My 2018 MLB Picks

This isn't my typical baseball preview post that I leave for late March or early April. Instead, this is a straight up, no-nonsense, basic explanation listing of my predictions for the upcoming baseball season based on the rosters as they currently stand and my own biases (Jason Heyward is still bad & Jorge Soler is right on the doorstep of being great again). This blog will return to it's regularly scheduled programming once I restructure my schedule in a way that properly accommodates my desire to write more for Andy Todd's Bla Blog. Until then, I have a post in the works and the upcoming WRBL 2017 Season In Review to work on and some opinions on some Major League Baseball teams to share with everyone right now...

AL East
Boston Red Sox 96-76 (Their starting pitching is still deeper and the offense is just as good as New York's once Dustin Pedroia returns)
New York Yankees 89-73 (As long as Luis Severino is more 2017 Severino than 2016 Severino, this is a playoff team)
Toronto Blue Jays 81-81 (Any potential addition-by-subtraction was negated by replacing Jose Bautista with Curtis Granderson, an identical hitter.)
Baltimore Orioles 76-86 (The Alex Cobb signing was the only clear sign that this team isn't taking Manny Machado's likely final season in Baltimore)
Tampa Bay Rays 65-97 (Chris Archer and Alex Colome will bring back plenty of prospects when the timing is right for deals to be made)

AL North
Cleveland Indians 98-64 (With only one challenger in-division, Cleveland has plenty of leeway for injuries and slumps to not affect them in any way)
Minnesota Twins 85-77 (A revitalized pitching staff and no suspension for Miguel Sano returns the Twins to Wildcard contention)
Chicago White Sox 71-91 (The Sox are now in the "Prospect Arrival" portion of their rebuild and that tends to be the most unpredictable year of a team with this many enticing prospects)
Kansas City Royals 69-93 (Letting go of Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain and Jason Vargas would not have put this team behind the White Sox but, losing Salvador Perez to a torn MCL does significant damage to Ned Yost's chances of returning in 2019)
Detroit Tigers 66-96 (If it weren't for Miguel Cabrera and Michael Fulmer, this would be the worst team in baseball)

AL West
Houston Astros 95-67 (They only lost a couple of bullpen arms and the leadership of Carlos Beltran so, a repeat is very much in play)
Oakland Athletics 84-78 (Strangely enough, the team with one of the weakest parks for hitters is going all in on power hitting with a trio of Davis-Olson-Chapman that is sure to make Oakland an entertaining watch for the first time in years)
Los Angeles Angels 84-78 (Too much of the Angels' success relies upon Shohei Ohtani but, adding Ian Kinsler, Zack Cozart and full seasons from Garrett Richards and Justin Upton should keep them above .500 whether the Japanese prospect struggles or not)
Seattle Mariners 79-83 (The lineup is great now that sadly Felix Hernandez is not)
Texas Rangers 70-92 (Nomar Mazara could put up MVP-caliber numbers and it will not help save this aging squad)

NL East
Washington Nationals 105-57 (With Dusty Baker out as manager and Bryce Harper in a contract year, this has to be the Nationals biggest season to date)
Philadelphia Phillies 79-83 (The prospects have arrived and now it's time for Rhys Hoskins, J.P. Crawford and Nick Williams to improve into winners)
Atlanta Braves 77-85 (Dansby Swanson will bounce back but, the pitching is still a year away and they need one or two more bats to show up before they can contend for anything)
New York Mets 75-87 (Big names don't always equal big production and the disappointment caused by this pitching staff since their 2015 World Series appearance has my expectations low)
Miami Marlins 61-101 (Starlin Castro and J.T. Realmuto are very good baseball players and the lineup isn't THAT bad but, this is by far the worst, least proven pitching staff in baseball)

NL North
Chicago Cubs 94-68 (The curse-breaking hangover is now gone and Yu Darvish replaces Jake Arrieta so, expect a similar result to last season)
St. Louis Cardinals 88-74 (If Marcell Ozuna continues to bat .300 with 30+ homers and the young duo of Jack Flaherty/Alex Reyes sticks in the rotation, the redbirds will outdo expectations again)
Milwaukee Brewers 85-77 (One of the bigger surprises of 2017, the Brewers now have some form of expectations and should contend for the Wildcard)
Cincinnati Reds 75-87 (Nobody has thought about the Reds in five years outside of Joey Votto's Hall of Fame candidacy and their pitching is going to keep them irrelevant for at least one more year)
Pittsburgh Pirates 72-90 (Every veteran will be on the trading block and the only hope they have is Colin Moran becoming a star so, that's less than 1% hope)

NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers 100-62 (Clayton Kershaw's ERA might actually go up for the first time in his career but, there's nothing stopping the Dodgers from repeating as NL West champs once Justin Turner returns)
Arizona Diamondbacks 88-74 (J.D. Martinez is one hell of a tough loss but, their pitching staff should get them within five games of their 2017 W-L record)
Colorado Rockies 84-78 (Re-signing Carlos Gonzalez and letting Ryan McMahon and Raimel Tapia sit in AAA will prove to be a crucial error for a team that is finally sorting out their pitching)
San Francisco Giants 74-88 (I wanted to love this team as a sleeper with the additions of Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen but, losing Jeff Samardzija and Madison Bumgarner to injury already does not bode well for the even-year Giants to return to prominence)
San Diego Padres 71-91 (I pat them on the back for trying with the Eric Hosmer signing but, that's it)

POSTSEASON PICKS
Wildcard Games
Yankees over Twins
Cardinals over Diamondbacks
First Round
Yankees over Indians
Astros over Red Sox
Nationals over Cardinals
Dodgers over Cubs
Second Round
Astros over Yankees
Nationals over Dodgers
World Series
Washington over Houston in 6.

Sports Illustrated
In my crystal ball, I have the Astros going 2-0 with Justin Verlander on the mound and 0-4 without him in their World Series loss to the Nationals.

Maybe it's just foolish optimism but, I'd like to see one of the lesser-discussed northeastern baseball teams do something unforgettable before their star walks away for a record-breaking payday and the Orioles are not going to be that miracle team. In the postseason, you only need four good starters to succeed and advance and both Washington (Scherzer-Strasburg-GioGonzalez-Roark) and Houston (Verlander-Keuchel-McCullers-Cole) have that. On paper, the Astros are stronger with more players on track for Hall of Fame careers (Altuve, Correa, Verlander) but, the Nationals have had incredible results from their lineup these past two years and with Adam Eaton returning to lead-off after only playing one month last season, I foresee another All-Star being added to Washington's lineup alongside Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. Gerrit Cole is good, not great and I have yet to see Lance McCullers Jr. show any type of consistency with his health so, give me Dave Martinez and the Nationals. After all, everybody thought the Cubs would repeat too and look at how that turned out.