Baseline Times MLB Predictions 2017
Who’s winning what: This year in baseball.
I’m not sure why we do this. The only thing that will come from this will be some embarrassingly wrong picks to look back on at the end of the season, but here we are. Continue reading for this year’s playoff and award predictions from the Baseline Times MLB staff.
NL East
Kory: Mets
Dustin: Nationals
Charles: Mets
Kyle: Nationals
It’s an even split (Neil breaks the tie, I’m sure, by picking the Mets), as each team has a few question marks. Ultimately, I think the Mets will take it. Their staff, even with its current question marks, will be tough to beat. Once Matz is healthy, look out.
NL Central
Kory: Cubs
Dustin: Cubs
Charles: Cubs
Kyle: Cubs
I’m glad to see that nobody here is insane. Sure, the Cardinals or Pirates could keep it interesting until August or so, but barring some very unforeseen setback, the Cubs should handle this mediocre division nicely.
NL West
Kory: Dodgers
Dustin: Dodgers
Charles: Dodgers
Kyle: Giants
My prediction is Kyle will be wrong.
NL Wild Cards
Kory: Nationals and Diamondbacks
Dustin: Mets and Rockies
Charles: Nationals and Giants
Kyle: Mets and Dodgers
It’s interesting to note that we essentially agreed on a core of teams who would make the playoffs in the NL, even though we chose different avenues for those teams to get there. Each one of us chose the Mets, Nationals, Cubs, and Dodgers to make the playoffs. Unlike Charles and Kyle, Dustin and I have no faith in the Giants. We chose to put our faith in the Rockies and the Diamondbacks to sneak in the second wild card, instead.
NL Pennant
Kory: Cubs
Dustin: Cubs
Charles: Cubs
Kyle: Cubs
As a Cubs fan, this scares me.
AL East
Kory: Red Sox
Dustin: Red Sox
Charles: Red Sox
Kyle: Red Sox
Kyle says: “The Bawston Killer B’s (Benintendi, Betts, Bradley) keep the mojo going, and a resurgent Panda (or resurgent enough) hold off the biggest threat…the Blue Jays?”
Charles says: “I think they will win the division, but we shouldn’t underestimate how big of a loss Big Papi is. It will come down to the wire for the division, I think, between Baltimore and the Yankees [competing with the Red Sox].”
AL Central
Kory: Cleveland
Dustin: Cleveland
Charles: Cleveland
Kyle: Cleveland
It’s a relatively easy clean sweep. They won’t have much of a challenge in this division.
AL West
Kory: Astros
Dustin: Mariners
Charles: Astros
Kyle: Astros
Kyle (he’s an Astros fan) says : “Accept it, boners. We finally avoid the Rangers voodoo.”
AL Wild Cards
Kory: Mariners and Rangers
Dustin: Astros and Blue Jays
Charles: Rangers and Orioles
Kyle: Blue Jays and Mariners
Charles says: “The Orioles underachieved relative to their talent level last year.” I say they overachieved.
AL Pennant
Kory: Astros
Dustin: Cleveland
Charles: Cleveland
Kyle: Astros
World Series Winner
Kory: Astros in 6
Dustin: Cleveland in 6
Charles: Cleveland in 7
Kyle: Cubs in 6
It’s hard to bet against the teams that made it to the final series last season, especially when neither of them got noticeably worse in the offseason. My money is on the Astros cashing in on their offseason investments.
Kyle says: “Bullpens, offense, and versatility wins championships. And so it goes. Astros grind out a few wins between McCullers and the offense throughout the playoffs, but are out of their element against the best team in baseball.”
Charles says: “The Chapman-less Cubs can’t close it out this time. And so ends the only remaining WS drought. With no “curses” remaining, MLB needs to figure out how to manufacture some good storylines. Otherwise, what do we have to root for/against? They better hope Harper signs with the Yankees and revives the Evil Empire otherwise we’re looking at a league with no driving storylines that struggles to promote its stars.”
NL Rookie of the Year
Kory: Josh Bell
Dustin: Dansby Swanson
Charles: Josh Bell
Kyle: Ozzie Albies
Dustin is the only one of us to go with the odds-on, industry-favorite Dansby Swanson.
AL Rookie of the Year
Kory: Jharel Cotton
Dustin: Andrew Benintendi
Charles: Andrew Benintendi
Kyle: Andrew Benintendi
Everybody is all-in on Benintendi (truthfully, so am I), but I needed to throw in a little bit of contrarianism here. Cotton will be fun to watch, but this is my least confident pick in this entire article.
NL Cy Young
Kory: Clayton Kershaw
Dustin: Clayton Kershaw
Charles: Noah Syndergaard
Kyle: Clayton Kershaw
Charles, channeling his inner Neil, decided to go contrarian here and pick the Mets’ ace to overtake Kershaw this season.
AL Cy Young
Kory: Yu Darvish
Dustin: Corey Kluber
Charles: Masahiro Tanaka
Kyle: Carlos Carrasco
Hopefully Charles didn’t watch the first game of the season today. Dustin is betting on Mr. Reliable, and Kyle and I are betting on some injury risks to stay healthy. Nice to see this much disagreement. Warms my heart.
NL MVP
Kory: Paul Goldschmidt
Dustin: Bryce Harper
Charles: Kris Bryant
Kyle: Nolan Arenado
Much like the AL Cy Young, we just can’t seem to agree on who will win the NL MVP. Dustin and Charles played it safe with Harper and Bryant. They’re the best players on two of the best teams in the league, so they’ll have the “playoff push.” Arenado and Goldschmidt will very likely continue to put up the MVP-type numbers we’ve been seeing from then, but winning the MVP will probably require their teams to stay in the hunt the entire season.
AL MVP
Kory: Mike Trout
Dustin: Mike Trout
Charles: Manny Machado
Kyle: Mike Trout
Ever the contrarian, Charles chooses Manny Machado. I don’t hate it, but it’ll take quite the campaign to dethrone Trout atop the AL.
Bonus Pick: Winner of ABC’s The Bachelorette
Kory: DeMario
Dustin: DeMario
Charles: DeMario
Kyle: DeMario
Duh.
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