'06 Predictions..

by thewebb on Feb 18, 2006 9:39 AM PST

I thought it'd be cool to have a forum where everyone can make their '06 predictions in one place. Whether it be about individuals, the team, other teams, whatever.

My #1 prediction: If MacPherson doesn't get traded and tears it up this spring with power, he WILL start at 3rd. Whether that means Figgins will become super utility and start at a different spot every day or Erstad will be out at center is another prediction in itself.

Just judging by some of Stoneman's comments, it sounds to me like they want D-Mac to get motivated by 'losing' his spot and come in and take it back this spring.

This Fan-Post is authored by an independent fan. Tell us what you think and how you feel.

Tweet Comment 22 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

It's all about the injuries

Erstad goes on DL before the start of the season.
Figgins goes to CF full-time
D-Mac starts at 3B, occasionally spelled by the Fonz.
Salmon makes the team, gets the occasional start against lefties at DH.
Team gets off to a hot start, thanks to surprisingly productive offense (especially D-Mac & Kotch).
Erstad's return in May creates "four outfielder controversy," shades of 1996.
Colon gets hurt in mid-season; Jered Weaver's called up to replace him.
Kevin Gregg doesn't make the club, starts the season at Triple A.

by mattwelch on Feb 18, 2006 11:17 AM PST reply actions

Casey's Injury Bug

Instead of Erstad going down with an injury, what if Kotchman goes down with an injury early on? Keep in mind, Kotchman has been injury-prone throughout his career. An injury to Kotch could set in a motion a scary sequence of moves/decisions by Sosh . . . .

by G Abbes on Feb 18, 2006 12:58 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah, but...

... most of those were flukes.

The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

by scareduck on Feb 18, 2006 2:29 PM PST up reply actions

lots of options...

This team would have quite a few options with Morales/Erstad/Quinlan/D-Mac as 1st base options. It would hurt Kotchman personally to get hurt in a year like this, though, and the Angels will be better off if he and everyone else stays healthy.

by thewebb on Feb 18, 2006 2:20 PM PST reply actions

Here's one for you...

Casey Kotchman will hit more homeruns than Garret.

by NPCody on Feb 18, 2006 3:25 PM PST reply actions

I would place that bet

without even thinking about it.

by pattimelt on Feb 18, 2006 3:34 PM PST up reply actions

EASILY

the question then is ...

will Casey hit TWICE as many HRs than Garret?

by Rev Halofan on Feb 19, 2006 3:58 PM PST up reply actions

Don't bet on it!

While I do expect Kotchman to have a good year and establish himself as our Firstbaseman of the present and future, I'd stop short of saying that he'll hit TWICE as many HR'S as G.A. -- I actually think Garret will bounce back with the power numbers somewhat. Here's what I project for each of them:

Kotchman: .287, 25 HR, 91 RBI, .483 SLG

Anderson: .290, 24 HR, 103 RBI, .495 SLG

by Jack Frost on Feb 21, 2006 10:46 AM PST up reply actions

Just a hunch

I have NOTHING to back this up, but I have a feeling Kotchman is going to have a monster year, with numbers just like he was putting up all through the minors (except for his April slump last year). Shades of Donnie Baseball:

.352 27 HR 112 RBI

D-Mac
.272 32 HR 85 RBI

Kendrick - June callup
.321 14 HR 65 RBI

by johnnyangel101 on Feb 19, 2006 5:18 PM PST reply actions

wow

i guess i'm no longer the guy wearing the rosiest glasses around here....of course, i hope you're right, but i don't think you will be.

my predictions:

Figgins will start at 3B. Our team co-MVP won't be relegated to utility guy.
GA will find his swing and have an injury-free, solid season, in spite of all the criticism: .290/22/103
Unfortunately, D-Mac will get injured again and it will be the beginning of the end for this once-promising young man.
Salmon will not make the team, but he will end up with another big-league club.
Juan Rivera will hit at least 25 home runs.
Jered Weaver will get a spot start.

by yeswecan on Feb 19, 2006 5:29 PM PST up reply actions

one more

jose molina will finally figure out how to hit, just like his brother did.

by yeswecan on Feb 19, 2006 5:55 PM PST up reply actions

just for fun

If my predictions were the same as everyone else's, then it wouldn't be any fun...

I remember seeing Kotchman at Rancho - he and McPherson looked like men among boys - and his numbers always reflected that, too. For some reason, his April slump and his 2004 Major League performance have, in my opinion, caused an overreaction with PECOTA and any other predictors. And as Matt said over at BBTF, second half performances are often a good gauge on future performance. I agree. I think the Casey we saw in Aug-Sep is just the beginning of what we are going to see in Anaheim in the future.

by johnnyangel101 on Feb 19, 2006 11:43 PM PST up reply actions

I don't know about 25...

...but I can see Rivera hitting a halthy amount of HRs. Obviously it depends on the amount of game time he gets, hopefully he'll get a lot of DH time and left field starts when GAs knees get buggered. Can also see Kotchman easily hitting 20+ HRs as well.

by Matt UK on Feb 20, 2006 4:04 AM PST up reply actions

Figgins

I never said he wouldn't start every day, I just predict he won't be the fulltime 1st basemen because they're dying to get D-Mac's power in the lineup.

The reason Figgins is even in the team MVP discussion is his versatility. If he plays one position all year, there's no way he's in the running for team MVP. Frankly, as long as Vlad wears a Halo uniform he probably shouldn't be anyway.

Which brings up an interesting question. I'm assuming Vlad is well liked, even though he seems to kind of be an air head at times. My question is, I'm assuming the team MVP is voted on by the players, how is he NOT the team MVP each year? Is it just boring to vote for the best guy? Is he not as well liked internally as I would assume he is? I'm brimming with questions!

by thewebb on Feb 22, 2006 8:11 PM PST up reply actions