Starting in the AL East, the Yankees and Red Sox seem to be the teams to beat after both winning 100 games last year and Boston winning a World Series title. The Rays are a team to look out for as a possible wild card contender. In the Central, it looks like the Indians or the Twins could take the top spot while the Royals, Tigers and White Sox may be in for a rough season. For the West, it’s the Astros’ division to lose but who knows what Oakland and Seattle could do down the stretch.
The NL East could be the toughest division in baseball. It could be the Mets, Nationals, Braves or Phillies, with all of them making big splashes in the offseason, but the Nationals may be the ones on top with their nasty rotation. The NL Central is also a tough one. The Brewers and Cubs seem to be the favorites, but you can’t leave out the Cardinals, and the Reds could have something to say about being an up-and-coming favorite to improve this year. For the West, it’s most likely the Dodgers. Arizona and Colorado are possible contenders, and the Padres could improve, but LA is still the best team in the division.
For awards, the AL MVP contenders could be the following: Boston’s Mookie Betts and JD Martinez, the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, the Indians’ Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, as well as the Angels’ Mike Trout or the Astros’ Alex Bregman. For the NL MVP the contenders could be players such as Nolan Arenado, Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna, Christian Yelich, Manny Machado, Kris Bryant and Paul Goldschmidt.
The AL Cy Young contenders should be Boston’s Chris Sale, the Astros’ Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, the Indians’ Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer and the Rays’ Blake Snell. The NL Cy Young contenders are Jacob Degrom, Max Scherzer, Aaron Nola, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, and Noah Syndergaard.
The AL rookie of the year contenders are as follows: Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Rays’ Brandon Lowe, Chicago’s Eloy Jimenez and the Astros’ Forrest Whitley. The NL rookie of the year contenders are young guns such as Washington’s Victor Robles, San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr., the Reds’ Nick Senzel and Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.
The American League has a number of Manager of the Year contenders, such as Rays manager Kevin Cash, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, Yankees manager Aaron Boone and White Sox manager Rick Renteria. For the National League, the contenders should be Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, Reds manager David Bell, Mets manager Mickey Callaway, Padres skipper Andy Green and Cardinals manager Mike Shildt.
Finally, there are a number of legitimate championship contenders. For the American League, teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Indians and Astros should vie for a title, while the Nationals, Braves, Phillies, Dodgers, Cubs and Brewers should do the same in the National League.
The 2019 season is almost here, and baseball fans have waited long enough to get this thing rolling. Spring is in the air and so is baseball.
Tags: Anthony Cardone, MLB
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