Happy Opening Day, friends! The 2020 season kicks off tonight and while we don’t get a full season, each game counts for much more than usual. Now that fantasy baseball drafts are behind us, it is the perfect time to invite you in to join me in the fun of some predictions for the upcoming year. I’ll give you my predictions for the MLB Standings, fantasy leaders at all 5×5 fantasy categories, the MLB awards races and the MLB playoff results.
It is obvious that Adalberto Mondesi is the favorite to lead the MLB in steals and that the Astros are near-locks to win the AL West. Some of these favorites will win, but we all know the combination of each of those favorites winning is never how the season plays out. Predicting all chalk or essentially a repeat of last year’s standings wouldn’t be any fun either, would it? Rather, think of this my attempt at the perfect bracket. I’m trying to build out a realistic scenario with injuries, trades and volatility in mind. When you are finished, let me know a few of your predictions for the season on Twitter. Thank you for reading and good luck in your fantasy leagues this year!
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Standings
AL East
37-23 Rays
36-24 Yankees
29-31 Red Sox
28-32 Jays
20-40 Orioles
AL Central
36-24 Twins
33-27 Indians
30-30 White Sox
27-33 Royals
19-31 Tigers
AL West
35-25 A’s
34-26 Astros
31-29 Angels
28-32 Rangers
23-37 Mariners
NL East
36-24 Braves
33-27 Nationals
30-30 Mets
29-31 Ph1illies
24-36 Marlins
NL Central
33-27 Cardinals
32-28 Brewers
31-29 Reds
30-30 Cubs
22-38 Pirates
NL West
41-19 Dodgers
35-25 Diamondbacks
31-29 Padres
26-34 Rockies
21-39 Giants
Major Trades
Pirates trade Josh Bell to the Indians for George Valera and Ethan Hankins
Rockies trade Nolan Arenado‘s monster contract to the Cardinals for Dakota Hudson, Tommy Edman and Elehuris Montero
Tigers trade Matt Boyd to the Phillies for Alec Bohm, Adonis Medina and Mickey Moniak
Pirates trade Keone Kela to the A’s for Daulton Jeffries and Sheldon Neuse
Leaders
AL Hitters
- BA – Rafael Devers .363
- HR – Eloy Jimenez 22
- RBI – J.D. Martinez 55
- R – George Springer 54
- SB – Adalberto Mondesi 24
NL Hitters
- BA – J.D. Davis .358
- HR – Bryce Harper 20
- RBI – Juan Soto 58
- R – Christian Yelich 53
- SB – Victor Robles 16
AL Pitchers
- ERA – Rich Hill 1.26
- WHIP – Justin Verlander 0.70
- W – Lance McCullers Jr. 10
- K – Gerrit Cole 117
- SV – Nick Anderson 18
NL Pitchers
- ERA – Stephen Strasburg 1.49
- WHIP – Yu Darvish 0.74
- W – Walker Buehler 10
- K – Trevor Bauer 103
- SV – Kirby Yates 15
Awards
Just a reminder: If you average out 10,000 simulations, not a single player would be projected for any of these outcomes. In every simulation, however, there are a dozen significant outliers. I’ll do my best to give an accurate representation of what those outliers may look like.
AL MVP
- Matt Chapman (OAK): 331 BA/19 HR/48 RBI
- Rafael Devers (BOS): 363/14/41
- Francisco Lindor (CLE): 329/15/34
- George Springer (HOU): 301/21/42
- Eloy Jimenez (CWS): 292/22/47
NL MVP
- Cody Bellinger (LAD): 321 BA/19 HR/53 RBI
- Juan Soto (WAS): 296/19/58
- Ozzie Albies (ATL): 346/15/40
- Nick Castellanos (CIN): 325/18/46
- J.D. Davis (NYM): 358/11/37
AL Cy Young
- Tyler Glasnow (TB): 1.40 ERA/9 W/95 K
- Gerrit Cole (NYY): 2.12/8/117
- Rich Hill (MIN): 1.26/7/78
- Lance McCullers Jr. (HOU): 2.43/10/87
- Justin Verlander (HOU): 2.41/8/99
NL Cy Young
- Walker Buehler (LAD): 1.72 ERA/10 W/94 K
- Stephen Strasburg (WAS): 1.49/7/94
- Yu Darvish (CHC): 2.05/7/101
- Freddy Peralta (MIL): 2.33/9/88
- Julio Urias (LAD): 1.74/8/67
AL Rookie of the Year
- Luis Robert (CWS): 273 BA/17 HR/44 RBI
- Jesus Luzardo (OAK): 3.12 ERA/6 W/68 K
- Nate Pearson (TOR): 3.45 ERA/4 W/71 K
- Shed Long (SEA): 268 BA/9 HR/24 RBI
- James Karinchak (CLE): 0.74 ERA/2 Sv/38 K
NL Rookie of the Year
- Mitch Keller (PIT): 2.86 ERA/5 W/75 K
- Dylan Carlson (STL): 296 BA/9 HR/28 RBI
- Adonis Medina (PHI): 2.09 ERA/4 W/42 K
- Gavin Lux (LAD): 280 BA/6 HR/33 RBI
- Carter Kieboom (WAS): 245 BA/13 HR/37 RBI
Playoffs
As I’m writing this, just hours before MLB kicks off, mind you, we still don’t know how many playoff teams there will be. I’ll proceed as though the MLB’s recent proposal of 16 teams is accepted in the closing hours. If not—well, we can look back at this together and laugh at the remembrance of how crazy this summer was from a sports perspective.
Wild Card Round
Rays > White Sox in 4
Yankees > Astros in 5
Indians > A’s in 5
Twins > Angels in 3
Dodgers > Reds in 4
Nationals > Diamondbacks in 5
Cardinals > Brewers in 3
Padres > Braves in 5
Divisional Round
Rays > Yankees in 7
Indians > Twins in 5
Dodgers > Nationals in 6
Cardinals > Padres in 6
League Championships
Rays > Indians in 6
Dodgers > Cardinals in 4
World Series
Rays > Dodgers in 7 (MVP: Willy Adames)
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