It's silly time again where we make predictions for the season that we know have very little chance of turning out right. Part of the problem is if you go with conventional wisdom, it's boring as heck. If you go bold, you are likely going to be wrong. We'll try a mixture here.
DIVISION RACES
AL East: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays. Yanks pitching will be improved with the addition of Tanaka and a bounceback from CC. Sox aren't able to replace Drew and Ellsbury. Rays have great pitching, but not enough offense. O's and Jays just don't have the pitching to compete.
AL Central: Tigers, Indians, Royals, White Sox, Twins. Tigers have some holes in the field, but still have the best pitching in the majors. Indians and Royals are competitive, but not quite there. ChiSox beefed up their offense, but still can't pitch. Twins are in a slow rebuild.
AL West: Angels, A's, Rangers, Mariners, Astros. Angels pitching is better and they'll get bounceback years from Pujols and Hamilton. A's will have some players regress and the pitching injuries will take their toll. Rangers seem to have the injury bug. Mariners are slowly improving, but not enough for this year. Astros are in a long-term rebuild.
NL East: Nationals, Phillies, Braves, Mets, Marlins. Nationals will play up to their expectations this year. Phillies will surprise some people. Injuries have decimated the Braves rotation. Mets are ahead of the Marlins in their rebuild.
NL Central: Cardinals, Pirates, Reds, Brewers, Cubs. This one is tough because there are 4 competitive teams in the division. BrewCrew might be a sleeper team with the addition of Garza and a bounceback from Braun. Cards will miss Beltran's bat. Pirates will miss AJ Burnett. Reds did not do anything to improve.
NL West: Dodgers, Giants, Rockies, Padres, D'Backs. This is another tough one. Dodgers are a hot mess, but have the talent. Kershaw's health is a huge wildcard. Giants offense should be solid, the last two games against the A's notwithstanding, but the pitching is very shaky once you get past Bumgarner. Rockies are a sleeper team. If they can keep CarGo and Tulo healthy all season, they could give everybody fits. Padres still have a ways to go. D'Backs talent hemorrhage will catch up with them this year. That lineup they put out against LA was a joke!
WILD CARDS: Red Sox, A's, Giants, Pirates.
AL PENNANT: Tigers
NL PENNANT: Nationals
WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS: Tigers
AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera
NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen
AL Cy Young: Max Scherzer
NL Cy Young: Madison Bumgarner
AL ROY: Nick Castellanos
NL ROY: Javier Baez
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