2013 was supposed to be a banner season for the Toronto Blue Jays. After an offseason full of wheeling and dealing, the Jays were supposed to make the playoffs and push for a World Series. Sadly, they were terrible, and the playoff drought lives on.
But it wasn’t just the Jays that fell victim to the weight of expectations. San Francisco, Washington, and the Angels all finished well below where pundits thought they would, while teams like the Red Sox and Pirates vastly outperformed predictions.
My predictions were no exception – they were awful.
With baseball’s offseason officially underway, let’s take a moment to look back on just how bad 2013 actually was.
I
knew Detroit would be good and Seattle and Houston would be bad, and also correctly picked the Rays to make the playoffs. Other than that? Please look away.
Apparently I have a knack for picking last place teams, as I nailed Miami, Chicago, and Colorado. I also got 60% of the playoff teams right with Atlanta, LA, and Cincinnati. Not great, but not bad.
Not too far off on the Trout and Nathan picks, but injuries and off years for Bautista, Pujols, Price, Morrow, and Verlander did me in.
I got Kimbrel right!
Very, very, very ugly. But hey – at least the Reds made the playoffs!
Wil Myers as Rookie of the Year was a good choice, and both Eric Hosmer and Adrian Gonzalez had pretty good seasons – they just weren’t recognized by MLB. Most Disappointing Player isn’t an actual award handed out, and while Youkilis was awful, it’s hard to argue against Josh Johnson.
So there you have it. Another year of predictions comes and goes, and with that we can officially, and mercifully, close the book on the 2013 MLB season.
At last.