2013 FanGraphs Staff Predictions

After last year’s rousing success that included tabbing Albert Pujols for AL MVP, Devin Mesoraco for Rookie of the Year, and Arizona as the National League champions, we’ve decided to make fools of ourselves again. Yes, predictions are basically worthless, even ours. Yes, they’re still kind of fun, and provide a useful reminder of what we all thought was true before the season started. So, here’s the FanGraphs Staff predicting 2013.

AL West: Texas
AL Central: Detroit
AL East: Rays
AL Wild Card: Angels
AL Wild Card: Blue Jays

The Rays and Blue Jays actually tied with 15 votes apiece as the AL East winners, but Tampa Bay got more votes as a WC team, so they got stronger playoff support overall, so I used that as the tiebreaker, which pushed Toronto into the second wild card spot.

AL MVP: Evan Longoria
AL CY Young: Justin Verlander
AL ROY: Aaron Hicks

10 different players got AL MVP votes, as there are a number of fine candidates who could plausibly win. Longoria edged out Mike Trout with two extra votes. On the pitching side, only six different hurlers were picked, with Verlander getting one more vote than Yu Darvish. Hicks edges out Jurickson Profar for AL ROY, likely because Hicks has a job and Profar does not. That six people still think Profar will win the award without a clear path to the Majors speaks to how impressive a prospect he really is.

The full grids, in order for you to point and mock later.

Author	AL West	AL Central	AL East	AL Wild Card	AL Wild Card
Al Skorupa	Angels	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Rangers
Bill Petti	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Angels
Blake Murphy	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Angels
Bradley Woodrum	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Angels
Brandon Warne	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Angels
Brett Talley	Angels	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Rangers
Bryan Grosnick	Angels	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rangers	Rays
Carson Cistulli	Angels	Tigers	Yankees	Rangers	Blue Jays
Chad Young	Angels	Tigers	Rays	Rangers	Athletics
Chris Cwik	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Angels
Colin Zarzycki	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Angels	Indians
Dan Wade	Angels	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Rangers
Dave Cameron	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Angels
David Appelman	Angels	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rangers	Rays
David Laurila	Angels	Tigers	Rays	Rangers	Indians
David Wiers	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Athletics	Rays
Eno Sarris	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Angels	Indians
Howard Bender	Angels	Tigers	Rays	Rangers	Royals
Jack Moore	Angels	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rangers	Yankees
Jeff Zimmerman	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Angels	Yankees
Jeremy Blachman	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Athletics	Royals
Jesse Wolfersberger	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Angels
Marc Hulet	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Angels
Michael Barr	Angels	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Rangers
Mike Petriello	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Angels	Rays
Mike Podhorzer	Rangers	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rays	Angels
Patrick Dubuque	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Athletics
Paul Swydan	Rangers	Tigers	Rays	Angels	Athletics
Steve Staude.	Angels	Tigers	Blue Jays	Rangers	Rays
Wendy Thurm	Angels	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Rangers
Zach Sanders	Angels	Tigers	Rays	Blue Jays	Rangers

And the award winners.

Author	AL MVP	AL CY	AL ROY
Al Skorupa	Evan Longoria	Justin Verlander	Jackie Bradley, Jr.
Bill Petti	Mike Trout	Justin Verlander	Jurickson Profar
Blake Murphy	Evan Longoria	Yu Darvish	Brandon Maurer
Bradley Woodrum	Robinson Cano	Justin Verlander	Jurickson Profar
Brandon Warne	Evan Longoria	Yu Darvish	Leonys Martin
Brett Talley	Jose Bautista	David Price	Jurickson Profar
Bryan Grosnick	Evan Longoria	R.A. Dickey	Brandon Maurer
Carson Cistulli	Mike Trout	Yu Darvish	Conor Gillaspie
Chad Young	Miguel Cabrera	Yu Darvish	Aaron Hicks
Chris Cwik	Evan Longoria	Justin Verlander	Jurickson Profar
Colin Zarzycki	Mike Trout	Felix Hernandez	Jackie Bradley, Jr.
Dan Wade	Evan Longoria	Justin Verlander	Aaron Hicks
Dave Cameron	Jose Bautista	Yu Darvish	Kevin Gausman
David Appelman	Evan Longoria	Justin Verlander	Aaron Hicks
David Laurila	Albert Pujols	David Price	Kevin Gausman
David Wiers	Jose Reyes	Justin Verlander	Aaron Hicks
Eno Sarris	Adrian Beltre	Yu Darvish	Aaron Hicks
Howard Bender	Evan Longoria	Yu Darvish	Jackie Bradley, Jr.
Jack Moore	Robinson Cano	Yu Darvish	Aaron Hicks
Jeff Zimmerman	Prince Fielder	Yu Darvish	Aaron Hicks
Jeremy Blachman	Josh Hamilton	David Price	Aaron Hicks
Jesse Wolfersberger	Jose Bautista	Justin Verlander	Jurickson Profar
Marc Hulet	Robinson Cano	Felix Hernandez	Aaron Hicks
Michael Barr	Albert Pujols	Yu Darvish	Jurickson Profar
Mike Petriello	Mike Trout	Justin Verlander	Leonys Martin
Mike Podhorzer	Evan Longoria	Justin Verlander	Leonys Martin
Patrick Dubuque	Mike Trout	Felix Hernandez	Aaron Hicks
Paul Swydan	Adrian Beltre	CC Sabathia	Jackie Bradley, Jr.
Steve Staude.	Mike Trout	Justin Verlander	Wil Myers
Wendy Thurm	Mike Trout	Felix Hernandez	Wil Myers
Zach Sanders	Miguel Cabrera	David Price	Aaron Hicks

And now, for the Senior Circuit.

NL West: Giants
NL Central: Reds
NL East: Nationals
NL Wild Card: Braves
NL Wild Card: Cardinals

The division winners were all pretty clear, but the Wild Card was tougher, as the Braves, Cardinals, and Dodgers all got a decent amount of support from our authors. In the end, 25 of the 31 voters had Atlanta making the playoffs, so they secured the first wild card spot, and then the Cardinals edged out the Dodgers for the final playoff spot with a few extra votes.

NL MVP: Joey Votto
NL Cy Young: Stephen Strasburg
NL ROY: Shelby Miller

Votto got 14 of the 31 votes for MVP, while the next highest vote getter was Buster Posey with four. I’d call that a runaway. Strasburg dominated the pitching side of the equation as well, getting 16 votes, while six different pitchers showed up on just one ballot. Shelby Miller rounded out the blowouts, getting 14 of the ROY votes, with Jedd Gyorko finishing a distant second.

Author	NL West	NL Central	NL East	NL Wild Card	NL Wild Card
Eno Sarris	Giants	Cardinals	Braves	Nationals	Reds
Al Skorupa	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Giants
Mike Petriello	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Cardinals
Steve Staude.	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Giants
Patrick Dubuque	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Giants	Cardinals
David Wiers	Dodgers	Cardinals	Nationals	Braves	Reds
Blake Murphy	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Cardinals	Braves
Howard Bender	Giants	Reds	Braves	Nationals	Cardinals
David Laurila	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Giants
Bryan Grosnick	Dodgers	Cardinals	Nationals	Reds	Diamondbacks
Brett Talley	Diamondbacks	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Cardinals
Chris Cwik	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Cardinals
Chad Young	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Dodgers
Carson Cistulli	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Diamondbacks
Bill Petti	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Cardinals	Braves
Jesse Wolfersberger	Dodgers	Cardinals	Nationals	Reds	Giants
Dave Cameron	Diamondbacks	Cardinals	Nationals	Giants	Reds
Dan Wade	Dodgers	Cardinals	Nationals	Braves	Reds
Mike Podhorzer	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Dodgers
Zach Sanders	Giants	Cardinals	Nationals	Braves	Reds
Michael Barr	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Dodgers
Jeff Zimmerman	Giants	Cardinals	Nationals	Braves	Dodgers
Wendy Thurm	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Dodgers	Braves
Paul Swydan	Giants	Cardinals	Nationals	Braves	Padres
Bradley Woodrum	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Cardinals	Dodgers
Brandon Warne	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Giants	Braves
Jack Moore	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Cardinals
Colin Zarzycki	Giants	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Dodgers
David Appelman	Dodgers	Reds	Nationals	Braves	Cardinals
Jeremy Blachman	Giants	Cardinals	Nationals	Braves	Reds
Marc Hulet	Giants	Cardinals	Nationals	Braves	Reds

And the awards.

Author	NL MVP	NL CY	NL ROY
Eno Sarris	Joey Votto	Stephen Strasburg	Adam Eaton
Al Skorupa	Justin Upton	Stephen Strasburg	Adam Eaton
Mike Petriello	Buster Posey	Clayton Kershaw	Jedd Gyorko
Steve Staude.	Joey Votto	Clayton Kershaw	Jedd Gyorko
Patrick Dubuque	Matt Kemp	Clayton Kershaw	Jedd Gyorko
David Wiers	Justin Upton	Jeff Samardzija	Jedd Gyorko
Blake Murphy	Buster Posey	Stephen Strasburg	Jedd Gyorko
Howard Bender	Jason Heyward	Stephen Strasburg	Jedd Gyorko
David Laurila	Jason Heyward	Stephen Strasburg	Jedd Gyorko
Bryan Grosnick	Joey Votto	Stephen Strasburg	Jedd Gyorko
Brett Talley	Joey Votto	Johnny Cueto	Julio Teheran
Chris Cwik	Bryce Harper	Matt Cain	Julio Teheran
Chad Young	Joey Votto	Matt Cain	Julio Teheran
Carson Cistulli	Troy Tulowitzki	Stephen Strasburg	Julio Teheran
Bill Petti	Joey Votto	Stephen Strasburg	Oscar Taveras
Jesse Wolfersberger	Joey Votto	Stephen Strasburg	Oscar Taveras
Dave Cameron	Bryce Harper	Adam Wainwright	Shelby Miller
Dan Wade	Bryce Harper	Clayton Kershaw	Shelby Miller
Mike Podhorzer	Joey Votto	Clayton Kershaw	Shelby Miller
Zach Sanders	Joey Votto	Clayton Kershaw	Shelby Miller
Michael Barr	Joey Votto	Cliff Lee	Shelby Miller
Jeff Zimmerman	Ryan Zimmerman	Jordan Zimmermann	Shelby Miller
Wendy Thurm	Joey Votto	Madison Bumgarner	Shelby Miller
Paul Swydan	Andrew McCutchen	Stephen Strasburg	Shelby Miller
Bradley Woodrum	Buster Posey	Stephen Strasburg	Shelby Miller
Brandon Warne	Joey Votto	Stephen Strasburg	Shelby Miller
Jack Moore	Joey Votto	Stephen Strasburg	Shelby Miller
Colin Zarzycki	Joey Votto	Stephen Strasburg	Shelby Miller
David Appelman	Ryan Zimmerman	Stephen Strasburg	Shelby Miller
Jeremy Blachman	Ryan Zimmerman	Stephen Strasburg	Shelby Miller
Marc Hulet	Buster Posey	Clayton Kershaw	Yasiel Puig