We made it! Spring Training is finally here, and that means baseball is finally back! Oh, and by the way, Manny Machado signed with the Padres. But what about Fernando Tatis? How does this effect the NL West? And what about Bryce Harper? All of this will be elaborated on in this article.
First things first: Where will Bryce Harper sign, and for how much? Right now there are only 3 teams that I think, in theory, could land Harper. The most likely of the 3 is the Phillies. They already have a decent amount of talent, and if they want to shell out $300 million, he's their's. if he signs in Philly then it will be 8 years; $310 million. But, Harper may also be headed to San Francisco, where he will join Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado, and Clayton Kershaw, among other stars in the stacked NL West. If this happens, then it will be 10 years; $325 million. Lastly, we will discuss the rarest of the three. If for some reason Philly and San Francisco both don't give Harper the deal he wants, he may just call it quits and go back to DC. They already offered him $275 million dollars, so he may just call it quits and head back home to DC, where he will join Adam Eaton, and the duo of Juan Soto and Victor Robles in a star studded outfield. On the odd chance this happens, I predict 8 years; $285 million.
In my personal opinion however, it won't have as much of an impact on the league. Now, let's get to 3 of my season changing trade predictions that will occur this season.
Mariners and Brewers: Kyle Seager, Dee Gordon, Mike Leake and some money for Joe Hader, Jesus Aguilar, and Lorenzo Cain
Mets and Athletics: Travis d'Arnaud and Zach Wheeler and a top draft pick for Marcus Semien and Steven Piscotty
Nationals and Padres: Eric Hosmer for Howie Kendrick, Matt Adams, and Spencer Kieboom
With these trades happening, here are my predictions for the season.
AL West AL East AL Central NL West NL East
1. Astros 1. Red Sox 1. Indians 1. Dodgers 1. Nationals
2. Athletics 2. Yankees 2. Twins 2. Rockies 2. Phillies
3. Angels 3. Rays 3. White Sox 3. Giants 3. Braves
4. Mariners 4. Blue Jays 4. Roylals 4. Diamondbacks 4. Mets
5. Rangers 5. Orioles 5. Tigers 5. Padres 5. Marlins
NL Central
1. Cardinals
2. Brewers
3. Cubs
4. Reds
5. Pirates
Playoffs:
Wildcard: Rockies over Brewers and Yankees over Athletics
Divisionals: Astros over Yankees, Redsox over Indians, Dodgers over Rockies, Nationals over Cardinals
Conference: Astros over Redsox, Dodgers over Nationals
World Series: Astros over Dodgers
Here are the award winners for the season:
MVP: Alex Bregman and Paul Goldschmidt
Cy Young: Trevor Bauer and Max Scherzer
Rookie of the year: Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Victor Robles
Coach of the year: Alex Cora and Mike Schildt