Hey, baseball is back! On this week's podcast, Paul and I gave our 2017 predictions. You'll find those below. As is our custom, we'll revisit them during the All-Star break and then again after the season. #accountability
Paul's comments are quotes of his from the podcast, while mine are words that I'm typing now.
American League (Paul)
MVP: Mookie Betts
"My guesses are who I think will actually win the award, not how I would vote. I would vote for Trout based on his hypothetical season. I think you'd be dumb not to guess Trout. I think Betts will have a slightly worse season than Trout, but will win it because the Red Sox will be the best team in the American League."
Runners-up: Mike Trout, Carlos Correa
Boston Herald
Cy Young: Chris Sale
"The AL doesn't have a dominant pitcher like Kershaw, so it's a more wide open race. Being in the limelight and on a competitive team will bring out the best in him."
Runners-up: Corey Kluber, Aaron Sanchez
Rookie of the Year: Andrew Benintendi
"As you can see, I'm all in on the Red Sox. In my mind, he has the plate discipline of Kris Bryant and the bat skills of Tony Gwynn. I see 15-20 homers and an OBP machine."
Runners-up: Yulieski Gurriel, Yoan Mancada
National League (Peter)
MVP: Trea Turner
In his age-23 season, Turner put up sparkling numbers. In 73 games, Turner hit 13 homers, swiped 33 bags (in 39 attempts), and added 8 triples. Overall he had a .370 OBP and .567 SLG. In his second full season in the bigs, I could see 25-30 HR and 50-60 SB. He's also hitting in front of Eaton, Harper, and Murphy, so he'll get pitches to hit.
Runners-up: Kris Bryant, Bryce Harper, Corey Seager
Dark horses: Andrew McCutchen, A.J. Pollock
Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
How could you pick anyone else? Kershaw finished 5th in Cy Young voting last year while throwing just 149 innings. That's because he had a 0.72 WHIP with 172 SO and 11 BB. Kershaw has placed in the top five in Cy Young voting the last six seasons. He just turned 29 in March, so he'll be around for a while longer. Kershaw (52.8 career bWAR) and Trout (48.5) are simply the best players of our generation.
Runners-up: Noah Syndergaard, Stephen Strasburg
Dark horses: Shelby Miller, Matt Moore, Matt Harvey
Rookie of the Year: Dansby Swanson
After a surprising late August call-up (0 games in AAA), Swanson performed quite well last year. Swanson accumulated a .361 OBP in 129 AB; 130 AB means you aren't eligible for ROY the next year. In a full season of work, I expect his OBP to drop 30-40 points. But, he'll still be great defensively and the Braves could finish close to .500. Plus it's a pretty weak field.
Runners-up: Josh Bell, Tyler Glasnow, Miguel Margot
Dark horse: Albert Almora
American League (Paul)
West: Astros
Central: Indians
East: Red Sox
Wild Cards: Rangers, Blue Jays
National League (Peter)
West: Dodgers
Central: Cubs
East: Nationals
Wild Cards: Mets, Pirates
Playoffs
AL (Paul): Astros over Blue Jays, Red Sox over Indians, Red Sox over Astros
NL (Peter): Cubs over Pirates, Dodgers over Nationals, Cubs over Dodgers
World Series: Red Sox (Paul), Cubs (Peter)
