Edward Sutelan is a content producer at The Sporting News. The White Sox, who play in one of the weaker divisions, are the favorite to come away with the No. However, concerns at catcher and in the outfield put SF a tier below the Dodgers. But we're making a call to the bullpen and asking five MLB.com writers to give it their best shot. They're expected to have the league's highest payroll in 2023, but it won't be enough. Sure enough, thats exactly what they did. It should be a fourth consecutive last-place season for the Pirates, who hope Ke'Bryan Hayes bounces back and prospectOneil Cruz brings some excitement. Put yourself out there. (As a reminder, Emmanuel Clase did it in 2022 . Everyone needs to get their two cents in and, why not? I don't buy the Padres or Giants as 90-plus win teams, either. If this is the year, Los Angeles could be in for a rise, especially with promising young talents Jo Adell, Reid Detmers and Brandon Marsh expected to be regulars in 2022. ET (ESPN). There are six divisions in the MLB, divided into three . Trevor Rogers nearly won Rookie of the Year, and Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez each had ERAs south of 3.20. As for the Washington Nationals, the greatest hitter in MLB (Juan Soto) cant fix their rotation, bullpen nor take multiple spots in the batting order. The Phillies Will Need The Long Ball For A Long Shot World Series Comeback . The Cubsare engaging in a rebuild/reload to try and keep the team competition, while also building up its young core again. Bostons bullpen isnt among the best in the American League and its starting rotation lacks quality depth, especially with Chris Sale on IL. After signing Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray for a combined $556 million in 2021, the Rangers inked Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney, Nathan Eovaldi and Martn Prez and traded for Jake Odorizzi this offseason. Standings. . Get the most up to date picture of the 2023 MLB season standings. However, the Yankees lineup could be without 60% of its production whenever it plays in Toronto. Are the Braves even with the Mets, or way behind? AL EAST. With that, multiple analysts within The Athletes Hub have sat down and explained their personal opinions on what could take place. Zac Gallen and Luke Weaver look like they could front Arizona's rotation at some point, but for now, those two spots belong to the more experienced Merrill Kelly and Madison Bumgarner. The East looks like a potential power in the National League, as well as the American League. And during the postseason, that anything-can-happen dynamic only grows stronger, with MLB's new, expanded format only increasing the number of potential outcomes. Justin Verlander's return is hugefor the Astros, coming off their third World Series appearance in five years. USA TODAY. If the snake-bitten franchise gets full seasons from Anthony Rendon, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Noah Syndergaard, its a no-doubt playoff team. 7. We also like the depth pieces added to the staff (Carlos Martinez, Matt Boyd) and it will prove crucial this year. Victor Robles still flashes big potential, but has yet to make everything click. There has been a lot going on in the AL West since the 2021 season came to an end, and the model expects the standings to turn out about as one might expect. It isn't that simple, even if it sounds like it should be. Tip from Dean E. Smith Center is at 6:30 p.m. But after Los Angeles lost a number of key players and steered clear of this offseasons free-agent bonanza, the clubs grip on the division could be loosening. Everyone wants to know who will win the World Series, and according to the model, the answer is Dodgers are the most likely champion. It's been more than a decade since the Phillies made the playoffs but with Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber on board, this may be the best all-around team they've put together in recent years Credit to the Marlins for spending some money on Avisail Garcia ($53 million) and Jorge Soler ($36 million). The key tothe Giants'success in 2021 was a standout rotation. If Jack Flaherty is unavailable for a majority of the season, though, that significantly changes the Cardinals outcome. They've got a good young rotation led by Sandy Alcantara and are going to causeheadaches for the division's presumed contenders Juan Soto Extension Watch is going to be 2022's dominant storyline for the Nationals, who did sign 41-year-old DH Nelson Cruz. This forecast is based on 100,000 simulations of the season and . By no means do I think the Rockies are good, nor will they come close to playoff contention. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: mlb | pageType: stories | This is an admittedly risky venture. Nov. 4, 2022. Before long, Hayes will soon be joined on the left side of the infield by towering shortstop Oneil Cruz. With Shane Baz, Yonny Chirinos and Tyler Glasnow out from possible rotation spots in addition to relievers Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks, that's a lot of slack that needs picking up. But there they are with an 88-74 projection from ZiPS, just three games behind the mighty Dodgers and Padres. Losing Kevin Gausman (Toronto Blue Jays and Buster Posey (retirement) are two huge blows, leaving voids that cant be filled directly. Printed from TeamRankings.com - 2005-2023 Team Rankings, LLC. 8,128 plate appearances. Because of a below-average lineup, on its best days, the Marlins exciting rotation will be wasted. We should also mention the Phillies, who went further than both the Mets and Braves in the 2022 postseason before losing to the Astros in the World Series. Read on for predictions for every game involving a Top 25 team on the schedule over the next seven days. Here's who they think will rule the ninth inning in 2023. Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez aren't far away from reaching the majors, and bats like Cedric Mullins, Trey Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle have already proven they can mash in the big leagues. Was Steven Matz's 2021 season a real change or is he more the guy who was well below average from 2017-20? It's fun when you hit it and you get to show you're mature enough to be accountable and use self-deprecating humor when you lose badly. Coming off an 81-81 campaign, San Francisco had an offseason that can best be described as OK. The Giants had grand designs to add a superstar, but they came up short in the Judge sweepstakes and walked away from a deal with Carlos Correa, reportedly due to concerns about his physical. MLB is back, but will fans be after ugly offseason? Are the Blue Jays even with the Yankees, or way behind? Just looking around the NL West, there are two bad teams. Cactus League. Like the Tigers,the Royals are loaded with MLB-ready talent from Bobby Witt Jr., MJ Melendez and Nick Pratto all expected to reach the big leagues at some point during the season to add to an offense that already includes Salvador Perez, Nicky Lopez and Whit Merrifield. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. One of the more remarkable tidbits about last season was the Dodgers' total being 103.5, them hitting the over with room to spare and still not winning the NL West. Pair that with a strong bullpen and a productive lineup. 3 (Freddy Peralta) and a potential Rookie of the year candidate (Aaron Ashby). RHP Max Scherzer inked a super lucrative three-year deal with the New York Mets, paying him an average salary of $43.3 million. There's certainly a void in the lineup without Tatis (and once his wrist is fully recovered, do we trust his shoulder to stay put the rest of the way?) See how your team stacks up against the rest of Major League Baseball with league, division, and playoff standings. The Cardinals pitching may be a question mark, but the club has an excellent defense and good roster depth, not to mention a lineup featuring reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt at first base, perennial All-Star Nolan Arenado at third and new addition Willson Contreras at catcher. NEW YORK YANKEES 103-59. 1. Replacing set-up man Craig Kimbrel with outfielder A.J. After reaching the playoffs in 2020 and winning the AL Central with a 93-69 record the following year, the White Sox seemed poised to establish themselves as the divisions alpha dog in 2022. The model narrowly projects there to be three teams in the NL East reach the playoffs, with the Mets and Phillies earning wild cards to join the division-winning Padres. This should be very difficult, as every team -- at least in theory -- should have a total right around where it is expected to finish. Ronald Acuna Jr. will be back before too long and joins a lineup that still features Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson and Eddie Rosario. They will join Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. It also highlights the risk of a starting rotation with so many durability worries. Everyone is just waiting forthe Angelsto finally live up to their potential. Instead, the model likes the chances ofthe Cardinalsto win the NL Central. It bucks conventional wisdom, sure, but there are a few factors I can't ignore. Customized picks for NFL and college football pickem contests (weekly and season long). Christian Yelich can only get better after . The Padres are absolutely a fringe playoff contender in the NL, but I'm not seeing them on the cusp of 90 wins. Many thought they'd be that bad last year and they won 74 games. Scorched. It's always possible Aaron Nola gets back to ace level and Ranger Surez has all kinds of talent, possibly giving the Phillies a Big Three. With the signing of Max Scherzer and the acquisition of Bassitt, the Mets' 1-2-3 punch, when healthy, is now deGrom, Scherzer and Bassitt, and that's before getting to Taijuan Walker and Carlos Carrasco. A starting rotation with two Cy Young candidates (Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff), an All-Star No. The Major League Baseball awards are being finalized and various teams and players are being recognized for their performances this past season. The rotation has the biggest question marks, but the signing of Zack Greinke to go along with Brady Singer, Brad Keller and Carlos Hernandez should be able to give the team quality innings. Trevor Story is out, but he had a down year anyway and Kris Bryant is in. Drew Rasmussen threw 76 innings last year. The rotation could be in tatters behind Zack Wheeler. The rotation is still thin and the bullpen is a mess, so they will fall short of being swept in the 2022 MLB postseason. The Atlanta Braves surprised everyone by winning the World Series. Back # WL Div GB # AL WL Pct GB # WL Div GB # 6-keys: media/spln/mlb/reg/free/stories, at ET. That is, we'll list the win total for the 2022 season from Caesars Sportsbook and pick whether the team will win more (the "over") or fewer (the "under") games. Look, I know they do some sort of sorcery there, but the pitching depth is depleted and that's a rough division. The GB column is an abbreviation for Games Back and it shows how far teams are behind the leader of the division or put simply, first place. Here are the way too early MLB 2022 standings predictions for the American League. MLB 2022 win totals: Predicting every team's record for the new season. Something is going to give there -- in terms of sending one team down to the mid-80s in wins, this time around -- and the Red Sox total is 85.5. Fans of the Yankeesare disappointed that New York wasn't able to land any major name in free agency, but that doesn't stop the model from being bullish on the Bronx Bombers' chances to make the playoffs. Patrick Wisdom and Frank Schwindel each had solid debut seasons in 2021, and return as established starters with Ian Happ and Willson Contreras. Now that the season is over, the parade is done, and the dust has settled it is time to start looking at the 2022 season. Now, did that stop us from asking a number of MLB . since the new labor deal came together on March 10, and his new 11-year, $182 million contract, seemingly have to prove themselves all over again, signing him to a seven-year, $182 million contract, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy.