2020 MLB Preview

With all the drama surrounding the Houston Astros and the clown show that has surrounded the handling of the cheating scandal, including statements from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, you may not have realized that Spring Training has begun! Position players have all reported and made a temporary home in either Arizona or Florida as MLB play is set to start this weekend with Spring Training games.

With baseball season just around the corner, we wanted to take a look at what to expect from the 30 clubs and six divisions in Major League Baseball. So, here are our division winners and some teams you may want to keep your eye on in 2020.

AL East: New York Yankees

This should be a no brainer for baseball fans. The AL East is the Yankees to lose and I would be shocked if there was a team in the division that can push the Yankees for the division title in 2020. The Red Sox were trending down BEFORE trading 2018 MVP Mookie Betts and former Cy Young Award winner David Price to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and there’s no saying how bad the Sox may be in 2020. The Baltimore Orioles are going to continue to be the Baltimore Orioles, and while the Toronto Blue Jays should be improved, they are still rebuilding and a couple of years out of true contention in the East. The Tampa Bay Rays are most likely going to finish second in the AL East race and can certainly push for a Wildcard spot, but they simply don’t have the firepower to compete with the likes of Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole and Gleyber Torres. Anything less than a 2020 AL East crown for the Yankees should come as a shock to everyone.

AL Central: Twins

This is one of the more fascinating races in the American League. The Twins are certainly the team to beat as the Twins have slowly built a contender over the past few seasons. The addition of Nelson Cruz was one of my favorite moves in the 2019 offseason, and it proved to be so as Cruz batted .311/.392/.639 with 41 home runs and 108 RBIs in 120 games. The Twins followed that up with one of the more underrated signings on this offseason, adding third-baseman Josh Donaldson. Factor in OF Max Kepler, SS Jorge Polanco and C Mitch Garver, and you have a very good Twins team that could very well reach 100 wins and make some noise come October.

AL West: Houston Astros

Look, the last thing anyone wants to see is the Astros coming away with a four straight AL West title, but the reality is that no one else in the division is good enough to unseat the Astros, even without the benefit of stolen signs. The Los Angeles (Anaheim) Angels are getting better with the addition of World Series Champion Anthony Rendon to a lineup that features the best player in baseball, Mike Trout, but the lack of a solid rotation leaves them a step behind. The Rangers are still a year or two away from contending in the division and the Mariners haven’t made the postseason since 2001 and 2020 should be no different. The one team that could push the Astros in the West is the Oakland A’s. Led by third-baseman Matt Chapman - a top 20 player in baseball - along with SS Marcus Semien and first-baseman Matt Olson, Oakland has enough talent to take advantage of a distracted and beaten Astros squad. Houston still boasts the talent of Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, George Springer, Alex Bregman and Justin Verlander, but who knows just what kind of impact this cheating scandal will have on the play of Houston in 2020.

NL East: Atlanta Braves

The NL East is arguably the best division in Major League Baseball, evident of the fact that the 2019 World Series Champion Washington Nationals finished second in the East behind the Atlanta Braves. The Marlins should continue to be the bottom dwellers of the division, but the other four teams have the potential to come away with a division title in 2020. Under the proposed MLB Playoff format, the Mets would have been postseason bound in 2019 and 2019 Rookie of the Year Pete Alonso only continues to get better. The Phillies should benefit from another year with Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto in the lineup. Of course, you can’t count out the defending World Champs, the Washington Nationals. Despite the departure of Anthony Rendon to the Angels, the Nationals still boast one of the premier starting rotations in baseball with Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. Couple that with the star power of Juan Soto, arguably one of the top 10 players in baseball, and the Nationals won’t be going away anytime soon. But ultimately, the road to the NL East title goes through Atlanta. Led by Ozzie Albie, Freddie Freeman, and, of course, Ronald Acuna Jr., the Braves should come out victorious in a crowded NL East race. But Atlanta has their sights set higher and hope 2020 is the year they can finally take that next step.

NL Central: Brewers

This is probably my most controversial pick among all my 2020 division winners. The Brewers came in second in the NL Central in 2019, finishing two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals before losing the Wildcard to the eventual champs. The Central race should be close between the Brewers and Cardinals, but I have to give the edge to the team that has the second-best player in the world (according to MLB Network’s Top 100 Players). Christian Yelich has cemented himself as one of baseball’s best and should continue to dominate Major League Baseball. The Cincinnati Reds are one of my teams to watch, however. The trade for Trevor Bauer in July of 2019 along with the offseason additions of Mike Moustakas, Wade Miley and Nicholas Castellanos, have the Reds looking potential contenders in the Central division. While Cincinnati is still a year or so away, I love what the Reds are building.

NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

The NL West has been the Dodgers to lose for the past few seasons and that should remain the case in 2020. The Arizona Diamondbacks are trending upwards in part due to the impressive play of OF Ketel Marte, who had a breakout season in 2019. But the lack of talent around Marte should keep Arizona from truly pushing the Dodgers for the division title. The Giants and Rockies continue to be ‘middle of the pack’ teams while the San Diego Padres, although improving each season, bring up the rear. The NL West should be better moving forward, but for now, it remains to be the Dodgers’ division.

AL Champs: New York Yankees

A Yankees vs Astros ALCS should be atop everyone’s wish list. A matchup between the league’s most despised team in the Astros and the team that feels the most cheated by Houston’s sign-stealing scheme (the Astros defeated the Yankees in the 2017 and 2019 Playoffs). It’s also a rematch of last season’s ALCS that featured a controversial walk-off home run in game 6 that sent Houston to the World Series. This time, though, it should be the Yankees that come away with the AL Crown.

NL Champs: Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers will face a much tougher road through the National League, having to defeat the likes of the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals and the defending champion Washington Nationals before they even get a shot at the winner of the American League. Still, the Dodgers have the talent, both in the lineup and the rotation, to come away with their third National League Championship in the last four years.

World Series Champs: Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers have received more attention this offseason than anyone not named the Houston Astros this offseason. Starting with the Astros cheating scandal, the Dodgers have had no shortage of opinions whether it be about the Astros or how MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred handled the situation. After all, the Dodgers suffered more from the Astros’ cheating more than anyone in the MLB, being the team that lost to Houston in the 2017 World Series. Not only are the Dodgers at the center of Houston’s cheating scandal, but Los Angeles also found themselves in the middle of one of the biggest trades in recent years, with the Red Sox sending 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts and former Cy Young winner David Price to LA. Adding Betts and Price to a 106-win team and a roster that already featured Clayton Kershaw, Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Max Muncy, Justin Turner and Corey Seager almost seems unfair, and yet, they did. Now, it seems, the Dodgers are poised to finally take home a World Series Championship.