Baseball season is finally here! After the slowest offseason and spring training in terms of front office action in years, it seems as though the sport has been overshadowed by a surging NBA, a particularly maddening March, and the never-ending quarterback carousel of the NFL. At just the right time, Opening Day has arrived.
One question posed to me about the current state of MLB is if it is in fact turning into the NBA. As confusing a question as it may seem, the comparison is in reference to the lack of the parity in both leagues. The NBA has seen its seasons become predictable over the past several years, as LeBron James has made seven consecutive finals appearances and Kevin Durant joined a record-breaking Warriors team to create the most dominant level of talent ever assembled on one team. Cavs versus Warriors Part IV? It is not really much to get excited about anymore.
The MLB could be very well headed in that direction, albeit with more teams in contention. The gap between the great teams and the average teams in baseball is wider than ever before. Heading into this upcoming season, it seems as though maybe six or seven teams truly have a chance at winning it all. Each of those teams are loaded, mirroring the superteam trend that has permeated the NBA in the past few years. While baseball will not mirror the predictability of recent NBA seasons, I would be shocked if anyone other than the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs or Los Angeles Dodgers stands atop the league come Nov. 1. Below is a comprehensive season outlook for each contender.
The Red Sox stumbled into their second consecutive American League (AL) East title in 2017, as it seemed for much of the season that the Yankees were really the better team. This team is returning all of its key starters and added JD Martinez’s 45-homer bat to a lineup that hit the fewest home runs in the American League last season. The team will also be returning a healthy David Price to an already dominant staff from 2017. If he can just delete social media and somehow recapture his 2012 form, this team will be a force to be reckoned with come October. A 95-win season seems attainable for this squad.
As mentioned, the Yankees, although not capturing the AL East crown in 2017, were a better team than the Sox for much of the season. This team has become a contender far sooner than anyone thought; they were one win away from the World Series in 2017. The Bronx Bombers will lead the league in home runs this year, behind second-year sensation Aaron Judge and offseason acquisition Giancarlo Stanton. Their lineup will be formidable, but can their rotation hold up for a full season? After ace Luis Severino, the starting staff is nothing but question marks.
The Indians, like the Red Sox, are returning nearly all of their key pieces from the 2017 squad that won 102 games. A healthy pitching staff and a lineup free from regression can easily get this team back to 100 wins. The Tribe was one win away from their first World Series title since 1948 in 2016; it is clearly championship or bust for them in 2018.
The Astros capitalized on the greatest rebuild in sports history and fulfilled the Sports Illustrated prophecy with their first World Series title in 2017, and only got better heading into 2018. Full seasons from Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, and Lance McCullers along with the addition of former Pirates’ ace Gerritt Cole will make this staff the best in the American League, if not the MLB. The lineup is dominant from top-to-bottom and will be headlined once again by Jose Altuve, who is looking to become the first AL player this century to repeat as MVP, and Carlos Correa, who hopes to keep all of his ligaments intact and give him a run for his money. If all goes well, this team will both repeat as champs and dominate for years to come.
This might be the last real chance for the Nationals. Bryce Harper will be looking to become the league’s first $400 million dollar man this upcoming offseason, and the Nats do not seem to want to foot that bill. This is a team that, despite all their talent that has been amassed over the last five years, has failed to get over the proverbial hump in the postseason. It is unbelievable that this team has yet to win a playoff series since its inception. If they can finally shed their demons in 2018, this can be the Nationals’ year. It is also probably their last as a true World Series contender.
The Cubs, although I am counting them as a contender in 2018, are overrated. This is a team that saw almost all of their key contributors regress across the board in 2017; no one from the 2016 title team featured in the All-star game. Granted, the Cubs still managed to make it to the NLCS, losing to the superior Dodgers. The pitching staff will be the strength of this team in 2018, as they added Yu Darvish and will get a full season out of Jose Quintana. A lot needs to happen for the Cubs to return to their 2016 form, especially in the lineup. However, this team is young, and should contend for at least a few more years.
The Dodgers were a win away (yes, that’s true for multiple teams) from a World Series title last season. They share postseason demons with the Nationals, it seemed, until they were finally able to capitalize on their talent last October. Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger were pleasant surprises last season, and should look to build on their MVP-level production in 2018. Losing Justin Turner for the first month won’t help, but the Dodgers have enough talent elsewhere in their lineup to compensate. If Rich Hill can be blister-free for a full season and perform into October, this team will get that extra win, their first big one since 1988.
In other news, the Marlins might actually lose 125 games in 2018. They are going to be that bad. Could the Marlins be Montreal bound? Honestly, Montreal may not even want them.
