2016 MLB Standings Prediction

The baseball season is quickly coming upon us.  Spring Training has begun and teams are evaluating the talent they have on their rosters.  So I figured it was time to make some predictions.  This post will cover how I think the divisions will stack up this season.  Hope you enjoy. 

NL East
1. New York Mets
2. Washington Nationals
3. Miami Marlins
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Philadelphia Phillies

This is actually the same order the division finished last year, but I don’t see it changing.  The Mets won the division last year and still have the best overall team.  Their rotation is strong from top to bottom, their offense is formidable and the bullpen gets the job done.  The Nationals have a better offense, but their pitching is not as deep.  The Marlins underachieved last season and I think they will compete with the Nationals this year. The Braves are in rebuilding mode and should be much better, but they are still not there yet.  And the Phillies…well they are still a team.

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

At the risk of sounding like a homer, I think the Cardinals will win the division this year.  I would say from top to bottom, they have a slightly better team.  From 1-5, they have one of the best rotations in baseball.  I will give the lineup to the Cubs.  All of their players can hit and will be tough to match up with.  Finally, I would give the bullpen to the Cardinals.  They have 4 pitchers who have experience being a closer and can easily shorten a game, which has been a strong tendency for successful teams recently. (A more in depth comparison will be posted later).  All that being said, I think 1-3 in the division really could go in any order.  The Cardinals, Cubs and Pirates are all strong teams and it should be a close, competitive race like last year.  And again the Brewers and Reds are still rebuilding and need time to improve.  I give the edge to the Brewers.  They could surprise a little this year. 

NL West
1. Arizona Diamondbacks

2. San Francisco Giants
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. San Diego Padres
5. Colorado Rockies

I think will be the most interesting division.  The Diamondbacks made a huge splash this offseason by signing Zach Grienke and trading for Shelby Miller.  Add that to an underrated offense which has been steadily getting better and I think the Diamondbacks can make the jump to win the division this year.  They will have their work cut out for them.  The Giants also added good starting pitching in Jhonny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to go with ace Madison Bumgarner.  The Dodgers still have a very strong team, but the loss of Grienke hurts their pitching depth behind Clayton Kershaw.  The Padres have a lot of good talent on their team and could also surprise this year.  Even the Rockies have a decent team.  In another division I could see them being competitive, but they happen to be in perhaps the best division in baseball. 

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

The Blue Jays won the division last year and their team looks like it is just as strong this year, sporting the most high-powered offense in the game.  Normally I would say pitching wins, but their offense is just too good.  Both the Rays and Orioles have solid teams and I would expect them to fight it out for decent years.  The Red Sox are such and up and down team, it is really hard to predict how they will do.  They did make the one big acquisition in the division this offseason, signing David Price to lead their rotation.  I see that helping the team to some improvement, but nothing drastic.  Lastly the Yankees.  The Yankees had a good season last year, but I feel they overachieved for much of the year.  This offseason they were the only MLB team to not sign a free agent, due to some of the big contracts on the team which have not worked out.  This year they are another year older and I foresee a drop-off for the team.

AL Central

1. Kansas City Royals

2. Cleveland Indians
3. Detroit Tigers
4. Minnesota Twins
5. Chicago White Sox

This is easily the toughest division to analyze.  The Royals are the defending World Series Champions and should repeat as division winner.  But after that, the division feels like a crap shoot.  The Indians have one of the better pitching staffs in the league from top to bottom, which should make them tough to beat.  The Tigers underachieved last year and with Jordan Zimmerman improving the rotation and Francisco Rodriguez anchoring a typically shaky bullpen, they should be better this year.  The Twins, conversely, overachieved a little last year I feel.  They have a solid, young team and could surprise again, but the back of their rotation worries me.  Like they Twins, the White Sox also have a solid team and again it is the back end of their rotation which worries me.  This should be a competitive division and I could see it turning out in many different ways. 

AL West
1. Houston Astros
2. Texas Rangers
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Los Angeles Angels
5. Oakland Athletics

Both the Astros and the Rangers took great leaps forward last year and should continue to succeed this year. For the Astros, Carlos Gomez should settle in during his first full-season with the team.  The Astros pitching depth should give them an edge over the Rangers.   From top to bottom I like the Mariners rotation better than the Angels and I feel they have underachieved in recent years.  The Angels could have a good offense but there are aspects which worry me, such as Pujols recovering from another foot surgery. The Athletics have a couple pieces I really like, such a surprisingly deep bullpen, but as a whole I see them quickly falling behind the rest of the division.

And there you have it. That is how I see the baseball divisions stacking up this year.   Let me know what you think.  I’d love to discuss it.