2019 MLB Predictions

I cannot wait for the start of the 2019 baseball season.  It officially kicks of this Wednesday when the Mariners and A’s play two games in Japan.  Everyone else starts next week.  While some divisions seem to be easy to pick, others are up for grabs by 3-4 teams.  Of course, there is always the surprise team (like the A’s last year).  Let me make some predictions that are sure to be way off by the end of the season:

American League

East

Boston Red Sox (the defending champs have enough to win an interesting division)

New York Yankees (still some questions about their starting pitching, though their bullpen is scary)

Tampa Bay Rays (unexpectedly good last year, good enough for third again)

Toronto Blue Jays (cannot wait to see the impact of Vlad Guerrero Jr. and if Bo Bichette is called up)

Baltimore Orioles (potentially the worst team in baseball)

Central

Minnesota Twins (going on a little limb, I really like their offseason additions-Nelson Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez, etc.)

Cleveland Indians (I am really confused, they should be good yet they’re trying to trade their starting pitchers)

Chicago White Sox (the rest of this division probably will not be good)

Kansas City Royals (Merrifield, Mondesi, and a few good parts to not make a whole)

Detroit Tigers (full rebuild mode)

West

Houston Astros (if they don’t win the division, and by a lot, something has gone terribly wrong)

Los Angeles Angels (no Ohtani pitching means they are very weak there)

Oakland Athletics (some really good players-Chapman, Olson- and some hope for the future)

Seattle Mariners (Mitch Haniger and not much else)

Texas Rangers (who will trade for Leclerc?)

National League

East

Phillies (the most difficult division to pick, I’ve switched this pick many times, but I’m going with the additions of Harper, Segura, and Realmuto)

Braves (potential to be great, also potential to have some massive slumps from Acuna and Albies, plus too many questions with their rotation)

Nationals (love the top three starting pitchers, the rest is a lot of question marks)

Mets (see Nationals)

Marlins (with the Orioles, the other choice for worst team)

Central

Brewers (I’m fairly confident because I don’t trust any of the other teams in the division)

Cardinals (love the Goldschmidt pickup, but not sure about the pitching)

Pirates (few will rank them this high, but I think they are a sneaky good team and could contend the whole season)

Cubs (they have some big names, but too many of them are getting old or have injury histories or both)

Reds (they made some potentially positive steps this offseason, but I’m not really sure why because it’s unlikely they will contend)

West

Rockies (I’m a believer in their pitching staff plus a potent offense)

Dodgers (Kershaw and Jansen, two huge pieces, will struggle this year)

Padres (still a year or two away)

Diamondbacks (threw in the towel before the season began)

Giants (not only is the Major League team weak, apparently their Minors are bare; Bumgarner will be traded before the deadline)

Playoffs:

AL Wild Card: Yankees over Indians

NL Wild Card: Braves over Dodgers

ALDS: Astros over Yankees

            Red Sox over Twins

NLDS: Braves over Brewers

            Rockies over Phillies (can no longer pick a Harper team in the playoffs)

ALCS: Astros over Red Sox (this time the umps don’t screw up two major calls)

NLCS: Braves over Rockies (the kids are all right)

World Series: Astros over Braves (payback for the 90s)

AL MVP: Mookie Betts

AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole

AL ROY: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

NL MVP: Nolan Arenado

NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom

NL ROY: Luis Urias