I Predict...

I took a look back at those PECOTA projections by Baseball Prospectus released in February. If I were those guys, I’d check my equations for accuracy. They had the Yankees, Twins and Astros winning their respective AL divisions with the Mets, Brewers and Dodgers doing the honors in the NL. The White Sox were projected to win 83 games to the Cubs 85. Athlon did better, at least in the AL, going with the Yankees, Sox and Astros along with the Braves, Cardinals and Dodgers in the NL; unlike PECOTA, all the Athlon picks will be playing this week. Lindy’s went with Yankees, Sox and A’s in the AL, Braves, Cards and Dodgers in the NL. The winner is Athlon, with three correct picks vs. two for PECOTA and Lindy’s. I have no idea what the odds were out of Las Vegas, and I don’t care. My guess is that MLB and its broadcasting partners wish the Yankees and Dodgers had performed as predicted. The Rays aren’t all that much of a surprise, but the Giants? Who knew? That’s why you play the games, as the saying goes. I learned not to trust predictions a very long time ago, when I was still wet behind the proverbial ears. After finishing a mere three games out of first place in 1967, the Sox traded for Luis Aparicio and Tommy Davis, among others. And what did that do? The ’68 Sox proceeded to finish 36 games behind the pennant-winning Tigers, that’s what. Tommie Agee and Don Buford probably didn’t mind, though. They escaped the South Side to play in four World Series between them. You just never know.