MLB Predictions – The American League and Postseason Picks

April 3, 2016

Dahday’s CEO has made his MLB predictions for the National League:

Now check out his American League and post-season predictions. What do you think? Tweet @Dahday.com or @mcollazo215 and let your voice be heard! Sign up for Dahday’s email list for future baseball offers.

Happy Opening Day!

AL East | AL Central | AL West | Postseason Predictions

AL East:

The Weeknds: No doubt, this team can mash. Y’all know about Joey Bats.

via GIPHY

Since July, the defense got better with Troy Tulowitski added to a lineup with Kevin Pillar, Ryan Goins and Russell Martin. Success this season in Canada comes down to Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez. R.A. Dickey throws a knuckleball. If it dances he keeps you in games. He can pitch all day. If the ball goes flat, he’s hit around. J.A. Happ is a good-year-bad-year pitcher. This team needs an ace and a solid no. 2 or no. 3 starter to let the offense do the rest. If Stony Brook’s finest fulfills the potential Pedro Martinez thinks he has, there’s your ace. If Aaron Sanchez gets those groundballs and pitches has he did late last year, there’s your other good starter. This team isn’t perfect but I think they eek it out.

Ybor City: I love their pitching. I hate their financial resources. Chris Archer is one of the best young pitchers in the game – and a great ambassador for the sport. I really liked what I saw from Matt Moore in spring training. Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly both are under 27 years old and had a WHIP under 1.20 last year. True, 2015’s closer Brad Boxberger is hurt to start the year so they need to balance their bullpen arms early on. No one doubts this team’s ability to catch the ball. The outfield led by Kevin Kiermaier has tremendous range and helps those starters tremendously. But will they hit enough? Can they use that turf field at The Trop to their advantage? If this team were in Boston or New York, I would feel like they could make a trade in June or July to put them over the top. I just don’t know if Tampa can do that so winning 86-88 game may not be enough for a playoff spot.

BoSox: I thought this team had it last year but the pitching burned my 2015 predictions. I don’t feel comfortable betting on Boston again. Some of their key players are older and injury-prone – like Big Papi and Dustin Pedroia. Pablo Sandoval don’t wanna skip meals so…

Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts are the Red Sox’ best players. David Price was a huge signing that gives them instant credibility. They should be good. I just don’t trust Clay Buchholtz, Rick Porcello and Joe Kelly. If they don’t get much from them, the other teams in the division can pass them as they did last year.

Luis Severino
Luis Severino

Los Yanquis:  Funny I was listening to The Michael Kay Show on April 1 and the Yankees play-by-play guy was thinking the same way I am. Last year everything went right for the Bronx Bombers and they barely reached the playoffs. A-ROD had a resurgence out of a steroids suspension. Mark Teixeira sent lots of text messages despite injuries. Their pitching held together save a subpar year from C.C. Sabathia. This likely won’t happen again. Brett Gardner slumped at the end of the year. Their bullpen is awesome – with Aroldis Chapman coming after suspension – so that’s their strength. But Masahiro Tanaka doesn’t look right coming out of spring training. C.C. has logged lots of innings so you cannot expect elite production at this point. Luis Severino is a big key. That young arm could emerge as an elite starter but even then, this rotation doesn’t have the depth two or three other clubs do in the division. That bullpen needs to make a lot of five or six inning games and that is asking for too much.

The Orioles: This team is trying desperately to stay pace in this tough division. Starting pitching is their fatal flaw. The power is there but strikeouts are too. I have always liked Chris Young and Adam Jones. Manny Machado is an MVP candidate. Zach Britton and Darren O’Day serve as a really good one-two punch in the bullpen. But fighting against the tide, they signed Yovani Gallardo who is under-rated and Pedro Alvarez. I don’t see these signings are difference makers. This team desperately needs Chris Tillman and Ubaldo Jimenez to bounce back and Mark Trumbo honestly to play as little in rightfield defensively as possible and somehow out-homer teams like Toronto did in 2015. This team would still need a really good starter later in the year if they find themselves in it.

AL Central:

The Tribe: I am going for it again! Ok, ok, last year I said the same thing. I was too early. Franciso Lindor plays in a smaller market and not with a playoff team like Carlos Correa but this Boricua shortstop is not far off from his countryman. Lindor led this club late last season and is poised to be an all-star caliber player this year. The strength of this club is their potentially dominant pitching. Cory Kluber has won a Cy Young Award. Carlos Carrasco was tremendous by the end of 2015. Danny Salazar has a great arm. Those are three potentially elite starters. Their bullpen has to shake out their direction. Cody Allen and company have to hold up. But this team won’t have an easy out anywhere, though no one will hit 30 homeruns either. Michael Brantley is hurt but should be back soon. Defense was a huge problem last year but now young Tyler Naquin improves its D in the outfield and Juan Uribe and Lindor solidify the infield. This team should be similar to the Rays in the East but this division is more winnable because I think the World Series champion Royals are the only ones to really fear.

Lorenzo Cain pic
Lorenzo Cain

Royals: I think there is always a tough road after reaching the mountaintop. This has been a great team. It got to 90 feet away from a ring and to their credit fought all the way back to the World Series and got the job done. All the pieces are pretty much still there. Their starting pitching didn’t hurt them beginning last year but they had to trade for Johnny Cueto to get them through. Yordano Ventura and Edinson Volquez are their top two starters. That has to catch up with them. I think they are playoff contenders – this heart-filled bunch including Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon won’t let down easy – but I think they easily could fall a little short.

Pale Hose: The Southsiders may surprise people too. This team always has a chance with Chris Sale at the top of the rotation. Prospect Carlos Rodon is now a full time Major Leaguer. If he steps in behind Sale that could be a great one-two punch. Carlos Quntana and Mat Latos could give this rotation really good depth. Offensively, this team needs Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier to bash. If that happens, the rest of the club just needs to get on base and see what happens. Adam Eaton does that. Austin Jackson can do that. Maybe old head Jimmy Rollins can do that? Melky Cabrera at DH? The ninth inning should be stable with David Robertson as closer. So it comes down to non-Chris Sale starts and the new pieces in the lineup to come together.

Twinkies: Minnesota surprisingly lingered in the wild card race until late in September though they gave up more runs than they scored over the course of the season. Their pitching somehow kept them in the race when really it’s a collection of third and fourth starters.I love their top young prospects now likely to see significant time with the big club – Miguel Sano, Bryon Buxton and eventually Jose Berrios, among others. Berrios might pitch like a young ace later in the year. Still, this club  have too many players out of position. Sano likely is a poor outfielder stuck in rightfield; Joe Mauer plays first because of his paycheck and they have no ability to move him (sounds familiar Phillies fans?). So I think they take a step back in the win/loss column but still have a bright future.

Motown: 
I feel this club’s offseason moves feels like an organization trying to hold onto to its immediate past. Ruben Amaro’s Phillies fell victim to this thinking. The Cincinnati Reds are paying for it now. Tigers owner Mike Ilitch wants to win before he dies. If you are a Detroiter you gotta love that. But this ship might have sailed. It’s not their fault. It happens. Justin Verlander has been so good but he just may not be an elite ace at this point. Free agency signee Jordan Zimmerman is a solid starter. Beyond that, Derek Norris is hurt to start the year. Anibal Sanchez had a poor 2015. He’s now 32 years old so the production may be starting to trail off. What if Verlander is experiencing a permanent decline? The bullpen has always been an Achilles heal. Can K-Rod and the rest improve on that? None of their pitchers down in the ‘pen can compete with division rivals. I love Miggy, V-Mart, Justin and J.D. So those guys can certainly help make my opinion dead wrong.

AL West:

Tejas: I am bullish on the Texas Rangers. GM Jon Daniels gave up some talent for sure, but in trading for Cole Hamels he got a playoff-tested ace to compliment hopefully a fully recovered Yu Darvish in the rotation. With veterans Colby Lewis and Derek Holland, this club is asking for these veterans to hold the fort while Chi Chi Gonzalez and Martin Perez push their way into the rotation for good by the All Star break. I really like the structure of their lineup. Delino Deshields, Jr. doing his impression of his dad at the top, Rougned Odor is pushing to be an all star. Prince Fielder and Adrien Beltre provide veteran power. Shin Soo Choo gets on base and top prospect Joey Gallo is knocking on the door. Now even that Ian Desmond signing might make Texas look smart, though I don’t know if he would start all year in left field. They have good arms in the bullpen in case Shawn Tolleson falters. Regardless, there is always a poor team who will trade you a closer at the deadline too. The momentum getting into the playoffs looms large. If Texas can get Darvish and Hamels going on all cylinders with this nice lineup, they could be a tough out.

The Astros: This is the year of Carlos Correa. This star shortstop is going to push himself into the MVP conversation with Mike Trout. He and Jose Altuve team up for the best keystone combination in baseball. Dallas Keuchel and Colin McHugh had tremendous 2015 seasons. Their outfield of Colby Rasmus, Carlos Gomez and George Springer all can run, play some defense and hit for some pop. Houston took a gamble by trading for Ken Giles for a boatload of prospects. They didn’t love Luke Gregerson closing games so the team certainly values having a big arm to close games in a short series. That trade could blow up in its face but they are going for it. Houston has a game opponent in the Rangers. It’s a Lone Star State pennant race this year. Both have excellent, fun-to-watch teams. I see both Houston and Dallas competing in playoff games.

The Mighty Mariners: Ownership brought in GM Jerry Dipoto and clearly indicated to him there was no full blown rebuilding session going on. The organization wants to ride Robinson Cano, Nelson Cruz and Felix Hernandez and far as they can take this team. So he has done a nice job trying to plug holes in a team that just two years ago fell just one game short of the postseason. Starter Nathan Karns and firstbaseman Adam Lind were nice off-season pick ups. Leonys Martin and Norichika Aoki will make a lot of doubles into outs in the outfield. Young shortstop Ketel Marte has to hit to ensure Seattle isn’t over-reaching by giving this player the starting job. Seattle is in such a tough division with virtually no minor league talent, I don’t see how they can win 91-95 games to compete for a playoff spot.

The Los Angels Angels of Anaheim which is in Orange County and in the State of California:
Mike Trout is still probably best player on the earth, though Bryce Harper among others want a shot at the title.

I ???? you #OpeningDAY ..

A photo posted by Mike Trout (@miketrout) on

Albert Pujols remains a productive slugger. Andrelton Simmons and Joey Giavotella will gobble up a ton of groundballs. This team has pieces. You have to wonder how they can over-compensate for the holes they have. This club didn’t improve its ability to score more runs. Garrett Richards is a good starter coming off of injuries and Hector Santiago’s screwball led him to emerge last year. But Jered Weaver is starting to ware down. The filler in the lineup – Daniel Nava, Kole Calhoun, Yunel Escobar and C.J. Cron – is just…ehh. No side of the team jumps out at you as dominant or difference-making. L.A. hopes that speaks to the team’s balance and allows them to threaten for the playoffs again.

Oaktown 357s:
GM Billy Beane always seems to have a few tricks up his sleeves but I don’t see how this team contends. Funny how last year they had a positive run differential but failed to play above .500 ball. This year, I don’t see much power, elite defense or starting pitching. Beyond Sonny Gray, a crafty lefty like Rich Hill and former Red Sox innings eater Felix Doubront are asked to log lots of innings. If Josh Reddick, Khris Davis or Stephen Vogt hit more than 20 homeruns that would likely lead the team. Oakland is banking on a handful of reclamation projects in the bullpen to carry them through. Oakland can certainly prove the skeptics wrong but I don’t see a hidden gem in the East Bay.

Postseason Predictions:

NL East: Washington Nationals
NL Central: Chicago Cubs

NL West: L.A. Dodgers
Wild Card I: New York Mets
Wild Card II:
Pittsburgh Pirates

Pirates over the Mets.
Cubs defeat the Dodgers. Pirates defeat the Nationals. Pirates defeat the Cubs.

AL East: Toronto Blue Jays
AL Central: Cleveland Indians
AL West: Texas Rangers
Wild Card I: Houston Astros
Wild Card II: Kansas City Royals

Astros defeat the Royals. Rangers defeat the Blue Jays. Astros defeat the Indians. Rangers defeat the Astros.

World Series: Rangers defeat the Pirates.

 

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