MLB Preseason Predictions

By Aeden Elstein 

Baseball, America's pastime, is heading into the 2023 season. I believe that the sport of baseball is often overlooked because it's considered "boring" and "too slow-paced," but I find that this is precisely what gives the sport its charm. After a long and treacherous offseason, I will be predicting the standings and playoffs for the MLB.

AL East: 

1st - New York Yankees (89-73) Despite having a strong offseason by acquiring star pitcher Carlos Rodon and re-signing Aaron Judge, the Yankees' chances of being a true World Series contender are questionable. Unfortunately, Rodon is already injured, and Judge was carrying the team last year. While the helteam made some good moves, it remains to be seen if they are enough to put them over the top.

2nd - Toronto Blue Jays (88-74) The Toronto Blue Jays have consistently been a strong team, but they have yet to surpass the Yankees. Even though they have the potential to do so, the loss of outfielder George Springer for the first month of the season may hinder their performance. Nonetheless, I believe that the Blue Jays will still have a good season.

3rd - Baltimore Orioles (85-77) After a relatively quiet offseason in Baltimore, it seems that the Orioles are still developing a great young team. Catcher Adley Rutchmen had a strong rookie season, and pitcher Grayson Rodriguez is projected to be starting. Although they are still a few years away from being World Series contenders, it's a significant step up from where they were in 2018 and 2019.

4th - Tampa Bay Rays (78-84) Although the Rays have made the playoffs every year since 2018, I am not as confident in them due to the fact that ownership still refuses to spend money. Additionally, the core that these playoff teams were constructed around is aging, and if the team continues not to spend money, their playoff window may be closing.

5th - Boston Red Sox (73-89) Unfortunately, the Red Sox are not looking promising this season. While re-signing 3B Rafael Devers is a positive move, there aren't many other positives to speak of. The team has an injury-riddled SP in Chris Sale, and SS Trevor Story is underperforming. It's safe to say that the Red Sox will likely have a poor season.

AL Central: 

1st - Chicago White Sox (93-69) Despite a less-than-stellar offseason, the White Sox are still an incredibly talented team. Outfielders Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert are just a couple of the offensive stars on the team, along with perennial batting title contender SS Tim Anderson and promising 1B Andrew Vaughn. They also have a solid rotation to round out a great team, and I expect them to win the division by a few games.

2nd - Minnesota Twins (87-75) After re-signing SS Carlos Correa, the Twins are in a pretty good position for a playoff spot. They are a solid team, but their 18 straight playoff game losing streak may be a hindrance to their success.

3rd - Cleveland Guardians (83-79) While the Guardians won't be bad, they also won't be good enough for a playoff spot. 3B Jose Ramirez and CP Emmanuel Clase will carry this team to relevance, but not enough to reach the playoffs.

4th - Kansas City Royals (79-83) 1B Vinny Pasquini and C Salvador Perez will carry this team, but they are not close to playoff or World Series contenders. The rebuild since 2015 continues.

5th - Detroit Tigers (71-91) The Tigers are not looking promising this season. While they may have had a fluke near-.500 season in 2021, they need to focus on developing their young prospects for the future.

AL West: 

1st Houston Astros (95-67) The reigning world champion continues their dominance in the AL West winning the division every year since 2017 and I expect this to continue for a while. They have a killer offense adding 1B/DH Jose Abreu to solidify the position.

2nd Seattle Mariners (90-72) The Mariners have a very bright future CF Julio Rodriguez “J-ROD” is going to tear up the league and they will have another strong playoff team.

3rd Los Angeles Angels (89-73) The Angels are a team that is a complete mystery they have two top 5 players in the league yet they routinely finish under .500. Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani are two of the best players in the league Mike Trout has been incredible in the past decade having a career 82.4 War the highest not only since 2011 (when he debut) but also in an entire 12 season span in mlb history. Shohei Ohtani is the first true two way player (meaning he pitches and hits) since Babe Ruth in 1919 and he is elite at both. In fact, he is good at everything in regards to baseball. Many people throw around ‘5-way player,’ he might be the first 6-way player.

4th Texas Rangers 78-84 Even though the Rangers spent huge in the offseason they can never seem to climb the hump always being close but not close enough to make noise. Although I mainly think they won't be good because of Degrom, they are paying $35 million a year for an injury prone high risk high reward guy if he only plays 10-15 games, they’re done.

5th Oakland A’s 51-111 They are so bad I do not know where to even start with it. A’s fans better hope that they turn it around in Las Vegas.

NL East: 

1st Atlanta Braves 101-61 The Braves are the perfect mix of a baseball team with young talents like CF Michael Harris II and SP Spencer Strider and vets to keep them in line like C Travis D’arnoud DH Adam Duvall. Losing SS Dansby Swanson will be bad but they can recover.

2nd New York Mets 90-72 The Mets have spent nearly 800 million on contracts but with injuries to two of there stars (CF Brandon Nimmo and CP Edwin Diaz) I think they will be good just not better than the Braves

3rd Philadelphia Phillies 89-73 After spending big on Trea Turner the Phillies are set to continue being a playoff caliber team.

4th Miami Marlins 72-90 Jazz Chisholm is carrying a lethargic offense and will be OK with his pitching which is great and will carry this team to slight relevance.

5th Washington Nationals 67-95

Every time I watch the Nationals play baseball, five years get taken off my life. They are so bad, why can they not be contracted???

NL Central: 

1st St Louis Cardinals 91-71 This offense is great. The pitching is above average, and they are consistently good all around.

2nd Milwaukee Brewers 85-77 Pitching is carrying this team CF Christian Yelich is out of his prime but he's still good. However,  the rest of the offense is interesting, to say the least.

3rd Chicago Cubs 81-81 Walking mediocrity! Have fun waiting another century for a title!

4th Pittsburgh Pirates 74-88 For the first time in a long time, the Pirates actually have some talent on the team. By 2024 they could be playoff contenders off the back of C. Henry Davis.

5th Cincinnati Reds 66-96 Currently, all the Reds have is 38 year old 1B Joey Votto. Nothing else on this team is a positive.

NL West: 

1st Los Angeles Dodgers 97-65 The Dodgers will always be good as long as the Guggenheim baseball group owns them and spend money to develop great players. They’ll  always be a consist 90+ win team.

2nd San Diego Padres 90-72 The Padres are a team that is going to be good. LF Juan Soto, 3B Manny Machado and returning SS Fernando Tatis Jr are going to be a fun team.

3rd San Francisco Giants 79-83 A good solid team, a bit on the older side, but have prospects on the way. They could be higher on the list in a few years.

4th Colorado Rockies 68-94 A team that should be much better, however, they underachieve beyond belief their gonna be like this for a few years.

5th Arizona Diamondbacks 67-95 Just let CF Corbin Coral and SP Zac Gallen develop and sign some free agents in the future and you could be a real World Series contender.