With – among other changes – more places available for the playoffs, is this the year that your favorite team will make a series in October? Will your favorite player win a postseason award? No one can know for sure, so we put 38 ESPN writers, analysts and editors to predict what will happen this year in baseball, from the wildcard contenders to the World Series champion, as well as MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in both leagues. For each category, we asked one or two partners to explain why they chose what they chose. Was it at the mark … or too far away? We will know about seven months from now if they post this page on social media – or pretend it never existed. Here it goes! I jump to: AL chooses | NL options AL Awards NL Awards
AL East
Our selection: Blue Jays (29 votes) Who else got votes? Rays (5), Red Sox (2), Yankees (2) The Blue Jays are a favorite among our voters in AL East. You chose the Rays. Tell us why. Start Week is here! You can watch the 2022 season begin with a program that includes some of the biggest names in baseball. 8 ET Thurs on ESPN2: Reds-Braves 7 ET Sun on ESPN: Red Sox-YankeesKayRod Cast makes its ESPN2 debut The name of the game for 2022 is pitching depth and power hit. You need a lot of pitches to spend a season and you have to hit home to score – and so the Reyes won 100 games in 2021. No team has the depth of field to meet Tampa Bay – and the young Shane McClanahan , Luis Patino and Shane Baz can improve or, in Baz’s case, as soon as he returns from arthroscopic surgery on his elbow, have a direct effect as a rookie. The Rays, by the way, had more runs than the Blue Jays last season. The attack may have been a little successful, but he will benefit from a full season with sophomore Wander Franco, the rising superstar who can win the batting title. – David Sonfield
AL Central
Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images Our selection: White Sox (34 votes) Who else got votes? Twins (4) All but four of our voters chose the White Sox to win the lot. You chose the twins. Explain! I lean on the great possibilities of their composition. The uptrend in the middle is unlimited with Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa, Jorge Polanco (33 at home last season) and a concentrated Gary Sanchez. Then you add Miguel Sano and a player like Luis Arraez and they can make pitchers really work. It was an above average defensive team last season that added a golden glove. It will take a few seasons for the other young players, especially on the mound, but they have the talent to do just that. – Doug Glanville
AL West
Our choice: Astros (35 votes) Who else got votes? Angels (2), Sailors (1) The Astros was an almost unanimous choice here. You were the only voter who got the Mariners. Why Seattle> Houston? Full list of this year’s voters: Victoria Barron, Elizabeth Baugh, Scott Beaman, Michael Bonzagni, Tristan Cockcroft, Gregg Colli, Brendan DeAngelis, Bradford Doolittle, Dave Flemming, Doug Glanville, Alden Gonzalez, Paul Hembekides, Eric Karabell, Michael Kay, Tim Keown, Peterim Lawrk -R Joon Lee, Matt Marrone, Daniel McCarthy, Kiley McDaniel, Jessica Mendoza, Dan Mullen, Jacob Nitzberg, Buster Olney, Phil Orlins, Jeff Passan, Kyle Peterson, Jesse Rogers, Enrique Rojas, David Schoenfield, Xavier Scruggpien,, Rachel Ullrich, Marcus Vanderberg, Ben Ward, Brianna Williams, Jeremy Willis Did you see her out of Seattle? The Mariners are loaded and can really play the underdog even though they became known last year. The addition of Robbie Ray may be the most important addition to any team. It fills such a big gap at the top of the rotation, while Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez bring the kind of veteran bats that every team needs when they want to make a jump in the standings. While adding, Astros lost the star of the coach and throwing star. Do not underestimate the latest change as Brent Strom was instrumental in helping the young Houston pitchers. It will be a tough fight, but Seattle will prevail. – Jesse Rogers
AL wildcard
Our selections: Yankees (30 votes), Red Sox (25), Rays (24) Who else got votes? Angels (9), Blue Jays (8), Mariners (5), Twins (4), Tigers (3), White Sox (3), Astros (2), Rangers (1) Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox, Rays. We have selected all four AL East teams to enter the playoffs (there is a rumor that AL East has a fifth team, but this has not been confirmed during the press conference). What will make this division so dominant? 2 About There is a lot going on in this, but it starts with the Yankees setting the bar high for winning the division. Not only did New York increase its winning streak to 29, but in 26 of those campaigns, the Yankees scored a winner of 0.537 or better, which translates to 87 wins in a full season. This is the starting point for the Rays, Red Sox and Blue Jays. (And also those poor Orioles.) We are at a turning point where all these rival clubs have created their rosters to be at least 87 good wins. At the same time, none of the teams in the other AL categories, other than the projected champions Chicago and Houston, are projected to be much better than 0,500. Of course, one or two of them will probably break out and cross this barrier, so wild games are not likely to be the routes they seem to be at the moment for AL East. These teams in Central and West also have a significant advantage: Unlike the AL East contenders, they do not have to play the Yankees, the Rays, the Red Sox and the Blue Jays 19 times each. – Bradford Doolittle
champion AL
AP Photo / Lynne Sladky Our selection: Blue Jays (16 votes) Who else got votes? White Sox (10), Rays (4), Yankees (4), Red Sox (2), Angels (1), Astros (1) You chose the Yankees to win the flag. What do you think gives them an edge over our panel favorites – the Blue Jays and the White Sox? I did not like every move of the Yankees out of season, but they are at least fixed averages at every point, except perhaps the fifth and middle, although these are also the easiest places to find unexpected contributors. With the depth of quality perspective remaining (Oswald Peraza, Anthony Volpe, Clarke Schmidt, Ken Waldichuk, Luis Medina, Deivi Garcia, et al.) Potentially contributing, the pieces make another important move if needed, and the tendency to We’re doing it this year, I think the motivation and level of talent are right for the Bombers to get through this season, although I would love to see some more pitching contributors. – Kiley McDaniel
NL East
Our choice: Braves (28 votes) Who else got votes? Mets (8), Phillies (2) The Mets have received some difficult news for Jacob deGrom, who is on his way to the season. But you still have them down as an NL East option. What makes you so high on Amazin’s? From the front offices that scored big scores with significant moves to the clubs that failed completely, we rate the hot spots of each franchise. David Schoenfield » Why didn’t your team add a … “ Steve Cohen’s money goes a long way in covering potential holes in the season roster, especially since it’s clear he’s not going to worry about silly things like luxury tax and I think it would be much more appropriate to bring extra help in the initial pitching though. when needed. But even without being Grom, Max Scherzer is a very talented ace and Chris Bassitt is underrated. In attack, I expect a great year to bounce off Francisco Lindor, and I see him, Pete Alonso and Starling Marte leading a formidable attack. There is just too much depth here and Cohen is not going to let the injuries exhaust him. – Tristan H. Cockcroft
NL Central
AP Photo / Ross D. Franklin Our choice: Brewers (32 votes) Who else got votes? Cardinals (6) Tell us why you think the Cardinals will surpass the Brewers, who were chosen by our overwhelming majority of our voters. The Brewers have incredible throws and it is not as if the Cardinals made big moves out of season. But the difference between the teams is incredibly subtle, and day by day, the Cardinals will be fueled by this inner drive to lead Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright to the end of their careers in style – and this the impetus will be extended to the front desk, which will fill holes and add the necessary help to the trade deadline. Sometimes these milestone situations can entice teams, but in this case, the last dance of this trio will activate the team. – Buster Olney
NL West
Our selection: Dodgers (35 votes) Who else got votes? Giants (3) You selected the Dodgers to win the NL West. (SPOILER WARNING: You also selected them to win the NL and World Series flags.) You were definitely not alone. What makes LA special? The Dodgers have a relentless lineup, one of the best we’ve seen in the last 10 years. From one to nine, they will have someone who can hit it off the field. They led the NL in matches that took place last year. Now, they have Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner for an entire season. Wow. – Tim Kurkjian
NL wild cards
Our selections: Giants (24 votes), Mets (23), Padres (21) Who else got votes? Phillies (19), Cardinals (12), Braves (10), Dodgers (2), Brewers (1), Cubs (1), Rockies (1) You also chose the Giants and the Padres to enter the playoffs. Tell us why. Global DH will deprive us of some hilarious stories and weird statistics. Tim Kurkjian shares the best of a past pitcher hit season. History » Doolittle: What Universal DH Means – And Doesn’t Mean – May Surprise You (ESPN +) Keown: In the pitcher’s estimation at-bat: good (Greinke!), Bad or ugly (Minter) The Padres, who spent the 2021 season systematically breaking high expectations, and the Giants, who won 107 games and the National League West, will join the Dodgers in the post-season. The Padres rescued manager Bob Melvin from the rubble in Auckland and his presence alone will change the culture. Better spin (with Sean Manaea) and more power (Luke …
