2014 MLB Predictions
AL EAST NL EAST
New York 94 68 Washington 92 70
Tampa Bay -w 92 70 Atlanta -w 89 73
Baltimore -w 90 72 New York 86 76
Boston 87 75 Philadelphia 70 92
Toronto 70 92 Miami 69 93
AL CENTRAL NL CENTRAL
Kansas City 92 70 St. Louis 96 66
Cleveland 89 73 Pittsburgh -w 88 74
Detroit 85 77 Milwaukee 82 80
Chicago 75 87 Cincinnati 80 82
Minnesota 72 90 Chicago 60 102
AL WEST NL WEST
Texas 96 66 Los Angeles 98 64
Seattle 86 76 San Francisco 82 80
Oakland 83 79 San Diego 79 83
Los Angeles 80 82 Arizona 74 88
Houston 63 99 Colorado 72 90
-w = Wild card
Individual Awards
MVP- Evan Longoria MVP- Bryce Harper
Cy Young- Felix Hernandez Cy Young- Adam Wainwright
Rookie- Jose Abreu Rookie- Billy Hamilton
Manager- Ned Yost Manager- Matt Williams
AL EAST- We'll start off with easily, the best division in baseball. Realistically I think four teams can win the division and I have 3 in total making the postseason. The Yankees ride the swan song of Derek Jeter in addition to all the offseason additions accumulate enough wins to win them the division. Tampa has the best rotation in baseball alongside Evan Longoria who will have his career best season, will carry them to the play in wild card game. Baltimore made significant improvements to both offense and pitching. Their hitting is deadly and their rotation will do enough to also get them in. Boston doesn't have that same emotional tie to their city and around their tea. Though their talent will allow them to have a winning record, it wont be enough to have them playing in October. Toronto is taking strides in the wrong direction and will feel the effect of the bad signings from two off-seasons ago.
AL CENTRAL- My upset pick of the season comes from this division. Detroit has owned the crown for a few years now but finally Kansas City will overcome them. They turned it on late last year and will make similar strides just like Pittsburgh last year, to win the division with a nice young powerful offense. Shields will finally get enough run support to get more wins. I even have Cleveland finishing in second. Their offense is still good enough to make them a winning team but they need a deeper rotation to win the division. Their bullpen is shaky as well. I have Detroit falling to third. They are clearly way ahead of the other two teams in the division however losing Fielder was a bad move for that lineup and I don't expect Scherzer to be anywhere as good as last year. Chicago is making significant improvements but are far away from contending. Minnesota is just plain awful and it's a shame it may cost Ron Gardenhire his job.
AL WEST- A very competitive division will see the Rangers come out on top. They retain a powerful lineup from a couple years ago with the additions of Choo, Fielder, and Alex Rios in a full season will carry the team throughout their early season injuries. When their rotation gets healthy and Profar also comes back from his inury, this team is lethal. Seattle comes in second with the biggest signing of the offseason with Robinson Cano. His numbers wotn be as good as they were in New York but he will still put up a quality, All Star season. They still lack offensive depth and they will need young phenom Taijuan Walker, healthy and productive to contend for a postseason spot. A lot of people like Oakland and Los Angeles this year. Oakland amazes me every year on how well they play but I just cant commit to liking them for this year. Their rotation isn't the same as last year even though Sonny Gray is the real deal. Losing Colon to the Mets and Parker to injury will hurt the team and Josh Donaldson wont be as productive. Now usually I think highly of Los Angeles, but I'm simply sick of them underperforming every year. Mike Trout will again contend for an M.V.P but the teams lack of pitching will hurt them once again. Pujols and Hamilton's window are about shut and Mike Scioscia may lose his job. Houston is making the right moves in not being the worst team in baseball. I expect top prospect Carlos Correa to get brought up and eventually start for them at shortstop.
NL EAST- A very young division except for the team in Philadelphia. The Nationals will redeem themselves from last year's disappointment of a season. Their hitting will improve and Bryce Harper will blossom. Atlanta will barely hold on to their wild card spot but will not be as good as last year primarily due to that their pitching wont be as solid.. There are very promising teams in the division and the Mets are one of them. They are making the right moves to finally return to contending state. They will miss ace Matt Harvey but a much improved lineup with Granderson and rotation with Bartolo or as I like to call him, "B-Money" and a better tuned Wheeler will have this team playing meaningful games in September but will fall short, as the Mets usually do though the future looks bright. I give Philly the next spot but barely over Miami. They still have slight more talent than them but are certainly declining. Miami's future also looks bright with rising stars Jose Fernandez and Jacob Turner which will give them something to build on. They will need to find a way to keep Giancarlo Stanton and hope he sees a bright future with the team.
NL CENTRAL- Another division full of talent will see multiple teams contend for playoff spots. St. Louis is far and ahead the best team in the division. They lose a couple of offensive pieces but they have incredibly solid and young starting pitching and their offense is still legit. They are a fully polished team that shouldn't have trouble with the division. Pittsburgh comes in second due to similar aspects to the Cardinals however just lack the talent. They however lose AJ Burnett who supplied them with veteran leadership but they are young and ready to go with phenom Gerrit Cole ready to take the helm. A sliding Cincinnati and improved Milwaukee will see the Brewers climb to the third spot. Solid rotation and good offense will keep them in it for a while but will fall out due to lack of a quality bullpen and inconsistency. Cincinnati loses offensive depth as well as inconsistent starting pitching. Billy Hamilton will give them an impact but it wont be enough. I don't see their pitching as a threat and they will also have serious bullpen questions with Aroldis Chapman gone likely the whole season. I'm going to keep this short and sweet like their hopes. Chicago will be the worst team in baseball.
NL WEST- A division with a lot of potential towards the bottom sees a fully developed machine running away with the division. Los Angeles should be ready based strictly off of talent to take the next step. Whether the team chemistry can remain there is another question but they are too talented not to win the division with the now highest payroll in baseball. (Still not getting used to that as a Yankee fan) I'm not a real fan of San Fransisco this year but again they have enough depth to at least get them second. Mainly because I don't think the other teams are quite ready to take the next step this year. I think they gave Hunter Pence a terrible contract but solid pitching in Bumgarner and veteran stud Buster Posey will have them hoping for a postseason run. San Diego is waiting in the wings as team filled with young promising talent. Yonder Alonso should blossom but and their have a solid rotation but they still lack offensive depth to win the division. Arizona would be higher is they had better/healthy pitching. Corbin is done for the year and their offensive will have to win them a lot of games. I question their bullpen as well though Addison Reed should be solid. And finally the Rockies should have a solid offense but their pitching is just so awful I cant have them winning many games though the bottom four teams of this division could easily be flip flopped since they aren't that much better than each other.
POSTSEASON
Wild Card
Tampa Bay def. Baltimore Atlanta def. Pittsburgh
-David Price > Chris Tillman - Atlanta will do enough as Pirates
will struggle to find offense.
Divisional Series
Texas def. Tampa Bay 3-2 Los Angeles def. Atlanta 3-1
-Too much depth in Texas -Too much talent on L.A
and Tampa will struggle to score for Braves to contend
New York def. Kansas City 3-1 Washington def. St. Louis 3-2
- Nice story ends early for K.C - Very close series has
Yanks additions will be enough Washington finishing the job they
for them to win. failed to do two years ago.
Championship Series
Texas def. New York 4-2 Los Angeles def. Washington 4-3
- New York's inconsistency on offense fails - Washington's offense will be
while Texas' pitching over performs. inconsistent though the future
looks bright as LA has too
much to compete with.
2014 World Series
Los Angeles def. Texas 4-2
World Series Champions
Los Angeles Dodgers
MVP- Hanley Ramirez
The pitching for the Rangers will fail as you see a very offensive series. L.A will resolve the mental errors and Mattingly shuts the media of Los Angeles up with. A complete team with solid pitching; starting and reliving and an offensive that can possibly compete with anybody should send the World Series trophy to Tinsletown.
