Baseball is back! Happier words have never been spoken. Well, it was a wild off-season. The Kansas City Royals took home their first World Series title since 1985.
Baseball’s hot stove was in full force, with big name free agents finding new homes all over the place. Zack Greinke and David Price, each a Cy Young runner-up in his respective league, each landed with a new club — Greinke with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Price with the Boston Red Sox.
Jason Heyward, probably the most impactfuf position player on the market, landed with the Chicago Cubs, fortifying what already is one of the most potent lineups in the game.
At this point, it seems the Atlanta Braves have traded away every major league regular with the exception being Freddie Freeman (poor guy), in an attempt to rebuild their stock of young talent.
In what was possibly the biggest heist of the off-season, the Braves sent quality starting pitcher Shelby Miller to Arizona for Ender Inciarte, Aaron Blair and Dansby Swanson. Swanson just happens to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015, a SS out of Vanderbilt University.
Teams also found new managers to lead their respective squad. The Mariners hired Scott Servais, the Nationals hired Dusty Baker, the Dodgers hired Dave Roberts and the Marlins hired Don Mattingly.
For as entertaining as the off-season was, the regular season always proves to be much more exciting, so here are my predictions for the 2016 season. Hopefully this goes better than last year!
NL East
1. New York Mets
2. Washington Nationals
3. Miami Marlins
4. Philadelphia Phillies
5. Atlanta Braves
On paper, this is the easiest division to predict. The Mets have the best pitching in baseball and, until someone knocks them off their perch, they are the team to beat in the NL.
The Nats have plenty of talent, but always manage to screw it up. The Marlins could be a surprise here with a healthy Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez, who knows what Mattingly’s club could do. The Braves and Phillies are in a race for who can win 70 games — neither is a popular choice.
NL Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Cincinnati Reds
5. Milwaukee Brewers
The Cubbies shocked the world last year with their run to the NLCS, and anything short of a World Series trip will be a disappointment. The Cardinals are always solid, and with the way they play, they could somehow win 95 games, especially with Wainwright back in the mix. The Pirates will be in contention again, as they’re still a premier club. The Reds and Brewers, however, will be utterly horrendous.
NL West
1. San Francisco Giants
2. Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. San Diego Padres
5. Colorado Rockies
It’s an even year, meaning it’s the Giants year, right? The Giants are betting their staff can right the ships of Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija; if they can, they will be a World Series contender. The D’Backs made a lot of noise this off-season, and I think that’ll translate to wins.
A Greinke-Miller-Corbin rotation with an offense led by AJ Pollack and Paul Goldschmidt is one hell of a team. The Dodgers look to be solid, but losing Greinke was huge. Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda aren’t THAT good. Finally, the Padres again will be mediocre and the Rockies will waste another year of Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez’s careers.
AL East
1. Toronto Blue Jays
2. New York Yankees
3. Tampa Bay Rays
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Boston Red Sox
This division is by far the hardest to pick. There aren’t any bad teams. Honestly, the Red Sox could finish in first, and I wouldn’t be that surprised.
However, the Blue Jays look to be the strongest here, with a solid pitching staff and the best offense in the universe.
The Yanks surprised me last year and I’m expecting more of the same after improving this offseason with the additions of Starlin Castro, Aroldis Chapman and Aaron Hicks. Tampa has the best pitching staff in the division but no offense.
Baltimore has a great lineup but incredibly mediocre pitching. Boston has another good team on paper, but until these egos figure it out, they seem like the most likely to implode in the division.
AL Central
1. Kansas City Royals
2. Cleveland Indians
3. Chicago White Sox
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Detroit Tigers
Kansas City knows how to win now, which is a scary thought. These guys are a complete team. Cleveland will be fun to watch this year with the staff they have and a full year out of SS Francisco Lindor.
Chicago snagging Todd Frazier and Brett Lawrie was big, and they’re banking on a big year from Carlos Rodon. Minnesota was a shocker last year in second place, but I’m expecting that to fade somewhat this year. Finally, the Tigers are another team that has the ability to implode.
They’re overpaid, and they were bad with Yoenis Cespedes and David Price last year — do you think Justin Upton and Jordan Zimmermann make them that much better?
AL West
1. Houston Astros
2. Texas Rangers
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Los Angeles Angels
5. Oakland A’s
Houston and Texas will again battle it out for the division this year, and it’ll be fun to watch. Carlos Correa is going to be a monster this year, but Texas will have a staff led by Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish. Scary.
Seattle is much improved and stable, so I think they will be better this year. Other than Mike Trout, the Angels are extremely overrated. Finally, Oakland just doesn’t have enough to contend here.
Wild Cards
NL: Cardinals, Pirates
AL: Rangers, Indians
MVPs
NL: Buster Posey
AL: Carlos Correa, Cy Young
NL: Clayton Kershaw
AL: Chris Sale
World Series
Astros over Mets
