Sports Time Radio

We’re just two days away from the start of what Major League Baseball hopes will be a 162 game regular season. I honestly hope they’re right because I’d love to see a full season of baseball.

As we head into the season it seems that a lot of people think that we’re going to get a classic World Series match up between the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees and I can understand why people think it’s going to come down to those two teams, but just for fun let’s take a look at some other teams that might factor in before it’s all said and done.

While the Dodgers went out and signed the best free agent pitcher on the open market in Trevor Bauer the San Diego Padres traded for three quality starters to add to their rotation. It’s clear that the National League West is the most top heavy division in baseball. If somehow the Dodgers don’t finish in 1st place the Padres probably would, but both teams should end up in the playoffs. Not only should both teams make the playoffs, but it appears as though they’re destin to meet in a seven game National League Championship Series. If they do get their who knows which team might win that and move on to the World Series.

Over in the National League East there are a few teams that have drawn interest from a lot of people. The Atlanta Braves still have a quality young core of players; so they’ll definitely be a factor in this division again. The New York Mets made a big time addition in trading for Francisco Lindor and they already have some quality starting pitching; so they might also be a team that wins this division. The Washington Nationals and the Philadelphia Phillies seem to be just a step behind New York and Atlanta in what is easily the best division in Major League Baseball. This should be the most interesting division to watch this season.

While the National League East is the best division in baseball the National League Central is the worst. The St. louis Cardinals made the biggest addition by trading for Nolan Arenado, but they also have three pitchers on the Injured list to start the season; so while they look like the favorite it’s not clear cut. The Milwaukee Brewers do what the Brewers do every off season. They added some lower tier pieces through trades and free agency and they’re hoping that’s enough to help them compete in a very weak division and it might be. No one seems to know what the Chicago Cubs or the Cincinnati Reds are doing and while the Reds have a everyday line up that can compete if they deal Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo like they’ve been trying to do all season they’ll have to win their games 12-11. As for the Cubs. Instead of dominating this division for years like they should’ve Theo Epstein ran away and the owner didn’t allow them to spend any money; so they’ll fade away like the Cubs used to.

Now the Yankees look like the best team in the American League East, but the Toronto Blue Jays seem to be up and coming quickly. Toronto added George Springer in free agency and they also brought in Kirby Yates to close games, but he won’t be pitching for them this season and will undergo Tommy John surgery. If Toronto can find someone to fill Yates’ role effectively maybe they can compete with New York. After get to the World series last season the Tampa Bay Rays decided to trade their #1 starting pitcher and try something different. With the exception of Tyler Glasnow; who’s now their #1 starter Tampa Bay is going to try to use eight to nine starting pitchers getting 100 innings out of each of them. I guess will see how it works for them, but I doubt it leads to them being able to hang with New York or Toronto.

The American League West looks like another weak division with the exception of Houston Astros and possibly the Los Angeles Angels. The Astros will have to manage to get through this season without Justin Verlander, but luckily they’re in the right division to do that. The Angels where unable to add a top of the rotation starting pitcher, but they did bring in some arms that upgraded the bottom of their rotation. Unfortunately it looks like the Oakland A’s took some big steps backwards this off season, but they do have quite a few young pitchers; so maybe they’ll find something with a couple of them. It looks like the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers will battle it out for last place in this division.

The American League Central could end up being a three team race. It appears as the Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox are just slightly ahead of the Cleveland Indians, but the Indians may have the best starting rotation out of those three teams and that could help them stay with the Twins and the White Sox. The White Sox where dealt a blow when Eloy Jimenez torn a pectoral muscle; he had surgery yesterday and will be out 5 to 6 months. The Twins will probably need a full healthy season out of Josh Donaldson as well as Nelson Cruz being able to continue to hit like he isn’t 40 years old. So there are enough questions about the Twins and the White Sox that if the Indians don’t sell off pieces like they’ve been rumored to do for the past couple of seasons they might be able to hang around in this division.

Let me know who you think is going to win which division and which teams will grab wild card spots.

Don’t forget t listen to the live edition of the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com, but if you miss the podcast live just head on over to TuneIn.com and you can listen any time you want to.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime