Sunday, January 17, 2010

Predictions for 2010, Baseball and Otherwise

As the daylight grows, baseball's spring training approaches. And we'll need to come up with forecasts. Maybe the news will help us.

  • Derek Jeter is getting married? Derek has been among the most 'eligible' of bachelors for a long time and one former major leaguer described him as Tiger Woods. 
  • Mark McGwire. Steroids? Huh? Whoa? Who would have thought that? Perhaps 2010 will be the year when the list of steroid scofflaws leaks out in its entirety.
  • Terry Francona will be sited for equipment malfunction. 
  • With the Red Sox luck, the black hole at shortstop, filled by Marco Scutaro, will reopen because of freakish injury, arachnophobia, dog bite, or some other Act of God.
  • TBTF (too big to fail)? Will a major league franchise be taken down by an ownership divorce?
  • A series of atrocious umpiring decisions at the bases will result in louder and longer calls for expansion of instant replay.
  • Jose Offerman will appear on Monday Night Raw.
  • Jonathan Papelbon will announce his intention to test the free agent waters.
  • Jacoby Ellsbury will say that it doesn't matter whether he plays left field or center field. Then he will backtrack and say he wants to play center every day. 
  • Scott Boras will say that it's not about the money.
  • Mike Lowell will be traded, but remain gracious throughout. 
  • Josh Beckett will announce that he too opts for free agency. The Yankees look hungrily northward.
  • Daisuke Matsuzaka is selected for the All-Star team. (Okay, that's a really long shot)
  • Jon Lester wins the Cy Young Award.
  • Victor Martinez, Kevin Youkilis, and Dustin Pedroia will make the All-Star team.
  • Grady Sizemore becomes the leading candidate for MVP bouncing back after multiple surgeries.