MLB Season Preview 2011: 18 Bold Predictions To Equal One Great Season

Always gotta go bold. Why 18? Why not?

Without further ado, here are my eighteen BOLD predictions for this upcoming season. It will be a great one—I guarantee it.  Feel free to comment with your opinion or make your own article, but just do it before Opening Day's first pitch at 1:05. LET'S PLAY BALL!

1. J.A. Happ wins the National League Cy Young and puts the Houston Astros just over the .500 mark.

2. Both the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets will finish with a record of 86-76 and finish third in their respective East divisions.

3. Carl Crawford will win the American League MVP.

4. The NLCS will go into seven games, ending with a Joey Votto walk-off shot off Braves closer Craig Kimbrel.

5. Bryce Harper is brought up prematurely but shows his MLB maturity. 

6. Manny Ramirez wins American League Comeback Player of the Year.

7. You will forget about Pablo Sandoval's sophomore slump and how he was once plump.

8. The 2011 Marlins will remind you of the 2007 squad that consisted of youngsters and veterans, so don't be shocked if they do well because I just said that odd group would.

9. A.J. Burnett bounces back, but the Yanks will miss Andy Pettitte. They still manage to face their archrivals in the ALCS though.

10. Remember when Jake Peavy won the Cy Young in 2007? He won't win 19 games again, but he'll come awfully close.

11. Billy Beane will no longer be known as a "has-been." I still can't fathom why he is known as one.                    

12. Pittsburgh will shock the baseball world, and Kansas City will shock the baseball world.

13. Joe Blanton won't be lazy like Joe the Plumber because he will be relied on, but the Phillies will still win the National League East Division again.

14. Jose Bautista is for real.

15. Chone Figgins will bounce back and go 30-30 and will make the AL West a tiny bit tougher.

16. With the big loss of Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse of the St. Louis Cardinals will produce a 15-plus-win season.

17. Starlin Castro of the Chicago Cubs and Austin Jackson of the Detroit Tigers will not have sophomore slumps and will prove to be a part of MLB's bright future.

18. The over sized vegan will fail to produce and I'm still baffled why everyone thinks he will have a MVP caliber season, he won't.