Sunday, April 2, 2017

2017 MLB Season Preview

Projected Standings

AL East

  1. Boston Red Sox
  2. Toronto Blue Jays
  3. Baltimore Orioles
  4. New York Yankees
  5. Tampa Bay Rays

NL East

  1. Washington Nationals
  2. New York Mets
  3. Miami Marlins
  4. Atlanta Braves
  5. Philadelphia Phillies

AL Central

  1. Cleveland Indians
  2. Detroit Tigers
  3. Kansas City Royals
  4. Minnesota Twins
  5. Chicago White Sox

NL Central

  1. Chicago Cubs
  2. St. Louis Cardinals
  3. Pittsburgh Pirates
  4. Milwaukee Brewers
  5. Cincinnati Reds

AL West

  1. Houston Astros
  2. Seattle Mariners
  3. Texas Rangers
  4. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  5. Oakland Athletics

NL West

  1. Los Angeles Dodgers
  2. San Francisco Giants
  3. Colorado Rockies
  4. Arizona Diamondbacks
  5. San Diego Padres

Projected Playoff Picture


National League

  1. Chicago Cubs
  2. Washington Nationals
  3. Los Angeles Dodgers
  • Wild Card #1 - San Francisco Giants
  • Wild Card #2 - New York Mets
N.L. Wild Card Game - San Francisco over New York
NLDS #1 - Chicago over San Francisco
NLDS #2 - Los Angeles over Washington
NLCS - Los Angeles over Chicago


American League

  1. Cleveland Indians
  2. Boston Red Sox
  3. Houston Astros
  • Wild Card #1 - Seattle Mariners
  • Wild Card #2 - Detroit Tigers
A.L. Wild Card Game - Seattle over Detroit
ALDS #1 - Cleveland over Seattle
ALDS #2 - Boston over Houston
ALCS - Boston over Cleveland


World Series

  • Boston over Los Angeles

Projected Award Candidates and Winners


AL MVP

Candidates
  • Mike Trout, LAA
  • Miguel Cabrera, DET
  • Mookie Betts, BOS
  • Carlos Correa, HOU
  • Francisco Lindor, CLE
  • Robinson Cano, SEA
Winner: Robinson Cano


NL MVP

Candidates
  • Kris Bryant, CHC
  • Anthony Rizzo, CHC
  • Corey Seager, LAD
  • Clayton Kershaw, LAD
  • Yoenis Cespedes, NYM
  • Bryce Harper, WSH
Winner: Yoenis Cespedes


AL Cy Young

Candidates
  • Chris Sale, BOS
  • Marcus Stroman, TOR
  • Corey Kluber, CLE
  • Justin Verlander, DET
  • Felix Hernandez, SEA
Winner: Chris Sale


NL Cy Young

Candidates
  • Max Scherzer, WSH
  • Noah Syndergaard, NYM
  • Gerrit Cole, PIT
  • Clayton Kershaw, LAD
  • Madison Bumgarner, SF
Winner: Clayton Kershaw


AL Rookie of the Year

Candidates
  • Andrew Benintendi, BOS
  • Yoan Moncada, CWS
  • Aaron Judge, NYY
  • Lucas Giolito, CWS
  • Dan Vogelbach, SEA
Winner: Andrew Benintendi


NL Rookie of the Year

Candidates
  • Dansby Swanson, ATL
  • Jose Peraza, CIN
  • Josh Bell, PIT
  • Tyler Glasnow, PIT
  • Manuel Margot, SD
Winner: Josh Bell, PIT


AL Reliever of the Year

Candidates
  • Craig Kimbrel, BOS
  • Zach Britton, BAL
  • Roberto Osuna, TOR
  • Andrew Miller, CLE
  • Aroldis Chapman, NYY
Winner: Craig Kimbrel


NL Reliever of the Year

Candidates
  • Kenley Jansen, LAD
  • Mark Melancon, SF
  • Jim Johnson, ATL
  • Wade Davis, CHC
  • Seung - Hwan Oh, STL
Winner: Mark Melancon, SF


AL Manager of the Year

Candidates
  • Brad Ausmus, DET
  • A.J. Hinch, HOU
  • Scott Servais, SEA
  • Jeff Bannister, TEX
  • Terry Francona, CLE
Winner: Scott Servais


NL Manager of the Year

Candidates
  • Dave Roberts, LAD
  • Mike Matheny, STL
  • Bruce Bochy, SF
  • Terry Collins, NYM
  • Don Mattingly, MIA
Winner: Terry Collins, NYM


AL Silver Sluggers

  • C - Brian McCann, HOU
  • 1B - Miguel Cabrera, DET
  • 2B - Robinson Cano, SEA
  • 3B - Manny Machado, BAL
  • SS - Carlos Correa, HOU
  • OF - Mike Trout, LAA
  • OF - Mookie Betts, BOS
  • OF - Justin Upton, DET
  • DH - Nelson Cruz, SEA

 

NL Silver Sluggers

  • C - Buster Posey, SF
  • 1B - Freddie Freeman, ATL
  • 2B - Daniel Murphy, WSH
  • 3B - Kris Bryant, CHC
  • SS - Corey Seager, LAD
  • OF - Andrew McCutchen, PIT
  • OF - Yoenis Cespedes, NYM
  • OF - Bryce Harper, WSH
  • P - Madison Bumgarner, SF

General Thoughts on the Season

  • There are not a lot of elite left-handed starting pitchers in baseball anymore and the ones there are seem to be concentrated to two divisions, the AL East and NL West.  David Price and Chris Sale both pitch for the Red Sox, Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers, and Madison Bumgarner for the Giants.  There are also Cole Hamels, Jose Quintana, and Jon Lester who are scattered throughout the league.  I think that elite lefties have become even more valuable commodities than they have been in the past and so teams with one always attempt to get a second and every team without one searches for their Kershaw or Sale.
  • There also seems to be a shortfall of left-handed relievers in the league and going through each team's roster shows a lot of right-handers in bullpens.  I'm not certain what this means except that teams who have them can ask for a great return in a trade.
  • There don't seem to be many middle-of-the-pack teams anymore.  Teams are either tanking and rebuilding or going all-in on a World Series championship.  It's a vicious cycle because teams in these two categories will generally trade places with each other in time.  Teams like the Athletics, Rays, Royals, and Angels, are all stuck because they have no real path to competitiveness and yet aren't selling off assets to build their farm system.

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