Monday Night Update: get your entries in by midnight Tuesday! I'm bumping this thread to the top because it's gotten buried.
The rules really are that simple, though. Predict how many games each MLB team is going to win in 2010. The winner is the Bauxite whose guesses are collectively closest. If you want more detail on the scoring formula, ask me at the end of the year when I calculate it!
(Seriously though, last year it was the lowest average absolute deviation, though this year I might change it to lowest average mean squared error, which is what Vegas Watch uses when they evaluate the major projection systems. Really, they give about the same results.)
Last year's contest was a resounding success, with electric carrot taking the top spot, and fellow Bauxites nathanelias and Mudie rounding out the top 3. Can last year's winner repeat, or will this root vegetable short out? Can the roster members break through and prove they actually deserve to be on the roster (last year, John Northey and I finished 10th and 11th, irrespectively, out of 18)? Can the Bauxite community repeat their collective success compared to the major projection systems (only CAIRO and RLYW beat Da Box' aggregate score last year) and well-known baseball writers (none of the writers surveyed by Vegas Watch bested Da Box)?
Make your predictions here, and we'll try to keep it updated a couple times throughout the year. I'll give a handy format for you to copy and paste. I would like to ask that you don't change the order of the teams, even if you predict a different order of finish, as it will make it easier when the time comes to set all this up in my Magical Baseball Computer Program. (P.S. I just listed the wins in my prediction - if you really want to predict a team will play a different number of games than 162 you can specify losses too)
Yankees: 102
Red Sox: 98
Rays: 94
Orioles: 72
Jays: 74
Twins: 86
Tigers: 81
White Sox: 78
Royals: 57
Indians: 73
Mariners: 86
Angels: 85
Rangers: 80
A's: 78
Braves: 91
Phillies: 93
Mets: 76
Marlins: 82
Nationals: 68
Cardinals: 90
Cubs: 80
Reds: 78
Brewers: 84
Astros: 72
Pirates: 66
Dodgers: 90
Rockies: 85
Diamondbacks: 80
Giants: 84
Padres: 67
Submit your entries by Wednesday.