There will be a team from California in the 2014 World Series and no it won’t be the Dodgers or Angels; it will be the San Francisco Giants. Again. It hurts me to say, but the Giants are the most complete team in the league, and are better than their Southern California counterparts. Since winning two World Series titles in the last four seasons, the Giants have quietly been one of the better teams in baseball but haven’t got the recognition they deserved because of all the hype of their So-Cal rivals. I’ve got to give credit where credit is due.

Madison Bumgarner has lead the Giants back to the fall classic in 2014. By SD Dirk on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

They handily beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card game in Pittsburgh, then the Washington Nationals who had the best record in the National League. The Giants dispatched them in four games.

The pipe dream would have been to finally see a Dodgers-Giants NLCS, but the Dodgers couldn’t live up to their part of the deal and handed the Cardinals a series win thus setting up another Cardinals-Giants NLCS showdown.

A combination of great pitching from the Giants and injuries and mistakes for the Cardinals gave San Francisco the series win and another World Series appearance.

The San Francisco Giants will meet the red-hot — and surprising — Kansas City Royals in the World Series starting October 21^st in Kansas City. Recent history favors the Giants to win the series, but the way the Royals are playing anything is possible. My advice to the Royals would be to make sure to take the first two games in Kansas City, otherwise the Giants might get to party in San Francisco, celebrating a third consecutive even-year World Series title.

One thing that has remained consistent this season is the dominance of Miguel Cabrera. By Cbl62, via Wikimedia Commons

Back in January, about three months prior to the start of the 2013 Major League Baseball season, I wrote an article claiming my predictions for the upcoming season. Now that the All Star Game is upon us, that means the season is a little over halfway finished and my perception of the teams and players has changed over the course of the year from what it was before the season even started. So here are my updated predictions on what will transpire over the next few months of the season:

But first, here are my pre-season predictions:

Teams I picked to win their divisions:

AL East: New York Yankees

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies

NL Central: Cincinnati Reds

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

Wild Card Teams:

American League: Baltimore Orioles and Oakland A’s

National League: San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals

CY Young winners:

American League: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

MVP:

American League: Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

National League: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers

Best record in each League:

American League: Detroit Tigers

National League: Cincinnati Reds

Manager of the Year:

American League: Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers

National League: Don Mattingly, Los Angeles Dodgers

Moneyball will finally find a World Series ring in 2013. By Leaders Event from London, United Kingdom, via Wikimedia Commons

Updated Predictions (Stats are up to the All Star break):

Teams I picked to win their divisions:

AL East: Boston Red Sox

AL Central: Detroit Tigers

AL West: Oakland A’s

NL East: Atlanta Braves

NL Central: Pittsburgh Pirates

NL West: Arizona Diamondbacks

Wild Card Teams:

American League: Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers

National League: St Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds

CY Young winners:

American League: Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners (10-4, 2.53 ERA, 140 Strikeouts, 1.10 WHIP)

National League: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers (8-6, 1.98 ERA, 139 Strikeouts, 0.91 WHIP)

MVP:

American League: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers (.365, 30 HR, 95 RBI, .458 OBP)

National League: Paul Goldschmidt, Arizona Diamondbacks (.313, 21 HR, 77 RBI, .395 OBP)

Best record in each League:

American League: Oakland A’s

National League: Pittsburgh Pirates

Manager of the Year:

American League: John Farrell, Boston Red Sox

National League: Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates

I’m usually pretty stubborn about my predictions, but I will admit that I have changed some of mine from the preseason. I was totally off about both the Dodgers and Angels, even though both can still make some sort of run at the playoffs — especially the Dodgers.

Staying in the National League West, Paul Goldschmidt is my new pick for National League MVP. Many people view Yadier Molina as the favorite but I think otherwise. Goldschmidt has better numbers than Molina in every category other than batting average and he isn’t that far behind him in that.

Before the season started, I said that the Angels would meet up with the Dodgers in the World Series creating a “Freeway” World Series, but the Angels have woefully underperformed and I have changed my World Series prediction on its head. I predict that the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland A’s will be the final two teams standing.

Let that sink in for a second and actually consider this scenario. Both of these teams are good enough to make it. I don’t have a winner from these two teams because in my mind, they are evenly matched. Since the American League won the All-Star Game and has home field advantage, I’ll go ahead and pick Moneyball to finally come through in the postseason.

The Yankees are standing pat on what they currently have, as there hasn’t been a deadline in recent memory where baseball’s top spending franchise has failed to bolster themselves in even the slightest amount.  They were in the Hiroka Kuroda sweepstakes along with the Chicago White Sox, but Kuroda ultimately held the trump card in the form of the no-trade clause built into his contract.

The biggest splash of the deadline had to be the San Francisco Giants acquiring Carlos Beltran from the New York Mets in exchange for the top pitching prospect in their minor league system, Zach Wheeler.  General Manager Brian Sabean was quoted as saying that the team owed the move to their fans, noting that the the Major League Baseball championship-winning window is a small one.

Almost a decade ago, Beltran was traded at the deadline to the Houston Astros from the Kansas City Royals and proceeded to put up the best August and September by a deadline acquisition in recent memory, only rivaled by Manny Ramirez’s late-season clip when he was traded from the Red Sox to the Dodgers a few years ago.  While Beltran isn’t that same player he was even five years ago, he does have the offensive ability to help the anemic Giants offense significantly.

The Atlanta Braves are contenders in the NL East as well as front-runners in the wild card standings.  The addition of Michael Bourn will bring much needed outfield speed at the top of the lineup, something Atlanta has severely lacked in recent years due to the ineffectiveness of Nate McLouth and the trading away of Melky Cabrera.

Ubaldo Jimenez will strengthen the Cleveland Indians’ pitching staff, as they actually have a realistic shot at the playoffs.  You would expect nothing less with a move like this from a team that is having a dream season after more than a decade of futility.  Jimenez hasn’t had his usual dominating season thus far, but his veteran presence and Cy Young-potential talent will bring some much needed stability and leadership to a young clubhouse.

The reigning Senior Circuit champions, the Philadelphia Philles, did not sit on their full house – they decided to try and draw to a straight flush.  The addition of Hunter Pence will help balance an attack that is left-handed heavy, and will only improve an already elite offense.  Getting closer Ryan Madson healthy will be the key to the Phillies running away with the East again, as having a stable finisher is something that is key for a team like Philadelphia, who depends on winning a lot of close, low to middle-scoring, station-to-station, National League-style games.

The Milwaukee Brewers bolstered their bullpen with Francisco Rodriguez, a great backup plan if their young closer, John Axford, happens to falter down the stretch. This move is by far better than anything the St. Louis Cardinals ended up doing at the deadline, and with the Brew Crew already holding a 3.5 game lead over the Cards, they have to be the distinct favorite in the Central as the finish line approaches.

The Pittsburgh Pirates added first baseman Derek Lee in an attempt to inject some run-production with runners in scoring position.  You have to admire the Pirates for being proactive, but their brutal schedule down the stretch coupled with their inexperience makes a playoff berth in the tightly-contested National League Central a prospect that looks to be futile at best.

The Los Angeles Dodgers traded away arguably their top outfield prospect in Trayvon Robinson, who has seen limited action at the major league level while bombing 26 home runs thus far this season in Triple-A.  As a Dodgerfan, this move baffles me, due to the fact that they only received two average minor-league arms and a minor league catcher who has only hit 7 homeruns so far this season in return.

The Dodgers franchise is not only selling out its fans, but now they are starting to even sell out their best players.  The sad fact that one of the greatest and most storied franchises in sports continues to get dragged deeper and deeper through the mud and filth is as disgusting as “owner” Frank McCourt’s existence as a region-wide punchline.  Dodgerfans seem to be almost numb to the debacle as it gets worse and worse.  This is a true testament to how low the franchise has sunk.  But, a brighter day is hopefully around the corner.  What brighter day?  The day that the inevitable happens – McCourt buys a one-way ticket on a flying sourdough bowl of chowder and flys his ass back to New England for good.

Having said that, one should digress this time of year no matter how bad your favorite team happens to be navigating the treacherous waters of the vast sea that is the baseball season. Regardless of the gravity of the moves that are made every trade deadline, the underlying fact always remains – some moves end up resulting in pennants and some moves blow up in a general manager’s face.

Who will end up wearing  the egg and who will end up wearing the ring?  Its about to unfold.