2014 Season Predictions!

In 2014, the Colorado Rockies are projected to over throw the defending World Series champion Giants as the NL West Division Champs.

Our 5th season in FCM is among us! To start I thought it would be interesting to take the current sim file and have mogul simulate the 2014 seaosn 50 times to see who it thought which teams were going to be the cream of the crop, and which players are most likely to win what awards.

I'll start out with the NL West, and as featured in the picture, mogul expects the Rockies to win the division. They won it 20 times out of the 50 seasons. The NL West has arguably changed from being the most boring division to one of the more competitive divisions. There are no super star teams like Houston, Milwauke and New York in this division, but all five teams in the NL West are very close which makes for great baseball. San Francisco was second most division wins at 14. (LA 10, SD 5, ARI 1) Even though the Rockies are projected to win the division, they only won the world series once, sorry! Even more suprising is that the defending champion Giants did not win the world series once in the simulation! I guess 2014 is not supose to be there year!

Here's the complete breakdown of the NL West:

Team Projected Record / total playoff apperances (world series championships)

COL 87.26 - 74.84 / 22 (1)
SF 85.42 - 76.68 / 16

LAD 84.66 - 77.44 / 11

SD 78.24 - 83.76 / 5

ARI 73.20 - 88.80 / 1

Next we will shift our attention to one of the more boring divisions, the NL East. Florida is expected to once again run away with the division, winning the division title 30 out of the 50 seasons, with Atlanta being their closest competition at 10, and then the Mets with 8. Suprisingly mogul did not rate Kobie's Phillies very high as they are only projected to make the playoffs twice. Though the most interesting fact about this division, is that in all 50 seasons, this is the only division to not have a team win the world series. You heard it, the world series champion will NOT come out of the NL East in 2014. Though this just give's hokey and his Marlins a greater incentive to prove this point to be incorrect.

Here's the breakdown

FLA 93.70 - 68.30 / 34

NYM 86.28 - 75.78 / 14

ATL 85.06 - 76.94 / 13

PHI 75.24 - 86.75 / 2

WSH 66.20 - 95.80 /0

Now to finish off the NL, with the central division. Ever since the Cubs have gone into rebuild mode, there hasn't been a third team to step up in the division that was once considered the three headed dog. Once again, Mogul projects that 2010 will come down to just Milwaukke and Houston, leaving all the other teams in the dust. Houston though is the favorite, as Houston was the 2014 division champion 43 times in the 50 sims, along with another 5 wild card berths. Though don't worry Milwaukee fans, the Brewers are expected to snap their two season skid at just missing the playoffs as in the 50 seasons they were the wild card 26 times, more then any other team in the National League. The middle of the division will be up for grabs between Chicago, Cincy and St. Louis, though PIT, even with their up coming rookies, are projected to once again to be the bottom feaders and have the worst record in the National League, though they should have less then 100 loses. Of course I want to prove this wrong.

Here's the breakdown:

HOU 103.24 - 58.76 / 48 (13)

MIL 91.66 - 70.44 / 33 (2)

CHC 74.98 - 87.02 / 1

STL 73.94 - 88.08 / 0

CIN 71.46 - 87.02 / 0

PIT 64.80 - 97.20 / 0

Time for the American League! Starting with the AL West. The Angels have come out of no where to be the front runner of this division, which everyone thought Oakland would take control of for years to come. LAA and OAK should continue to fight for the division championship, while Seattle and Texas will continue to be the division bottom feaders. Texas, once a force in this division early on in FCM, has not made many moves as of late and is still struggling to get out of the cellar. Seattle, who had the worst record in 2014, is projected to once again have the worst record in 2014 in all of FCM.

Breakdown:

OAK: 90.20 - 71.82 / 33 (3)

LAA: 87.78 - 74.26 / 24 (2)

TEX 67.82 - 94.18 / 0

SEA 56.82 - 105.18 / 0

In 2014, it is projected that the inaugural FCM champion Minnesota Twins should once again be a force in this division, surpasing division favorite Kansas City to be the number two horse in the AL central race. Though Cleveland, who had the second worst record in the AL last year, is expected to win the division, and have the best record in the American League. It is interesting how there is no clear favorite for the World Series this year, as Cleveland is tied with Houston for 13 world series championships in the 50 season sim. But thats not all of it, there's actually a third team in the east also with 13 World Championships. Like in the national league, the wild card is projected to come out of the central division with Minnesota winning it 21 times.

Breakdown:

CLE 100.70 - 61.32 / 46 (13)

MIN 89.68 - 72.40 / 28

KC 82.14 - 79.94 / 5 (1)

DET 68.44 - 93.56 / 0

CHC 65.38 - 96.62 / 0

Last stop is the AL East. I saved this division for last because the AL East is always the biggest questionmark, as just about any team can take it. The Baltimore Orioles have become a much improved team then there 100+ lose season a few years ago, and should be an even better team then they were in 2014, though even with there improvements, there is no stoping the New York Yankees. The Yankees are the heavy favorites to win the division, as they had 40 division championships, along with 13 world series wins, tied with Houston and Cleveland. It should continue to be a battle though all season long among the top four teams, with Boston swaping with Baltimore as the divisions bottom feeder this season. I think it is worth mentioning that Baltimore did win the world series once, so teams should watch out for these guys as they very well could suprise the league once again.


Breakdown:
NYY 97.84 - 64.18 / 41 (13)
TOR 86.68 - 75.38 / 15 (1)
BAL 83.30 - 78.74 / 5 (1)
TB 80.76 - 81.28 / 2
BOS 77.58 - 84.46 / 1


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AWARDS
Here are your 2014 projected award winners.

AL MVP
Team - Name Num of award wins
MIN - Justin Morneau 19
Honorable Mentions: Evan Longoria (6), Alan Bent (5), Adam Dunn (4)

NL MVP
SF - Thomas Neal 9
Honorable Mentions: Andrew Lambo (6), Fred Sharp (5), David Wright (5)

AL Cy Young
NYY - Pat Venditte 8
Honorable Mentions: Stephen Strasburg (6), Josh Johnson (4), C.C. Sabahtia (4)

NL Cy Young
SF - Tim Lincecum 18
Honorable Mentions: Donovan Pace (10), Aroldis Chapman (5), Josh Lindblom (4)

AL Rookie of the year
DET - Joey Williams 25
Honorable Mentions: Shawn Kuczynski (9), Ross Moseley (5), Paul Wood (5)

NL Rookie of the year
PIT - Jamie Valdez 19
Honorable Mentions: Hiroshi Ren (12), Nick Trudeau (11), Maxim Smythe (3)

AL Most likely to pitch a no-hitter
CLE - Neff Roscoe 6
Honorable Mentions: Kelvin De La Cruz (3), Pat Venditte (3), Stephen Strasburg (2)

NL Most likely to pitch a no-hitter
FLA Donovan Pace
Honorable Mentions: Justin Jones (3), Maxim Smythe (3), Josh Lindblom (3)

AL Most likely to pitch a perfect game
OAK - Josh Johnson (1)
Honorable Mentions: None

NL Most likely to pitch a perfect game
ATL - J.J. Hoover (1)
Honorable Mentions: Clayton Kershaw (1), Josh Stinson (1), Yu Darvish (1), Jos, Trinidad (1), Josh Lindblom (1)



I think it is very odd that Neff Roscoe had 6 no hitters in the 50 seasons, as right now he is a 23 year old reliver in the Indians farm system with a 62/78 ratting. Maybe chirs might want to consider placing this guy in the major league rotaiton!

Good luck everyone on your 2014 seasons!