Rays – 84-81
Baltimore Orioles – 60-102

The biggest surprise here is that the Rays are in 4th place. I think the Blue Jays are a better team this year and will be able to win close games. This is not a knock on the Rays, it is more about how much I like Toronto. The Red Sox will bounce back and contend with the Yankees for the division crown.

AL Central
Detroit Tigers – 99-63
Kansas City Royals – 82-81
Chicago White Sox – 80-82
Cleveland Indians – 74-88
Minnesota Twins – 59-103

The Tigers are going to be a beast this year and they will run away with the division. There will be a crowded middle of the division, in which I like the Royals young roster to finally start to peak. The Indians will come back to life and fall down a few spots. The White Sox and Twins will end up about where they were at the end of 2011 season.

AL West
Texas Rangers – 94-68
L.A. Angels – 92-70
Oakland A’s – 76-86
Seattle Mariners – 70-92

The Rangers and Angels made some moves this off-season and this race will be cut-throat. Pujols and C.J. Wilson will help the Angels, but the Rangers return a great team that nearly won the World Series. Yoenis Cespedes will help Oakland, but they are still a work in progress. I expect the Mariners to sell off a few pieces at the trading deadline and keep adding young talent.

AL Wild Card – Red Sox & Angels

AL Champions – Los Angeles Angels

They don’t have the best rotation 1 thru 5, but I really like a short 3-man rotation in the playoffs. This is one of the many cases where a wild-card winner will make the World Series.

Feel free to “Like” my blog on Facebook or click the Facebook box located within the sidebar.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

My 2008 Un-All-Star Team – Revisited

On May 7th this year I made my “2008 Un-All-Star Team.” I wanted to re-visit this, as some of the players have turned their seasons around, and some have tanked even farther down than I could have imagined. Some have grown mustaches to bust out of their slumps, while others seemed content with a mediocre year and released from their teams. I love when people say that some players are “second-half guys,” as you can see, not all players end up heating up as the temperature rises.

The batting averages in italics are as of May 7th, 2008.

Infield
Rickie Weeks – .195 – currently .229 – not an everyday starter
Robinson Cano – .157 – currently .264 – a true second-half guy
Kenji Johjima – .189 – currently .213 – lost his starting job
Ben Broussard – .159 – currently .159 – released and now currently in minors with Yankees
Johnny Estrada – .179 – currently .170 – released by Nationals
Casey Blake – .202 – currently .292 – traded to Dodgers, doing very well.
Ryan Howard – .168 – currently .235 – tied for major league lead in home-runs

Outfield
Andruw Jones – .158 – currently .161 – injury-plagued season
Alfonso Soriano – .177 – currently .293 – made actual all-star team
Nick Swisher – .196 – currently .213 – been very streaky
Jose Guillen – .165 – currently .252 – great second-half
Jim Edmonds – .172 – currently .240 – released by Padres, signed with Cubs, has been on fire when in the starting lineup
Michael Bourn – .194 – currently .226 – an off year, hasn’t stole many bases in the second half

Designated Hitter (barely)
Gary Sheffield – .176 – currently .223 – injury plagued season
Jose Vidro – .192 – currently .234 – released by Mariners
Jim Thome – .209 – currently .250 – a very resurgent second-half, big power numbers as well
Jason Giambi .157 – currently .252 – great middle of the season, has fell off here of late

The baseball season is a long and grueling marathon, not everyone can sprint the entire season. A lot can change during the season, but if a player can stay healthy and consistent throughout their career, they will have long playing careers in the Majors. For those you stay injured or struggle, it is easy for a club to cut their loses and a career can come to an end.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

Is Robinson Cano Alive?

Robinson Cano is named after the great Jackie Robinson, but currently Cano is batting like Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Cano is currently batting .151 and I haven’t seen any silver-lining at all. He hasn’t even had a good game this season yet, the best game was a pinch-hit homer to win a game. He was benched that game due to his slump. As you all know, I like to talk about my fantasy league team (1st place!). Anyways, Cano was a high draft pick by many and by me. He is a career .300 hitter and has pretty average power with around 20 home runs a season.

I know Cano is a slow-starter, but I really hate that excuse. If a player is known as a slow-starter, why isn’t he playing every spring training game to get his 4-5 at-bats in? Most of the slow-starters don’t like to play in colder weather, I can somewhat understand that, the ball acts differently in cold than it does in warm weather. Cano needs to carry this team now that A-Rod and Posada are out for awhile. If Cano or Melky Cabrera can’t lead this team, the Yankees are going to bury themselves too deep to catch up. I think Cano can get out of this funk, but I don’t see him making the All-Star team this season. He has a lot of work to do if he wants to be mentioned in the same sentence as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.