2015 Major League Baseball Predictions and Discussion

[Joe Biden 2020]

Spring Training officially begins for all teams later this week with most teams starting on Thursday, February 19.  Most, if not all teams, are currently either en-route or have already arrived to their Grapefruit or Cactus League homes in Florida or Arizona.  So, what is everybody's predictions for the upcoming season?  If you feel so inclined, include the postseason awards like Cy Young, Gold Gloves, etc.

Opening Night 2015 is on Easter Sunday night, April 5, 2015 and will feature the St Louis Cardinals visiting Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs at 7:05 pm CDT on ESPN.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

AL East: Toronto Blue Jays
AL Central: Kansas City Royals
AL West: Oakland Athletics
AL Wild Card: Los Angeles Angels over Detroit Tigers

AL Pennant: Los Angeles Angels

NL East: Washington Nationals
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers
NL Wild Card: Cincinnati Reds over San Diego Padres

NL Pennant: Washington Nationals


World Series: Angels over Nationals


Reds over literally any of those other 4 teams in that division is as bold as I'm getting. NL Central is brutal.

Disclaimer: Even though baseball is my favorite pro sport, I kind of gave up on following this offseason when the Yankees let David Robertson walk. I'll still watch quite a bit, but I'm significantly less excited than at any other point in my life.

Edited to replace Giants with Padres. Had intended to include SD

[free my dawg]

AL East: Blue Jays (2)
AL Central: Tigers (3)
AL West: Angels (1)
AL Wild Card: White Sox over Mariners
OGPO: Mariners over Indians

NL East: Washington Nationals (2)
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals (3)
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers (1)
NL Wild Card: Giants over Mets

White Sox over Angels in 5
Blue Jays over Tigers in 4

Giants over Dodgers in 4
Nationals over Cardinals in 5

White Sox over Blue Jays in 6
Nationals over Giants in 7

White Sox over Nationals in 6

AL MVP: Jose Abreu
NL MVP: Bryce Harper
AL CY: Felix Hernandez
NL CY: Clayton Kershaw
AL ROTY: Daniel Norris
NL ROTY: Kris Bryant
MOTY: Terry Collins
WSMVP: Chris Sale

[Grumpier Than Thou]

AL East: Orioles
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Angels
AL Wild Card: Red Sox over Indians

NL East: Nationals
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL Wild Card: Dodgers over Pirates

Nationals over Dodgers in 4
Padres over Cardinals in 5

Red Sox over Tigers in 5
Athletics over Orioles in 4

Nationals over Padres in 6
Athletics over Red Sox in 7

Nationals over Athletics in 6

[Joe Biden 2020]

Aren't the LDS playoff series only a Best-of-5 instead of 7?  I see a lot of 7-game series on the predictions so far?

[NewYorkExpress]

NL East

1. Miami Marlins 84-76 (I love their Outfield, but did they really need to sign Ichiro Suzuki?)

2. New York Mets 84-76 (The Mets are one year away, but if Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler stay healthy, they could steal the division)

3. Washington Nationals 82-80 (They have the best talent in the division (Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman. Max Scherzer and Ryan Zimmerman), but they overpaid for Scherzer, and need to do something about Jayson Werth's bad contract)

4. Atlanta Braves 77-85 (Their offseason, especially trading Jason Heyward was a net negative, though adding Shelby Miller will help down the line)

5. Philadelphia Phillies 66-96 (The fire sale will continue unabated. Expect Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Jonathan Papelbon to be traded, and for rumors to swirl around Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz)

NL Central

St. Louis Cardinals 89-73 (They'll miss Shelby Miller, but adding John Lackey is a more than adequate replacement, and their rotation remains one of the best in the NL. They also have one of the better lineups in the NL as well, so they remain a threat to go deep in October.

Chicago Cubs 85-77 (Jon Lester was an inspired signing, but for Joe Maddon to break the curse of the Billy Goat, he'll need his best managerial job yet)

Cincinnati Reds 83-79 (Standing pat simply isn't enough in this division)

Pittsburgh Pirates 80-82 (They've lost too much to be competitive, hopefully it won't be another 20 years before we see them with a winning record again)

Milwaukee Brewers 71-91 (They're going to fatten everyone in this division up)

NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers 94-68 (A top-flight pitching staff, a solid lineup, and they've finally decided who is going to play where in the outfield, I'm not sure what the Dodgers can't accomplish)

San Francisco Giants 88-74 (While the Giants should still be a playoff team, losing Pablo Sandoval is the end of the dynasty...for now)

San Diego Padres 83-79 (The Padres have a good Outfield and good Pitching, but it's going to be difficult to move up in the division)

Colorado Rockies 77-85 (While Coors field works in their advantage, they have no pitching, at Coors or away from it)

Arizona Diamondbacks 74-88 (While adding Jeremy Hellickson is good, most of their moves this offseason have been steps backwards)

AL East

Toronto Blue Jays 90-72 (Adding Josh Donaldson and Russell Martin are huge moves, and overall their offseason has been a net positive)

Boston Red Sox 86-76 (They overpaid for Pablo Sandoval, but as it stands they will be in contention once more)

Baltimore Orioles 82-80 (People looking to count out the defending Division Champions are badly underestimating Buck Showalter)

New York Yankees 81-81 (The Yankees improvements were all positive, and they will be contenders again soon... just not this year)

Tampa Bay Rays 78-84 (Welcome back to the cellar, it's grown cold without you)

AL Central

Detroit Tigers 104-58 (In the AL Central there's the Tigers, and then there's everybody else)

Kansas City Royals 90-72 (Last seasons pennant winners aren't going anywhere without a fight)

Chicago White Sox 80-82 (They need to make up their minds on what their future plan is)

Cleveland Indians 75-87 (Terry Francona is a very good manager, he just has nothing to work with (except midges))

Minnesota Twins 67-95 (It's been a long time since the Twins were relevant)

AL West

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 93-69 (They battle with the Tigers for best bats in the AL)

Oakland A's 93-63 (They battle with the Tigers for best Pitching in the AL)

Seattle Mariners 83-79 (Like the Mets, the Mariners are roughly a year away, but they're in a tougher division)

Texas Rangers 73-89 (Outside of Yu Darvish, they've got nothing)

Houston Astros 65-97 (Jose Altuve might be the best player you've never heard of, but beyond him, the stros' are as lost as grass in the Astrodome)

Wild Card Round

NL- Giants defeat Cubs

AL- Royals defeat A's

Division Round

NL- Dodgers defeat Giants in 5, Cardinals defeat Marlins in 3

AL- Tigers defeat Royals in 4, Angels defeat Blue Jays in 4

Championship Round

NL- Dodgers defeat Cardinals in 7

AL- Tigers defeat Angels in 7

World Series

Tigers defeat Dodgers in 6

[Хahar 🤔]

NL Wild Card: Cincinnati Reds over San Francisco Giants

This is absurd, seeing as that the Reds are very openly rebuilding.

Nationals over Dodgers in 5
Padres over Cardinals in 6

Red Sox over Tigers in 7
Athletics over Orioles in 6

The Division Series are best-of-five.

[© tweed]

The Division Series are best-of-five.

unfortunately   I wish they moved to a 7-game DS instead of a second Wild Card

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

NL Wild Card: Cincinnati Reds over San Francisco Giants

This is absurd, seeing as that the Reds are very openly rebuilding.

Probably a little, and it's asking for a miracle, but the talent is still there even if aging. They'd need huge rebounds from Votto and Bruce and to an extent Phillips. Byrd is a major weakness by it'd be sick if he could repeat 2013. That came out of nowhere. And Hamilton is my favorite National League player. I really can't wait to see what he can do.

As far as pitching, I really like the top 4. Cueto is a great ace. Cingrani still has incredible potential. Leake entering what should be his prime. And their #5 went to a rival HS, so I'll step over biases there.

Injuries, both new and lagging, could definitely prevent this team from reaching its potential, but I like what they have. Votto is only 31 and in better shape than Ryan Howard. Phillips is still quite good defensively even if he does not much better than Utley. I see parallels to the Phillies, but I like to believe the role players are better and they will outlast a tough division without injuries. Perhaps wishful thinking.

[Associate Justice PiT]

The Division Series are best-of-five.

unfortunately   I wish they moved to a 7-game DS instead of a second Wild Card

     What purpose would a 7-game DS serve? I don't really approve of either change, but the second Wild Card at least does something.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Nationals over Dodgers in 5
Padres over Cardinals in 6

Red Sox over Tigers in 7
Athletics over Orioles in 6

The Division Series are best-of-five.

ahhhh i'm an idiot. thank you!

[JRP1994]

*sadly holds on to some glimmer of hope the Braves will make the playoffs.

[free my dawg]

Washington Nationals 82-80 (They have the best talent in the division (Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman. Max Scherzer and Ryan Zimmerman), but they overpaid for Scherzer, and need to do something about Jayson Werth's bad contract)

Pittsburgh Pirates 80-82 (They've lost too much to be competitive, hopefully it won't be another 20 years before we see them with a winning record again)

Cleveland Indians 75-87 (Terry Francona is a very good manager, he just has nothing to work with (except midges))

Do you know anything about baseball? Honest question - especially considering your third paragraph.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

Do you know anything about baseball? Honest question - especially considering your third paragraph.

I wonder if NYE knows anything about anything. I just read over his whole post and he seems to think that the amount of money a team pays for a player directly correlates with how that player performs. He also seems to think that a healthy Mets team is better than a healthy Nationals team. I also liked the "In the AL Central, there's the Tigers and then there's everybody else" line followed immediately by the Royals winning 90 games and "not going down without a fight." While I can't say for sure, I can put a lot of stock in the idea that 95% of that post was rehashed googling of each team's offseason in summation.

[free my dawg]

Do you know anything about baseball? Honest question - especially considering your third paragraph.

I wonder if NYE knows anything about anything. I just read over his whole post and he seems to think that the amount of money a team pays for a player directly correlates with how that player performs. He also seems to think that a healthy Mets team is better than a healthy Nationals team. I also liked the "In the AL Central, there's the Tigers and then there's everybody else" line followed immediately by the Royals winning 90 games and "not going down without a fight." While I can't say for sure, I can put a lot of stock in the idea that 95% of that post was rehashed googling of each team's offseason in summation.

Talk about that - he just said that a team that had the third place finisher for AL MVP and the Cy Young winner had "nothing to work with".

[DemPGH]

Well, the Yankees don't have much of a shot to be anything above mediocre, which I hate to admit, but if anyone other than them wins that division, I hope it is finally the Blue Jays who break through. It'll be interesting to see if the Orioles can be anything like last year.

[CatoMinor]

The Cubs will win in game 5 of the World Series

[Grumpier Than Thou]

The Cubs will win in game 5 of the World Series

t_host1 is that you?

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Do you know anything about baseball? Honest question - especially considering your third paragraph.

I wonder if NYE knows anything about anything. I just read over his whole post and he seems to think that the amount of money a team pays for a player directly correlates with how that player performs. He also seems to think that a healthy Mets team is better than a healthy Nationals team. I also liked the "In the AL Central, there's the Tigers and then there's everybody else" line followed immediately by the Royals winning 90 games and "not going down without a fight." While I can't say for sure, I can put a lot of stock in the idea that 95% of that post was rehashed googling of each team's offseason in summation.

The NYE sports protocol compiles the totality of human sports opinions at a rate of 50 terraflops per second. 

[Associate Justice PiT]

Do you know anything about baseball? Honest question - especially considering your third paragraph.

I wonder if NYE knows anything about anything. I just read over his whole post and he seems to think that the amount of money a team pays for a player directly correlates with how that player performs. He also seems to think that a healthy Mets team is better than a healthy Nationals team. I also liked the "In the AL Central, there's the Tigers and then there's everybody else" line followed immediately by the Royals winning 90 games and "not going down without a fight." While I can't say for sure, I can put a lot of stock in the idea that 95% of that post was rehashed googling of each team's offseason in summation.

     The comedy of predicting the Detroit Tigers at 104 wins while other teams cap out at 94 is priceless. Not to mention he has them then winning the World Series. He must have bought a bunch of Tigers tickets by accident and is looking to unload them, because there is no other explanation for his extreme unbridled optimism for their season.