ON THE SHOW:
Tim Yoder (@VikingUpdate), VikingUpdate.com - 4:15
Dave Sinykin (@TCHeadCheese), TheHeadCheese.com - 4:25
Charlie Campbell (@DraftCampbell), WalterSports.com - 5:05
The Twin Peaks Girls. 'Nuff said.
HOT TOPICS:
- NFL Draft. Who's going #1? Who will the local teams select?
- Ken and Joe's debate over who's the #1 QB taken
- Iowans in the draft
QUICK HIT:
Five Bold Early Season Predictions - MLB
Plenty of NFL draft conversation coming up on the show today, so I thought I'd go a different direction.
Even though the MLB season is only 20 games old, and there's a looooong way to go, it's never too early to start making some wild predictions. Here's five I think have a chance to be true.
1. Of the teams with the five highest payrolls, only 1 will make the postseason
Who it will be is still up for debate. I could probably make a pretty strong case that zero will make it.
But of the Yankees, Dodgers, Angels, Phillies, and Red Sox, I'll bet four out of five will be watching the postseason from their couch.
2. Of the 10 highest paid players in the game, only 3 will make the All-Star game
Here's the list: A-Rod, Johan Santana, Cliff Lee, Mark Texiera, CC Sabathia, Joe Mauer, Prince Fielder, Tim Lincecom, Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez.
It's a little tough to pick out who's going and who's not because of how pitchers are selected, but there's no way that A-Rod, Santana, Texiera, Lincecom, or Gonzalez are going anywhere. I'd bet against a couple of the other guys as well. Miggy and Prince are the only locks in my mind right now.
3. The Phillies hold a fire sale that includes Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Jimmy Rollins, Roy Halladay, Jonathan Pappelbon, and others.
The team is just too old to win. There's no way they can claw past both the Braves and Nats in the NL East, and they'll need to move parts to bring in the youth they'll need in the future.
I'd predict Utley and Rollins will be the first to go (good players at thin positions), followed by Mike Adams and Jonathan Pappelbon (above average bullpen arms). Cliff Lee will get moved at the last minute, and the team will try to deal both Halladay and Ryan Howard unsuccessfully.
4. Derek Jeter will retire
We know one great Yankee, Mariano Rivera, plans to hang up the cleats at the end of this season, and I'll predict Jeter will join him.
Jeter will go down as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best to ever don the Pinstripes. I just he takes a lesson from one of the other greats of the last 20 years, Chipper Jones, and hangs it up while he's still on top.
5. The Atlanta Braves will sweep the major awards the NL.
Might be somewhat of a selfish prediction, but hear me out.
Justin Upton will win the MVP going away if he continues at half the pace he's on. Can't argue with that one.
Evan Gattis will win the rookie of the year, so long as he continues on his present pace. All the impact mid season call-ups look to be in the AL (Profar, Myers, Bogaerts), and most of the top prospects in the NL are fighting injuries right now.
Cy Young is where this gets a little bit sticky, but the Braves have three legitimate contenders: Kris Medlen (who's stats are still unreal), Mike Minor (see previous), and Craig Kimbrel.
