2014 MLB Win Totals
Here are my picks for the season. Per usual, I had more problems getting these in a suitable order than picking the teams. Last season I went 8 for 10, but missed on the top two teams in the confidence scoring but still managed to beat Pat anyway. Here are my 10 for 2014:
10) Indians Over 80.5
9) Cubs Over 70
8) Phillies Under 76.5
7) Mariners Under 81
6) Braves Under 78.5
5) Reds Over 84.5
4) Athletics Under 88.5
3) Twins Under 70.5
2) Cardinals Over 91.5
1) Tigers Under 90
Dodgers would be on this list but it’s a bit dodgy to place them since they’ve banked two wins already. I’m posting my NL draft writeup here at some point and one of the themes is being down on lots of the Dodgers individually (Puig & Kemp in particular), but collectively there aren’t many weak spots. The same theme applies for the Cardinals so they’re listed for an Over instead. Cleveland and the Cubs have fixed downsides which is helpful. Usually overs on poor teams are challenging since those teams will rent their best players about to be out of contract, but other than Samardjia, I’m not sure who the Cubs could trade and I also expect some of their farm system talent to force their way up soon enough. Phillies, Mariners and Braves are dealing with Age, Incompetence and Injuries respectively. The Mariners will need Cano to cover up a host of issues including relying on an outfield that would probably be slightly improved defensively with me manning left field than any of the Hart/Morrision/Ackley white person trio. They have starting pitching injuries as well though not to the extent as the Braves losing theirs for the season instead of for a month or two.
Lean on the Padres (Cashner) at home for opening night hosting the Dodgers (Ryu). I’ll try and keep up with plays the next week or two before I disappear for the better part of April.
