With the kick-off of the 2011 MLB season and OBFBL chase for the Shooter Cup, the OBFBL owners were once again asked to predict the future.
All of us have our own opinions on what is going to happen this year, either through extensive reading of columns from supposed “experts”, pulling together tons of data, or our “gut feel”.
With the annual preseason poll, the 12 owners make their MLB and OBFBL predictions. For the second straight year, all OBFBL owners sent in their poll, and everyone did it early this year.
Check out the attached OBFBL 2011 Poll spreadsheet for all of the individual predictions. The “Storyline of the Year” picks are always good to read. Here are some consensus picks from the poll:
Shooter Cup Champion: There were a lot of different picks for the OBFBL champion, but with 7 picks the Crackheads become the consensus choice. The pressure is now on for the Crackheads to deliver. Of note, the consensus picks have only been correct once before – with the 2009 Legacy team winning.
Other money teams: 2nd place – Pickering Dynasty; 3rd place – Durham Dick Dogs; 4th place – Ajax Super Sods. It should be a very tight battle in the OBFBL standings this year. The Brooklin Legacy were picked 5th, despite a stacked team and Mazgay openly stating that he’ll do whatever it takes to win and become the 2nd two-time champion (his 2nd in 3 years)
Battle at the bottom: Most predict that the two expansion teams – Motorboats and Blue Balls – along with the Tribe, will be the bottom 3 teams. We’ll see how this plays out throughout the year
Most pitching rotos: 8 out of 12 picked the Crackheads, with the Dick Dogs and Dynasty chosen twice each
Most batting rotos: 3 votes each for the Dick Dogs, Dynasty and Crackheads
Most keepers the same: Dick Dogs with the most votes (4) followed by the Fury (3)
Fewest keepers the same: Toronto Motorboats take half of the votes (not surprising after they went into the O draft with only 2 keepers). One interesting note that Bobby picked Carey to have the fewest keepers the same, yet Carey picked himself to have the most
Division winners & Wild-card: AL East – Red Sox (11 votes); AL Central – White Sox (5 votes); AL West – Rangers (8 votes); NL East – Phillies (9 votes); NL Central – Brewers (6 votes); NL West – Rockies (5 votes); AL Wild card – Yankees (6 votes) and 2 votes for the Jays (from Mazgay and Main); NL Wild card – Giants (4 votes) and Braves (3)
World Series: Consensus has the Red Sox over the Phillies. A few other picks – Larry has the Brewers over the Red Sox; Dickie has the Yankees over the Dodgers; Pepsi and Cheese have the Phillies over the Red Sox
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera (5 votes), Adrian Gonzalez and Nelson Cruz (2 votes each). Mazgay picked Bautista, he’s a believer also
NL MVP: Troy Tulowitzki (4 votes), Albert Pujols and Joey Votto (2 votes each). Pepsi picks Roy Halladay to pull the double win for MVP and Cy Young
AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez (5 votes), Lester (3 votes) and Verlander (2 votes)
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay (5 votes), Lincecum (4 votes) and Josh Johnson (2 votes)
AL Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson (6 votes), all others with 1 vote – although Mazgay’s Arcencibia pick is looking good after opening day
NL Rookie of the Year: Vote splitting here – Freddie Freeman (3 votes), Brandon Belt (3 votes), Craig Kimbrel (3 votes) and Aroldis Chapman (2 votes)
AL Comeback Player: Joe Nathan (3 votes), Manny Ramirez (2 votes) and a bunch of others with 1
NL Comeback Player: Jimmy Rollins (2 votes) and a bunch of others with 1
AL Breakout Players: Brandon Morrow, Gio Gonzalez, Jeremy Hellickson, Alex Gordon, Brian Matusz all with multiple votes
NL Breakout Players: Pedro Alvarez, Aroldis Chapman and Jhoulys Chacin all with multiple votes
AL Fantasy Busts: Adrian Beltre, Adrian Gonzalez, Vladimir Guerrero, Jonathan Papelbon and Jose Bautista all with multiple votes. NOTE: I predict Bautista to prove a lot of doubters wrong – .272, 105 R, 37 HR, 118 RBI, 9 SB, 115 BB
NL Fantasy Busts: Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Starlin Castro (will be an all-star, but not nearly yet) all with multiple votes
At the Shooter Cup ceremony in October we’ll look back on these predictions and see how we all did. Until then, enjoy being your own Fantasy Baseball “expert”.
OBSESSED BALLERS FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE 