2015 MLB Predictions
W L W L
AL EAST NL EAST
Toronto 91 71 Washington 96 66
Boston 88 74 Miami 89 73
Baltimore 80 82 New York 86 76
New York 76 86 Atlanta 77 85
Tampa Bay 68 94 Philadelphia 63 99
AL CENTRAL NL CENTRAL
Detroit 94 68 St. Louis 93 69
Cleveland 86 76 Pittsburgh 87 75
Chicago 84 78 Chicago 86 76
Kansas City 78 84 Cincinnati 77 85
Minnesota 65 97 Milwaukee 74 88
AL WEST NL WEST
Los Angeles 92 70 Los Angeles 90 72
Seattle 90 72 San Diego 84 78
Texas 79 83 Colorado 76 86
Houston 75 87 San Francisco 74 88
Oakland 74 88 Arizona 69 93
AL MVP- Robinson Cano NL MVP- Bryce Harper
CY YOUNG- David Price CY YOUNG- Jose Fernandez
ROOKIE- Andrew Heaney ROOKIE- Kris Bryant
MANAGER- Lloyd McClendon MANAGER- Mike Redmond
AL EAST- Overall this division has gotten weaker. Toronto made enough moves to come out on top. The injury to Marcus Stroman will hurt but they'll prevail on top without him. I believe in their offense more than Boston's despite the Red Sox significant additions of Hanley and Sandoval. I am certainly not a believer in their pitching. Not only do they not have an ace but I don't believe any of them would be a solid number 2. Baltimore lost key bats in Markakis and Cruz. I don't know if even a healthy Manny Machado can make up for the offensive losses. Plus their pitching will be figured out and is getting dated. The Yankees will in all honesty, finally stink, really bad. They seem synthetic and flat. Tanaka and Pineda may be solid but after that they have serious questions to the other three rotation spots. Plus that offense just seems stale. They would finish in last had Tampa not been in the division. The loss of Joe Maddon is key and I'm not sold on Smyly being a solid number two or 3. Their staff is solid and still probably top to bottom the best in the division but I still cant understand dealing Wil Myers. Their offense looks pitiful despite the addition of Asdrubal Cabrera.
AL CENTRAL-I have doubts with Detroit. It's hard for me to believe that a team that loses a potential Cy Young candidate stays solid but no other team in this division jumps out at me. Health is a serious concern for this team. If they cant stay healthy get ready for them to lose the division. David Price will carry this team with a decent back of rotation and a well improved bullpen. not a believer in Alfredo Simon but their offense is still powerful again, if healthy. Cleveland is a quiet team that people seemed to forgot about. This team can contend if Kluber is the real deal. Francona is still the best manager in this division and considering that no other team seems ready yet this team slides into second. Chicago is the team that made the most improvements but they still have a bit of ways to go to contend. I like the moves to get Melky, Samardzija, and Robertson but hey still lack offense and Sale needs to be healthy. Hes probably starting the season on the DL wit hthe foot fracture. If they want to contend he needs to be a Cy Young candidate. The Royals got worse this offseason. Morales cant match the bat nor heart Billy Butler gave to the team. Shields was the hope this team had. I believe Ventura is a solid pitcher but after that they have essentially nothing. This team is one good season and done. Minnesota is just going to be plain awful. Mauer could get dealt. Alex Meyer may give this team a bright future but that's going to be a while.
AL WEST- Two of the best teams in the American League reside in this division. Los Angeles should continue to own the division. The Richards injury should hurt them early but Heaney could pick up that slack to go along with Weaver and Shoemaker. The AL MVP will stay in this division but this time I believe Robinson Cano will take the crown. Expect an average above .325 and about 25 home runs driving in about 110 rbis while getting about 90 runs. Hes going to get better pitches to hit with Nelson Cruz hitting behind him. Felix Hernandez will have a developed Taijuan Walker to help him out and have this team make the postseason. The next three in this division could end up in any order. I picked Texas to finish third because I cant imagine this team playing as poorly as they did last year. Fielder should be healthy and the addition of Gallardo should help a bit despite Darvish being done for the year. Houston will continue to improve and I wouldn't be surprised if Carlos Carrera makes his way up to the big leagues and be a Rookie of the Year candidate. Finally I believe Oakland will crumble after the awful moves made this offseason. Butler and Sonny Gray are the sole reasons this team will have more than 70 wins. Billy Beane's experiment will fail (as usual) and this team will suffer from going for it all last year and failing.
NL EAST- The new best division is baseball. Washington will be everyone's favorite to win it all. Seems legit after getting Max Scherzer to add to an already stacked rotation. Expect them to go after a bat during the trade deadline to help them out for the postseason. Harper will live up to the hype this season. Now there's two teams here that are very much on the up and coming. I'm picking Miami to finish second but the Mets are right there. The injury to Wheeler has something to do with it. Jose Fernandez is back and expect him to have lethal stuff. This division is loaded with pitching so the key for the Marlins winning games may be the addition of Dee Gordon Martin Prado and Michael Morse. Ozuna and Yelich should develop as well. Latos helps give this rotation some depth as well as the development of Henderson Alvarez. The Mets come in a close third. They are going to need Harvey to be the Harvey we saw two years ago which is looks like he might be from Spring Training, but it's still Spring Training. Cuddyer should help but they are still a bat away from going to the next level. *cough Tulo cough*. Atlanta's offense got worse with the loss of Upton. Shelby Miller is a wild card but not enough to improve this team. Freddie Freeman may have a monster year but it wont be enough for them to contend. The Phillies will suck and eventually trade Cole Hamels. To who? I don't know but someone. They have to so they can suck some more.
NL CENTRAL- I'm honestly getting tired of seeing this but once again the Cardinals will win this division. Somehow they will make Jason Heyward improve and they still have great pitching. Thankfully the Cubs got significantly better to bring back the rivalry. The moves of bringing in Maddon and Lester have this team heading in the right direction. They aren't there yet though despite getting a lot of hype. They still lack starting depth. Their lineup is legit and Rizzo should rake again this year. They'll come close but finishing in second will be Pittsburgh. I would like this team to make a push for Cole Hamels to solidify a great staff. They have an exciting outfield and if Polanco lives up to hype, expect big things out of this team. Cincinnati and Milwaukee will finish at the bottom of this division. I think Cincy is slightly better but eh. They both lost solid pitchers and as long as Votto is healthy I believe their offense is better than Milwaukee's.
NL WEST- This should be a two dog race. Los Angeles should come out on top. I think San Diego made great improvements but they may need another infield bat. The Dodgers seem more seasoned but I don't like what they did this offseason. I'm not a fan in giving up Kemp for an aged Jimmy Rollins and Howie Kendrick. Wouldn't surprise me if San Diego wins the division but I just think they have enough yet. This may raise some eyebrows but I think if Colorado keeps Tulowitzki, they will finish in 3rd in the division. San Fran got worse. They lost out on Shields to San Diego and Pence is out 6-8 weeks. Bumgarner is obviously the real deal but after that they have nothing. Arizona will stink despite a solid season for Goldschmidt.
POSTSEASON
Wild Card
Seattle def. Boston Miami def. Pittsburgh
Division Series
Detroit def. Seattle 3-1 Washington def. Miami 3-0
Los Angeles def. Toronto 3-1 St Louis def. Los Angeles 3-2
Championship Series
Detroit def. Los Angeles 4-3 Washington def. St. Louis 4-3
2015 World Series
Washington def. Detroit 4-2
World Series MVP- Bryce Harper
