Quick-hit predictions for the 2016 MLB Season:
AL East
I personally am not going to buy into the Red Sox. I love how everyone lapped them up last year after a 90-loss season, and they responded with another last place finish. I think the Yankees are smart to start thinking about the future, but will be playing out the string. I guess the Orioles pick is the strangest, probably the weirdest pick overall, but I think they sneak in on the power of their offense. Toronto, even without David Price, is still very good. They had a dominant run differential last year, not all of that is just having Price.
AL Central
The Indians are a trendy pick, and I think the battle between them and KC will be great. The White Sox have some sleeper potential if Quintana and Rodon can take a step up and create a dominant front three with Sale. The Twins are a few years away and the Tigers a few years late. The Indians front-end pitching vs. the Royals back-end will be an interesting battle, but I think the Indians sneak it out, potentially needing a 1-game wild card to clinch it.
AL West
Sure, there is some homerism there, but I do think the Astros are both one of the best teams, and in the easiest division to run up a higher win total. Their only real weakness is their starting pitching behind Kuechel, but their bullpen is good enough, and their management smart enough to minimize that weakness, The Rangers were a bit over their head last year, but return Darvish in midseason so they could still steal the division away.
AL
AL East
I personally am not going to buy into the Red Sox. I love how everyone lapped them up last year after a 90-loss season, and they responded with another last place finish. I think the Yankees are smart to start thinking about the future, but will be playing out the string. I guess the Orioles pick is the strangest, probably the weirdest pick overall, but I think they sneak in on the power of their offense. Toronto, even without David Price, is still very good. They had a dominant run differential last year, not all of that is just having Price.
AL Central
The Indians are a trendy pick, and I think the battle between them and KC will be great. The White Sox have some sleeper potential if Quintana and Rodon can take a step up and create a dominant front three with Sale. The Twins are a few years away and the Tigers a few years late. The Indians front-end pitching vs. the Royals back-end will be an interesting battle, but I think the Indians sneak it out, potentially needing a 1-game wild card to clinch it.
AL West
Sure, there is some homerism there, but I do think the Astros are both one of the best teams, and in the easiest division to run up a higher win total. Their only real weakness is their starting pitching behind Kuechel, but their bullpen is good enough, and their management smart enough to minimize that weakness, The Rangers were a bit over their head last year, but return Darvish in midseason so they could still steal the division away.
NL
NL East
The Mets still have the best rotation, even with the Nationals hoping Strasburg's numbers match his ability. Their offense is still good returning Cespedes, and I like their acquisitions. The Marlins are just average, and the rest of the division is a mess of teams looking to be the next Astros or Cubs. I can see the Nationals maybe leapfrogging the Mets, but I don't think their depth hitting is strong enough.
NL Central
The Cubs are a monster, and while I think the gap between them and Pittsburgh isn't as big as some may think, I think they'll lap up on the weaklings in the division to be, by record, the best team in the league. Potential weak spots are some of the hitters having struggles or Arietta not having the ridiculous season he did last year. The Pirates are still B to B+ everywhere (save for McCutcheon, who is a true star). I think the Cardinals pitching was somewhat smoke and mirrors, even for their usual success, and fall a bit.
NL West
It is an even year, right? I think the vast expanse of AT&T park will help Cueto and Samardzija, giving them a great Top-3 to go with what could sneakily be the NL's best lineup. If you switch ballparks, maybe the Giants hit as many homers as the Cubs will in Wrigley. The Dodgers injury concerns do scare me a tad to push them down to a Wild Card. The D'Backs are still talented, but losing Pollock for an extended period hurt. The other two are just as plainly bad as they've been throughout the past five years.
Award Picks
Nothing too surprising here. It is easy to pick Trout and Kershaw to win every year, so I'm splitting the difference and saying that Kershaw, who is on a likely playoff team, will win the Cy Young again, and Trout, who likely is not, will lose to Manny Machado, whose Orioles I think will sneak into the last wild card spot. As for teh NL, it is an even year, right? As we continue to get a better understanding of catching framing metrics, Posey's value will only continue to grow. As for the AL Cy Young, Sale's too good to not win it one of these years.
Playoff Picks
It's an even year, after all
