What’s even more fun than making bold predictions? Looking back at the end of the season to see how good (or so, so hilariously bad) they were. Just like with the preseason pieces in March, I’m continuing the review of our RotoBaller staff’s 2016 bold predictions.

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Grading the Predictions

1. Byung-ho Park hits 40 home runs.

I bought it all. The moonshots into the outer stratosphere. The glorious bat flips. Oh the bat flips. LOOK AT THIS. JUST LOOK AT IT. I watch it on a loop when I'm sad:

I don't regret my prediction one bit. I'm still convinced Park will hit 40 homers this ye...wait, it's over? Only 12 home runs...he was demoted to AAA?!? Oh my stars, I must clutch my pearls. Grade: F- -

2. Dallas Keuchel wins the AL Cy Young--AGAIN.

Hey, at least I didn't say Chris Archer, amirite? But for real, this was a big swing and a miss. A 9-12 record over just 168 innings and an ERA of 4.55 is barely streamer-worthy much less Cy Young-worthy. I did not foresee him having this much trouble after posting a 1.01 WHIP just a year ago. I still think Keuchel has the potential to be that high-end starter he was in 2014-15, but this year was a complete dud. Grade: F

3. Miguel Cabrera brings the AL MVP award back where it belongs.

Whew, thought I was going to go 0-for-the century. This one was darn close, and in other years it might have been accurate. After a somewhat slow start, Miggy went buck-wild in the back half of the season, hitting .346 with 30 homers and 55 RBI after the All Star Break. That gave him a final stat line of .316 with 38 homers, 108 RBI and 92 runs scored. My prediction in April?

If there weren't so many other great candidates, Miggy might have had it locked up. Alas, 'tis not to be. Grade: A-

4. Jaime Garcia makes...wait for it...30 starts this year.

So the glass man was able to keep it all together for the year. Were the stats great? Not really. Is that what matters for this prediction? SURE ISN'T. Jaime Garcia made EXACTLY 30 starts this year. LOOK UPON MY WORKS, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR. I AM THE ALL-SEEING EYE. SCORCHING THE EARTH AND BURNING THE SKY. Grade: A++

5. Luis Severino is a top-10 pitcher in the AL.

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. The great and...Oz...has spoken..."

Alright so I was a shade off here. Severino was unable to get anything going, and was quickly demoted to AAA in May after a positively disastrous turn in the Yankees rotation. He didn't do much in the way of getting his shizz together while down there, but he was actually really effective as a reliever towards the back end of the season for the Yanks. Severino has all the signs of one of those "great in the bullpen, bad in the rotation" guys, which isn't necessarily the end of the world. Worked for guys like Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, and Joba Chamberlain (for a while) before him. Grade: F- - 

6. Eric Hosmer is a top-five first baseman.

The Wizard of Hos had a perfectly respectable season on all fronts. He stayed healthy and set career highs in homers (25) and RBI (104). He did hit just .266, but overall he was a productive fantasy first baseman on all fronts. Unfortunately, that was not enough to make him a top-five first baseman. This is a miss, but just barely--he finished in the top 10 at the position. Grade: B

7. David Price is not a top-20 starting pitcher.

Not my best bold prediction, but not my worst. Price was nowhere near dominant, but he certainly still produced as a top-10/15ish SP depending on your scoring and format. His 3.99 ERA was the highest of his career since his limited rookie season in 2009, and while he did win 17 games many of them were a result of above-average run support. The season was disappointing for David Price's standards, but he did enough to keep himself in the top 20. Him and his chowdah-suckin' Red Saux. Grade: B

8. The Arizona Diamondbacks have three 20/20 players.

Well A.J. Pollock's near-season-ending injury made this one an uphill battle. David Peralta only making it into 48 games made it even more difficult. But hey! Jean Segura surprised everyone with a 20/33 season, and Paul Goldschmidt did his usual thing with 24/32. The injuries did me in here, but I didn't specify WHICH three players for a reason. Grade: C-

9. Sean Doolittle saves 40 games.

Grade: F - -

10. Matt Carpenter is a top-three third baseman.

Tough one here as he missed some time--he only wound up with 473 at-bats. In that time though, he did hit .271 with 21 homers, 68 RBI and 81 runs scored. After some quick math (a dangerous proposition, I know) and we can extrapolate those numbers out. If Carpenter had kept up those rates and gotten 600 at-bats, he'd have hit .271 with 27 homers, 87 RBI and 103 runs. Probably not enough to get him into the top-three given how much talent there was at the position, but definitely in the top seven. I'm not taking this as a total loss. Grade: C

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