Baseball season is upon us!  In a few hours, first pitch for many teams will be coming across home plate to the sound of many screaming fans and to the delight of many, including myself.  Half the fun of the season, however, is looking at the off-season and trying to predict what will happen with each team.  As the start of baseball season is upon us, I want to write down my post-season predictions and awards for the 2016 season.  Looking back on these is always a blast once the season is over, but here they are never-the-less!

AL seeding: 1) Astros 2) Blue Jays 3) Royals 4) Indians 5) Rays (beating the Mariners in a one game playoff to get to the one game playoff)

Indians over Rays: Tampa will be tired from having to play the first one-game playoff and will have already used the ace of the team, making it difficult to match-up against the Indians.

Astros vs. Indians: Indians in five – Cleveland’s pitching overwhelms the strikeout heavy offense of the Astros.

Blue Jays vs. Royals: Blue Jays in four – a reverse of last years ALCS with Toronto coming out on top with deeper pitching and a stronger, better clicking offense.

Blue Jays vs. Indians: Blue Jays in six – Toronto has a stronger, more balanced offense and is able to keep pace with the Indians pitching with a little help from home field advantage.

NL seeding: 1) Cubs 2) Mets 3) Dodgers 4) Pirates 5) Cardinals

Pirates over Cardinals: A one-game playoff has been the bane of the Pirates lately but hey, third time is a charm and this time, Gerrit Cole has a little playoff experience under his belt.  The Cardinals are not as overwhelming as they have been in years past and are unable to handle the Pirates in PNC Park.

Cubs vs. Pirates: Pirates in five – the pitching depth still is not quite there for the Cubs (barring a trade deadline move) and the Pirates bullpen can keep a lead once it is acquired.  It will be one of the best series in the playoffs, however.

Mets vs. Dodgers: Mets in four – It will not be a sweep, but the Mets pitching overwhelms the lackluster Dodgers this season in a pretty easy fashion.

Mets vs. Pirates: Pirates in seven – No repeat for the Mets this year as the Pirates have a better defense and bullpen than the Mets and those were the exact things that brought NY down against the Royals in the World Series.  It will be a long series, however, as the Mets pitching is not going to falter that easily.

World Series: Blue Jays vs. Pirates… Toronto in six – It hurts to write that, but Toronto has an excellently balanced lineup, especially with the DH factored in, and the pitching staff is better than people are giving it credit for.

AL MVP: Carlos Correa – This youngster has loads of talent on offense and defense and he shows it all in his first full season.

NL MVP: Giancarlo Stanton – with a full season under his belt and lineup protection, Stanton might be able to mash 50 homeruns and hit around .300.

AL CY Young: Chris Archer – His power pitching and ability to rack up the Ks helps to push the Rays into the playoffs as well as helping Rays fans forget about David Price… a little bit.

NL CY Young: Zack Greinke – His dominance continues down in Arizona and he wins the award that he was very close to winning in LA last season, making good on the huge contract that he signed as well as giving D-Back fans a reason to hope for next season.

Note: I do not predict Rookie of the Year because there is no way to know what players will be up come mid-season.  Ask me again around the All-Star Break.