Fantasy Baseball 2012: 30 Bold Predictions for 2012

In my fantasy baseball chat last Wedesday night, one of our readers asked me for some bold predictions for 2012, and I gave him a few, but mentioned that I would like to write an article covering some other predictions for 2012. I will cover every team here in my 30 Bold Predictions for 2012.

I will start with the American League

AL East

1. Yankees - Alex Rodriguez hits less than 20 home runs for the second consecutive season, and the Yankees finish in 3rd place behind the Rays and Blue Jays.

2. Red Sox - Adrian Gonzalez will come close to winning the triple crown, hitting 43 home runs, driving in 130 runs and hitting .347, but the Red Sox finish in 4th place behind a league worst pitching staff.

3. Rays - Desmond Jennings hits 15 home runs and steals 55 bases to lead the American League, and the Rays win the AL East.

4. Blue Jays - Jose Bautista will hit less than 30 home runs this season, but Eric Thames more than makes up for the power drop with 27 home runs of his own.

5. Orioles - Brian Matusz regains his old form and wins 14 games with a 3.40 ERA.

More Bold Predictions after the jump:

AL Central

1. Tigers - Justin Verlander has a rough 2012 season, winning just 11 games with an ERA north of 4.00. Jacob Turner wins 12 games with a 3.65 ERA.

2. Indians - Carlos Santana has a monster season hitting .303 with 34 homes runs and 112 RBI.

3. Twins - Joe Mauer plays more games at first base than at catcher, but hits .325 with 15 home runs, but the Twins lose over 100 games.

4. Royals - Alex Gordon quiets his critics by hitting .320 with 30 home runs, 105 RBI and 22 stolen bases to lead the Royals to a second place finish behind the Tigers.

5. White Sox - Gordon Beckham has a break out year, hitting 23 home runs, driving in 88 and hitting .285-.350-.490.

AL West

1. Rangers - Yu Darvish leads the American League in strikeouts with 260, but loses out to Jesus Montero for AL Rookie of the Year.

2. Angels - Albert Pujols hits just .285-.350-.500 with 26 home runs in his first season in Los Angeles. The Angels finish in 3rd place in the AL West.

3. Mariners - Jesus Montero hits 30 home runs with a .300 batting average in his first full season in the big leagues, to win the AL Rookie of the Year.

4. Athletics - shortstop Cliff Pennington steals 38 bases and leads the team with a .279 batting average.

National League

NL East

1. Phillies -Ryan Howard misses the first four months of the season, and the Phillies win less than 90 games.

2. Braves - Tommy Hanson will make less than 10 starts this season and will go down with a season ending shoulder injury in late May. The Braves finish in 4th place in the NL East.

3. Nationals - Wilson Ramos hits .280 with 23 home runs and is one of the top 5 fantasy catchers in 2012. The Nationals win the NL East.

4. Marlins - Mike Stanton hits 50 home runs to lead the majors, and will end the season with over 100 career home runs at the age of 22.

5. Mets - Lucas Duda leads the Mets in home runs with 29 and hits .290 for season. The Mets deal David Wright at mid-season. The Wilpons announce they will file for bankruptcy and will put the team up for sale after seeing Frank McCourt sell the Dodgers for $1.75 billion.

NL Central

1. Cardinals - Jason Motte loses the closer job in May and Lance Lynn saves 32 games for the Cardinals. Adam Wainwright struggles in the first half of the season, and wins just 8 games.

2. Reds - Mat Latos wins 20 games with an ERA of 3.50 to help the Reds win the NL Central by 8 games.

3. Brewers - Yovani Gallardo wins 18 games with an ERA of 2.85 and 236 strikeouts. Ryan Braun struggles after returning from his 50 game suspension, hitting just .270 with 13 home runs and driving in 60, leading many to question his 2011 NL MVP award again.

4. Pirates - Pedro Alvarez reports to camp in great shape and hits 33 home runs, placing in the top 5 in home runs in the National League. The Pirates deal Andrew McCutchen after McCutchen tells the team he will not sign a long term deal with the team.

5. Cubs - Starlin Castro hits .315 with 22 home runs, 87 RBI and 25 stolen bases and is the #2 fantasy shortstop behind Troy Tulowitzki.

6. Astros - Jose Altuve hits .325 and has a 38 game hitting streak for the longest hitting streak in MLB in 2012. The Astros lose 112 games.

NL West

1. Diamondbacks - Ian Kennedy wins just 13 games with an ERA of 4.50 and gives up 31 homes runs to lead the National League. The Diamondbacks finish in 3rd place in the NL West.

2. Dodgers - Dee Gordon steals 70 bases, hits .299 while scoring 100 runs. The Dodgers are sold to the ownership group lead by Rick Caruso and Joe Torre, and the team wins the NL West by one game on the final day of the season after dealing for David Wright on July 15th.

3. Rockies - Eric Young finally gets to play everyday when Dexter Fowler goes down in spring training, and steals 67 bases. The Rockies battle the Padres for last place in the NL West.

4. Giants - Tim Lincecum pitches a no - hitter in April, but goes down with a season ending shoulder injury in June.

5. Padres - Yonder Alonso hits .305 with 25 home runs and 90 RBI to win the National League Rookie of the Year.