2016 Season Predictions Post: Mevs

mark-carlson-mlb-tampa-bay-rays-detroit-tigers-850x560

This has long been one of my favorite traditions on the blog. I haven’t had the time this early spring to post as much as I would like, but this is the one post I have to make sure it finds its way to the site each year. Making these (poor) predictions are a rite of passage, and it’s fun to look back and see how far off I was. Here’s a look at my 2015 predictions post, with my 2016 predictions listed below.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

EAST
1. Toronto Blue Jays
2. Baltimore Orioles*
3. Boston Red Sox
4. New York Yankees
5. Tampa Bay Rays

CENTRAL
1. Cleveland Indians
2. Detroit Tigers
3. Minnesota Twins
4. Kansas City Royals
5. Chicago White Sox

WEST
1. Seattle Mariners
2. Houston Astros*
3. Texas Rangers
4. Anaheim Angels
5. Oakland Athletics

NATIONAL LEAGUE

EAST
1. Washington Nationals
2. New Your Mets
3. Miami Marlins
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Philadelphia Phillies

CENTRAL
1. Chicago Cubs
2. St. Louis Cardinals
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
4. Milwaukee Brewers
5. Cincinnati Reds

WEST
1. Arizona DiamondBacks
2. San Francisco Giants*
3. Los Angeles Dodgers*
4. San Diego Padres
5. Colorado Rockies

*Denotes Wild Card teams

PLAYOFFS

Wild Card Games:
Baltimore Orioles over Houston Astros
San Francisco Giants over Los Angeles Dodgers

Division Series:
Toronto Blue Jays over Baltimore Orioles (Four Games)
Seattle Mariners over Cleveland Indians (Four Games)
Washington Nationals over Arizona DiamondBacks (Three Games)
Chicago Cubs over San Francisco Giants (Five Games)

ALCS / NLCS:
Toronto Blue Jays over Seattle Mariners (Five Games)
Chicago Cubs over Washington Nationals (Six Games)

World Series:
Chicago Cubs over Toronto Blue Jays (Seven Games)

AL MVP
1. Manny Machado
2. Mike Trout
3. Carlos Correa

NL MVP
1. Paul Goldschmidt
2. Giancarlo Stanton
3. Kris Bryant

AL CY YOUNG
1. Corey Kluber
2. Felix Hernandez
3. Marcus Stroman

NL CY YOUNG
1. Stephen Strasburg
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Noah Syndergaard

AL Rookie of the Year
1. Byron Buxton
2. Byung Ho-Park
3. Blake Snell

NL Rookie of the Year
1. Corey Seager
2. Trea Turner
3. Steven Matz

AL Comeback Player of the Year
1. Yu Darvish
2. Marcus Stroman
3. Robinson Cano

NL Comeback Player of the Year
1. Yasiel Puig
2. Anthony Rendon
3. Adam Wainwright

AL Bold Predictions

1. The Royals; after two high-octane seasons on the cusp and then as World Champions, completely bottom out due to a pitching staff that is just subpar.

2. Carlos Correa wins the American League batting title, but not the MVP and the Astros finish as a Wildcard team once again.

3. Two teams with some obvious flaws emerge as the ALCS teams; Cleveland (suspect lineup) gets in because of their starting pitching and Toronto (suspect pitching) gets in because of an overpowering lineup; and it makes for a great Championship series.

4. Manny Machado gets close to a triple crown; winning the AL MVP going away with a .325 average, 43 home runs, and 124 RBI. He misses out by a few RBI or a few points in average.

5. The Detroit Tigers set a franchise record for home runs, surpassing their 1987 total of 225.

NL Bold Predictions

1. Paul Goldschmidt has baseball’s top statistical season, winning the MVP unanimously. He hits .340 with 45 home runs and 130 RBI and is the main reason the DiamondBacks are baseball’s surprise team in winning the AL West.

2. The Cincinnati Reds lose 99 games, and trade every noteworthy veteran on the roster aside from Joey Votto and Devin Mesoraco.

3. The team to disappoint in the National League East is not the Nationals but the NL Champion New York Mets. They become the second half of World Series teams to miss the playoffs entirely because their lineup falls short of expectations. Noah Syndergaard takes his turn as de-facto ace of the staff.

4. Bryce Harper plays like an MVP for 120 games and has one DL-stint. This is enough for the Nationals to win the division and get to the NLCS under Dusty Baker because of major upticks in performances from Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, and Trea Turner.

5. The Chicago Cubs win the 2016 World Series in a series that will be talked about as one of the greatest ever. It ends in Toronto on a game seven walk-off home run by Anthony Rizzo, who begins writing his storybook as one of the most legendary Cubs ever. Kris Bryant gets MVP votes in the regular season.

Other Predictions:

[HardballTalk] [ESPN – Standings] [ESPN – Awards] [Fangraphs] [CBS Sports] [USA Today] [numberFire] [Sports Illustrated]