Wait 'Til Next Year

With just 36 hours since the double collapse of the Red Sox and Braves, the ax appears ready to fall in Boston. It is most likely that Terry Francona will NOT surpass Joe Cronin's franchise record for managerial wins. He could end up in Chicago with the White Sox. Chicago could be the new home of Theo Epstein as well. He may decide to end his second curse of the century and try to coax a title for the Wrigley Faithful. Here's a brief list of thoughts on the seasons of some of the non-playoff teams:
Red Sox Worst case scenario for us? Not at all, we've got massive re-writes in store which could only become worse if Yankees win it all. My guess is Papelbon will be gone and Sox might try to trade Crawford. Does he even want to show his face in Boston this winter?
Braves Last in all the buzz of Bosox collapse is how epically bad the Braves were down the stretch. Good thing they won in 1995 otherwise everyone's take on this team would be tremendously different. Whatever happened to Jason Heyward?
Giants San Fran truly shows what it means to "catch lightning in a bottle." Their win last year gives Brewers fans like myself hope that they could pull it off. I bet they wish they could re-do Beltran trade. Posey sparked debate about catcher protection, while Miguel Tejada may have played his last game.
Angels They hung around until the last week, but it was an uphill battle all season. Cy Young effort from Jered Weaver who has signed long term. A likely landing spot for Prince Fielder? They've lost out many times on free agent sweepstakes maybe it's finally their time.
Dodgers 82 wins for snake-bitten Don Mattingly. This guy can't catch a break.Two great seasons from Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp. Kershaw favorite to win Cy, Kemp almost wins Triple Crown and 40-40 season. If Braun and Prince split votes he could win an undeserving MVP.
Blue Jays Life in the AL East can't be fun for this 81-win team. Bautista seemed to fade after first half onslaught. A force to be reckoned with in years to come?!
Nationals All signs point up for the former Expos! Strasburg, Harper, Pujols or Prince?!? Davey Johnson at the helm in the nation's capital...a second place finish in 2012...hmmmm.
Indians In it for most of the season until injuries (read lack of depth) and acquisition of Ubaldo Jimenez sabotaged season. Franchise feels it will only get better in always winnable ALC.