After a long offseason and lockout, Spring Training is underway and the season is scheduled to start on April 7th. There are many questions that need to answered: Can anyone stop the Dodgers? Why did the Yankees not sign any big free agents? Who will win MVPs, Cy Youngs and Championships?

OFFSEASON RECAP

I would like to congratulate the Dodgers on grabbing another star to add to their lineup, with the addition of former MVP Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers now have 3 former MVPs in their lineup to pair with some of the best players at each position, along with a top 5 pitching staff. It seems like nobody will stop LA again, but we thought the same thing last year.

The “Evil Empire” Yankees and their fans watched as all of their top offseason targets went to other teams. Freeman (Dodgers), Carlos Correa (Twins), Matt Olson (Braves), Corey Seager (Rangers) and Trevor Story (Red Sox) will all not be in pinstripes anytime soon. However they did get 36 year old Josh Donaldson and gave up some depth to take on his $50 million contract. Why did they do this? Hal Steinbrenner is afraid of the luxury tax, simple.

At last one team in New York actually wants to win. My beloved Mets had a very successful offseason. Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt join Jacob DeGrom to create the best rotation in the sport. They upgraded their lineup with Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eddie Escobar. The Mets spent so much money, the new CBA has added a 4th luxury tax penalty, dubbed the “Cohen Tax”. I will never get used to the Mets being the big spenders of the league. Hopefully, this money spent will help the Mets make a playoff run.

Staying in the NL East, the Defending Champion Braves and the Phillies both made additions to help turn the NL East into a warzone. The Braves traded for Matt Olson and signed Kenley Jenson. They did lose their franchise star, Freeman and World Series MVP Jorge Soler signed with the division rival Marlins. The Phillies added big bats in Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos to give MVP Bryce Harper more help in a very stacked lineup. Defense will be a problem for Philly and after Wheeler, there is no pitching unless Aaron Nola has a bunce back season.

The AL East also decided to have a huge offseason race, with the Blue Jays leading the charge. They brought in Matt Chapman to add to their lineup. Kevin Gausman and Yusei Kikuchi add to a stacked rotation as well. Toronto was only rivaled in division by the Red Sox addition of Trevor Story to add to their stacked lineup as well. The AL East will be stacked this season. Josh Sims, a Red Sox fan, said “The AL East will be the best division in baseball.”

There were some other moves made throughout the league. The Rockies signed Kris Bryant. The Giants signed Robbie Ray and Joc Peterson. The Cubs signed Japanese star Seiya Suzuki. The Royals brought back Zack Greinke. The Mariners signed in Robbie Ray and traded for Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez.

In none transactional news, Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. fractured his wrist riding a motorcycle and will miss the start of the season. This caused outrage in the Padres organization. Tatis deleted all baseball posts from his Instagram, like the NFL’s Kyler Murray did recently. Could this mean Tatis wants out of San Diego? Probably not, but I would love to see Tatis and Francisco Lindor in the same infield in Queens.

Predictions

American League

East

1. Toronto
2. Tampa Bay
3. Boston
4. New York
5. Baltimore

Central

1. Chicago
2. Detroit
3. Minnesota
4. Cleveland
5. Kansas City

West

1. Houston
2. Seattle
3. Texas
4. Los Angeles
5. Oakland

Wild Cards: Tampa Bay, Boston, New York

MVP: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B, TOR)

Cy Young: Jose Berrios (TOR)

Rookie of the Year: Wander Franco (SS, TB)

National League

East

1. New York
2. Atlanta
3. Philadelphia
4. Miami
5. Washington

Central

1. Milwaukee
2. St. Louis
3. Chicago
4. Pittsburgh
5. Cincinnati

West

1. Los Angeles
2. San Diego
3. San Francisco
4. Colorado
5. Arizona

Wild Cards: Atlanta, San Diego, San Francisco

MVP: Juan Soto (WSH)

Cy Young: Jacob DeGrom (NYM)

Rookie of the Year: Joey Bart (SF)

Play Ball!