Today is the day. Baseball is officially back. To kick things off, we have to make our picks and projections. So here are our best guesses at division winners, wild cards, award winners, and, of course, a World Series prediction.

Sam:

AL East: Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central: Kansas City Royals

AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Cards: Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians

NL East: Washington Nationals

NL Central: Chicago Cubs

NL West: San Francisco Giants

NL Wild Cards: New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates

World Series: Giants over Astros in 6 games

The biggest surprise out of the Divisional picks will probably be the Nationals, and I understand the skepticism.  The Mets have the best staff in the bigs, and they are a deeper team this year, despite lingering bullpen issues after Jeurys Familia.  Still, everyone is suddenly out on the Nats after crowning them pre-season World Series favorites two  years in a row.  Well, after resisting the hype for a few years, I’m buying a whole bunch of stock in 2016.  A deep rotation behind Scherzer and Strasburg should be able to make up for any holes the Nats have in the lineup, and Harper might be the second best player in the world.  I considered picking Cleveland in the AL Central, but I feel like that team is still one bat away from really making noise.  The Cubs are the best team in baseball on paper, but in a sport as superstitious as baseball even Schwarber bombs will have a tough time shaking the juju that is #EvenYear.  The American League is tough to call this year outside of the AL West.  The Astros young cast, led by Carlos Correa, should be guaranteed a playoff spot in a weak division and I’m looking for them to solidify their status as contenders this year.

AL MVP: Mike Trout

NL MVP:  Bryce Harper

AL Cy Young: Chris Sale

NL Cy Young:  Clayton Kershaw

Trout, at 24, has had a case for the last four MVP awards (and should have won 3).  He certainly seems like the most likely candidate again in 2016, although he should face stiff competition from Josh Donaldson, as well as fellow young guns Carlos Correa and Manny Machado, among others.  Unfortunately, Trout’s supporting cast will likely be less than stellar once again.  Perception of Bryce Harper’s career has suffered both from “old school” fans’ disdain for his antics and from being Trout’s contemporary.  Try to avoid the comparison to Trout and you’ll realize that Harper’s first few years have been nothing short of incredible.  Look for him to win his second straight NL MVP.

The Cy Young races are tougher to call.  You can make the case for plenty of great pitchers in both leagues; my final candidates were Sale and Felix Hernandez in the AL.  I don’t see either team making the playoffs, but award voters are getting smarter every year.  A lack of wins or a playoff appearance shouldn’t hinder either of their cases.  The NL race is even more difficult, from studs on contenders (Scherzer, Arrieta, Cole, the Mets’ entire staff) to aces on teams with little chance to make the playoffs (Greinke, Fernandez).  I’m going to go with the guy who has been the best pitcher in baseball over the last five years and last year became the first pitcher to rack up 300 k’s in a season since 2002, who happens to be on a team sitting somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.  The Dodgers have a decent shot at grabbing a wild card spot or even taking the division, and they’re going to be relying on a dominant Clayton Kershaw to get them there.

 

Will:

AL East: Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central: Kansas City Royals

AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Cards: Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins

NL East: New York Mets

NL Central: Chicago Cubs

NL West: San Francisco Giants

NL Wild Cards: Pittsburgh Pirates; Arizona Diamondbacks

World Series: Pirates over Astros

The National League appears vastly better than the American, and similar to last year I think the NL Central has as much talent as the entire American League. Just kidding, kinda. The AL East should be interesting with the arm of David Price switching hands, the Red Sox should be much better than last year but I expect the Blue Jays to maintain their level of play. 2-5 in this division could be wide open. I can’t pick against the defending world champs, so I expect the Royals to bring home the central (although I expect the Twins and Indians to put up a fight. Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Correa, and Jose Altuve can lead the Astros deep if they play as well as last year, Correa has had a massive Spring. The Mets should win the NL East with the tremendous arms they have, but recently the team that should win the East never wins, so who knows. My Braves could lose 100 games this year. The Central will be great and the Cubs being relevant is great for baseball; it would be awesome to see another season with two 100-win teams in the same division. For some reason I think this is the year for Gerrit Cole, McCutchen, and the Pirates. I am excited to see if the Diamondbacks can live up to the hype around them. I think they will make the postseason, but I’m taking the Giants out West.

Awards:

AL MVP: Josh Donaldson

AL Cy Young: David Price

NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen

NL Cy Young: Zack Greinke

My Cy Young picks are spitting images of each other, great pitchers with great opportunities to have a huge impact with their new clubs. If the Red Sox take a wild card spot (or win the division of course) it will likely be because Price had a huge year; likewise with Greinke and the Diamondbacks. Trout is the best player in baseball. But like last year’s result, I am a big fan of the MVP being a player who is a critical piece on a winning team, so I like Donaldson repeating. In the NL, like I mentioned, I think it is a big year for the Pirates, and Cutch will carry them.

John:

AL East: Toronto Blue Jays

AL Central: Kansas City Royals

AL West: Houston Astros

Wild Cards: Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox

NL East: New York Mets

NL Central: Chicago Cubs

NL West: LA Dodgers

Wild Cards: San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals

World Series: Cubs over Astros

Let’s just take a moment to reflect on my picks. In 2016 we live in a world where I can legitimately pick the Cubs and the Astros to play in the World Series! Last year’s LCS’s were such a breath of fresh air over the previous reign of Cardinals, Dodgers, Yankees, Red Sox, Giants and the like. I fully expect this trend to continue, because as crazy as it feels to type, perennial losers the Cubs, Mets, Astros, and Royals are again the best teams in baseball. The Cubs were close last year, and now they’ve only gotten better with the additions of Jason Hayward, John Lackey, and Ben Zobrist. The Astros are a young and complete team that will continue to improve this year, enough to make a deep run. If the Blue Jays manage to acquire some starting pitching help over the course of the season, they will be extra dangerous given the explosiveness of their line up. The Nationals will slip into a Wild Card on the backs of 38 free games against the Braves and Phillies. The Giants will win just enough to slip into the second Wild Card and finesse their way to the NLCS before the Cubs beat them and vanquish their #EvenYear voo doo magic once and for all.

Awards:

NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw

NL MVP: Bryce Harper

AL Cy Young: David Price

AL MVP: Mike Trout

For the first couple years of Bryce Harper’s career, I harbored slight resentment towards him because of his phenom status that he hadn’t quite lived up to yet. Well, now he’s living up to it. Bryce Harper is the best player in the National League, and will be until he signs with the Yankees in a few years. In other news, Kersh is Kersh, Trout is Trout, and Price will thrive in the spotlight of Boston.