2014 Standings and Award Predictions

With the first game on US soil being tomorrow night I will make my predictions for the season. After reviewing my picks from last season, I was off by a little bit, but you can't predict baseball. A W indicates a wild card predictions.

American League East

David Price

1. New York Yankees
2. Baltimore Orioles W
3. Boston Red Sox
4. Tampa Bay Ray
5. Toronto Blue Jays

American League Central

1. Kansas City Royals
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Chicago White Sox
5. Minnesota Twins

American League West

Josh Hamilton

1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Texas Rangers W
3. Oakland Athletics
4. Seattle Mariners
5. Houston Astros

National League East

1. Washington Nationals
2. Atlanta Braves W
3. New York Mets
4. Philadelphia Phillies
5. Miami Marlins

National League Central

Bryce Harper

1. Cincinnati Reds
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Chicago Cubs

National League West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. San Francisco Giants W
3. Colorado Rockies
4. Arizona Diamondbacks
5. San Diego Padres


American League MVP - Mike Trout - Los Angeles Angels
National League MVP- Bryce Harper - Washington Nationals

American League Cy Young - Masahiro Tanaka - New York Yankees
National League Cy Young - Clayton Kershaw - Los Angeles Dodgers

American League Rookie of the Year - George Springer - Houston Astros
National League Rookie of the Year - Travis d'Arnaud - New York Mets

The Off Season

Hayes Craze Baseball is returning better than ever. The off season has begun and with a dull free agent class, this off season will be one of the hottest off seasons in the past decade.

The awards for Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Manager of the Year were announced this past week and the recipients were pretty obvious.

Cy Young Award
National League: Clayton Kersha:1.83 ERA, 16 Wins, 232 K, 236 IP
American League:Max Scherzer:2.90 ERA, 21 Wins. 240 K, 214 IP

Rookie of the Year
National League:Jose Fernandez 2.19 ERA, 12 Wins, 187 K, 172 IP
American League: .293 avg, 13 HR, 53 RBI, 5 SB

Most Valuable Player
National League: Andrew McCutchen .317 avg, 21 HR, 84 RBI, 27 SB
American League: Miguel Cabrera .348 avg, 44 HR, 137 RBI. 3 SB

Manager of the Year
National League: Clint Hurdle 94 wins, National League Central Division Title
American League: Terry Francona 92 wins, American League Wild Card

The free agent pool this year is looking bleak with just a few big names, such as Robinson Cano, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Shin Soo Choo, and Masahiro Tanaka. Several veterans are also featured in this free agent class, such as Roy Halladay, Hiroki Kuroda and Tim Hudson. This off season will be very reliant on trades. Names like Matt Kemp, Elvis Andrus, David Price, Matt Weiters, Shelby Miller, and Mark Trumbo have already been labeled as available, so be sure to look out for those big names along with plenty of others to be on the move.

I will be underlining every major acquisition this off season with new lineups and pitching rotations incorporated with the new additions.

The All Star Break

The Home Run Derby was just shy of amazing. Yoenis Cespedes put on a show by blasting 17 home runs in the first round and eventually winning the entire competition. My pick Bryce Harper was the runner up with a total of 24 home runs, conveniently 8 in each round.

The All Star Game itself was all American League. The AL pitching combined to pitch a shutout and the offense scored 3 runs. Two runs came off of Diamondback's starter Patrick Corbin and the third off of Braves' closer Craig Kimbrel.

The highlight of the night was the entrance of Mariano Rivera to his final all star appearance. Every player, umpire, coach, and crew member cleare
d the field and Rivera walked into to the hymns of Enter Sandman all by himself. The ovation was electrifying, loud, and actually a quite touching. The respect the fans, the players, and everyone for that matter have for Rivera is just amazing. He pitched a perfect 8th inning and helped the American League secure home field advantage in the World Series: Somewhere he also wishes to have another ovation.

Robinson Cano was hit on the knee by Matt Harvey in his first at bat. It was of course an accident, but something the Yankees cannot afford. Cano tried to stay in the game, but was taken out before the end of the top of the first. Tests came back negative and reports are that Cano will play in the game against the Red Sox Friday night.

My first half awards:

American League MVP: Miguel Cabrera
American League Cy Young Award: Felix Hernandez
American League Rookie of the Year: Jose Iglesias

National League MVP: Yadier Molina
National League Cy Young Award: Clayton Kershaw
National League Rookie of the Year: Yasiel Puig

There are
also reports that the Texas Rangers are on the verge of acquiring Matt Garza

All Star Break

Prince Fielder won the Home Run Derby last night and 615 thousand dollars was donated to charity. Today the All Star Game will get going at 8 PM EST and will be able to be viewed on FOX. We are at the non official half way point of the season, so who would win the awards as of now?

American League

MVP:

Josh Hamilton: 27 HR, .308 AVG, .380 OBP, 75 RBI. Hamilton has carried the Rangers in first place the entire season.

Cy Young:


Jered Weaver: 10 Wins, 1.98 ERA, 73 K, 96.2 IP, .900 WHIP. Weaver missed some time with an injury, but has still been able to give the Angels phenomenal performances every fifth day. 


Rookie of the Year: 


Mike Trout: 12 HR, .341 AVG, .397 OBP, 40 RBI, 26 SB. Trout has surprised many by how great he has been. His tremendous fielding, speed and power are all indications of the great player he will be in years to come. 


National League: 


MVP:


Andrew McCutchen: 18 HR, .362 AVG, .412 OBP, 60 RBI. McCutchen is the main reason why the Pirates are in first place. 


Cy Young: 


RA Dickey: 12 Wins, 2.40 ERA, 123 K, 120.0 IP, .933 WHIP. Dickey has been the story of 2012, tossing back to back 1 hitters just topped it off. 


Rookie of the Year: 


Bryce Harper: 8 HR, .282 AVG, .354 OBP, 25 RBI, 10 SB. Harper is a 19 year old sensation that everyone loves to watch. 

I Agree

I agree with the choice of National League MVP. Ryan Braun was the right choice for the award. He had a fantastic season. Referring to my previous post he had a 29% RPP and lead his team to the playoffs. Also he is a good guy and a team player.

Although i have one question. If Verlander won American League MVP how did Kershaw not finish in the MVP voting. He only had 3 less wins than Verlander, probably from a not as successful offense, a better ERA and led the National League in strikeouts. He won the triple crown for pitching as did Verlander in their respective leagues.

You may say that the 3 wins is the main factor, but in 2010 cy young voting Felix Hernandez had 8 fewer wins than CC Sabathia. You may also say that the AL lacked a significant amount of Legitimate MVP candidates. Well Micguel Cabrera had a higher Avg and just a few less home runs and RBI's than Braun.

So why Verlander Win and Kershaw didn't? Why is ERA not a factor this year?I think a player who wins 25% of their teams games deserves to be the most valuable. Verlander won 25% as did Kershaw.