10 years. It’s been just over 10 years since my MLB 2014 Preview was posted as the very first post on this website and my aspirations to work in sports media began. It’s hard to believe that I started this website as a 4th grade student, just looking for a place to share my thoughts on sports in my spare time. Now, I’m a sophomore sports media major looking to break into the industry. Some things, however, have stayed the same. While I may have different goals with my content, I still plan to write about the same things. MLB season previews have been a staple of this website over the course of its lifespan, and that is not going to change anytime soon.

The last few months in the baseball world have been overshadowed by one of the slowest free agencies in recent history. The Dodgers kicked off the offseason by spending over $1 billion on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but the rest of the league took a while to make their decisions. Many teams were working to play the market right on Scott Boras represented free agents like Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, and Matt Chapman. Jordan Montgomery, another major Boras client, remains unsigned. However, with just a few days left before Opening Day, teams are best off if they stop relying on this wait for remaining free agents and work towards victory with their current rosters. How do these teams stack up as currently constructed? Keep reading to find out what I think.

Notes:

Projected record in parentheses)

* = playoffs

AL East

1. Baltimore Orioles (97-65)*
2. New York Yankees (90-72)*
3. Toronto Blue Jays (84-78)
4. Tampa Bay Rays (75-87)
5. Boston Red Sox (73-89)

This division will be pretty good, but I think it’s slightly overhyped by the media. I see two playoff teams here, the Orioles and Yankees.

The Orioles have seen much of their young talent break through over the last couple of years, and they can only go up from here as Jackson Holliday’s MLB debut approaches. The addition of Corbin Burnes atop the rotation will also be a big help. A slight regression in regular season wins is possible but they will be well equipped for the playoffs. 

While I do have the Yankees bouncing back from a mediocre 2023 with Juan Soto and Marcus Stroman on board, I can’t see them surpassing this young Orioles team as much of their lineup ages. They’ll slot into a wild card here.

I have Toronto just barely missing the playoffs. Their once young talent is running out of time to improve upon their current level of performance, and it appears their World Series window is beginning to close. Meanwhile, the Rays are also likely to take a step back with many of their top arms on the shelf and several key bats including OF Luke Raley on the way out. 

I still think both finish ahead of the Boston Red Sox once again. The Red Sox had one job this offseason: bolster their weak starting rotation. They failed epically in this effort. The loss of Lucas Giolito for the season is part of the problem, but the front office could have done more here. This lineup should continue to show a lot of promise and should give this team some long term upside, but they’re not going anywhere until their pitching improves.

AL Central

1. Detroit Tigers (85-77)*
2. Cleveland Guardians (79-83)
3. Minnesota Twins (78-84)
4. Kansas City Royals (74-88)
5. Chicago White Sox (54-108)

While the standings will have a new look this year, this is still baseball’s weakest division.

The Tigers did show a lot of promise last year and I’m expecting big years from Spencer Torkelson, Tarik Skubal, and Riley Greene to lift them atop the Central. I still don’t expect them to make it far in the playoffs.

The rest of this division will slot in below .500. The Guardians look much less the same as a year ago and their record will likely reflect that. While I do expect a Royce Lewis breakout year, the loss of Sonny Gray atop the rotation will be detrimental to a Twins team that wasn’t even that good a division winner to begin with. The Royals had a sneaky good offseason, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they can leapfrog the Twins and Guardians. However, I’ll project them in fourth as this rotation may look better than before but still needs work. In addition, it’s going to be a long road to improve from last year’s abysmal finish. 

That leaves the Chicago White Sox in dead last. They are clearly in the midst of a long rebuild after trading their only high level starting pitcher in Dylan Cease and also floating star OF Luis Robert’s name in trade talks.

AL West

1. Texas Rangers (99-63)*
2. Seattle Mariners (92-70)*
3. Houston Astros (87-75)*
4. Los Angeles Angels (66-96)
5. Oakland Athletics (51-111)

Last year, this division was a tight race between the Astros, Rangers, and Mariners. This time around, I’m expecting all 3 to make the playoffs, but clearer gaps to emerge.

After a World Series win, the Rangers’ roster is still in great shape to win games. This lineup is stacked with talent, headlined by Corey Seager and Marcus Semien. The rotation may get off to a slow start but the late season returns of Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom should help. I feel they would have finished a lot higher in the regular season last year if not for injuries piling up mid-season.

The Mariners had a very slow offseason, but ended up adding a lot of talent to the lineup down the stretch including C/DH Mitch Garver, OF Luke Raley, and 2B Jorge Polanco. Their top three starters may be the league’s best, but the lineup still lacks quite the firepower to surpass Texas.

I have the Astros taking a slight step back this season due to a lack of lineup depth, but after an ALCS run last year, I cannot see them falling completely out of the playoff race, especially as the rotation continues to improve.

The Angels and Athletics will be far out of this division race. The Angels didn’t even have enough talent to succeed with Shohei Ohtani, and the loss of him will cause their decline to continue. The Athletics have seen signs of hope, including the strong start of rookie 2B Zack Gelof, but they’re still far, far away from contention of any kind.

NL East

1. Atlanta Braves (110-52)*
2. Philadelphia Phillies (98-64)*
3. New York Mets (81-81)
4. Miami Marlins (69-93)
5. Washington Nationals (52-110)

While the Dodgers may have won the offseason, they still don’t quite have the roster the Atlanta Braves do. They arguably have a top 10 catcher (Murphy), first baseman (Olson), second baseman (Albies), third baseman (Riley), outfielder (Acuna), and starting pitcher (Strider). It’s almost unfortunate that the Phillies are in this division, as they would win just about any other division. Between Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, and Kyle Schwarber, they arguably have the best power bats in the league. 

The Mets spent in a fairly controlled manner this offseason, at least for Steve Cohen standards. It’s clear that they’re playing the long game right now, but they still have enough on this roster to finish around .500. They read the market well on DH J.D. Martinez, who they were able to get for just $12 million.

I have them surpassing the Marlins, who neglected to spend much at all on major league level talent this offseason all while letting Jorge Soler walk. Look for Eury Perez and Jesus Luzardo to take another step forward and lead the pitching staff, but I don’t think there’s any way Luis Arraez repeats the batting stats he put up in 2023, and there’s not much behind him.

The Nationals are still a long way away from surpassing anyone here. OF Lane Thomas had a good 2023 and provides signs of hope, but you’re not going to compete with Thomas as your best hitter and Josiah Gray, who’s maybe a good #3, as your best starting pitcher.

NL Central

1. Chicago Cubs (91-71)*
2. St. Louis Cardinals (86-76)
3. Cincinnati Reds (76-86)
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (68-94)
5. Milwaukee Brewers (63-99)

If there’s any division I would pick to see a lot of change compared to last season, it’s this one. 

There’s a lot of holes on this Brewers team as currently constructed, and the trade of Corbin Burnes to Baltimore only adds fuel to the fire. With Craig Counsell headed to Chicago, I expect things to go off the rails here as the Brewers fall from first to worst.

Speaking of the Cubs, I have them taking the NL Central crown with Counsell in the dugout. They bring back a very similar roster to last year, and they were already in the playoff hunt without an elite manager. I have the Cardinals slotting right behind them in a bounce back year that revives the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry. The addition of SP Sonny Gray will do wonders for this rotation, and the young talent all over the roster should continue to improve.

While the Reds and Pirates also have a lot of young talent on the rise, these rosters are incomplete as currently constructed. I expect improvement from their younger players, but I think it will take a little longer for their records to reflect that. A full season of Paul Skenes in 2025 will be a big help for Pittsburgh.

NL West

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (104-58)*
2. Arizona Diamondbacks (96-66)*
3. San Francisco Giants (89-73)*
4. San Diego Padres (77-85)
5. Colorado Rockies (56-106)

At least to those who were following in December, the Dodgers were the only team that seemed to be all in on bolstering their roster when they spent a combined $1 billion on Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. They should take this division, but if a dynasty is going to begin, I think that’s more likely next year when Ohtani is pitching.

I have the Diamondbacks and Giants making the playoffs as well. The D-Backs took a surprise World Series run and built on it, adding SP Eduardo Rodriguez, DH Joc Pederson, and 3B Eugenio Suarez among others. I did not have the Giants in the playoffs to begin the month, but after they absolutely schooled Scott Boras and landed both 3B Matt Chapman and SP Blake Snell for a fraction of the money they initially wanted, the roster looks much improved. This lineup still lacks a true leader, but may be one of baseball’s deepest. Meanwhile, Snell and Logan Webb should be co-aces atop this rotation.

That leaves a fairly talented Padres team in 4th place. Their uncontrolled spending over the last few years has come back to bite as they could not afford OF Juan Soto and SP Blake Snell for the long term, and their depth has taken a hit as well. However, the stars remaining on the roster plus new SP Dylan Cease should keep this team at least close to .500.

The Rockies have more pieces to build on than most rebuilding teams, but this may be the worst starting rotation I’ve ever seen. Not a good problem to have in a ballpark like Coors Field.

Playoff Bracket

My bracket for the MLB playoffs

Both Central divisions are significantly weaker than the rest of the league, so I have their lone palyoff teams falling short in the Wild Card Round. Phillies-Diamondbacks and Mariners-Yankees should be closing, but I’ll take the teams with the better pitching staffs there. In the ALCS, I have two teams that lack much playoff experience making their first big runs of this era: the Orioles and Mariners. The trio of Luis Castillo, George Kirby, and Logan Gilbert will bring the Mariners far, but the Orioles arguably have almost as good of pitching and their lineup will only continue to improve as the season progresses. I have a much more expected matchup in the NLCS as playoff regulars in the Dodgers and Braves battle it out. While the Dodgers may be in the spotlight right now, I think Atlanta will be hungry for payback after falling short of expectations in 2023. I have Baltimore making their first World Series appearance since 1983, but losing to the Braves once they get there.

Award Predictions

These could go a number of different ways, but I figured I would take a stab at them.

MVP

AL Winner: Corey Seager (Next up: Jose Altuve, Royce Lewis)

NL Winner: Bryce Harper (Next up: Ronald Acuna Jr., Freddie Freeman)

Cy Young

AL winner: Luis Castillo (Next up: Gerrit Cole, Tarik Skubal)

NL winner: Sonny Gray (Next up: Max Fried, Jesus Luzardo)

Rookie of the Year

AL winner: Evan Carter (Next up: Jackson Holliday, Colt Keith)

NL winner: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (Next up: Jung Hoo Lee, Shota Imanaga)

That’s all for my MLB preview this year. Feel free to comment with your thoughts, and I look forward to a fun season!