MLB 2013 season previews

The Tigers were plenty good in 2012, but might be even better in 2013. That’s also the case for just about everyone else in the division as well, leading to the the big question: has anyone loaded up enough to keep 2013 from simply being a repeat of the year before?

Rather than bore you with the minutiae of each club’s off-season -- an exercise that would take more time than there is before the season actually begins -- we’ll hit you with the basic need-to-knows to bring you up to speed on the state of baseball in 2013. We’ll also get an assist from our expert team bloggers to see just what the best- and worst-case scenarios are for each of baseball’s 30 clubs. As you might guess, some are less optimistic than others.

In 2009, Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA system looked at Matt Wieters, who had never played a game in the big leagues, and saw a catcher who could hit .311/.395/.544 and be worth nearly eight wins above replacement player. Four years later, Wieters has established himself as an All-Star caliber player -- not by dominating with the bat, but by providing excellent defense and above-average offense for a catcher. My “unexpected” prediction is that 2013, Wieters’ age-27 season is the year (and maybe the only one) in which he lives up to the hype; he continues to improve the walk and line-drive rates, more of those drives find holes than had been in 2011 and 2012, and more of his long fly balls leave the park. Wieters ends up with something like a .300/.390/.540 line, with more than 30 home runs, and gets some serious MVP consideration (though probably not as much as he’ll deserve, playing for an Orioles team that ends up well out of the running). -- Bill Parker

• A day in the life of the Cactus League

Rather than bore you with the minutiae of each club’s off-season -- an exercise that would take more time than there is before the season actually begins -- we’ll hit you with the basic need-to-knows to bring you up to speed on the state of baseball in 2013. We’ll also get an assist from our expert team bloggers to see just what the best- and worst-case scenarios are for each of baseball’s 30 clubs. As you might guess, some are less optimistic than others.

2012 Opening Day payroll: $112 million

*Romero could also ask the Blue Jays entertainment team to play “Mama Said Knock You Out”, as well, considering his nickname is RR Cool Jay. I’ve never heard anyone really refer to him as that, but Baseball-Reference is gospel.

The foregoing is, of course, a bit of hyperbolic satire on the mostly undeserved reverence with which closers are treated -- a case which the emergence of Johnson from the pile of nondescript middle relievers makes in boldface numbers.

After an incredibly volatile two decades or so, American League team offensive levels have been stable at about 4.45 runs per game over the last three years, the same level as the 1980s (ignoring 1987) through the very early 1990s. That unusual consistency is unlikely to repeat itself in 2013. However, that doesn’t mean we’re about to return to the inflated levels of the post-strike years. We’re unlikely to see a 50-home-run hitter (there’s been just one of those in the last five years, and only four others who topped 40), or 140 RBI (none of those since 2007). If you’re only into records and big round numbers, move long -- nothing to see here.

That’s not to say that there won’t be compelling developments on offense during the 2013 season. Here are four things to look for:

Rather than bore you with the minutiae of each club’s off-season -- an exercise that would take more time than there is before the season actually begins -- we’ll hit you with the basic need-to-knows to bring you up to speed on the state of baseball in 2013. We’ll also get an assist from our expert team bloggers to see just what the best- and worst-case scenarios are for each of baseball’s 30 clubs. As you might guess, some are less optimistic than others.

2012 record: 93-69, including a 27-30 record within their own division capped off by three straight losses to the A’s that cost them the division.

We’ve polled our network of baseball experts to determine an answer to the division winners, wild card teams, as well as those that will advance to the World Series -- and ultimately emerge victorious from the Fall Classic.

• Boisball Cards: Collect the whole set!

Rather than bore you with the minutiae of each club’s off-season -- an exercise that would take more time than there is before the season actually begins -- we’ll hit you with the basic need-to-knows to bring you up to speed on the state of baseball in 2013. We’ll also get an assist from our expert team bloggers to see just what the best- and worst-case scenarios are for each of baseball’s 30 clubs. As you might guess, some are less optimistic than others.

For the record, the previewed teams are not in any particular order, but if it helps you to argue over them, you can pretend these are in reverse-order of expected standings.