Who will win the 2016 MLB World Series?

[Akhilleus]

I wanted to do one of these threads at the beginning of the season, but alas it's midseason. Now that we can see where teams are at, let's see if we can make some predictions.

Keep in mind my predictions are purely for fun, so don't chastise me for my awful opinions. Instead make your own!

The hard part is we have to make these predictions before all the big deals go down. Will the Yankees trade Chapman? Who gets him? Etc.

So I'm going to start with the AL.

AL East

The Redsox are going all in. They just added some depth to their rotation with Drew Pomerenz, and I'm expecting David Price to go back to form in this second half. Baltimore is going to be on their tails, but I'm predictiong that Boston finishes on top with 97 wins, with Baltimore right behind them with around 92, and Toronto at 90. The Yankees end up dropping more and more because of dumb managing decisions like not bringing up Aaron Judge when they should have and letting him hurt his knee in the minors, and obviously Tampa Bay is dookie.

AL Central:

Cleveland is ahead right now, but I'm going to say that the Tigers have a big surge in the second half and end up taking the lead. They win the division at 93 games, while Cleveland ends up winning only 88 and missing the playoffs. The White Sox finish just above .500, and Kansas City around 85 games. Obviously Minnesota is out of it.

AL West:

For the west, I'd love to be a homer and say Seattle will come back and win it, but I think the Rangers have this one on lockdown. The Rangers finish with the AL's best 98 wins. Houston and Seattle both end up over .500, but neither makes the playoffs. Oakland and the Angels are obviously finished for the year.

AL Playoffs:

So we have the Blue Jays and Orioles facing off in the wild card match up with the winner taking on the Rangers, and then the Red Sox and Tigers do battle. I'm going to give the one game crapshoot to the Blue Jays simply because I like their bats better, both teams have a weak pitching staff in my opinion, but the Blue Jays have a stronger bullpen and I see them coming out on top. I'm going to say the Tigers end up upsetting the great Red Sox in five games, while the Rangers go on to sweep Toronto. So we get a Texas vs Detroit ALCS series, and I'm going to give the series to the motor city in 6 games.



NL East:
The Nationals are already going strong, and I see them getting stronger. They're going to go bold and trade for Chapman to stack up their bullpen even more. This will pretty much give them the NL East, finishing with 103 wins. The Mets end up finishing with 90 wins, while the Marlins end up with a weak second half and finish at 81-81.

NL Central:
The Cubs are fading, Jake Arrieta is off his power pellets, and all is finally right in the world. This isn't a slump, the Cubs are finally coming back down to earth. They won't fall as hard as the Brewers did a couple years ago, but I'm going to say they finish with 95 wins...which is NOT enough to win the division, because I'm going to say that the Pittsburgh Pirates come back with a huge second half and win it with 97 wins. Andrew McCutchen seems to be turning it on, and the Pirates have a huge young crop of talent about to emerge. Josh Bell has already shown what he can do, and with Glasnow and Taillon settling in I think the Pirates can be unstoppable. Depending on how well it takes Glasnow to get into form, the Pirates may end up stealing the show in the second half of this baseball season.

Meanwhile the Cardinals make a knock for the wild card spot, but don't get it at 84 wins.

NL West:
The Giants are looking pretty impressive, and they aren't going anywhere. They end up staying on top of their division with 98 wins, despite failing to acquire Chapman. The Dodgers are right there too, and earn the second wild card spot with 92 wins.


NL Playoffs:

So it's a Dodgers vs Cubs wild card game, Kershaw vs Arrieta. I'll take Hershaw over Arrieta anyday, and the Dodgers will too. They take this pitching duel and move on to face the tough Washington Nationals. Meanwhile the Giants and Pirates are facing off. The last three times the Giants made the playoffs they have won it all, and after another dominanting performance in Game 1 where Bumgarner outduels Cole, it looks like they do it again...however the Pirates end up shutting things down and winning the next three games to upset the Giants and move onto the NLCS.

The Dodgers and Nationals however have a much closer battle, going to five games where they Nats go on to win. So it's a Pirates vs Nationals NLCS, and it's a great battle. The young talent in Pittsburgh faces off against the experience of the Nationals. It comes down to Game 7, where the Nationals end up edging out the Bucs to move onto the World Series.


2016 World Series
It appears to be a great showdown between the Tigers and Nationals, but these teams aren't evenly matched whatsoever. Strasburg, Scherzer, Bryce Harper, and friends end up taking the Tigers by storm. They sweep them in four straight games to end up becoming World Series kings for the first time in franchise history. Anthony Rendon ends up taking the World Series MVP award, while Stephen Strasburg is the Playoff MVP.



So those are my big bold predictions. What do you think will happen?

 

[nwocongo]

Baseball is by far the hardest sport to make accurate predictions due to length of the season, the farm system used by MLB and the rules for September call ups and playoff rosters but I love to speculate as much as the next guy.

Al East
Orioles have the same issue they've had for the last few years and that is a weak rotation. You'd have to assume that the offense comes back down to earth at some point, or at least a couple of the guys (lookin at you Trumbo). Red Sox have fired the first shot in the starting pitcher search with Pomeranz so the Orioles really need to bring in someone. It's hard to bet against the Jays this year but like Baltimore and Boston you have to be concerned about staring pitching depth, yes Happ has been good but his track record leads me to believe his second half will be mediocre to bad to make up for his good first half. For Cubs and Red Sox fans-compare to Matt Clement. Blue Jays seemed to have a slight edge but with the trades the Red Sox may edge them out now with around 95 w's

Central
The Indians are looking real good right now, White Sox commentator Steve Stone says they are one trade away from running away with the division. I don't know if I'd go that far because Kansas City could make a run if they get and stay healthy. White Sox really need to make a trade or two to bolster the lineup and they need James Shield to learn how to pitch again. Detroit seems to be right there, they just need to get a couple guys going and they can make a run, they need to figure out how to beat Cleveland, what are they 1-9 against them this year? Cleveland seems to be the strongest and most well rounded right now and I think they can reach the 90 W mark possibly 93-95 which may be enough for the pennant

West
If Yu Darvish can stay healthy and AJ Griffin can be consistent they should take this division. Houston is good but they are just lacking something and cannot beat Texas I'd like to see Seattle make a run too but I just don't see anyone catching Texas, they should win 100 and win this division by a comfortable margin and is my pick to win the ALCS.

NL East
If Stanton can get going and they can add a pitcher (apparently they want Rich Hill) the Marlins could make a run but I think Washington is too good so they should just worry about the wildcard. I'm not much of a told you so guy (because I'm usually wrong), but the Mets youngsters are falling apart like I predicted, they used most of their bullets last Fall, Bartolo has been the most consistent guy in that rotation and Mets fans are STILL saying "wait til we get Wheeler back!". They can still make the playoffs if the pitchers get healthy and Loney continues to produce but I don't see anyone catching the Nats who should be making it to 100+ victories this year.

Central
Cubs are scuffling, no doubt about it but there isn't much that leads me to believe they can't be as good as they were in May. I don't expect Hammel and Hendricks to continue to be as effective as they have but the first three are still as good as anyone's if Arrieta can get on track after the break, he doesn't even have to be as lights out as he had been, just better than the last month. They have an infinite supply of position players, Rizzo and Bryant are both putting up MVP numbers. Baez is really flying under the radar but he is a Gold glove caliber player at any infield spot and has a ton of power, Russell is also a potential gold glover and although his BA. Isn't much to shout about he's been a clutch hitter and has really good AB's late in games. Yeah a lot of these guys are young but Zobrist is a vet with WS experience and despite only being 26, Heyward and Rizzo are proven vets at this point in their careers and Heyward had been shown signs of getting going at the plate before the break, you don't expect him to hit .230 all year. If Fowler is anywhere near as consistent as he had been after he returns thats a big boost. Big ? Obviously is the pen, they say Joe Nathan is on the comeback trail but who knows what he's got left, they really need to pull the trigger on Miller or Chapman.
Card's can make a run at the division but WC is more likely, Jaime Garcia has really overachieved and their pen is garbage too. It's about time for Holiday and or Peralta to have their usual DL stints brought on by running out of Flintstone vitamins, and I don't expect Aledmys Diaz to keep putting up those numbers. On top of all that the team defense is el teriblé.
If these young pitchers are as good as the say and Cole can be effective off the DL the Buc's seem much more likey to catch the Cubs than StL. McCuthen is historically a 2nd half player so he will most likely heat up, the outfield is the best in the league. Jaso is looking like a real good pickup, he's been solid at the plate and a good 1st basemen despite only playing a couple games there prior to this year. Big issue for them is behind the plate, apparently they are bringing up a 1st basemen who's been crushing the ball in AAA so Jaso could possibly go back to catching. I'm skeptical of David Frese continuing to hit like he has but the defense is so much better than last season. I'm guessing StL. will be somewhere between 80 and 90 wins, Pittsburgh between 90 and 95 Cubs between 97 and 100. Obviously I have some bias.

West
The Giants seem to be poised to run away with this one and win 100+. The two Brandon's have been consistent, Buster has been Buster and the pitching has been great altough as a Chicago fan I'm still anticipating a Samrdzija collapse. They have some question marks in the pen too and probably need to add a Jay Bruce or someone to help OF depth and power at the plate but I still don't think LA can catch them. LA should get to the postseason, they are very young however and there's still the Kershaw in October issue. Arizona has been highly disappointing I thought adding Greinke could make them an outside shot to win the division but I didn't bank on Miller pitching like a little leaguer.

I think we end up with a Cubs v. Nats NLCS, I'd like to go with my heart and take the Cubs but I'm a rational man and I've been watching the Cubs suck and or choke for 25+ years so I'll believe it when I see it, no I don't believe in the curse, I just understand baseball.

I don't follow the AL as closely so I'm not as sure here but I think it's a Cleveland or Boston v. Texas ALCS.

WS I think the Nats beat Texas, good pitching usually beats good hitting.