A Casey’s Corner tradition

Last week, I wrote briefly about my pride in the longevity of this column.

This week, I will write a column that mirrors one of my first submissions, and has been a long-standing tradition ever since.

One of my first columns as an employee with this paper was a piece giving predictions for the 2010 MLB season. It was an idea given to me by my editor at the time, and it’s stuck.

I’ve done one like this every, single year, and with this being the opening week of the 2017 season, there’s probably no time like the present to roll out the carpet and get it going again.

So here goes – my predictions for the new year. Keep in mind, I’ve not had a very good winning percentage on these. I love baseball, yes. But apparently don’t know much about it, judging from how bad some of these have gone wrong.

—-

PREDICTION 1: The Cubs WILL NOT win the World Series 

This is tradition. This has been my No. 1 prediction in every, single year of my pre-MLB column. It was right every year except last season when they broke the curse and won the title. Guess what? It’s not happening again. The Cubs have too much pressure on them, and the shift from the hunter to the hunted will do them in. I’m not confident in that at all. I just refuse to break tradition.

PREDICTION 2: The Yankees will be better

 I’m not a Yankees guy at all, but I think the Bombers have spent their money better in the past few seasons, which will allow them to be more competitive. They were an 84-win club a year ago, and with the bullpen they have, I see no reason to believe they won’t contend for a Wild Card spot at the absolute least.

PREDICTION 3: Expect more from the Royals

All of the breaks that Kansas City got in 2015 went the other way in 2016, as the Royals were just a .500 club, finishing with exactly 81 wins and 81 losses. But the Royals still have an awfully talented bunch, and they’ve played well this spring. They will be back to their 90-win ways.

PREDICTION 4: Not yet, Bravos … not yet

I am a huge Braves fan, so I’d love to write all about how they’ll be back and better than ever in 2017. Of course, that would be a lie. The Braves won’t be a 100-loss team in 2017, but they likely will still lose somewhere in the neighborhood of 85-90 games. Next year, I believe, is the year where the Bravos make a significant push. They’re still a little green right now, waiting for prospects to come to the bigs.

PREDICTION 5: Angels get lost in the shuffle … again

It’s unreal how good Mike Trout is at baseball. But yet, he’s not played in very many big games in his career, because the Angels have been pretty bad. This year, I expect a lot of the same. The American League West is just too good. It’s hard to stay floating in that shark tank.

PREDICTION 6: Justin Williams will make his MLB debut  

Call me a homer, but I think my buddy and Houma native Justin Williams will make his MLB debut this year for the Rays. I think he will start in AA-ball, and will rise quickly through the ranks. They’re high on his ability, and I am, too. What could help his cause is that I don’t particularly think the Rays will be very good, so they may try a youth movement sometime late in the summer if they fall out of the chase. That would be an awesome day for Houma if that happens. He deserves it, as well.

PREDICTION 7: The Nationals will disappoint, as always  

There is some sort of strange obsession the national media heads have with the Washington Nationals, and I can’t fully put my finger on what it is nor why it’s in place. The Nationals are good, sure. But they’re annually picked to win 95-100 games, and it just never seems to go that way. And I don’t think it will be a smooth ride for them this year, either. They have talent, but they just have a tendency to let everyone down. I don’t think that’s going to change.

PREDICTION 8: The Giants will win the National League  

I think the Giants will get quality pitching and just enough offense to win a hotly competitive National League. I think they win the West, the Cubs take the Central and the Mets take the East. Give me the Cardinals and Dodgers as the two Wild Cards with the Diamondbacks in the mix until late in the season, as well.

PREDICTION 9: The Astros win the American League  

Call me a lunatic, but I think the Astros will catch fire for all of 2017 – like they did in the back-half of 2016. If they do that, there’s no reason they can’t play some high-stakes fall baseball. Obviously, I like the Astros in the West, so give me the Red Sox to win the East, the Royals to take the Central and the Indians and Yankees to take the Wild Card spots.

PREDICTION 10: The Astros will win the World Series  

Give me Houston over San Francisco in a 4-2 series, which makes it impossible for anyone to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals. That’s no fun, but sometimes life isn’t fair.

Follow Casey on Twitter for more. 

https://twitter.com/casey_gisclair