Well, the Mets are winning the games that I thought the Marlins would, the Astros are winning the games I thought the Mariners would, and the Twins/Royals are winning the games that I thought the White Sox would.  Realizing that three of my playoff teams, and one of my World Series teams, are more than likely out of the running, I’ve come forward with some changes to my pre-season picks.

Preseason playoff teams:

NL East: Nationals                                                                                          AL East: Orioles

NL Central: Pirates                                                                                    AL Central: White Sox

NL West: Dodgers                                                                                          AL West: Mariners

Wildcard: Marlins and Cardinals                                            Wildcard: Blue Jays and Tigers

Mid season playoff teams:

NL East: Nationals                                                                                          AL East: Rays

NL Central: Pirates                                                                                         AL Central: Royals

NL West: Dodgers                                                                                          AL West: Angels

Wildcard: Cardinals and Cubs                                                  Wildcard: Blue Jays and Twins

My NL stays primarily the same.  I still believe the Pirates will over-take the Cardinals for the division lead and might end up with the best record in the NL, if not the majors.  Just replacing the Cubs for the Marlins as Miami has been a major disappointment and Chicago is good enough to push for the Wild Card slot.  Especially since their competition is the surprising, and offensively anemic, Mets and the injury prone, hot-and-cold Giants.

AL, however, is different.  It seems that when I put my faith in the Rays, they disappoint me.  When I take it away, they manage to surprise me.  However, they have the best pitching in the AL East and pitching wins games.  I didn’t have faith in the Royals; I thought their pitching was rough and Morales has been a huge surprise.  They also have the depth to deal with the loss of Alex Gordon.  I don’t think the Astros can continue their torrid pace; currently on an eight game losing streak and this team is basically “home run or bust” from top to bottom.  The Wild Card gets exciting but the Blue Jays have the offense, they just need the pitching.  And I’m sure they’ll go after a top target (Cueto, Kazmir, etc…) and the Twins have a large enough lead and have been consistent enough to instill enough confidence that they’ll hold on to the slot.

DS: Pirates over Cubs, Nationals over Dodgers

Royals over Blue Jays, Rays over Angels

CS: Pirates over Nationals

Royals over Rays

WS: Pirates over Royals in six.

I’m still driving the Pirates World Series champion’s bandwagon. It’ll be tough to get past the Nationals, but if the Pirates over-take the Cardinals, they’ll be able to over-take anyone.  The Royals have a little easier road to the World Series as, in my opinion, the AL isn’t as strong as it was last year or as strong as the NL.

Pre-Season Award winners:

NL MVP: Adrew McCutchen                                                NL CY Young: Johnny Cueto

AL MVP: Josh Donaldson                                                    AL CY Young: Chris Sale

NL and AL ROY not selected.

Mid-Season Award winners:

NL MVP: Bryce Harper                                                        NL CY Young: Gerrit Cole

AL MVP: Josh Donaldson                                                    AL CY Young: Chris Sale

My NL predictions weren’t bad, just a few player have risen up.  Harper is the mid-season favorite to me and I’ll ride that hot card.  Pitching wise, there are a lot of good choices for both the AL and the NL.  But Cole, should he continue what he’s doing now, will set some career highs, possible franchise records, and is succeeding past what even I thought he would this preseason.

My AL predictions are staying the same.  Sale is a huge bright spot on a struggling White Sox team.  And while they won’t be playoff bound, his numbers are bright enough to take the attention.  As for Donaldson, he’s currently in the top five of the following AL categories: WAR, hits, runs, HRs, RBIs, XBH, D-WAR, and is top 10 in doubles.  Oh, and he’s been healthy all season long.

Rookie of the Year: I told you to ask me mid-season and here are my picks:

AL: Billy Burns, Athletics                                                              NL: Kris Bryant, Cubs

Burns has been a catalyst for the Athletics.  He hits well for extra bases (10 doubles, five triples, two HRs) and has great speed (17 stolen bases, caught only three times) has 38 runs, and has 82 hits.  He leads all AL rookies in those categories sans XBH, where he’s third.

Bryant had some drama to start his ML career, but with the numbers he’s putting up, why wouldn’t any team want to ensure an extra season of control?  He leads NL rookies in runs and RBIs and is second in XBH, HRs, WAR, and third in doubles and total hits.  Only problem is that he strikes out A LOT (101 Ks in 286 ABs).

Pre-Season overall divisions: * denotes best record in conference, ** best record in baseball, # worst in the conference, ## worst in baseball

NL: East:                                             Central:                                                     West:

Nationals                                              Pirates                                                       Dodgers (**)

Marlins                                                 Cardinals                                                   Padres

Mets                                                      Cubs                                                          Giants

Braves                                                   Reds                                                          Rockies

Phillies (##)                                          Brewers                                                     Diamondbacks

AL East:                                               Central:                                                       West:

Orioles                                                  White Sox                                                   Mariners (*)

Blue Jays                                               Tigers                                                         Angels

Yankees                                                 Indians                                                       Athletics

Red Sox                                                 Royals                                                        Astros

Rays                                                       Twins (#)                                                   Rangers

Mid-Season overall divisions: * denotes best record in conference, ** best record in baseball, # worst in the conference, ## worst in baseball

NL: East:                                              Central:                                                     West:

Nationals                                              Pirates (**)                                                Dodgers

Mets                                                     Cardinals                                                   Giants

Braves                                                   Cubs                                                        Diamondbacks

Marlins                                                  Reds                                                           Rockies

Phillies (##)                                           Brewers                                                      Padres

AL East:                                                Central:                                                       West:

Rays                                                      Royals (*)                                                    Angels

Blue Jays                                               Twins                                                          Astros

Yankees                                                 Indians                                                        Rangers

Orioles                                                   Tigers                                                          Athletics

Red Sox                                                 White Sox (#)                                              Mariners