2008 Predictions

In honor of Opening Day: America, here are a couple of fearless predictions for the year.

Carlos Guillen, playing 1B, will have the most value out of any shortstop this year.
Carl Crawford still doesn’t develop the elusive power that has been predicted for years. But he does steal 50 bases.
Francisco Liriano disappoints. He won’t be terrible, but an ERA under 4 and more than 10 wins has to be considered a victory. That’s not the value you expect where he’s being drafted.
Saltamacchia will have next to no fantasy value this year.
Magglio Ordonez won’t hit .360 again, but expect a monster year. A .320 average is reasonable, and he could approach 150 RBIs.
Frank Thomas quietly hits 30 homers…again
Alex Rios doesn’t have a huge year that everyone expects. I just don’t see him stealing 20 bases or hitting 30 bombs.
Jeremy Bonderman puts together a good year. Think 3.80 ERA and 15 wins.
Howie Kendrick doesn’t win the batting title.
Grady Sizemore doesn’t steal 30 bases.
Billy Butler does hit 30 homers. One of the best steals in drafts, even at DH only.
Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in the AL. Give him 20 wins and a 3.2 ERA.
Zack Greinke picks up where he left off last year. He won’t win more than 12 games, but a sub-4 ERA is great.
Joe Crede struggles initially. I have a feeling he may be with the Sox longer than expected. Josh Fields hits 90 homers at AAA.
Miguel Cabrera puts together a typical Miggy C year. A definitely 2 pick in any league, no questions asked.
Derek Jeter puts together a typically slipping Jeter year. Sure, .300, 10 bombs, 15 steals isn’t terrible. But that’s not a second rounder.
Manny will be Manny…and hit 35 bombs.
Joba Chamberlain doesn’t get into the rotation all year.
Matt Garza has a better year than Delmon Young.
Julio Lugo bounces back to hit .290 with 30 steals.
Nick Swisher hits 40 dongs.
Travis Hafner hits 40 dongs.
Carlos Pena hits 40 dongs, still a disappointment from my 2004 prediction of 80 dongs.
Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum have identical years. How McGowan gets the hype while Marcum gets nothing is beyond me.
Javy Vazquez is a top 5 pitcher in the AL.
I’ll set the over/under for Harden starts at 10. I’ll take the under.
George Sherrill and Joakim Soria save 30 games.
Ervin Santana still sucks.
Barry Bonds plays this year, and hits 20 bombs and a sick OBP.
Jason Bartlett steals 30 bases. There’s a lot of speed to find this year, I wouldn’t necessarily invest in a one-dimensional speed guy like Chone.
Nick Markakis goes 25-25.
Adam Jones has Delmon Young’s year last year, just with a lower average.
John Lackey misses half a year. Sell on whatever value you can get.
Scott Kazmir misses half a year. He probably has less value than Lackey, so it might be worth it to hang onto him.
Kelvim Escobar misses the whole year. He’s one of my favorites, but don’t touch him. Even if he returns, who knows what you’ll get.
Richie Sexson hits .260. The power has always been there.
BJ Upton duplicates last year.
Josh Hamilton hits 30 homers. I don’t think 40 is out of the question.
Josh Beckett misses 5 starts. I’d rate Bedard, CC, Verlander all ahead of him.
Jonny Gomes still doesn’t play, but hits tons of BP dongs for fun.
Victor Martinez is a legit first rounder. If I had to pick between VMart or Vlad, I’m taking VMart.
Brian Roberts still gets traded. I wouldn’t touch him either.
Alex Gordon goes 20/20.
JD Drew isn’t starting at the end of the year.
David DeJesus remains completely worthless. Stop drafting him people, you’re killing me.
Bedard strikes out 250 and wins 15.
Pudge Rodriguez has a good year. A 300 average and 15 bombs doesn’t seem crazy.
Mike Lowell hits .270 with 20 bombs. Nothing special.
Vernon Wells bounces back, .290 25 bombs.
Last year I thought Dice K was so overrated. This year, he might actually be underrated. Expect a 3.7 ERA and 220 Ks.
Dontrelle Willis is extremely shaky. 4.5 ERA but 12 wins.
If I had to rank Chamberlain, Hughes, Kennedy, Buchholz, and Lester, I’d go Buchholz, Hughes, Lester, Kennedy, Chamberlain.
Posada hits .280, but 20 bombs.
Ryan Garko hits 30 homers.
Ian Kinsler goes 25/25
Hank Blalock hits 25 bombs
Torri Hunter goes 25/25
Luke Scott hits 25 bombs
David Ortiz hits 40 bombs
James Shields wins 15 games
BJ Ryan gets more saves than Jeremy Accardo
Jerry Owens steals 40 bases