2015 Major League Baseball Predictions

With 40 days until Opening Day, take a look at our season predictions:

(*) = 1st Wild Card Team
(**) = 2nd Wild Card Team

American League East:

Place	Brett Malamud’s Pick	Alex Horowitz’s Pick
1	Boston Red Sox	Boston Red Sox
2	Toronto Blue Jays	Baltimore Orioles
3	New York Yankees	Toronto Blue Jays
4	Tampa Bay Rays	Tampa Bay Rays
5	Baltimore Orioles	New York Yankees

American League Central:

Place	Brett Malamud’s Pick	Alex Horowitz’s Pick
1	Cleveland Indians	Cleveland Indians
2	Detroit Tigers*	Kansas City Royals**
3	Kansas City Royals	Chicago White Sox
4	Chicago White Sox	Detroit Tigers
5	Minnesota Twins	Minnesota Twins

American League West:

Place	Brett Malamud’s Pick	Alex Horowitz’s Pick
1	Seattle Mariners	Seattle Mariners
2	Oakland Athletics**	Los Angeles Angels*
3	Los Angeles Angels	Houston Astros
4	Houston Astros	Oakland Athletics
5	Texas Rangers	Texas Rangers

National League East:

Place	Brett Malamud’s Pick	Alex Horowitz’s Pick
1	Washington Nationals	Washington Nationals
2	New York Mets	New York Mets**
3	Miami Marlins	Miami Marlins
4	Atlanta Braves	Atlanta Braves
5	Philadelphia Phillies	Philadelphia Phillies

National League Central:

Place	Brett Malamud’s Pick	Alex Horowitz’s Pick
1	St. Louis Cardinals	St. Louis Cardinals
2	Pittsburgh Pirates*	Pittsburgh Pirates*
3	Chicago Cubs	Chicago Cubs
4	Milwaukee Brewers	Cincinnati Reds
5	Cincinnati Reds	Milwaukee Brewers

National League West:

Place	Brett Malamud’s Pick	Alex Horowitz’s Pick
1	San Diego Padres	San Francisco Giants
2	San Francisco Giants**	San Diego Padres
3	Los Angeles Dodgers	Los Angeles Dodgers
4	Arizona Diamondbacks	Arizona Diamondbacks
5	Colorado Rockies	Colorado Rockies

With some added big bats, the Red Sox are ready to head back to October baseball (Via WBZ-TV

Playoffs:

Game	Brett Malamud’s Pick	Alex Horowitz’s Pick
ALCS	Red Sox defeat Mariners	Red Sox defeat Indians
NLCS	Nationals defeat Cardinals	Cardinals defeat Nationals
World Series	Nationals defeat Red Sox	Cardinals defeat Red Sox

03/31/14

MLB Staff Picks

The smell of peanuts and cracker jacks is in the air. After 152 days since the Red Sox walked off the field as champions, baseball is back. Our picks are in for this year’s fall classic. Here they are:

Writer	Pick
Brett Malamud	I’m taking the Yankees over the Dodgers. Both teams have proven this offseason that they want to win now. The Yankees unloaded after missing the playoffs by opening their checkbook and spending close to $500 million. The additions of Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Masahiro Tanaka immediately make the Yankees a legitimate threat. But don’t think they’re the only team spending the big bucks. The Dodgers passed the Yankees for the MLB’s highest payroll, ending the Yankees 15 year streak, by spending $235 million this season. All and all I’d say Derek Jeter better start spreading the news that his final season will end with a ticker tape parade down the Canyon of Heroes.
Sam Breiter	As an extremely optimistic Mets fan with nothing but the highest expectations, I’m always going to take my team. So along with my Mets, I’m taking the rival Yankees. The Mets have young talent in there rotation, and a growing lineup. They may make a huge move by the deadline, and Zach Wheeler will suprise people this year. Yankees, because they spent money this offseason and are clearly doing anything to win a year after missing the playoffs
Dan Lagnado	In the NL I’ll take the Dodgers and in the AL I’ll take Detroit. Dodgers win a six game series behind Kershaw and Greinke who each win two games
Josh Halilej	Tigers over Cardinals. Lots of solid pitching between the two of them. I think Justin Verlander comes back big this year and comes out as the Tigers’ #1 with Rick Porcello having an awesome year too finishing ahead of Max Scherzer in the pitching rotation. The Cards are going to need Yadier Molina to manage the pitching staff well, but they just don’t have the overall offensive firepower that Detroit does with the addition of Ian Kinsler. Watch out for the Rangers though if they can have someone aside from Yu Darvish step up in their rotation.
Seth Schuster	Red Sox over Dodgers. Only a little bit of bias plays into this one…Both are great teams with amazing young talent. With the recent resurgence of John Lackey, John Lester, a healthy Clay Buchholz, and a young and very talented Xander Bogaerts, the Red Sox will be the 2014 World Series Champions. With the leadership of David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, and Mike Napoli, look for the Sox to make a push for the repeat.
Ben Ozur	Rays vs Dodgers. There’s no explanation for why the Rays are good every year, but the undeniable fact is that they are. However nobody is on the Dodgers level in terms of overall talent. Despite multiple holes including infield depth and major league ready pitchers in the minors, their superstar talent everywhere else will cover that up.
Ryan Gillman	Dodgers over Tigers. The Dodgers are armed with a wealth of talent and the largest payroll in history. Anything less than a championship would be a disappointment.
Sam Iryami	Nationals vs Tigers. Nationals win. The Nationals have the best pitching rotation in baseball with the front four being Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, and Doug Fister. Pitching wins games. Although the Tigers have a great all around team, the team is full of veterans. However, they are definitely a contender for the World Series because of their many stars such as Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, and Max Scherzer. Both teams have unbelievable pitching and hitting, but I have the Nationals taking home the trophy in this one.
Zach Pokorny	Dodgers vs Angels, but I’d pick the Angels because Mike Trout is amazing