Cover photo taken from MLB.com
We have finally made it. After the most tumultuous offseason of the century featuring the horribly-long lockout and more CBA negotiations than we could deal with, we have reached Opening Day. All 30 teams will play a full, 162-game schedule. Baseball is back. And I could not be more excited.
This promises to be a very fun season on the surface, but I think having baseball after what we had to deal with during the lockout is as sweet as it gets. The offseason was fairly interesting both before and after the lockout, with plenty of trades and huge free agent moves. Spring Training is now over, and the reset button is hit on all of baseball. Let’s predict who will win their divisions and get to the Postseason, who this season’s MVPs will be, and who will win it all in October.
NL East Winner: 
Atlanta Braves
Considering the offseason this team had, it’s very hard to see them doing anything but repeating as NL East champs. Losing Freddie Freeman is brutal, but when you replace him with a 1B like Matt Olson, you don’t get much worse as a team. Combine that with the already abundant talent on the roster of the defending World Series champions and you have a team that can do plenty of damage in a mediocre division. The team is solid all-around with the bat and the glove, and the pitching staff is still absolutely loaded. Star OF Ronald Acuña Jr. will miss a good chunk of time as he continues to recover from last season’s ACL injury, but when he comes back, this team will get that much better. The Phillies also had a solid offseason and could make a run for the division title, but I’m sticking with the safe pick here.
NL Central Winner: 
Milwaukee Brewers
I have a love/hate relationship with the Brewers. I’m a pitching purist, and nobody has a better pitching staff than Milwaukee. Boasting names like Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, and Freddy Peralta in their rotation with guys in the bullpen like Josh Hader and Devin Williams, you simply are not going to knock this team around. On the other hand, I just find them so boring. It could be that their offense is a very basic one, not relying on anything flashy to score runs, but rather simply putting the ball in play and putting up numbers. Perhaps the offense will get a bit of a boost this year with Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Renfroe entering the outfield. And it goes without saying that Christian Yelich can be plenty dangerous if he ever returns to his old self. In any case, the NL Central is arguably baseball’s worst division (although the Cardinals are a solid bunch), so the Brewers will able to rack up plenty of wins en route to another division title.
NL West Winner: 
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are the MLB’s superteam. This is one of the most loaded rosters in the history of baseball, and certainly the most stacked one I have ever seen. They were already plenty good after last season, but after adding 1B Freddie Freeman in free agency, this looks like the most lethal team that we have seen in a long time. The rest of the infield is rounded out by a star-in-the-making in Gavin Lux at second, the fastest and perhaps the best contact man in baseball in Trea Turner at short, and the ever-reliable Justin Turner at third. It’s likely that Max Muncy or Chris Taylor will fill the new DH role that the NL has finally adapted. The outfield still has one of baseball’s best players in Mookie Betts, and if Cody Bellinger returns to form, then this somehow gets spookier. The pitching staff is almost entirely the same as last season’s, with Walker Buehler, my personal NL Cy Young pick, leading the charge. Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urias are ever-dangerous as well in the rotation, and the already-stacked bullpen got even better with the acquisition of Craig Kimbrel as the team’s new closer after Kenley Jansen left for Atlanta. In short, this is a bonafide 100-win team with talent the likes of which we haven’t seen in this much abundance in a very long time. They are the easy favorites to win the NL West, the NL pennant, and the World Series.
AL East Winner: 
Toronto Blue Jays
The majority of people are of the belief that the Blue Jays are the best team in the American League and perhaps a top 2 team in all of baseball. I am definitely in that majority. The Jays had one of baseball’s most talented rosters last year, but injuries derailed them all year long en route to missing the playoffs by just a couple of games. While two of the key members of the 2021 squad, 2B Marcus Semien, an MVP finalist, and SP Robbie Ray, the AL Cy Young winner, left in free agency, Toronto still boasts an incredible roster from top to bottom. To fill the gaps left by those departures, they acquired SP Kevin Gausman and 3B Matt Chapman, two very solid, consistent players that will contribute from day one. The lineup is as dangerous as it gets, with guys like George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez in the outfield and Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the infield. The rest of the rotation is also fantastic, being rounded out by Alek Manoah, Jose Berrios, and Hyun Jin Ryu. The Blue Jays have the best team on paper in the AL East and the American League as a whole, and it’s hard to argue against them riding that all the way to a division title, and perhaps a pennant.
AL Central Winner: 
Chicago White Sox
2021 was a fun time for the White Sox, returning to the top of the AL Central and the spotlight of baseball. This is a fun, young team that oozes swagger and keeps your eyes glued to the screen each and every night. In a horrible division, after a rather uneventful offseason, it’s hard to see that changing much. The lineup is still awesome, with guys like SS Tim Anderson, OF Luis Robert, 1B Jose Abreu, 3B Yoan Moncada, and more. The pitching staff is still one of baseball’s best, with a rotation featuring Lance Lynn and Lucas Giolito. This is an absurdly fun team that made a name for themselves last season, and I’m looking forward to seeing them continue to do their thing in 2022.
AL West Winner: 
Houston Astros
You just can’t kill this team, can you? Even after losing another World Series and losing one of their best players in Carlos Correa, the Astros are seemingly primed for another fantastic season. It helps that their roster is still one of the best in the sport, boasting plenty of offensive firepower and a strong pitching core. Even without Correa, the infield is plenty good with Yuli Gurriel, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and a star-to-be in Jeremy Peña. In the outfield is the always-consistent Michael Brantley and a rising star in Kyle Tucker, and one of the best power bats in the league sits in the DH spot with Yordan Alvarez. The rotation has some rising young talent in Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia as well as some veteran greats in Lance McCullers Jr. and Justin Verlander. The Astros have all the makings of another potential World Series run. Despite the AL West being better than its usual self this season, it’s hard to see them getting knocked off their throne.
NL Playoffs
1 – Los Angeles Dodgers
2 – Atlanta Braves
3 – Milwaukee Brewers
4 – 
Philadelphia Phillies
5 – 
St. Louis Cardinals
6 – 
San Diego Padres
Nobody is stopping the Dodgers in the National League in their pursuit of following the Rams and bringing another “purchased ring” to Los Angeles. The Braves and Brewers have the pitching to contend, but it’ll be hard to knock off a roster as talented as LA’s. In terms of the Wild Cards, I like Philadelphia, St. Louis, and San Diego. The Phillies had a pretty good offseason, acquiring some big bats like Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber to add to a lineup that needed some power. The Cardinals were one of the hottest teams in the second half last year, and I think they can carry that into 2022. The Padres, meanwhile, were one of the worst teams in the second half of 2021, but with new management, a very talented roster (despite being without Fernando Tatis Jr. for a while), and an expanded playoffs, they should be good to reach the Postseason. I’d take the Brewers over the Padres and the Cardinals over the Phillies in the Wild Cards, and I foresee a NLCS threematch between the Braves and Dodgers, with LA winning the pennant and getting back to the World Series.
AL Playoffs
1 – Toronto Blue Jays
2 – Chicago White Sox
3 – Houston Astros
4 – 
Tampa Bay Rays
5 – 
Boston Red Sox
6 – 
Seattle Mariners
Ordering the division winners 1-3 wasn’t easy. I just ordered them based on their talent. I think the competitiveness of the AL East could steal some wins from Toronto, but I still like their chances of taking the top spot. I like Tampa Bay, Boston, and Seattle to secure the Wild Cards. The Rays are the Rays, and they’ll do their usual schtick to get to the Postseason (look for Wander Franco to have a huge season in the process). The Red Sox overachieved last year and had a solid offseason but are still nothing more than a Wild Card team in my eyes. The Mariners were oh so close to October in 2021, and after a very good offseason and the new expanded playoffs being implemented, I think they can sneak in as the final team. I’d take Houston over Seattle and Tampa Bay over Boston in the Wild Cards, and I’m predicting a potentially legendary 7-game ALCS between Toronto and Chicago, with the White Sox winning the pennant and getting back to the World Series for the first time in 17 years.
Before we get into that World Series prediction, I’d like to shout out my MVP picks for the upcoming season, starting with a bit of a personal one.
NL MVP Pick: 
Juan Soto, OF, Nationals
Yes, I am biased. No, I do not care. Juan Soto is the best player in the National League, and he is bound to capture the MVP this season. In the last three seasons, he has finished 9th, 5th, and 2nd in MVP voting. Only one higher spot to go. It’s also worth noting that he has increased his walk rate and decreased his strikeout rate in every season since entering the majors, establishing himself as the closest thing to Barry Bonds we have seen at the plate since… Barry Bonds. He is simply breaking every single advanced stat we have in baseball. 2021 started a bit slow for Soto, as he hit a lot of ground balls and couldn’t get the elevation he needed to put up huge numbers. But, he ended up figuring it out, slashing an unbelievable .352/.527/.644 in his final 78 games. If he carries that momentum into 2022 and somehow continues to get better at the plate, then we could see one of the best statistical seasons from a hitter in decades. On a team as putrid as the Nationals are, Soto will be padding his stats all season long. If he can stay healthy, then I think he will run away with that elusive MVP, adding to a World Series title, two Silver Sluggers, and a batting title, establishing himself as perhaps the best player in baseball. That is, if he hasn’t already done so.
AL MVP Pick: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B, Blue Jays
The son of Vladimir Guerrero finally had the season we were all waiting for in 2021. Vladdy was a menace at the plate, slashing .311/.401/.601 (led AL in OBP and SLG), hitting 48 homers (tied for the MLB lead) with 111 RBI, winning a Silver Slugger, and finishing second in MVP voting. We knew that he had all the potential to be one of the premier hitters in baseball, and he has done just that. He easily would have won MVP last season, but Shohei Ohtani happened. It’s hard to foresee Ohtani falling off, or even Mike Trout not returning with a bang, but it just feels like this is Vladdy’s year. I really like his chances to continue to clobber baseballs all summer long and bring an MVP home.
World Series Prediction: Dodgers over White Sox in 5 games
As I have said multiple times, nobody is stopping the Dodgers in 2022. The White Sox are a super fun team that can do some real damage in October, but this is simply too tall of a mountain for anyone in baseball to climb. Los Angeles is built for a championship, and it feels impossible to pick them to do anything but win the World Series. Maybe picking this series to be over in 5 games is a bit harsh, but it feels realistic. Dodgers win a ring for real this time, Freddie Freeman lifts the trophy for the second consecutive year, and Trea Turner takes home World Series MVP with his second championship in four years.
I cannot wait to look back on this in October, or even by the All Star Break, and realize how hilariously wrong I was about everything. That’s the real fun of all this, isn’t it? In any case, I am so, so excited that baseball is back, and I can’t wait to watch another great year of this beautiful game. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I know I will. Be thankful that we’ve made it here, and relish it.
All stats taken from ESPN and Baseball Reference.
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