Friday, January 24, 2014

AL Central: 12 Game Report

 Whew, 12 games through the AL Central and a third of the way through the first divisional round robins. It's been a shocking season thus far in the Central, with Chicago claiming first place behind explosive power and top pitcher Justin Verlander struggling to keep opposing teams off the board. There was a lot more offense in the Central than the East, demonstrated most aptly by the 16-2 Cleveland over CWS victory and the Twins 21-7 win over Detroit. Without further ado, the complete standings and player stats.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Expert Riley's Postseason Predictions

I have the playoffs all set up. Now let's see how I think my division winners will fare in the Fall Classic.

Expert Riley's NL Predictions

One might call these the greatest teams ever assembled for an MLB Showdown season. However, only one of these teams can actually be the greatest. My division predictions are the first step in finding out which of these teams will prove its greatness. I'll keep these picks short.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Expert Riley's AL Predictions

One might call these the greatest teams ever assembled for an MLB Showdown season. However, only one of these teams can actually be the greatest. My division predictions are the first step in finding out which of these teams will prove its greatness. I'll keep these picks short.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

AL East: 12 Game Report

 The AL East teams are a quarter of the way through the 2014 MLB Showdown season. It has been an extremely competitive division, with first and last place separated by a mere two games. Home teams have ruled thus far, going 20-10. The MVP of the first quarter is clearly Robinson Cano, who leads the division with 6 HRs, 18 RBIs, a .440 average, and .491 OBP. Meanwhile, there are plenty of great pitchers, but Vance Worley has the best ERA at 1.29. Below are the full standings, player stats, and team breakdowns.

Monday, January 13, 2014

"Experts" Playoff Predictions

With All-Stars, Awards, and Standings all projected, all that's left is the playoff picks! Without further ado, here's how our "experts" see the post-season playing out, all the way to picking their champion!

The "Experts" NL Standings Predictions

The American League has been forecasted, but who do the experts think will head to the playoffs from the National League? Their answers will surprise you!

The "Experts" AL Standings Predictions

This MLB Showdown Season looks like it'll be an exciting one from start to finish, with at least 8 teams in both the AL and NL with realistic chances to make it to the World Series. Furthermore, nearly every team has a realistic chance at the postseason, adding drama to every single series! So without further ado, the sure to be foolishly incorrect expert predictions!

Projected All-Stars and Award Winners

Baseball may be a great team game, but it's also the most focused on individual statistics. As MLB Showdown cards are focused entirely on a player's individual stats, a line of preseason predictions wouldn't be complete without a post about awards and all stars. Due to the star studded nature of this league, there will be some glaring omissions and controversy! If you feel we've missed someone or you feel a different player will take an award, feel free to comment!

Computer Power Ranking Predictions

 The Computer Simulation


Anything can happen in MLB Showdown, but the odds certainly favor some cards, teams, and outcomes. Simulators Riley and Peter decided to use a computer simulation to discover the "on-paper" champion, a "what if dice rolling wasn't a factor" simulation. The computer compared each positional player, starting pitcher, and bullpen of a team against their divisional counter-parts and ranked them 1 thru 5 (1 being the best), giving each team a power ranking. The lower the score, the better the team is compared to their divisional foes, allowing us to see which teams are favored to win (on paper) their division and find the team in best position to win the wild card! Below is the computer's rankings, complete with projected standings, post season predictions, and a projected World Series champion:

Pre-Season Outlook: San Francisco Giants























Pre-Season Outlook: San Diego Padres























Pre-Season Outlook: Colorado Rockies























Pre-Season Outlook: Los Angeles Dodgers






















Pre-Season Outlook: Arizona Diamondbacks





















Pre-Season Outlook: Chicago Cubs






















Pre-Season Outlook: Milwaukee Brewers






















Pre-Season Outlook: Pittsburgh Pirates






















Pre-Season Outlook: St. Louis Cardinals























Pre-Season Outlook: Cincinnati Reds























Pre-Season Outlook: Montreal Expos
























Pre-Season Outlook: Miami Marlins






















Saturday, January 11, 2014

Pre-Season Outlook: Chicago White Sox





















Pre-Season Outlook: Kansas City Royals






















Pre-Season Outlook: Cleveland Indians





















Pre-Season Outlook: Detroit Tigers





















Pre-Season Outlook: Minnesota Twins





















Pre-Season Outlook: Baltimore Orioles

Pre-Seaon Outlook: Tampa Bay Rays




















Pre-Season Outlook: Toronto Blue Jays




















Pre-Season Outlook: New York Yankees























Pre-Season Outlook: Boston Red Sox





















Welcome!

Welcome to MLB Showdown 2014! The premise of this blog is simple: to record and catalogue an MLB Showdown season, compiled of all 30 MLB teams.

The rosters are composed of players from the original MLB Showdown 2000 and 2001 sets, along with 2011 and 2012 player cards made by Colby Tallafuss. Definitely try checking out his website (http://mlbshowdowncards.blogspot.com/) where you can order modern MLB showdown cards if you want!

The process of forming these teams was fairly simple. I gathered up all my 2000, 2001, 2011, and 2012 cards and sorted them all into their respective teams. From there, they made cuts to meet roster size and the salary cap. From there, teams that were under the salary cap could sign free agents (and there were plenty of great free agents, mostly from the Red Sox), with the team with the most cap space getting first dibs, etc... It should be easy to tell which player was a free agent signing.