With the regular season just beginning, this should be an exciting year after big signings such as Trea Turner moving to the Phillies, Willson Contreras signing with the Cardinals and the Rangers acquiring Jacob deGrom just to name a few. So, let’s look at what to expect from every MLB team this season.
AL East
Baltimore Orioles: Entering this season, Baltimore yet again has the best farm system in the league. Players like Grayson Rodriguez and Adley Rutschman are already ready to make an appearance in the MLB and Colton Cowser is soon to be called up. They had offseason rumors of signing either Carlos Rodon or Jameson Taillon, but didn’t end up getting either. After falling just short of a wild card slot last season with an 83-79 record, I see them making yet another run at it.
Boston Red Sox: With a few acquisitions over the offseason such as Corey Kluber, Justin Turner and Aldaberto Mondesi, the Sox will be looking to make a run this season with more aged and experienced players. Chris Sale also appeared in spring training after being hurt for the past few seasons. Even with these signings and extending star Rafael Devers to a massive 11-year $331 million contract, I see them having a winning season, but not making it far.
New York Yankees: After re-signing Aaron Judge to the Bronx with a 9-year, $360 million contract and also picking up star lefty Carlos Rodon, the reigning division champs will look to make at least one more playoff run even though their roster is starting to age. Josh Donaldson, DJ LeMahieu, Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton are all at least 33-years-old, and their contracts are coming to an end. Even with age issues, I see them making one more run, although their time may be up.
Tampa Bay Rays: After yet another winning season for the Rays, they weren’t very active in free agency, although they did acquire Zach Eflin. This team is still full of stars like Wander Franco, Randy Arozarena and Tyler Glasnow. Plus, they still have one of the best farm systems in the league. With all of this, I can see them making a decent run for the wild card, but they won’t be good enough to go after the division title.
Toronto Blue Jays: The AL East is undoubtedly the best division in the league, and the Blue Jays are one of the best in it. We know Vladimir Guerrero will yet again be a star for Toronto, and with newcomers Whit Merrifield and Kevin Kiermeier, this team will not be one to mess around with. I predict they will closely compete with the Yankees for the title.
AL Central
Chicago White Sox: Last season was rough for the White Sox. Everyone expected a division title and maybe more, but they barely managed to finish .500. They added pitching talent by signing Mike Clevinger and outfielder Andrew Benintendi. They did however lose Jose Abreu to the Astros, but I see them coming back and regaining the title. There’s no way a team with Eloy Jiminez, Luis Robert and Tim Anderson can flop two seasons in a row.
Cleveland Guardians: The reigning division champions added quite a bit of talent to repeat last season. Over the offseason, they signed catcher Mike Zunino and first baseman Josh Bell. The two should fit perfectly into the lineup and the pitcher rotation is still very consistent with former Cy Young winner Shane Bieber leading the team. I can see them fighting Chicago for the title, but it will be close.
Detroit Tigers: Detroit hasn’t had a winning season since 2016, and I don’t see it happening this year either. The Tigers do however have many players who can make major impacts in the future., Spencer Torkelson is the first star that comes to name, but Akil Badoo, Riley Greene and new acquisition Austin Meadows will all look to make impacts as the season goes on along with future hall of famer Miguel Cabrera.
Kansas City Royals: KC fans are used to losing at this point, as they haven’t had a winning record since their World Series championship in 2015. However, Salvador Perez will provide entertainment and continue to be the best offensive catcher in the league. Bobby Witt Jr. will also bring fans into Kaufmann as he continues to develop and become a future gold glove winning shortstop.
Minnesota Twins: Entering this season, the Twins managed to re-sign Carlos Correa after all the drama that occurred with physical issues. They also brought in Joey Gallo, whose highest expectations include hitting .210 and 25 home runs. Eliminating the defensive shift should help him out a little bit, but there’s still not much to expect out of him. Byron Buxton will continue to produce consistently on offense and defense too.
AL West
Houston Astros: The reigning World Series champions are coming back hopeful for another great season. They did lose ace pitcher Justin Verlander to the Mets, but they acquired three-time all star Jose Abreu from the White Sox. Along with Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, they have a powerful offense that should be feared by many teams in this league.
Los Angeles Angels: The Angels are a team that constantly underperforms. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani share four MVP awards, twelve all star appearances and ten silver slugger awards, yet they haven’t had a playoff appearance since 2014 when they got swept. While Trout signed a 12 year/$426.5 million contract keeping him until 2030, there is no guarantee that Ohtani will stay. His contract expires in 2024 and there’s many rumors that he’ll go elsewhere. The Angels need to have a good season. They have the roster; they just need to make it happen.
Oakland Athletics: The As are all in on a rebuild, and there isn’t much to say for them. They’ve seen Sean Murphy, Matt Olson and Matt Chapman leave for other teams, and Oakland fans don’t have much to look forward to. There have been rumors of a stadium being rebuilt in San Francisco, meaning there would be no major sports in Oakland anymore after the Warriors moved to San Francisco and the Raiders moved to Vegas. I love this team and feel bad for Oakland fans, but maybe it’s better that they get a better stadium and relocate to San Francisco.
Seattle Mariners: Julio Rodriguez will be the name to look out for this season. After a stunning rookie season, he signed a seven year/$119.3 million contract and has all eyes on him this season. Seattle also improved its roster by signing slugger Teoscar Hernandez and defensive all star Kolten Wong. There is tons of hope for this team after they madeg the playoffs for the first time since 2001 last season.
Texas Rangers: After monster signings last season including Corey Seager and Max Semien, the Rangers decided to spend even more and get Jacob DeGrom and Nathan Eovaldi along with Adolis Garcia and Nathaniel Lowe. On paper, this team looks fantastic and competitive and in another powerful division, I see this division race being between Texas, Houston and LA, making this division very fun to watch.
NL East
Atlanta Braves: The Braves are maybe the most exciting team entering the season and have the best roster on paper. They already have Austin Riley, Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna returning just to name a few, but after the signing of Sean Murphy, this team has talent all over the roster, and they’re definitely the favorites for the division this season after a division round loss to the Phillies last year.
Miami Marlins: Coming out of their second season with over 90 losses, Miami is in a tough spot and I don’t see them having much hope for this season either. Jazz Chisholm will continue his rise into being one of the best players in the league along with new signing Jean Segura and Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara. This Miami team is in need of help and they definitely have a few more years before they become competitive again.
New York Mets: The Mets put up 101 wins last year, but still lost in the Wild Card round. While they don’t have to worry about Jacob DeGrom’s health anymore, they instead have to deal with the concern over pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, who are 38 and 40. If both manage to keep up their star form, they will be one of the best pitching combos in the league, but if their age starts to show, that may be their weak spot. With the age of this roster, this season is the Mets final chance of making a true run at the World Series.
Philadelphia Phillies: Sports in Philly have been both exciting and depressing lately. The Eagles made the Super Bowl, only to lose to the Chiefs. The Union of the MLS made it to the championship, then lost to LAFC in penalties. The Flyers are eliminated from the playoffs, and the Phillies lost the World Series. However, with Scwarber, Castellanos and Harper returning plus the offseason addition of Trea Turner, there’s hope that the Phillies can rebound and make another run.
Washington Nationals: DC is in a full rebuild at this point, and coming off of a 55-107 season, this year will mostly be about development. After the blockbuster Juan Soto trade, we’ll look to see improvements from CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore along with Keibert Ruiz and Luis Garcia. The hope is that Patrick Corbin can come back and actually show that he deserves the $140 million they gave him back in 2018 and that we’ll maybe see an appearance from Nats legend Stephen Strasburg after the recent surgery he went through in the offseason.
NL Central
Chicago Cubs: Chicago hopes to rebound this year and possibly make a run for the playoffs. They’ve been in a pretty deep rebuild lately, but with the offseason additions of former MVP Cody Bellinger, Dansby Swanson, and Jameson Taillon, they’ll hope to improve and make a run for the division title.
Cincinnati Reds: Reds fans, I feel bad for you. Your ownership just doesn’t care. Cincy is right back into rebuilding after the few seasons of hope with Moustakas, Suarez, Winker and Castellanos. The good news is that 6-time all star and MVP Joey Votto will return this season along with top pitching prospect Hunter Greene. This season is most likely going to be rough for the Reds, but just remember that the Pirates are just as bad.
Milwaukee Brewers: Coming off a good season just finishing below St. Louis, Milwaukee will look to rebound and regain the division title. WIlliam Contreras, Jesse WInker and Luke Voit all join the offense while Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Devin WIlliams are all still on the pitching roster. The key for them will be the performance of former MVP Christian Yelich and if he can regain that form after a few rough seasons.
Pittsburgh Pirates: Losing is nothing new to the Pirates, and I yet again don’t expect much out of them this season. They brought back former MVP and Pirates legend Andrew McCutchen.Ke’Bryan Hayes will continue to be just as impressive, and we’ll be hoping to see more improvements from Oneil Cruz, but the big question is what’ll happen to Bryan Reynolds, as he’s on his last contract year, and the Pirates front office isn’t generally known for keeping players long term.
St. Louis Cardinals: “How will the pitching do?” is always the question for this team and I’ve had enough of hearing it. Flaherty is coming back and will hope to stay healthy, Wainwright is returning for his final year, and pair them along with Montgomery, Matz and Mikolas, there’s a solid pitching rotation. The biggest questions for this team are on the performance of rookie Jordan Walker and Wilson Contreras, who STL signed from the rival Cubs to replace future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina.
NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks: The Dbacks are also in the middle of a deep rebuild. They have one of the best farm systems with Jordan Lawlar and Druw Jones being top 15 prospects. We’ll hope to see a consistent season from Zac Gallen and Ketel Marte along with Lourdes Gurriel, who was acquired via trade over the offseason. Although there isn’t much hope this season, there’s the potential for Arizona to be good in the future.
Colorado Rockies: The Rockies look like they always do and have the roster to end up with around 70 wins. The days of Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story are long over, and it has been rough sailing since then. Kris Bryant will hope to come back after only playing 42 games last season and prove he’s worth $26 million per year. They also have Charlie Blackmon returning along with defensive machine Ryan McMahon. Pitching is always the biggest concern with this roster though and playing in Coors Field doesn’t help at all.
Los Angeles Dodgers: For the first time in a while, we may see this LA team not be as dominant. Trea Turner is gone, Gavin Lux is most likely out for the season after a brutal right knee injury, and there are questions on who will fill Bellinger’s center field spot. This is the Dodgers though. They still have Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and WIll Smith along with new signing JD Martinez on offense. With a clean pitching lineup, I’m not too concerned about this Dodgers team performing badly.
San Diego Padres: This may be the year for San Diego. As mentioned above, the Dodgers are vulnerable, meanwhile the Padres are at their peak. The signing of Xander Bogaerts alongside Manny Machado and Juan Soto will make opposing pitchers fear this lineup. Yu Darvish returns with Blake Snell and Josh Hader as well, so there’s really no big holes in this lineup, and I can see the Padres fighting for their first ever World Series title.
San Francisco Giants: The Giants tried to spend big this offseason, but couldn’t make any moves happen. They went after Aaron Judge and Carlos Correa, but flopped on both. They also lost Carlos Rodon to the Yankees, so it was a tough winter to say the least and because of this, I don’t see much happening for them. They can potentially fight for a wild card spot, but they’re about as middle of the road as it gets.
Overall, this season should be one for the books. With lots of offseason moves, top prospects making their major league jump and new rules such as the pitch clock coming into play, I’m excited to see how this season plays out.