Another baseball season is upon us, with Opening Day just six short days from now! I don’t tend to fare very well in predictions, but this year things seem so clear-cut. Everyone will be picking the Yankees, Indians, Astros, Nationals, Cubs, and Dodgers to win their divisions. But can all six super obvious teams really win their divisions? I say no! One of them will fail, and it will be in the AL Central, where I will go out on a rare optimistic limb and choose the Twins to topple the Indians.

As a reminder, last year I correctly predicted six of the ten playoff teams (the Rangers, Mariners, Giants, and Mets being wrong picks). I nailed my NLCS prediction of Dodgers over Cubs, but thought the Rangers would represent the AL in the World Series. Well, I had the state right!

This year, I just don’t see anyone taking down the Astros.

AL East W L GB NL East W L GB
NY Yankees 99 63 – Washington 99 63 –
Boston* 90 72 9 NY Mets 82 80 17
Toronto 80 82 19 Philadelphia 78 84 21
Baltimore 76 86 23 Atlanta 71 91 28
Tampa Bay 75 87 24 Miami 56 106 43
AL Central W L GB NL Central W L GB
Minnesota 90 72 – Chicago Cubs 95 67 –
Cleveland 89 73 1 Milwaukee* 91 71 4
Kansas City 77 85 13 Cincinnati 79 83 16
Chicago WS 67 95 23 St Louis 78 84 17
Detroit 64 98 26 Pittsburgh 74 88 21
AL West W L GB NL West W L GB
Houston 105 57 – LA Dodgers 97 65 –
LA Angels* 90 72 15 San Francisco* 87 75 10
Oakland 81 81 24 Arizona 83 79 14
Seattle 77 85 28 Colorado 79 83 18
Texas 71 91 34 San Diego 74 88 23

AL Wild Card: LA Angels def. Boston
NL Wild Card: San Francisco def. Milwaukee

ALDS: Houston def. LA Angels, NY Yankees def. Minnesota
NLDS: Washington def. San Francisco, Chicago Cubs def. LA Dodgers

ALCS: Houston def. NY Yankees
NLCS: Washington def. Chicago Cubs

World Series: Houston def. Washington

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AL MVP: Mike Trout, LAA
NL MVP: Joey Votto, CIN

AL CY: Corey Kluber, CLE
NL CY: Clayton Kershaw, LAD

AL MGR: AJ Hinch, HOU
NL MGR: Bruce Bochy, SF

AL ROY: Yoan Moncada, CWS
NL ROY: Ozzie Albies, ATL

AL HR Leader: Giancarlo Stanton, NYY, 54
NL HR Leader: Kris Bryant, CHC, 45

AL Batting Champion: Mike Trout, LAA, .352
NL Batting Champion: Ryan Zimmerman, WAS, .334