AL
Central:
The White Sox added the best closer on the market in Liam Hendricks, a solid #3 starter in Lance Lynn, OF Adam Eaton(2nd time with team) and a new manager in Hall of Famer Tony La Russa (who last managed them 35 years ago) in hopes they do not collapse when leading the division in the last month. Those moves solidify the young bullpen in the backend led by Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet by getting a lock down veteran closer and making the rotation deep that already has Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Dylan Cease. Their lineup is still the main reason they will win the division since they still have reigning AL MVP 1B Jose Abreu, Silver Slugger LF Eloy Jimenez, batting champ SS Tim Anderson, a full season by gold glover CF Luis Robert, a full healthy season by 3B Yoan Moncada, C Yasmani Grandal, full seasons for rookies DH Andrew Vaughn and Nick Madrigal, plus Eaton will solidify the top of the lineup. With La Russa the hope is they make better decisions with the bullpen and the batting lineup which were questions the last few seasons under the previous manager that held them back.
The Twins will still be a playoff contender but with the departures in the pitching staff of Trevor May, Homer Bailey, Jake Odorizzi, Tyler Clippard, Rich Hill and Sergio Romo it will be hard to compete for the division, plus they non-tendered their starting LF of the last six years in Eddie Rosario. They still do not know who will play LF and signed 4x gold glove winner Andrelton Simmons to play SS which pushes Jorge Polanco to 2B and Luis Arraez to the bench which makes no sense. Their lineup will be the reason they stay in contention due to having 3B Josh Donaldson, RF Max Kepler, DH Nelson Cruz (who resigned) CF Byron Buxton, Polanco and C Mitch Garver. Their rotation will be good at the front with Jose Berrios and Kenta Maeda but the question will be how good is the back end of JA Happ, Matt Shoemaker and Michael Pineda that might hold them back.
The Indians have done it again three straight offseasons/trade deadlines unloading talent right and left this time as they traded SP Carlos Carrasco, SS Francisco Lindor, let 1B Carlos Santana closer Brad Hand, RP Adam Cimber, OFers Tyler Naquin, and Delino DeShields leave in free agency, plus they traded Mike Clevinger at the deadline last year. They will only be competitive as it looks like they can keep churning out young pitchers in the rotation since they still have Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, Aaron Civale and Triston McKenzie but have question marks in the bullpen. Their lineup also still has 3B Jose Ramirez, DH Franmil Reyes, signed LF Eddie Rosario for the middle of the lineup, but still have questions on who will play CF, RF, SS and 1B which will be the reason they will not be a playoff team this year.
The Royals will be better this year than they were the last two years where they might finish 3rd due to their stacked lineup that has Whit Merrifield, RF Jorge Soler, 3B Hunter Dozier, SS Adalberto Mondesi, C Salvador Perez, 2B Nick Lopez and 1B Ryan O’Hearn, plus they traded for LF Andrew Benintendi and signed 1B Carlos Santana. The issue will be their entire pitching staff as ace Danny Duffy can’t stay healthy, are relying on young inexperienced pitchers Brady Singer, Kyle Zimmer, Kris Bubic and Mike Minor who they signed for a second time also has an big injury history. Their bullpen is hinging on a rebound season of Wade Davis who is back for a second time, Greg Holland building on his small success last season and a bunch of nobodies unless Brad Brach makes the team. As good as their lineup is they will be one of the worst outfield defenses in all of baseball with Merrifled in CF and Soler in RF because of the additions of Benintendi and Santana, which also helps in holding them back.
The Tigers are at least selling to their fans they are trying since they signed two veteran outfielders in Nomar Mazara, Robbie Grossman (which did not make sense for two years) to flank CF Jacoby Jones, resigned 2B Jonathan Schoop, signed C Wilson Ramos, 1B Renato Nunez, pitchers Jose Urena, Derek Holland, Julio Teheran, Erasmo Ramirez, Wily Peralta and Ian Krol to compete for spots in the rotation/bullpen. Their future is actually bright with C Jake Rogers, outfielders Daz Cameron, Victor Reyes, SS Willi Castro and SP Casey Mize on the team or going to be soon, plus have a solid rotation going forward with Matthew Boyd, Michael Fulmer and Spencer Turnbull. Their bullpen is still something that needs to be fixed and they are still not sure if Jeimer Candelario is going to play 3B or 1B and if Jones can stay healthy. Also how much longer will future hall of famer Miguel Cabrera play once he gets his milestones of 500 home runs (13 away) and 3000 hits (134 away) after this season since they have a log jam of corner outfielders which would be resolved if the DH spot was open.
AL
East:
The Rays again will win the division because of their position player and bullpen depth. They still have outfielders Austin Meadows, Randy Arozarena, Manuel Margot, Kevin Kiermaier, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Brett Phillips, infielders Brandon Lowe, Mike Brosseau, Willy Adames, Ji-Man Choi, Yandy Diaz, Joey Wendle, catchers Mike Zunino and Francisco Mejia. They still spot a deep bullpen of Nick Anderson, Diego Castillo, Peter Fairbanks, Chaz Roe and Hunter Strickland. The issue will be can the deep bullpen/position players support the weakened starting rotation that lost Blake Snell via trade, Charlie Morton in free agency, and Yonny Chrinos to Tommy John surgery with the likes of Rich Hill, Collin McHugh, Michael Wacha and Chris Archer(for a second time) to support Tyler Glasnow. All of them have a history of injuries with Archer missing all of last year and McHugh opting out for covid19. The only way they combat rotation issues is the opener strategy or the tag teaming starts option that Kevin Cash has been good at doing.
The Yankees are still the “Bronx Bombers” and that will be their calling card again with a lineup of outfielders Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier, DH Giancarlo Stanton, SS Gleyber Torres, 2B DJ LeMahieu, 1B Luke Voit, C Gary Sanchez and 3B Gio Urshela powering them to the playoffs. They also still have a deep bullpen of Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Darren O’Day, Justin Wilson and Chad Green plus the veterans on minor league deals. The issue will be their starting rotation that loss, JA Happ, James Paxton to other teams, Masahiro Tanaka going back home to Japan, and Luis Severino probably missing a good chunk of the season as he returns from Tommy John surgery. They still have one of the best pitchers in MLB in Gerrit Cole but he can only pitch once every 5 days so they signed two question marks in Corey Kluber who only pitched in one game last year and Jameson Taillon who has not pitched in two seasons due to surgery, so their position players and bullpen will have to carry them if they want to make the playoffs again.
The Blue Jays were a surprise playoff team last year (expanded playoffs) and with their gluttony of position players they have a good chance at a wildcard spot. They still have outfielders Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk, Lourdes Gurriel Jr, infielders Cavan Biggio, Bo Bichette, Vlad Gurrerro Jr, Rowdy Tellez, and they added to that mix of players with outfielder George Springer and infielder Marcus Semien. The issue here is guys playing out of position as Semien pushes Biggio to 3B, Gurrero to 1B, Tellez to DH, and pushes Grichuck to the bench. The rotation has depth to it by keeping Robbie Ray, trading for Steven Matz, bringing in Tyler Chatwood, Tommy Milone to what they already have in Hyun Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Nate Pearson and Ross Stripling. They also revamped their bullpen bringing in Kirby Yates to replace Ken Giles, David Phelps for a second time and Francisco Liriano on a minor league deal.
The Red Sox will not finish in last place this year due to Alex Cora coming back to manage the team after his one year away from the game, the healthy seasons from their starters and bringing in utility players Marwin Gonzalez, Kike Hernandez and OF Hunter Renfroe to add to their lineup. That lineup will still have DH JD Martinez, OF Alex Verdugo, 3B Rafael Devers, SS Xander Bogaerts, C Christian Vazquez and a full season of Bobby Dalbec one of their top prospects. That rotation will get back Eduardo Rodriguez who had heart related problems from Covid19, Chris Sale will be back in the second half, will get a full season of Nick Pivetta, signed Garret Richards, Matt Andriese and resigned Martin Perez plus they still got Nathan Eovaldi. The issue will be they have not for the third straight offseason done anything to fix the bullpen to help Matt Barnes since Craig Kimbrel left and made it worse by trading Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman at the deadline last year.
The Orioles will
go back to being a last place team once again as they made some desperation
moves in signing Matt Harvey, Felix Hernandez minor
league deals, signing Maikel Franco, Freddy Galvis and Yolmer Sanchez to lineup
in their infield. The only good news is they get back their best player 1B Trey Mancini healthy after his battle with colon cancer and will hopefully keep him
out of the outfield. They can’t say that for Ryan Mountcastle one of their top
prospects as they plan on using him in the outfield as they did with many other
first basemen like Mancini. Their second best player really broke out last year
in RF Anthony Santander but only he and two of their starters John Means and
Dean Kremer are any good as their bullpen, center field and catcher situation
are not good.
AL West:
The Athletics will be getting 3B Matt Chapman back healthy this season to pair with 1B Matt Olson, LF Mark Cahana, RF Stephen Piscotty but the issue is they loss infielders Marcus Semien, Tommy La Stella and DH Kris Davis between the deadline last year and the offseason to their lineup. They replaced Semien with Elvis Andrus who isn’t the best hitter, and still do not know between three guys which does include Jed Lowrie who hasn’t played in a few years for second base, and DH Mitch Moreland who is a great defender/not biggest power guy to replace them in the lineup. Their other two regulars are great defensively but questions about their offensive production exist between CF Ramon Laureano and C Sean Murphy plus they lost their closer and setup man but replaced them with two question marks in Trevor Rosenthal and Sergio Romo. Their rotation on paper looks good but every single one of their pitchers has had a history with injuries and Tommy John surgeries like Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo and AJ Puk.
The Angels keep making their lineup better every year with their big time offseason moves like 1B Albert Pujols, Shohei Ohtani, 3B Antony Rendon, LF Justin Upton, and this offseason they added C Kurt Suzuki, SS Jose Iglesias, outfielders Dexter Fowler, Scott Schebler and Juan Lagaras, instead of their pitching staff for the most part with Jose Quintana, Alex Cobb and Rasiel Iglesias. The question is they can they trust Ohtani’s health as a pitcher, Quintana and Cobb who both have an injury history plus new closer Iglesias does too. The top two starters Andrew Heaney and Dylan Bundy are more like mid-back end starters plus their going with a six-man rotation to accommodate Othani. We have to question something if the Reds gave up on a young, cheap and successful closer for no reason do they know something that we don’t?
The Mariners have some promise with their young players like CF Kyle Lewis, 2B Shed Long, 1B Evan White, SS JP Crawford, outfielders Jake Farley, Taylor Trammell and infielder Ty France. The best news is that RF Mitch Hangier is back from multiple surgeries that kept him out of the lineup the last two seasons to help 3B Kyle Seager anchor this lineup. Their rotation also has some depth to it with Marco Gonzalez, Yusei Kikuchi, youngsters Justus Sheffield, Justin Dunn and bringing in James Paxton for a second time. One of the questions will be their bullpen with Rafael Montero not really being a closer who they traded for and resigning Kendall Gravemen to relieve not start, but they will have to wait for Ken Giles to come back next year after he had Tommy John surgery in the offseason to make this bullpen good. The other issue is they have too many outfielders to play at one time and France does not have a permanent position with both corner infield spots spoken for.
The Rangers will again be a last
place team as their team’s pitching staff is not much to brag about and they
have many questions about their position players. They did not get much from
Corey Kluber last year (had surgery & has left for free agency) traded away
Mike Minor at last year’s deadline, their closer Jose Leclerc missed most of
last year due to a shoulder injury, and traded away Lance Lynn this season
leading them to only have three starters to pencil in plus have questions at
closer. Kyle Gibson, Jordan Lyles and Kolby Allard are more like back end guys
plus Mike Foltynewicz doesn’t exude confidence the last few years. They still
do not have a full time centerfielder or first basemen, they moved their
starting third basemen Isiah Kiner-Falefa to shortstop, 2B Rougned Odor is
moving to third base because of that, Nick Solak who played all over the
infield/outfield is now the second basemen not the centerfielder and they will
most likely play David Dahl in centerfield which is the best place for him. They
think they can slug their way to victories with RF Joey Gallo, DH Khris Davis,
LF Willie Calhoun and the guys I mentioned previously and to hell with defense
whatsoever.
NL Central:
The Cardinals will win this division and even compete for the pennant due to their lineup’s potential that has 1B Paul Goldschmidt, C Yadier Molina, SS Paul DeJong, outfielders Tyler O’Neil, Dylan Carlson, INF Matt Carpenter, 2B Tommy Edman and they traded for 3B Nolan Arenado. They also get a full rotation this year with Jack Flahterty, Miles Mikolas, Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez and Dakota Hudson. Their bullpen is also deep with the many multi-inning pitchers in Jordan Hicks, Jon Gant, Daniel Ponce De Leon, Alex Reyes, Giovanny Gallegos, Kwang Hyun Kim and veteran Andrew Miller as well.
The Cubs will be competitive this year with the additions they have made by adding outfielders Joc Pederson, Jake Marisnick, catcher Austin Romine, infielders Eric Sogard, Matt Duffy, pitchers Jake Arrieta back for his second time, Brandon Workman, Trevor Williams, Pedro Strop for a second time, Adam Morgan, Joe Biagini and resigned Ryan Tepera. This is not a rebuild yet since this is the last time they will have their core four of 3B Kris Bryant, 1B Anthony Rizzo, SS Javy Baez and C Willson Contreras with three of them that could leave in free agency, which is why they plugged some holes like leftfield with Kyle Schwaber’s exit with Pederson and Marisinick. With the exits of Jon Lester, Tyler Chatwood, Jose Quinatna, Jeremy Jeffress and the trade of Yu Darvish they will turn to Kyle Hendricks Arrieta, Williams and youngsters Alec Mills and Adbert Alzolay in the rotation. With how shaky closer Craig Kimbrel has been since he has gotten there that is why they signed Workman, Strop and others on minor league deals to provide some depth just in case.
The Brewers did not make the playoffs last year in the shortened season and had their season upended when leadoff hitter/center fielder Lorenzo Cain opted out early causing them to shuffle up the outfield/lineup which is why they signed gold glove CF Jackie Bradley Jr. They hopefully align everything up in the outfield with one in CF and the other in LF. Their offense again will be the reason they are competitive since they still have former MVP Christian Yelich who will hopefully play RF, they brought back Travis Shaw to play 3B, signed 2B Kolten Wong to upgrade the defense which shifts Keston Hiura to 1B, and C Omar Navarrez. Their pitching staff will again be the issue after Brandon Woodruff as the rest is more like back end starters in Brett Anderson, Josh Lindbloom, Corbin Burnes and Eric Lauer. They even signed Jordan Zimmermann to a minor league deal, plus after Josh Hader there isn’t much in bullpen depth either. The other issue they have too many position players for eight spots as they still have outfielders Avisail Garcia, Billy McKinney, Derrek Fisher, 1B Daniel Vogelbach, infielders Tim Lopes and Luis Urias vying for at bats.
The Reds made the playoffs (expanded playoffs) due to their pitching staff carrying them but they lost Trevor Bauer, Anthony DeSchlafani, Pedro Strop, Nate Jones, Archie Bradley and their closer Raisel Iglesias, who they stupidly traded. They still have Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo and Wade Miley but might use the logical closer option in Michael Lorenzen in the rotation which weakens the bullpen that only has Amir Garrett and Sean Doolittle you can rely on. Their lineup has great offensive potential but they are playing guys out of position like Nick Castellanos in RF, Mike Moustakas at 2B, Nick Senzel in CF, and a backup catcher in Kyle Farmer at SS instead of one of their top prospects Jose Garcia or resigning Freddy Galvis. The lineup does have 3B Eugenio Suarez one of the most underrated players in baseball. and 1B Joey Votto also in the middle of the lineup.
The Pirates will
again be in last place as they traded away Jameson Tailon, Jose Musgrove, lost
Chris Archer, Trevor Williams and closer Keone Kela in free agency, leaving
their pitching staff with mostly question marks outside of Mitch Keller, Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl in the rotation. They still have too many shortstops in
Kevin Newman, Erik Gonzalez, Cole Tucker, Kevin Kramer, Wilmer Difo, 2B Adam Fraizer and 3B Phillip Evans that some have to play in the outfield. They
traded 1B Josh Bell to help some of the infield clutter so Colin Moran can play
1B and Ke'Bryan Hayes can play 3B every day but look for Moran or RF Gregory Polanco to be traded. Lastly they do not know who will play CF or start at
catcher all year.
NL
East:
The Braves will win their fourth straight division title due to their lineup depth that has RF Ronald Acuna who will play RF finally, MVP 1B Freddie Freeman, C Travis d’Arnaud, SS Dansby Swanson, 2B Ozzie Albies, they resigned LF Marcell Ozuna, signed Jake Lamb, not to mention one of their top prospects CF Christian Pache, and have Austin Riley and Ender Inciarte to mix in as well. They get Mike Soroka back from season ending injury to pair with Max Fried, Ian Anderson, free agent signings Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly, plus the bullpen still has Will Smith and Chris Martin at the back end. They even signed Nate Jones, for bullpen depth, and infielders Jason Kipnis and Pablo Sandoval for infield depth.
The Mets made many additions to their team like getting SS Francisco Lindor, pitchers Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, Joey Lucchesi, Marcus Stroman accepting the qualifying offer, Aaron Loup, Jerry Blevins, Trevor May, C James McCann, OF-1B Jose Martinez, infielder Jonathan Villar, outfielders Kevin Pillar and Albert Almora Jr. They still have one of the best pitchers in Jacob DeGrom leading the rotation, Noah Syndergaard coming back from Tommy John Surgery, Edwin Diaz, Dellin Betances, Jeruys Familla to lead the bullpen. Their lineup is also very deep with 1B Pete Alonzo, 2B Jeff McNeil, RF Michael Conforto, LF Dominic Smith, 3B JD Davis and CF Brandon Nimmo. They also made a good amount of minor league signings for depth that will definitely come into play in this full season as they will capture one of the wild card spots.
The Nationals will not finish in last place because their pitching staff will be better as they still have Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg who was hurt last year, Patrick Corbin, they signed Jon Lester and Joe Ross is back after opting out last year. They also added Brad Hand to the back end of the bullpen that still has Will Harris and Daniel Hudson. Their offense was the problem last year too as they got no production out of RF, 3B, 2B and 1B despite the career years for SS Trea Turner and OF Juan Soto who led the NL in many categories including winning the batting title. They traded for 1B Josh Bell to fix one spot, signed Kyle Schwarber which will shift Soto to RF a position he has not played much and 2B Starlin Castro is back from injury.
The Phillies will definitely be competitive due to their lineup that still has outfielders Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, 1B Rhys Hoskins, 2B Jean Segura, 3BAlec Bohm, resigned both C JT Realmuto and SS Didi Gregorious. The issue is CF with Adam Halsey, Roman Quinn, UTL Scott Kingrey, maybe their former CF Odubel Herrera and top prospect Mickey Moniak vying for at bats. Their rotation is very top heavy with Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Zach Eflin as they have many guys vying for the last spots that don’t have the same upside like Matt Moore (who was overseas last year), Chase Anderson and Vincent Velazquez. Their bullpen has been disastrous the last few seasons as the David Robertson, Tommy Hunter and Pat Neshek did not work out due to health so they signed Archie Bradley, Neftali Feliz and Brandon Kintzler hoping something works out.
The Marlins did
make the playoffs (expanded playoffs) last year but are in the toughest
division and do not have the pitching depth required to compete since they only
have one reliable pitcher in Sandy Alcantara and no bullpen. They also are
sacrificing offense for defense with the veteran laden outfield of Corey Dickerson, Starling Marte and now Adam Duvall. They also are not giving Jazz Chisholm the opportunity at SS with them wasting time with Miguel Rojas who is
more like a backup but they will at least keep Brian Anderson full time at 3B
instead of the outfield experiment since he is their best player.
NL West:
The Dodgers are the reigning World Series champions who definitely have a chance to repeat as they only got better pitching wise by adding Trevor Bauer, Corey Knebel, Tommy Kahnle, and David Price is back after opting out last season. The rotation is now seven deep with those moves as they still have Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May, plus the bullpen still has Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen, Joe Kelly and Brusdar Graterol. The lineup is also one of the best in baseball with outfielders Mookie Betts, AJ Pollack, Cody Bellinger, SS Corey Seager, C Will Smith, 1B Max Muncy, a full season of 2B Gavin Lux, and they resigned 3B Justin Turner. They also have utility players Chris Taylor, Matt Beaty and Edwin Rios who will get at bats as well but could start for other teams.
The Padres made the playoffs for the first time in fourteen seasons and will make it again as a wild card since they added to an already good team with the pitching moves they made in trading for Blake Snell, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove for the rotation. They also added Keone Kela and Mark Melancon to their bullpen that still has Craig Stammen, Matt Strahm and closer Drew Pomeranz. Their lineup still has SS Fernando Tatis Jr, 3B Manny Machado, 1B Eric Hosmer, LF Tommy Pham and RF Wil Myers. They also have the reigning gold glove winner in CF in Trent Grisham, and got Victor Caratini to backup Austin Nola at catcher. The head scratcher was signing Jurickson Profar to a three deal, signing Ha-Seong Kim one of the best Korean players to a four year deal when they still have Jorge Mateo and Jake Croenworth who almost won rookie of the year to play 2B.
The Diamondbacks will not finish in last place as they will get back to be competitive this year as they still have a good lineup with 2B Ketel Marte, 3B Eduardo Escobar, catchers Carson Kelly, Stephen Vogt, outfielders David Peralta and Kole Calhoun. The issue is they have no idea who will play CF between Tim Locastro, a top prospect in catcher Daulton Varsho or even putting Marte back in CF which is not the best idea. Their bullpen is also a work in progress with the signings of Joakim Soria, Tyler Clippard, Chris Devenski, Anthony Swarzak and Ryan Butcher among others. Their rotation is still solid with Madison Bumgarner, Luke Weaver, Zac Gallen, and Merrill Kelly leading the way.
The Giants still have veterans SS Brandon Crawford, 1B Brandon Belt, 3B Evan Longoria and C Buster Posey back after opting out to lead this lineup, plus still have Wilmer Flores, 2B Donovan Solano, 1B Darin Ruf, Mauricio Dubon and even signed Tommy La Stella to get at bats. The issue will be the rotation after Johnny Cueto since every other guy is a question mark like Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Aaron Sanchez (who hasn’t pitched in two years), Alex Wood and Scott Kazmir(who hasn’t pitched in the big leagues in four seasons). They have Jake McGee to close but have question marks all over the bullpen as the relievers with the most experience are all on minor league deals.
The Rockies traded away their franchise
player for a minimal prospect return with $50 million dollars to help pay for
his contract in 3B Nolan Arrenado. The clock is ticking when they trade SS
Trevor Story who is a pending free agent and even RF Charlie Blackmon, plus
relievers Daniel Bard, Mychal Givens and closer Scott Oberg who missed all of
last season. They still do not have an answer to 2B, 3B with the Arrenado
trade, catcher, even one outfield spot as Ian Desmond has opted out a second straight
year and 1B. Despite how talented their lineup has been over the years their
rotation has not done much to help them out even with Jon Gray, German Marquez,
Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland, the pressure is now on them without a
talented lineup which will cause them to be a last place team for awhile.
