Bruce Bukiet may want to avoid Red Sox fans this season.
According to Fox News, Bukiet, an associate professor of mathematical sciences and associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, has created a model to determine Major League Baseball's division winners, and he predicts that the Yankees and Rays will finish ahead of the Red Sox in this year's AL East.
Bukiet's model involves determining the probability of a team winning a game against another team with the likely hitters, bench, starting pitcher, relievers and home-field advantage. Bukiet developed the model 10 years ago, but he has updated the algorithm slightly this season.
"I publish these numbers to promote the power and relevance of math," Bukiet told Fox News. "We've long had a problem convincing U.S. youngsters to embrace mathematics in school. Studying how math applies to baseball demonstrates not only that math can be fun, but how it is really a part of things people care about."
Bukiet's model predicts that the Red Sox' record of 92-70 won’t be good enough to get them into the postseason as Boston will finish one game behind the Rays and 11 games behind the Yankees in the AL East. The Rays' one-game advantage will earn them the wild card.
Bukiet also forecasts that the Minnesota Twins will emerge as AL Central champions while the Texas Rangers will win the AL West for the first time in 11 years.
The math professor likes last season's National League division winners in 2010 as well, as he predicts the Phillies, Cardinals and Dodgers to win their respective divisions. Bukiet likes the Braves to capture the National League wild card.
Check out Bukiet's complete predictions below:
AL East: Yankees — 103-59; Rays — 93-69; Red Sox — 92-70; Orioles — 71-91; Blue Jays — 70-92
AL Central: Twins — 92-70; White Sox — 85-77; Tigers — 74-88; Royals — 72-90; Indians — 67-95
AL West: Rangers — 82-80; A's — 81-81; Angels — 80-82; Mariners — 77-85
NL East: Phillies — 90-72; Braves — 88-74; Mets — 82-80; Marlins — 76-86; Nationals — 72-90
NL Central: Cards — 91-71; Cubs — 86-76; Brewers — 78-84; Reds — 74-88; Astros — 73-89; Pirates — 66-96
NL West: Dodgers — 88-74; Diamondbacks — 85-77; Rockies — 84-78; Giants — 80-82; Padres — 77-85
