Some of you asked if I was going to write about real baseball this
year, and I’m proud to say that I did. Unfortunately, I forgot to post this
Sunday afternoon, so you’re getting it two days later than it was originally
intended to be released. Based on my March Madness performance, it’s probably
for the better, as I wouldn’t want anyone making bets on any advice I have to
offer at the moment. Without further ado, we run through each division, with
some playoff predictions at the end.
NL West
5. Colorado Rockies
The
pitching is abysmal, and we predict by June that whispers of Troy Tulowitzki
ending up in pinstripes become shouts.
4. San Diego Padres
Almost
the exact opposite of Colorado, San Diego has the proud distinction of
providing the most inept offense in the National League. A Chase Headley
bounce-back campaign is their only hope.
3. Arizona Diamondbacks
If
they were willing to pay the price for David Price, we’d consider bumping this
team up to the top spot in the NL West. Without him, their rotation is a bit of
a mess until Archie Bradley reaches the Major Leagues.
2. San Francisco Giants
The
2012 World Series champs had a down 2013 for a variety of reasons, but if half
of those issues correct themselves, they should be looking at a Wild Card spot.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
They
have the best starting pitcher (Clayton Kershaw), arguably the best shortstop
(Hanley Ramirez), and MLB’s best chance of Manny Ramirez 2.0 (Yaisel Puig). Not
to mention that they are owned by crazy people who will do whatever it takes at
the trade deadline to improve the team. There’s always a chance of an October
flameout, but in the regular season the Dodgers are the best bet to rack up the
most wins in MLB.
AL West
5. Houston Astros
Are
the Astros the Philadelphia 76ers of MLB, or vice versa? Regardless, some of
Houston’s top prospects will be hitting the bigs soon. There’s a chance they
won’t be horrendous in 2016.
4. Oakland Athletics
Oakland
always squeezes more production out of it’s players than any other team, but
season ending injuries to a couple prominent members of their starting rotation
will set them back.
3. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
I
think Pujols comes back to near All-Star form, and Mike Trout is ridiculous,
but until Los Angeles corrects their pitching issues, they won’t hang with
Texas.
2. Seattle Mariners
Either
we’re over eager about Seattle because of their abundance of young starting
pitching behind Felix Hernandez, or because Robinson Cano has been one of the
team captains of my No Credentials Fantasy Baseball team for three years.
Regardless, there’s a chance that Cano stabilizes an offense full of talented
players who haven’t delivered yet.
1. Texas Rangers
We’re
bummed out about Jurickson Profar missing the first three months of the year,
but there’s still a ridiculous amount of depth offensively. Prince Fielder will
return to previous form playing his home games in Arlington, and Adrian Beltre
is arguably the most under appreciated great player in the game. They’ll need
to acquire another starting pitcher before the deadline to be a true threat in
the playoffs, but there’s enough here for them to win the AL West.
NL Central
5. Chicago Cubs
We’re
about a year away from seeing the benefits of Theo Epstein’s rebuild, but at
least Chicago should have the most exciting mid-season call-up in the form of
Javier Baez.
4. Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee
could win anywhere between 65 and 95 games and I wouldn’t be completely
surprised. As we’ve written before, Ryan Braun is a complete asshole who won’t
care about getting booed everywhere he goes. He should return to near MVP-level
form. It’s the question marks in the starting pitching staff (in particular,
presumed ace Yovani Gallardo, who imploded last year) that make us lukewarm on
them surpassing any of the other three playoff teams in their division from a
year ago.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
The
Pirates were a blast last year, even getting contributions from a pitcher who
grew up right in No Credentials home turf. It would’ve been great to see them
go all-in and acquire another power bat, but it appears they are just hoping
for another step forward from Pedro Alvarez. They’ll still be competitive, but
we see them just missing the Wildcard game.
2. St. Louis Cardinals
Are
the San Antonio Spurs the St. Louis Cardinals of the NBA, or vice versa?
They’re incredible pitching depth will have them in the hunt as always come
October.
1. Cincinnati Reds
Forgetting
his forgettable 0-4, four strikeouts performance on opening day, we think Billy
Hamilton is the key to the Reds overtaking St. Louis in the NL Central. His
transformational speed is enough of a difference maker to make an already
potent Reds lineup all the more lethal.
AL Central
5. Minnesota Twins
Hard
not to think that Joe Mauer’s move away from catcher is about three or four
years too late.
4. Chicago White Sox
There
are not a lot of interesting players here, but at least Jose Abreu should be
fun to watch.
3. Cleveland Indians
Last
year’s most surprising AL playoff participant, Cleveland likely needs Carlos
Santana to have a career year in order to put them over the hump.
2. Kansas City Royals
For
the first time in a while Kansas City actually has some depth in their starting
rotation. Mike Moustakas fulfilling his post-hype sleeper status alongside
former top prospect Eric Hosmer is needed for the Royals to have any chance of
knocking off Detroit.
1. Detroit Tigers
They
have the best pure power hitter in baseball and the deepest starting rotation
in the American League. Throw in some better clubhouse chemistry now that
Prince Fielder is in Texas, and you have yourself the favorites to represent
the American League in the World Series.
NL East
5. Miami Marlins
At
what point do the Marlins pull the trigger on a Giancarlo Stanton trade? He’s
the best tool they have to completely reload their farm system.
4. New York Mets
Matt
Harvey’s injury really is a bummer. New York might’ve actually had a chance to
at least be in shouting distance of a wildcard spot if their young ace was
healthy.
3. Atlanta Braves
No
team was ravaged more by injuries during spring training than Atlanta. They are
one of the few teams that have the depth to deal with losing 40% of their
starting rotation (that’s a fancy way of saying they lost two starting
pitchers), but we think that puts them a step behind in the NL East.
2. Philadelphia Phillies
Remember
the 2009-10 Phoenix Suns, who made a semi-improbable run to the Western
Conference Finals a few seasons after it looked like the Nash Era would never
contend for a NBA title again? That’s the kind of year I’m predicting for
Philly.
1. Washington Nationals
A
full year of solid health for Bryce Harper (who was fortunate not to get a
concussion after getting kicked in the head on opening day) is what we are
predicting, as well as a serious run at the NL MVP award. If the offense
improves their scoring output by one run per game over last year, their
pitching will take care of the rest.
AL East
5. New York Yankees
The
infield is atrocious, there are no sure things in the starting rotation
(Sabathia is washed up, Kuroda is a nerd stats regression candidate, and while
we like Tanaka, we aren’t ready to bet the farm on him), and even more
frightening, they don’t have THE HAMMER OF GOD anymore. Throw in the fact that
they will be lucky to get 240 combined games out of Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos
Beltran, and this has all the makings of a season similar to what the Red Sox
endured in 2012.At least for their sake, Bobby Valentine isn’t the manager.
4. Baltimore Orioles
For my
money, no team whiffed more in the off-season than the Baltimore Orioles. The
offense is dynamite (and the Nelson Cruz signing at least paid dividends on
opening day), but if there was one team that needed to through an obscure
amount of cash at Tanaka, it was Baltimore. Ubaldo Jimenez is not enough for
the Orioles to get into playoff contention.
3. Boston Red Sox
Coming
off a year where just about everything went right, it would make sense that a
market correction will occur. We are hopeful that Grady Sizemore (one of the
franchise players on one of my all-time favorite fantasy baseball teams I owned
in 2008) makes a serious run at Comeback Player of the Year.
2. Toronto Blue Jays
Think
of this prediction as the opposite of what I just said about Boston. Virtually
everything went wrong for Toronto last year, and while they didn’t get off to a
great start against Tampa Bay, we still think the Blue Jays have the manpower
to at least finish second in the AL East.
1. Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays
On
paper, this is the best (Devil) Rays team of the Joe Maddon era. There’s so
much pitching depth throughout the organization, they could trade David Price
and still not miss a beat. Wil Myers will form a dynamic duo with Evan Longoria
in his sophomore campaign, giving the offense a much-needed boost. Barring a
significant injury to Longoria (which could happen), this is the team to beat
in the AL East.
(Probably Terrible) Playoff Predictions
NL West = Dodgers
NL Central = Reds
NL East = Nationals
NL Wildcard 1 = Cardinals
NL Wildcard 2 = Giants
AL Central = Tigers
AL East = (Devil) Rays
AL West = Rangers
AL Wildcard 1 = Mariners
AL Wildcard 2 = Royals
NLCS = Reds over Cardinals
ALCS = Tigers over Rays
World Series = Reds over Tigers
