My AL East Predictions (I will get to the other divisions as time allows. Let me know what you all think, I am looking forward to being completely wrong!)
The AL West is the Athletics to lose as they go for back-to-back World Series. The Rangers have the best chance to upend the A’s, but will need much more unexpected help from their pitching. The Angels and Mariners have some solid players and are closer to competing with the Rangers than you would think at first glance. Expect the A’s to run away and some stiff competition for 2nd place and potentially a Wild Card spot. The Astros will win the World Series in 2018.
In order from favorite to least favorite (2013 record)(My projection):
Oakland Athletics (19-3)(20-2)- The Athletics are the reigning World Champs and there is little reason to believe that they will not make a run again this year. In a scoring system that prioritizes first basemen, they have Chris Davis, Mike Napoli, and Chris Carter. Davis and Donaldson probably won’t hit like last year, but they are still very good. Kurt Suzuki has the starting gig in Seattle, Choo is an on base machine, Peralta is a top 10 SS, and the A’s will get mitigated help from role players, but no 0s. Their pitching staff is deep and probably one of the best in the league. Gio and Fister have top of the rotation ability, while Cahill, Beckett, Gee, McCarthy, Ross, Griffin and Straily round out a very deep rotation that should have someone starting every day. The Athletics are my favorite to win the AL again.
Texas Rangers (17-5)(13-9)- Obviously CarGo, Beltre, AGon, and Cruz are one hell of a middle of a lineup, but the rest of the lineup leaves a lot to be desired. They lack a starting C and 2B from what I can tell and I expect Soriano to take a step back this year. He probably won’t play every day anyway because the Yankees just have too many outfielders. Iglesias should hit better this year though. The pitching staff is largely empty. King Felix is great, Holland should be great when he gets back from his injury, and Hunter and Strop are going to get a lot of holds. There is just very little to work with after that. The Rangers should be above .500, but are not in a position to compete with Oakland in my opinion.
Los Angeles Angels (4-17)(10-12)- The Angels were not as bad as their 4-17 record last year. They just did not have a legal lineup half the season. Their offense is not particularly strong. Trout is the best player in baseball and should be the best OF in the league this year. Rendon has taken 2B from Espinosa in Washington and if Segura can replicate his first half from last year, he is a very good SS. Along with Alexei, the Angels have great SS depth. The Angels will need good contributions from an inexperienced Calhoun to compete with the Mariners, but I expect him to play well. They also need Morales to find a starting 1B gig or they will not have a starting 1B, the most important position. The Angels have the second best rotation in the division, almost by default. Wilson is well above average, Richards/Gray/Chatwood should get the starts to get the points. The Angels have a bunch of middle relief guys that will get points, but nothing spectacular. Still, points are points.
Seattle Mariners (5-17)(10-12)- The Mariners made some moves to improve their team this offseason, but it is not going to make a huge difference. Adding Ellsbury and Viciedo were helpful, and along with Cuddyer, make a solid 1-3 in the OF. Michael Saunders should also help a solid OF. Fielder should kill it this year in Texas and Callaspo, Murphy, and Franklin are solid. There is no starting C and only fringe batters beyond that. Kazmir is the ace of the staff. Maholm seems like the number 2 unless Paxton or Davis surprise. They do have an above average bullpen headed by Benoit and Cecil. Assuming certain players are called up for opening day, the Mariners can compete with Texas for second in the division, but would need some luck.
Houston Astros (2-20)(2-20)- The Astros are in full rebuild mode and will be a terrible team this year, but have an amazing farm system. This is one of the few teams that mirrors the real-life situation. As bad as the team looks, I think they are slightly better than the Twins. Unlike the Twins, the Astros have several people that will put up points offensively. Bianchi will have a utility role, Mercer might have a starting SS gig, Grossman has looked good in limited at bats, and Yelich could be a budding star. Justin Wilson is the best pitcher on the ML roster, nuff said.
