Thank you all once again for sticking with me and reading my 30 Clubs in 30 Days series. Now is the part it’s all been leading up to: the 2018 MLB Season Preview. In this preview I’m going to use what I wrote in my 30 Clubs in 30 Days series to paint a picture of how this season is going to go. This will range from player rankings to World Series predictions and everything in between. So without further ado, let’s get to it.

Season Predictions:
Here’s the compilation of the regular season standings from the projected records I did for each team. An asterisk (*) represents the teams that I predict will win the Wild Card spots.
AL East
1. New York Yankees: 98-64
2. Boston Red Sox*: 95-67
3. Baltimore Orioles: 81-81
4. Toronto Blue Jays: 78-84
5. Tampa Bay Rays: 68-94
AL Central
1. Cleveland Indians: 99-63
2. Minnesota Twins: 84-78
3. Kansas City Royals: 74-88
4. Chicago White Sox: 70-92
5. Detroit Tigers: 64-98
AL West
1. Houston Astros: 101-61
2. Anaheim Angels*: 86-76
3. Seattle Mariners: 85-77
4. Texas Rangers: 82-80
5. Oakland Athletics: 77-85
NL East
1. Washington Nationals: 95-67
2. New York Mets: 84-78
3. Philadelphia Phillies: 75-87
4. Atlanta Braves: 71-91
5. Miami Marlins: 62-100
NL Central
1. Chicago Cubs: 94-68
2. Milwaukee Brewers*: 88-74
3. St. Louis Cardinals: 85-77
4. Pittsburgh Pirates: 76-86
5. Cincinnati Reds: 69-93
NL West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers: 100-62
2. Arizona Diamondbacks*: 91-71
3. San Francisco Giants: 85-77
4. Colorado Rockies: 81-81
5. San Diego Padres: 70-92
So based on this information, we can see which teams are ready for success in 2018. Now let’s take a look at my postseason predictions even though game 1 out of 162 hasn’t been played yet.
Wild Card Games:
Boston Red Sox defeat Anaheim Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks defeat Milwaukee Brewers
LDS:
Houston Astros defeat Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians defeat New York Yankees
Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Arizona Diamondbacks
Washington Nationals defeat Chicago Cubs
LCS:
Cleveland Indians defeat Houston Astros
Los Angeles Dodgers defeat Washington Nationals
World Series:
Cleveland Indians defeat Los Angeles Dodgers

Congratulations to the Cleveland Indians on your 2018 World Series victory. In my predictions, the Tribe exorcise their postseason demons from the last couple seasons and win their first World Series since 1948 and third overall. For the Dodgers, their first title since 1988 continues to elude them as they fall in the World Series for the second year in a row. It is also worth mentioning that this matchup is between the two previous World Series losers, as the Indians lost to the Cubs in 2016 and the Dodgers lost to the Astros in 2017.
Power Rankings:
1. Houston Astros
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Cleveland Indians
4. New York Yankees
5. Boston Red Sox
6. Washington Nationals
7. Chicago Cubs
8. Arizona Diamondbacks
9. Milwaukee Brewers
10. Anaheim Angels
11. St. Louis Cardinals
12. Seattle Mariners
13. San Francisco Giants
14. New York Mets
15. Minnesota Twins
16. Texas Rangers
17. Colorado Rockies
18. Baltimore Orioles
19. Toronto Blue Jays
20. Philadelphia Phillies
21. Oakland Athletics
22. Pittsburgh Pirates
23. Kansas City Royals
24. Atlanta Braves
25. Chicago White Sox
26. San Diego Padres
27. Cincinnati Reds
28. Tampa Bay Rays
29. Detroit Tigers
30. Miami Marlins

Gotta put the reigning champs atop the initial Power Rankings. Plus, they lost virtually nothing in the offseason while getting even stronger with the addition of Gerrit Cole to a pitching rotation that already features two former Cy Young Award winners in Justin Verlander and Dallas Keuchel. I also have to put the Marlins as the worst team in baseball simply for how much they gave up in the offseason. I also don’t think they will be any good for at least another 3 or 4 years, maybe even 5 because of the generally weak prospect pool they received for their troubles. I still can’t believe Giancarlo Stanton didn’t warrant a return of everything the Yankees had in their farm system. The guy hit 59 home runs and was NL MVP last season. Now let’s get into the positional rankings for this season.
Positional Rankings:
Catcher

1. Buster Posey-San Francisco Giants
2. Gary Sanchez-New York Yankees
3. Salvador Perez-Kansas City Royals
4. Willson Contreras-Chicago Cubs
5. Yadier Molina-St. Louis Cardinals
6. Tucker Barnhart-Cincinnati Reds
7. Mike Zunino-Seattle Mariners
8. Yasmani Grandal-Los Angeles Dodgers
9. Martin Maldonado-Anaheim Angels
10. Brian McCann-Houston Astros
1st Base

1. Joey Votto-Cincinnati Reds
2. Paul Goldschmidt-Arizona Diamondbacks
3. Freddie Freeman-Atlanta Braves
4. Anthony Rizzo-Chicago Cubs
5. Cody Bellinger-Los Angeles Dodgers
6. Eric Hosmer-San Diego Padres
7. Jose Abreu-Chicago White Sox
8. Ryan Zimmerman-Washington Nationals
9. Greg Bird-New York Yankees
10. Matt Carpenter-St. Louis Cardinals
2nd Base

1. Jose Altuve-Houston Astros
2. Robinson Cano-Seattle Mariners
3. Daniel Murphy-Washington Nationals
4. Jonathan Schoop-Baltimore Orioles
5. Dustin Pedroia-Boston Red Sox
6. DJ LeMahieu-Colorado Rockies
7. Javy Baez-Chicago Cubs
8. Brian Dozier-Minnesota Twins
9. Jason Kipnis-Cleveland Indians
10. Starlin Castro-Miami Marlins
3rd Base

1. Kris Bryant-Chicago Cubs
2. Josh Donaldson-Toronto Blue Jays
3. Nolan Arenado-Colorado Rockies
4. Jose Ramirez-Cleveland Indians
5. Anthony Rendon-Washington Nationals
6. Justin Turner-Los Angeles Dodgers
7. Mike Moustakas-Kansas City Royals
8. Alex Bregman-Houston Astros
9. Evan Longoria-San Francisco Giants
10. Adrian Beltre-Texas Rangers
Shortstop

1. Francisco Lindor-Cleveland Indians
2. Carlos Correa-Houston Astros
3. Corey Seager-Los Angeles Dodgers
4. Manny Machado-Baltimore Orioles
5. Andrelton Simmons-Anaheim Angels
6. Xander Bogaerts-Boston Red Sox
7. Didi Gregorius-New York Yankees
8. Elvis Andrus-Texas Rangers
9. Trea Turner-Washington Nationals
10. Jean Segura-Seattle Mariners
Left Field

1. Marcell Ozuna-St. Louis Cardinals
2. Christian Yelich-Milwaukee Brewers
3. Yoenis Cespedes-New York Mets
4. Andrew Benintendi-Boston Red Sox
5. Justin Upton-Anaheim Angels
6. Tommy Pham-St. Louis Cardinals
7. Brett Gardner-New York Yankees
8. Corey Dickerson-Pittsburgh Pirates
9. Trey Mancini-Baltimore Orioles
10. Marwin Gonzalez-Houston Astros
Center Field

1. Mike Trout-Anaheim Angels
2. Charlie Blackmon-Colorado Rockies
3. George Springer-Houston Astros
4. Lorenzo Cain-Milwaukee Brewers
5. Jackie Bradley Jr-Boston Red Sox
6. Byron Buxton-Minnesota Twins
7. Chris Taylor-Los Angeles Dodgers
8. Odubel Herrera-Philadelphia Phillies
9. Ender Inciarte-Atlanta Braves
10. Michael Conforto-New York Mets
Right Field

1. Bryce Harper-Washington Nationals
2. Aaron Judge-New York Yankees
3. Mookie Betts-Boston Red Sox
4. Andrew McCutchen-San Francisco Giants
5. Yasiel Puig-Los Angeles Dodgers
6. Steven Souza Jr-Arizona Diamondbacks
7. Josh Reddick-Houston Astros
8. Jay Bruce-New York Mets
9. Avisail Garcia-Chicago White Sox
10. Domingo Santana-Milwaukee Brewers
Designated Hitter

1. Giancarlo Stanton-New York Yankees
2. JD Martinez-Boston Red Sox
3. Edwin Encarnacion-Cleveland Indians
4. Nelson Cruz-Seattle Mariners
5. Khris Davis-Oakland Athletics
Starting Pitcher

1. Clayton Kershaw-Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Max Scherzer-Washington Nationals
3. Corey Kluber-Cleveland Indians
4. Chris Sale-Boston Red Sox
5. Stephen Strasburg-Washington Nationals
6. Noah Syndergaard-New York Mets
7. Madison Bumgarner-San Francisco Giants
8. Luis Severino-New York Yankees
9. Zack Greinke-Arizona Diamondbacks
10. Robbie Ray-Arizona Diamondbacks
Relief Pitcher

1. Kenley Jansen-Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Craig Kimbrel-Boston Red Sox
3. Corey Knebel-Milwaukee Brewers
4. Roberto Osuna-Toronto Blue Jays
5. Aroldis Chapman-New York Yankees
6. Andrew Miller-Cleveland Indians
7. Archie Bradley-Arizona Diamondbacks
8. Zach Britton-Baltimore Orioles
9. Wade Davis-Colorado Rockies
10. Pat Neshek-Philadelphia Phillies
And now onto the preseason awards where I award people for things they haven’t done yet and may not even do at all.
American League MVP: Aaron Judge-RF-New York Yankees

National League MVP: Bryce Harper-RF-Washington Nationals

American League Cy Young: Chris Sale-Boston Red Sox

National League Cy Young: Noah Syndergaard-New York Mets

American League Rookie of the Year: Willy Adames-SS-Tampa Bay Rays

National League Rookie of the Year: Ronald Acuna-OF-Atlanta Braves

American League Manager of the Year: Mike Scioscia-Anaheim Angels

National League Manager of the Year: Craig Counsell-Milwaukee Brewers

And finally, on to my bold predictions for the 2018 MLB season. Some will be as harmless as saying “I don’t think the Yankees are going to hit as many home runs as everybody says they will,” and others could get me fired if I had a real job. So let’s get to some predictions.
Prediction: Clayton Kershaw will show slight signs of slowing down now that he’s 30 years old, will post an ERA over 2.50, something he hasn’t done since 2012. People will freak out and panic accordingly.
Prediction: The Yankees’ season will be filled with peaks and valleys en route to 98 wins. Considering Judge and Stanton strike out as often as anyone in baseball, this could lead to some rough slumps at times for the two and their team as a result. However, when they’re on, nobody will be able to beat the Yankees.
Prediction: The Baltimore Orioles will trade Manny Machado to a contender at the trade deadline. The Orioles won’t be super competitive in 2018 and Machado’s contract is up at the end of the year. The smart thing to do would be to trade him to a contender and load up on top prospects. Predicted landing spot? Uhhhh…how about the Brewers? I would say the Yankees but the Orioles’ brass has made it clear they’d prefer not to trade Machado within the division.
Prediction: The Yankees will not break the team home run record. This is mainly because I think teams are going to try and pitch the Yankees a little more carefully this season. Knowing the type of power this team possesses, I doubt they’re going to get great pitches to hit. This may lead to higher walk rates for the team, though.
Prediction: The Marlins won’t be nearly as bad as people think. But let’s be honest, the opinions of the Marlins’ talent can’t be much lower at the moment. However every season there’s a team that everyone thinks is going to be the worst and yet somehow they find ways to be just bad, not historically bad.
Prediction: The American League’s home run king will be an Oakland Athletics player. I can envision this happening, considering the power Khris Davis and Matt Olson showed last season. Matt Chapman could also be a sneaky home run threat as well.
Prediction: Mike Trout will finish outside the top 2 in AL MVP voting for the second consecutive season. This isn’t to say that I think Trout will struggle this season. Far from it. Last season was the first time in Trout’s Major League career (since 2012) that he didn’t finish in the top 2 in AL MVP voting and I think it’s going to happen again. As you saw in my awards predictions, I have Aaron Judge taking home top honors and Trout will have to compete with the likes of Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindor, Mookie Betts, Josh Donaldson, Giancarlo Stanton, and many, many more.
Prediction: Don Mattingly will be out as Marlins manager before June. This won’t be Mattingly’s fault, nobody can succeed with this roster. However new ownership has pretty much let go of everyone else and Mattingly just logically seems to be the next domino to fall, especially when the Marlins inevitably struggle.
Prediction: Pace of Play will continue to be a topic of discussion and the new mound visit rule will be hated by catchers even though we could probably count the number of issues this rule causes on one hand. The new mound visit rule limits non-pitching-change mound visits to 6 per 9 inning games. There have already been players such as Willson Contreras who are outspoken against this, however if you think about it, catchers don’t really visit the mound all that much, especially if their guy is pitching really well. I don’t think this will cause nearly as many problems as some guys think it might.
Prediction: The newly-signed pitchers (Yu Darvish and Jake Arrieta) will struggle. Darvish has had injury problems throughout his Major League career and Arrieta has been trending downward since winning the 2015 NL Cy Young Award. Im predicting both guys finish with ERA’s in the low-4’s.
So that’s going to do it for my MLB 2018 season preview. Words can’t express how excited I am for Thursday’s Opening Day to roll around, when all 30 teams will be opening on the same day for the first time in over 50 years. Let me know how you think this season’s going to go in the comments section below or on Facebook or Twitter @jimwyman10.