2013 Postseason Predictions

Let's give you a reminder of our 2013 Regular Season Picks for the playoffs.

AL East Division Champ: Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central Division Champ: Kansas City Royals

AL West Division Champ: Oakland A's

AL Wild Card Teams: Tampa Bay Rays and L.A. Angels of Anaheim

NL East Division Champ: Washington Nationals

NL Central Division Champ: Cincinnati Reds

NL West Division Champ: San Francisco Giants

NL Wild Card Teams: Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers

Wild Card Playoff Game

Tampa Bay VS. L.A. Angels

This will be a fun game to watch as one of the best pitching teams in depth (Tampa Bay) battles the power lineup force of the West (Angels). This may be the most even Wild Card game. The Rays have a great pitching staff and a lineup that's able to produce runs. The Angels have the lineup to destroy a team easily BUT they lack a good pitching staff. While a one game playoff doesn't allow for many mistakes, this game could be very easily matched. Remember how Baltimore beat Texas last year in this game? One single game is all you get for the Wild Card and anything can happen in this game.

Winner: Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay's good pitching staff will keep the Angels lineup calm. Tampa Bay will win this game but it won't be a blow out game.

Atlanta Braves VS. L.A. Dodgers

Both Atlanta and LA went out and spent big this offseason to improve their teams. Atlanta and LA have the EXACT same problem. They both have a good lineup but they don't have much of a pitching staff. LA has Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and that's about it. Josh Beckett is an unknown, he may be amazing or, as his stat trend shows, he will be terrible. Atlanta has Kris Medlen and that's it. Tim Hudson is the unknown for Atlanta, he's coming back from injury so who knows how he'll do. The lineups are pretty much the same so the game will likely feature alot of offense.

Winner: Atlanta
Atlanta has a good starter (Medlen) who'd likely pitch the one game playoff and with an amazing bullpen, it'll be hard to see Atlanta blow it. LA has a good lineup but bullpen failure's will be the reason they lose the game.

Division Series

Toronto Blue Jays VS. Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto is going to be a powerhouse in 2013, with a great lineup thanks mainly to the deal made with the Marlins AND a great pitching rotation thanks to trades with the Marlins and Mets. Tampa Bay still features one of the best pitching staffs in the AL East, so from a pitching standpoint, especially the bullpen, this series is fairly matched. The thing is that Toronto doesn't feature many players with any playoff experience, the majority of the players on the team hasn't made any postseasons. Tampa Bay does feature more guys with experience in the postseason but their last trip to the ALDS, in 2011 against Texas, left them going home after 4 games.

Winner: Toronto
Toronto has exactly what is needed to win a series against Tampa Bay and the strength of their rotation and lineup will pull them out ahead. I think Tampa Bay will give them a fight in the playoffs, making the series go to 5 games but ultimately the deals Toronto made this offseason will help them move on.

Oakland A's VS. Kansas City Royals

Crazy right? At the beginning of 2012 if I told you that I thought these two teams would make the playoffs, you would have thought I was crazy. Kansas City has done great with offseason moves to do it but they will fight to get into the playoffs. I really think Kansas City will barely make it in, only making it to the playoffs because of a win on the last day of the season. Oakland was a surprise team last year and this offseason they made even more moves to improve the roster. It's hard to figure out which way a 5 game series would go between these two teams, neither are automatic locks to move on.

Winner: Oakland
Kansas City will be the surprise team this year and make the playoffs interesting but Oakland has a great pitching staff and a much improved roster to make it into the ALCS. While Kansas City fans will be sad their team doesn't go far, just making the playoffs for the first time in years will be a great feeling. Most likely this series ends after 4 games.

Washington Nationals VS. Atlanta Braves

You want to talk about powerhouses? Washington was a surprise team last year that showed one of the greatest pitching staffs in baseball to everyone. With a amazing bullpen and strong lineup, the Nationals were going to make it back to the playoffs before their offseason moves. The moves they made this offseason makes them THE Powerhouse of the NL, not the Dodgers (sorry Dodgers fans). Atlanta has tried to keep up with the Nationals with offseason moves, getting the Upton brothers to improve their outfield. The problem Atlanta has is lack of pitching. Atlanta has probably the best bullpen in the NL, but they lack a starting rotation.

Winner: Washington
Only a die hard Braves fan would actually think Atlanta could beat the Nationals. The Nats have the best pitching staff in baseball thanks to upgrades in the starting rotation and bullpen. The Nats also went out and improved their lineup, which is better than Atlanta's. While Atlanta is going to put up a fight in this series, the Nationals are going to finally make it into the NLCS. This series will be over in 4 games.

Cincinnati Reds VS. San Francisco Giants

It was such a disappointing year for Reds fans, as the team was up 2 games to none over the Giants last year, only to lose the next 3 straight games. The Giants went on to win the World Series for the 2nd time in 3 years. The Reds made good moves this offseason the balance the roster and they have a great pitching staff. The Giants will need their pitching staff to go back to normal  this year, you can't have your 2 time Cy Young award winner stink for the whole year again.

Winner: San Francisco
Reds fans will again go home sad, as the Giants win this series again in 5 games. The Reds will put up a fight but they won't collapse like 2012. The Giants will move on thanks to a strong, returning lineup and a great pitching staff.

Championship Series

Toronto Blue Jays VS. Oakland A's

As odd as this might look at first, both teams boast an extremely upgraded roster. Both have upgraded so much that this is where they both will be playing. Toronto has the edge in pitching staff and Oakland has a much rounded out lineup. By rounded out, we mean that Oakland can always go to the bench and replace starting guys with players who will almost equal their production. It's very strange to think these two teams are going to battle it out in the Championship Series, but thanks to great offseason moves this is how it will be.

Winner: Toronto
This series will very likely go 7 games, as Oakland will put up a good fight. Sadly, Toronto will be able to muscle their way through Oakland pitching, and make it back to the World Series for the first time since 1993. While Oakland fans will be sad their team didn't make it further, no one really expected the A's to be competitive for a few years.

Washington Nationals VS. San Francisco Giants

The reigning World Series champs Giants will be back battling it out to make it to the World Series for the 3rd time in 4 years. Washington will be going to a place they have never been and have only been once in their entire franchise history, in 1981 as the Montreal Expos. The Nationals will feature one of the most feared teams in the NL, showcasing amazing pitching and a strong lineup. The Giants are going to show their strong lineup and good starting pitching staff. The problem? The Giants haven't done enough moves this offseason to improve the roster, they've only made moves that evened out their roster.

Winner: Washington
Washington will show itself as the Powerhouse that it is and walk right over the Giants, winning the series in 6 games. The Nationals will head to the World Series for the first time EVER. Strong starting pitching will be the big factor in this series, as Strausburg, Zimmermann, Gonzalez, and Haren show why the Nationals are the best of the NL.

World Series

Washington Nationals VS. Toronto Blue Jays

It's the battle of Canada!! Oh wait, it can't be that. This will be an exciting series though, as Washington will play in it's first World Series EVER and Toronto will return to the World Series for the first time in 20 years. It's a strange series if you think about it, both teams were pretty terrible only a couple years ago and now they are awesome. It's also a very even series. Both teams have strong pitching and lineups, but Washington has the bullpen to close games out completely. While I think this won't be an easy battle for either team, it's pretty obvious who is the winner in this series. 

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS: Washington

Seriously, Washington has the best team out of these two teams and the nation's capital will go crazy in celebration. The thing that got the Nationals this far, strong pitching, is going to be the deciding factor in the series. Washington will likely win this series in 6 games, bringing a championship to the only NL team to have never played in a World Series. The offseason moves of the Nationals position them for this and while Toronto is also really good, Canada will be a little disappointed this year.