I'll take a look at some of the bold predictions I made in late January and early February for the 2010 season and also why in some cases the decisions weren't as hard as they seemed.

The first - not prediction but - statement I'll bring up is in my March 4th Baltimore Orioles post. In my opening paragraph I said, "I think the Garrett Atkins move this offseason was a little overrated, but at the same time landing Miguel Tejada was severely underrated." Recently the Orioles made news when they mentioned that the club would pursue a trade for Jake Fox and make a transition for him to play first base - a position already occupied by a struggling Garret Atkins. 


Not only are Atkins .219 average, 5 runs scored, 1HR and 9 RBI terrible, but he has only playing 43 games this season. Baltimore has been plagued with injuries all season long, but the Atkins numbers are atrocious and that makes him virtually valueless. 


The 2nd half of my statement was the underplayed acquisition of Miguel Tejada. It was understood that Tejada wasn't going to return to MVP form and wasn't going to be nearly the dominant glove in the field, but he's had a mildly respectable season. Tejada is hitting .270 with 16 extra base hits and 23 RBI. He's scored 26 runs this season and for an Oriole team that could be the first sellers of 2010, Tejada has played himself into some value for a double A pitcher/hitter and perhaps an undervalued member of a contender (i.e. Jeremy Hermida, Brendan Harris)


The next statement I will look at was once again not too difficult of a prediction, but is panning out very nicely is from my January 6th Atlanta Braves post: " Atlanta is going to rely on veteran Tim Hudson to hold up the back end of the rotation a year and a half removed from Tommy John surgery and if he can stay healthy he should rack up wins in the high teens." Atlanta has caught a ton of fire and has found themselves a top the NL East for the first time in years. 


Not only has Atlanta's pitching held up its end of the bargain, but its hitting has been timely. More importantly Tim Hudson has reemerged as the leader of the rotation. Hudson is enjoying a 7-2 record with a 2.34 ERA. He's pitched 92 innings this season and has held hitters to a .221 BA against him. The strikeout to walk ratio isn't too impressive but he's limited the long ball (6) and has only allowed 24 ER all season. 


Hudson is going to need to stay consistent all season long if Atlanta wants to remain at the top - once Philadelphia catches fire that's going to be a tough team to beat. Now I'm calling upon Derek Lowe to add to veteran leadership to get Hanson and Jurrjens back on track. 


And not to beat a dead horse, but also with that post I mentioned the emergence of Martin Prado who has hit the cover off the baseball all season too. 


The third statement I'd like to touch base upon is in regards to the Cincinnati Reds. After the Reds acquired Orlando Hudson I put them into contention for the NL Central - he's a born winner, performer and knows how to get the job done. "Orlando Cabrera will be the newest face in town, and if history tells anything this season could be a good one for the Reds." The Reds sit at 2nd place in the up-for-grabs NL Central right now with a 38-33 record 1.5 games behind the Cardinals. 


Orlando Cabrera doesn't have overwhelming numbers - but he doesn't have to. Cinci is built on young pitching and scoring runs late. They lead the league with 14 last at-bat wins and added another last night in Oakland. OC has hit 16 doubles and scored 32 times this year but his .247 avg and .286 obp make him a hard option to trade if the Reds fall out of the race late. 


I still am not completely sold on the Reds, but you can't argue with the numbers. Dusty Baker has always had at least one good season for the teams he's managed and it looks like this could finally be his year in Cinci. 


I'll be sure to dig up some more posts later in the week for discussion, and of course I will do my due-diligence and mention some points that I had some big swings and misses on.


"Josh Beckett should win the CY Young this season." "Jon Rauch will struggle massively as a closer in the AL." And last but not least, "The Yankees will struggle to get back to the post season this year."