This Will Be My Year

This post will be player predictions for big seasons in 2013. One player per position and the justification.

Starting Pitcher - Shaun Marcum

Marcum's ERA has hovered around 3.60 for the past three seasons. His main problem has been remaining healthy. He signed a contract to pitch for the Mets in 2013 his age 31 season. He doesn't throw hard, but he can locate and make pitches dance. Playing in Citi Field will yield about the same results as Miller Park, but if Marcum can stay healthy it won't matter. I predict he will lower his ERA to 3.23 and pitch close to 200 innings and could be a trade candidate for the Mets.

Relief Pitcher - Steve Cishek

Cishek is going to be 27 for the 2013 season and has already recorded two seasons of a sub 3.00 ERA. He is a sinker baller who doesn't allow many home runs in an already huge park. We saw how well Cishek performed for team USA in the WBC. I think this is the season where Cishek distinguishes himself as an elite closer in the game. He too might be traded by the trade deadline.

Catcher - Jesus Montero

Montero has been working on his defense abilities because a 23 year old should not be the designated hitter. According to many sources his defensive abilities have improved immensely. He was also really bummed out that the Yankees traded him to the Mariners as well, but I would too. Now Montero is in a rejuvenated lineup and he doesn't have to worry about his defense as much. You can expect Montero to be the star he is expected to be.

First Base - Freddie Freeman

Freeman is already pretty good but I think this is the year he becomes even better. He went though a sophomore slump in 2012. He maintained his power numbers he put up in 2011 and his on base percentage was close to identical, but his batting average dropped. This season the Braves added the two Upton brothers and they, along with Jason Heyward will be getting on base. With these guys on base Freeman won't be looking for walks, but swinging away... and getting hits and RBI's.

Second Base - Robinson Cano

Cano has been tearing it up for team Dominican Republic in this years WBC, not to mention he is also in the last year of his contact, and players tend to do best in the final year of their contract... for some reason. I still think Cano hasn't reached his peak and can hit for power, average, play great defense, and drive in runs. I think he reaches career highs in each category. .325 avg, 35 homers, 120  RBI's.

Third Base - Pablo Sandoval

We all saw Sandoval hit in the playoffs last season. This guy is beyond clutch. Just 19 batters out of 956 total batters hit a home run off of Justin Verlander in the 2012 regular season. Sandoval did it two times in the same night and then did it again. Sandoval has had some weight issues, but the Giants are working on that. Worst case scenario is Sandoval moves over to first base and they trade for a third baseman, but thats besides the point. Sandoval, with the 2012 MVP batting either in front of him or behind him, will rake this season. I'm talking .300+ avg, 30+ homers, and 100+ RBI's.

Short Stop - Derek Jeter

Jeter is a team player and he knows when to step up. Last year in the playoffs the guy was playing injured every day, and was still hitting great. He may not be as good defensively  but he will try harder and put the burden on his shoulders to get on base and score runs for a depleted Yankee offense. You can almost write it in permanent ink that Jeter will hit at least .290 and have a .340 on base percentage in 2013.

Left Field - Ryan Braun

What can I say, the guy is a beast. There will always be the discussion about whether or not he took performance enhancing drugs or not, but he is still the pride and joy of Milwaukee.  The guy has never hit lower than .285, never hit fewer than 25 home runs and never drove in fewer than 97 RBI's. Oh by the way hes been playing for 6 seasons and he will be 29 this year, the middle of his prime. You can pretty much say he is the best player in baseball and you can pencil him in for another MVP caliber season.

Center Field - Adam Jones

Finally Adam Jones is becomming the player that he was expected to be. He hit .287 and knocked out 32 homers in 2012. He can't improve much on the power, but he can improve on the average and his .334 on base percentage. A major part of Jones' success is Buck Showalter. Jones said he didn't want to sign the extension that he did, if Showalter was not going to be there. Buck encourages him to hustle and play hard. Jones if healthy can hit .295 and blast 30+ homers again.

Right Field - Hunter Pence

We all know Giancarlo Stanton is going to destroy pitching this season, that's why I didn't choose him. I picked Hunter Pence because he loves the team he plays for. He was a major part of the Giants in the playoffs last season. He didn't hit all that well down the stretch but he picked it up in October. Pence's defensive skills aren't top caliber, but he can hold his own in right field. I expect him to hit .280 with a .350 on base percentage and 25 homers in 2013.

You're Hot and You're Cold

It's cold in the Twin Cities and it's hot in the Valley of the Sun. The Minnesota Twins and the Arizona Diamond Backs most likely won't finish in first place this season, but they are making progress for success in future seasons.

Mr. Minneapolis, Joe Mauer 

The Twins caught lightning in a bottle in 2012 with Josh Willingham's success and they are hoping he will repeat his success. This Twin's lineup is dependent on power with the departure of two speed threats in Ben Revere and Denard Span. I would play Mauer at first base for two out of five games, catch two out of five games and be the DH for one out of five games between the catching days.  This would allow him to be in more games without the wear on his body. Mauer, Morneau, and Doumit will rotate between catcher, first base, and DH. Obviously Morneau won't play catcher.

1. R. Mastroianni CF 90 OPS+
2. R. Carrol 2B          86 OPS+
3. L. Mauer C            141 OPS+
4. R. Willingham LF   144 OPS+
5. L. Morneau 1B       113 OPS+
6. R. Plouffe 3B          107 OPS+
7. S. Doumit DH        114 OPS+
8. S. Florimon SS       61 OPS+
9. S. Hicks RF            Not enough MLB statistics

The Twins are making major strides to improve their pitching rotation, signing pitchers and trading for them. It still isn't likely for any one of these guys to win a CyYoung award or lead a category in anything, but they are good enough to do well.

1. R. Kevin Correia 4.21 ERA
2. R. Vance Worley 4.20 ERA
3. L. Scott Diamond 3.54 ERA
4. R. Mike Pelfrey 4.74 ERA in 2011
5. L. Brian Duensing 5.12 ERA

The closer's job in the bullpen is up for grabs, but there are few nice pieces in the pen for the Twins. Glen Perkins posted a 2.56 ERA, Jared Burton posted a 2.18 ERA, Josh Roenicke posted a 3.25 ERA and Alex Burnett posted a 3.52 ERA. They should compete for the role of the closer, but whoever wins should won't be closing many games.

I project 67 wins for the Twins in 2013

Miguel Montero 

The Diamond Backs traded undoubtedly their best player in Justin Upton. In the trade they acquired Martin Prado to play third base. The D-Backs also signed outfielder Cody Ross, and Cliff Pennington. The Diamond Backs are trying to make a team of gritty players who play hard and are a good club house presence.

1. L. Eaton CF          111 OPS+
2. R. Prado 3B          114 OPS+
3. L. Montero C        120 OPS+
4. R. Goldschmidt 1B 123 OPS+
5. L. Kubel LF           117 OPS+
6. R. Ross RF            113 OPS+
7. R. Hill 2B               131 OPS+
8. S. Pennington SS    64 OPS+

The Diamond Backs also have some very good starting pitchers in the rotation. Although they traded away phenom Trevor Bauer they are still pretty good. They signed underrated pitcher of the year, Brandon McCarthy, and acquired Randell Delgado in the Upton trade. Also in the rotation was rookie of the year runner up, Wade Miley.

1. R. Ian Kennedy 4.02 ERA
2. R. Brandon McCarthy 3.24 ERA
3. L. Wade Miley  3.33 ERA
4. R. Randall Delgado  4.37 ERA
5. L. Patrick Corbin 4.54 ERA

The bullpen for the D-Backs has the addition of former closer, Heath Bell, but he will act as a setup man to current closer JJ Putz. Putz pitched to a 2.82 ERA in 2012 with 32 saves for the D-Backs while Bell had a terrible season with the Marlins in 2012. Brad Ziegler is also in the bullpen with a 2.49 ERA in 2012 along with lefties Matt Reynolds and Tony Sipp who didn't fare so well in ERA this passed season.

I project 84 wins for the Diamond Backs in 2013

The Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks finished 2011 strong, winning the NL West. They had a record of 94-68 and may very well repeat something similar to that in 2012.

A major part of The Diamondbacks' success was their young and effective starters. Ian Kennedy won 21 games for The D-Backs and Daniel Hudson won 16. Their ages are 27 and 24 respectively. In the 2011-2012 offseason they traded for another young starter in Trevor Cahill. Although Cahill didn't win 18 games with a sub 3.00 ERA like he did in 2010, the 23 year old had a 12-14 record with a 4.16 ERA over 207 innings. That is good enough to be an effective number 3 starter in the NL West.

The Diamond Backs have a young and effective offense as well. Lead by Justin Upton in right field. Upton had a .369 on base percentage, 31 home runs and a .529 slugging percentage, giving him a 141 OPS+. Another offensive superstar in Phoenix is Chris Young. Although his OPS+ is only 103, he can hit home runs and get on base. In 2011 he had a .331 on base percentage and 20 home runs. Miguel Montero is their young catcher. He is 28 years old and is in the prime of his career. Montero had a 121 OPS+ in 2011 making him one of the best offensive catchers.

In the bullpen is Takashi Saito, JJ Putz, and the newly acquired Craig Breslow. Saito and Putz had ERA's close to 2.00 and Breslow had an 3.79 ERA. That adds up to a decent back end of the bullpen.

The Diamond Backs play in the National League West which isn't a powerful offensive division. It is oriented around pitching and The D-Backs definitely have that. They will compete well with Th.es Giants and it can go either way.

New York New York

So nice they named it twice. Last night the New York Yankees traded top prospect Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Micheal Pineda and Jose Campos. I am for this deal even though I would have much rather traded for the miraculous Felix Hernandez. Either way Pineda will be a definite addition to the Yankees' rotation.

Also shortly after the trade previously mentioned The Yankees signed free agent pitcher Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda pitched for the LA Dodgers this past season posting his best season yet.  This deal was worth 1 year 10.5 million.

To get back to the trade, this trade worked well for both teams. The Yankees received a hard throwing, young, right handed starting pitcher with a lot of promise. The Seattle Mariners received the ranked 3rd best prospect in all of baseball, Jesus Montero, who had an exceptionally excellent September. The Yankees needed starting pitching and the Mariners terrible offense needed a spark. I don't think the Mariners will be contending with the Angels and Rangers, but it will be nice to see how things stack up 5 years from now.

The Yankees already have one of the best lineups in the MLB. Now their pitching ranks pretty well also. They're rotation will shape up something like this: Sabathia, Nova, Kuroda, Pineda, Garcia which is pretty strong.

Now for The Yankees, they are left over with AJ Burnett and Phil Hughes. I believe The Yankees should keep one in the bullpen and trade one. I love to watch Burnett pitch, but it is agonizing sometimes. If I was general manager Brian Cashman I would see how AJ performs in spring training and if it ins't up to par, trade him to a team for a relief pitcher.  Phil Hughes has had experience in the bullpen before and he might add some depth. A friend of mine says Phil Hughes should be sent to AAA and recreate himself and come up later in the season.

Giving up Jesus Montero wasn't too hurtful. It was nice to get a little taste of what he can do in September, but the Yankees have Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez in the minor leagues, whom are also promising. But now the Yankees have interest in free agent slugger Carlos Pena, he would bat mostly against right handed pitches, and play DH. Andrew Jones will bat DH against left handed starters. Both can play the field to give every day players a "Half day off."

This 2012 season is shaping up well for The Yankees, for the 2013 season Cole Hamels and Matt Cain will be free agents. With one year deals to Garcia and Kuroda, the Yankees may land one of them.