TBOH MLB Predictions: AL Central
The Philadelphia Phillies open the 2016 MLB season on Monday, April 4th while six other clubs open up today.
Our annual process of polling the staff here at TBOH as to their predictions for the coming season has been completed, and so we’re rolling out those picks in a series of pieces.
The TBOH staff will reveal our cumulative staff choice, as well as our individual picks, for the order of finish in each of Major League Baseball’s six divisions, the two Wildcard teams from each league, and our World Series favorites.
To determine the staff cumulative pick for each division, I took the predicted order of finish from each of our writers and assigned a numerical value. Teams picked for first place received one point, teams picked to finish in fifth received five points. Thus, the lower your overall total points, the higher your predicted finish. The total points are listed next to each team name.
We’ll also be revealing our staffers picks for the Most Valuable Player Award in both the National and American Leagues, as well as the Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year Award winners in both leagues.
Finally, our staffers have chosen their MLB manager who is most likely to become the first casualty of the season, the first to be fired this year.
Enjoy our picks, and we would love to hear your own. Please feel free to leave your choices in a comment. We’ll be sure to read them.
AMERICAN LEAGUE CENTRAL DIVISION – Staff cumulative pick
- Kansas City Royals (7) – the defending World Series and two-time defending AL champions are the unanimous choice of our staffers
- Detroit Tigers (17) – given health, especially from the starting rotation, Detroit and Miguel Cabrera should challenge for at least a Wild Card
- Cleveland Indians (25) – Terry Francona‘s team edges out the Chisox and Twins in what should be a tight race 3rd to 5th
- Chicago White Sox (27) – no one had Jimmy Rollins‘ new club ranked higher than 3rd place, but they could be division’s surprise team
- Minnesota Twins (29) – if the dynamic young combo of Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton break out, they could finish in 3rd
Matt Veasey – Kansas City, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota
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Ethan Witte – Kansas City, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota
Mike Azzalina – Kansas City, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota
Alexis Girardo – Kansas City, Detroit, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland
Tyler DiSalle – Kansas City, Detroit, Minnesota, Chicago, Cleveland
Ryan Gerstel – Kansas City, Detroit, Cleveland, Minnesota, Chicago
David Mosemann – Kansas City, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, Chicago