The Season of Barry Bonds

“People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” --Roger Hornsby

Now that winter is almost over, it is time to present my 70 Predictions for the upcoming 2007 Major League Baseball Season (or the season of Barry Bonds). Let’s see if I can get at least 35 correct by the end of the season:

70. Barry Bonds will be the new Home Run king.
69. There will be at least two steroid-related stories about Bonds.
68. The Arizona Diamondbacks will be a threat…in 2008.
67. Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson will have an ERA above 3.80.
66. Padres starter Jake Peavy will win the NL Cy Young.
65. Padres starting pitcher David Wells will be traded or waived to Boston.
64. Colorado Rockies starter Jeff Francis will have a breakout season (ERA below 4.00, at least 15 wins)
63. Rockies will fire manager Clint Hurdle.
62. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Jason Schmidt will an ERA below 3.25 and at least 16 wins.
61. The Dodgers will have less than 88 wins.
60. New York Mets will acquire a starting pitcher by trade deadline, hinting to fans that the days of Pedro Martinez are concluding.
59. Mets starter Oliver Perez will have a better season compared to last season. Thus, he will win the NL Comeback Player of the Year.
58. Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard will win the NL MVP.
57. The Phillies will trade Pat Burrell.
56. The Atlanta Braves will trade Andruw Jones.
55. Braves starter Tim Hudson will help your fantasy team with an ERA under 4.50, at least 150 strikeouts, and 15 wins.
54. The Florida Marlins will trade Dontrelle Willis to the New York Mets. 53. Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez will have a batting average above .300, at least 20 home runs, and 55 stolen bases.
52. Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez will have an excellent sophomore season. 51. The Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman will have at least 30 home runs.
50. The Nationals will be the worst team in the NL.
49. Chicago Cubs starter Mark Prior will finally overcome his injuries and have at least 20 starts.
48. Cubs outfielder Felix Pie will win the NL Rookie of the Year.
47. Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Freddy Sanchez’s statistics will decline from 2006.
46. Pirates starter Zach Duke will have at least 15 wins.
45. Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks will have a batting average above .275 and will hit at least 15 home runs.
44. The Brewers will finish at or above .500.
43. Cincinnati Reds outfielder Adam Dunn will have a 50 home run season.
42. Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion will have a .275/30/75 (BA/HR/RBI) season.
41. Houston Astros starter Roger Clemens will “come out of retirement” and play for the New York Yankees.
40. Astros reliever Brad Lidge will have an ERA under 5.28.
39. The St. Louis Cardinals will not win the World Series.
38. Cardinals infielder Scott Rolen will get suspended for one game for fighting Tony LaRussa.
37. Oakland Athletics starter Rich Harden will win AL Comeback Player of the Year.
36. Athletics general manager Billy Beane will acquire one player to fit in his “Moneyball” system by trade deadline.
35. Los Angeles Angels starter Bartolo Colon will find himself on the disabled list at least once.
34. Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick will have a .300/20/80 season (BA/HR/RBI).
33. Texas Rangers closer Eric Gagne will be placed on the Disabled List at least twice.
32. Gagne will have at least 20 saves.
31. Seattle Mariners starter Jeff Weaver will have an ERA above 5.00.
30. Mariners starter Felix Hernandez will have a better season compared to last year. (at least 15 wins, 200 strikeouts, and an ERA under 4.00).
29. Tampa Bay Devil Rays infielder B.J. Upton will have a .275 batting average, at least 12 home runs, and 30 stolen bases.
28. Devil Rays starter Jeff Niemann will win the AL Rookie of the Year.
27. Baltimore Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada will demand a trade.
26. Orioles reliever Jamie Walker will regret leaving the Detroit Tigers.
25. Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios will have a .300/25/100 (BA/HR/RBI) season.
24. The Blue Jays will finish in third place in the AL East.
23. Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez will be involved in trade rumors.
22. Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka will have an ERA above 4.00.
21. Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter will have make up and have sleep-overs.
20. The Yankees will acquire first baseman Todd Helton by trade deadline.
19. Kansas City Royals infielder Mark Teahen will have a .290/25/95 season.
18. The Royals will regret trading reliever Andy Sisco.
17. The Chicago White Sox will regret trading starter Brandon McCarthy.
16. The White Sox will finish fourth in the AL Central.
15. Cleveland Indians shortstop Johnny Peralta will comeback and put up numbers similar to 2005.
14. The Indians will finish second in the AL Central.
13. Minnesota Twins starter Francisco Liriano will be on the disabled list for at least a fourth of the season.
12. Twins starter Johan Santana will once again win the AL Cy Young.
11. The Detroit Tigers will call up outfielder prospect Cameron Maybin in August/September.
10. Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya will take over the closer position during the season.
9. NL West: San Diego Padres
8. NL Central: Chicago Cubs
7. NL East: New York Mets
6. NL Wild Card: St. Louis Cardinals
5. AL West: Los Angeles Angels
4. AL Central: Detroit Tigers
3. AL East: New York Yankees
2. AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox
1. The New York Yankees will defeat the New York Mets to claim the World Series trophy.

Award Winners
AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
NL MVP: Ryan Howard
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
AL Comeback Player of the Year: Rich Harden
NL Comeback Player of the Year: Oliver Perez
AL Rookie of the Year: Jeff Niemann
NL Rookie of the Year: Felix Pie

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Anonymous Fanatic #1

1010 days ago

Score 0

what r you gona do if you dont get 35

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False ProphetAll-Star

1010 days ago

Score 1

You've all ready got one. Liriano will not pitch at all this season. He's all ready been deactivated for the entire year

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KelsdadAll-Star

1010 days ago

Score 0

You can't "deactivate" a player in baseball. While unlikely, it is conceivable Liriano can pitch this season.

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False ProphetAll-Star

1010 days ago

Score 1

no, actually, it really isn't. He will be placed on the DL for the entire season. Its doubtful as to when he will even rejoin the team for his presence, much less pitching. He went AWOL for half a month after the season

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False ProphetAll-Star

1010 days ago

Score 0

Beyond that, you get the AL Cy Young award with santana. I totally dissagree with your world series, AL East, Centeral, Wild Card, and NL Centeral picks.

AL EAST: BOS
AL CENTRAL: MIN
AL WC: NYY/DET
NL EAST: PHI
WS: MIN over PHI

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False ProphetAll-Star

1010 days ago

Score 0

I meant NL East prediction

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AWeiner18Varsity

1010 days ago

Score 0

The Mets are too powerful for the Phillies even though I want the Phillies to be in the Wild Card. Their pitching will not carry them the entire season (even though they got Freddy Garcia).

The Tigers added Sheffield and their young guys now know what the playoffs feel like. Minnesota did nothing this offseason to convince me they will defend their crown.

The Red Sox added J.D. "I am always injured" Drew. He is a risk but when he is productive, they are better than the Twins. No doubt.

Especially with Liriano out of the season.

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False ProphetAll-Star

1010 days ago

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they have the same offense as last year, and have 3 returning starters. The rotation is a lot better than last year at this point, and if Silva can return to his old self, he replaces Radke. Someone can do good enough to replace Liriano.

The playoffs would be

MIN over LAA DET/NYY over BOS MIN over DET/NYY

I don't know if Boston will be any better. They have some players that really need to prove themselves, and I think moving papelbon into the rotation is a dumb move.

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AWeiner18Varsity

1009 days ago

Score 0

Someone can not be good enough to replace Liriano easily. It can happen but not easily.

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False ProphetAll-Star

1009 days ago

Score 0

they won't be liriano, but they will be enough to make up for the loss of a good pitcher.

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AWeiner18Varsity

1008 days ago

Score 0

False Prophet,

I was eating my Wheaties yesterday morning and I noticed this quote that was included in the Monday Detroit Free Press. It comes from Jim Souhan, a writer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

"Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Boof Bonser, Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson. Right now, that rotation is in pencil. A realist would prefer invisible ink.

"If the White Sox or Tigers were trying to win the AL Central with this rotation, the Twins would be holding gloves in front of their faces to hide their giggling."

Thought this might help re-think your opinion.

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False ProphetAll-Star

1008 days ago

Score -2

I understand that, and as of now it is what we see, but the Twins were expected by some to win the division last year without the knowledge of the new offensive surge they were going to have, and with Santana, Radke (who we thought was worthless and couldn't have a sub 4.00 ERA), Silva , Loshe (who isn't even good in the NL), and Baker (who was average at best). We now have Santana (better than ever), Bonser (maybe this year's liriano), Ortiz (great pitcher? No. can he maintain a low enough ERA to win games? Probably.), Silva(who's going to be close to his '05 form likely), Perkins (unkown quanity), and Garza(He came up to early last year. He is having alll the same stuff said about him that Lirano was). Beyond that, we have likely 3-4 Long Relievers in Ponson, Neshek, Guerrier and Reyes (Ponson/the odd man out of the rotation might start the year in triple A). Say We have 3. Then, Santana goes 7-8 Innings, Boof goes 6-7 and Crain pitches one inning, Silva goes 5 and say Neshek goes 2 innings, Oritz goes 5 and Guerrier goes 2, and then Garza goes 5-6 and Reyes pitches 1-2 innings. Their rotation doesn't need to be spectatular when you practially have a long reliever for every starter

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AWeiner18Varsity

1008 days ago

Score 0

Your argument presents one factor that will HURT the Twins: the bullpen. If the Twins' starters cannot produce good quality innings, then how are they supposed to prevail in the playoffs? Thus, they will overuse their bullpen because the Ponson/Ortiz/Silva combination will not always be effective. As of the two "rookies". They might be good but who knows. THEY ARE ROOKIES.

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Anonymous Fanatic #2

1008 days ago

Score 0

Why is this not on top stuff? Great stuff Sports Doctor.

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