MLB 2019 Preview

By Colin Dixon

Picture Via @Angels Twitter

The 2019 Major League Baseball season is coming up very soon and I cannot wait! Below will be a preview for every single team plus predictions for some of the end of the season awards.



AL WEST

• Los Angeles Angels
• The Angels are going into 2019 with hopes of not wasting another year from Mike Trout's prime. They made some key additions to the roster with Matt Harvey, Trevor Cahill, Cody Allen, Jonathan Lucroy, and Justin Bour. The Angels will be an older team but will be a team that can make a playoff run if they stay healthy. For the Angels it will be up to the pitching staff and how consistent they will be in day in and day out. They have a powerful offense but will need stellar pitching if any Playoff run is coming for the Halos. 
• Houston Astros 
• The Astros had an earlier exit from the Playoffs then they were expecting but with almost all starters returning the Astros will be back in contention for another World Series Championship. They added a consistent bat in Michael Brantley but will most likely be without left-handed pitcher Dallas Keuchel as he remains unsigned. The Pitching rotation will be headed by Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and Cy Young hopeful Gerrit Cole. The Astros will have a very powerful lineup and a dominant front end of the Pitching rotation but to make it back to the promise land they Astros will need its backend of the rotation to find a way to win games and keep the Astros atop of the AL West. 
• Oakland Athletics 
• After a miraculous 2018 season for the A's where they made it to the playoffs after starting off slow, they will hope for a similar season in 2019 where they can make another playoff push. The A's will be without their number 1 starter Sean Manaea who will be out all year with an injury, but they re-signed Mike Fiers and signed Free Agent Marco Estrada to cover for Manaea's absence. They also added Jurickson Profar who will add to an already dominant lineup for the A's. Oakland has the bullpen and lineup to make it back to the playoffs but what it comes down to for the A's is how their pitching rotation performs and if they will still be able to perform without their Ace to lead them. 
• Seattle Mariners 
• After a solid season where the Mariners went 89-73 but still missed the playoffs, they decided to cut ties with some players and start over as they will be a young team who might be able to sneak into the playoffs with a 6 seed. The Mariners parted ways with Pitcher James Paxton, dominant Closer Edwin Diaz, and Second Baseman Robinson Cano, but added Edwin Encarnacion and Japanese Pitcher Yusei Kikuchi. The Mariners will be an interesting team to watch since they are young but their bullpen and pitching rotation is lacking pure talent and could cause the Mariners to be a lower level team in the AL. But if those pitching questions are answered the Mariners could be in the mix for a playoff spot. 
• Texas Rangers
• After an awful 2018 where the Rangers went 67-95, the 2019 Rangers will not have much to look forward to. They had no key additions besides guys who are on the tail end of their careers like Lance Lynn, Shelby Miller, and Hunter Pence. The Rangers team is filled with veterans but they will not have enough talent to make any sort of playoff push. With power bat Joey Gallo in the middle of the lineup, the Rangers may have some fireworks on the offensive side but the pitching staff lacks arm talent and the Rangers will look to develop young guys around the Veteran presence they have in the locker room. 

AL CENTRAL

• Cleveland Indians
• After being the King of the Central for the past couple years the Indians will most likely be unchallenged by any of its counterparts again and will remain at the top. The Indians will continue to have a dominant offense but will be missing leadoff hitter and MVP Candidate Francisco Lindor at the beginning of the year since he is nursing a calf injury that took place at the beginning of Spring Training. Lindor will be back in no time but even without him, the Indians Offense is a force to be reckoned with. As well, the Indians Pitching Staff is still loaded with names like Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, and Carlos Carrasco. The Indians will undoubtedly be in the playoffs again this year and how they will perform when they get there will be something to watch in the future but for now, the Indians are still the favorites in the AL Central again. 
• Kansas City Royals 
• After winning the World Series in 2015 things in Kansas City have not been the same as they ended up finishing in the last place in 2018 with a record of 58-104. The Royals still will not have much to look forward to this upcoming season especially since their All-Star Catcher Salvador Perez needed to get Tommy-John Surgery and will be out all season. In his place, the Royals added Martin Maldonado who will be a great guy to have behind the plate but won't add much to a very weak lineup. 2019 will be a rebuilding type of year for the Royals as they will look into finding success in the future rather than right now. 
• Detroit Tigers
• Just like the Royals, the Tigers will be heading in the direction of focussing on the future rather than the present since they had a rough 2018 and did not add much to help their cause in 2019. They still have the triple-crown king Miguel Cabrera on the team but as he enters the final couple years of his career the Tigers lack any sort of star power. The Tigers have a promising farm system but those players will not be making an impact in the big leagues any time soon and the Tigers will have to do the best they can with what they have which is not much. 
• Minnesota Twins
• Going into 2019 the Twins will be the only team with a chance to challenge the Indians in the AL Central. The Twins are coming off a 78-84 season but had some key additions that will make an impact this year. They filled the lineup with veteran bats and should be a powerful offense with Nelson Cruz, Marwin Gonzalez, and Jonathan Schoop who were all added this offseason. With a young core surrounded by veteran talent in the lineup and the pitching staff, the Twins will be capable of making a playoff run, especially in the very weak AL Central. 
• Chicago White Sox
• After failing to bring in any big name free agents this offseason, 2019 looks like it will be another rough one for the White Sox. Instead, they signed veterans to fill the clubhouse like Yonder Alonso, Alex Colome, Kelvin Herrera, Ivan Nova, and Ervin Santana. But with these veterans around the White Sox still will struggle to find ways to win even in the weak AL Central. The White Sox have a ton of upside for the years to come but 2019 year will be another year filled with getting their young prospects used to playing in the Major Leagues. 

AL EAST

• Toronto Blue Jays
• In a stacked AL East, the Blue Jays will most likely have a year where they focus on developing young talent instead of trying to make the playoffs. They have the Number 1 Minor League Prospect Vlad Guerrero Jr. but he will not be up in the Major Leagues for a while so the Blue Jays can save a year of his service time. Once he gets the call up every MLB fan will have their eyes on him but for now, Blue Jays fans do not have much to look forward to. 2019 most likely will be a year that the Blue Jays will flash their young talent but won't make any sort of playoff push. 
• Baltimore Orioles 
• After winning the title of the worst baseball team in 2018 the Orioles are the favorites to do the same thing in this year. If you're an Orioles fan this year will be another rough one where you have zero superstars and your highest paid player will be horrendous again. 2019 will be rough for Baltimore but I can promise the future it will be better because it will be hard to be worse than they were in 2018. 
• Tampa Bay Rays 
• When you win 90 games you expect to be making the playoffs but that was not the case for the 2018 Rays who had Cy Young winner Blake Snell at the top of their rotation. Adding to last years Cy Young winner the Rays added a solid arm in Charlie Morton to use a spot in their 3-man rotation that will have 2 openers instead of 2 more starters. Coach Kevin Cash knows what he is doing with his ball club and the Rays will be someone to watch when it gets close to playoff time. 
• Boston Red Sox
• After adding another ring to the dynasty the Red Sox will be aiming to win back to back World Series Championships in 2019. The Red Sox made no major additions this offseason besides bringing back Steve Pearce, and Nathan Eovaldi but they did lose bullpen arm Joe Kelly to the Dodgers and closer Craig Kimbrel who remains unsigned and may not even play in 2019. The Red Sox are poised to make another run at a ring but have the rival Yankees in their way and it will be exciting to see how the season plays out for the reigning champs. 
• New York Yankees 
• After a disappointing end to 2018 where the Yankees lost in the ALDS to the rival Boston Red Sox, they are destined to make another run to try and capture another World Series title to the Yankee Dynasty. Adding arms like James Paxton, Gio Gonzalez, Adam Ottavino will help the Yankees already stacked pitching rotation and bullpen. As everyone knows the Yankees offense headed by Aaron Judge will be launching home runs left and right all season and will most likely be the best offense in baseball this year. The Yankees are loaded everywhere and will be a force to be reckoned with. After a very active offseason going into the 2019 season, the Yankees are my World Series favorites. 

NL WEST

• Arizona Diamondbacks 
• After being in playoff contention the past couple years the D-Backs decided to take a step back in 2019 with the decision of trading away their best player Paul Goldschmidt to the Cardinals during the offseason. Arizona has competed the past couple years but could never take the next step and it was a smart decision for the Diamondbacks to trade for prospects and let their best player go. The Diamondbacks added a strong arm in Luke Weaver in the trade with the Cardinals, and then Greg Holland and Adam Jones in Free Agency, but those pieces will not do much when talking about competing in a very high powered National League. 2019 will be a year where the D-Backs will look to grow instead of win but young talent mixed with decent veterans the D-Backs could still compete with what they have. 
• Los Angeles Dodgers
• Coming off another year and another World Series loss the Dodgers are again one of the favorites to represent the National League in the Fall Classic. 2019 will be another big year for the Dodgers, especially in a very weak NL West. The Dodgers added Joe Kelly and A.J. Pollock to an already stacked roster this year in Free Agency and will hope these key pieces can put them over the top to be able to win a world series. The biggest question for the Dodgers this year is how their Pitching Staff will perform either with or without ace Clayton Kershaw who will start the year on the Injured List. The Offense is loaded with power bats but without any pitching, the Dodgers will have no shot at making it back to the World Series. 
• San Francisco Giants
• After missing out on the Bryce Harper sweepstakes the Giants started 2019 with an L and it will continue to a be a trend for them this season. Their lineup is filled with old veterans and young players who nobody knows much about. The pitching staff still has Madison Bumgarner but he will most likely be gone by the time the trade deadline comes around in July. 2019 and the next couple years to come will be rough ones for the fans in San Francisco as the Giants will be in contention to be the worst team in the league. They made no key additions and the fan favorite Hunter Pence will be wearing a Texas Rangers uniform instead of the Orange and Black that he has worn the past seven years. To my Mom and any other Giants fans reading this I am sorry but the Giants suck and 2019 will be a rough year to be a fan. 
• San Diego Padres 
• Going into 2019 the Padres will have one of the top players in the league as Manny Machado joined the team on a 10-Year $300 Million contract this offseason. Manny will have a decent lineup around him with veterans Eric Hosmer, Ian Kinsler, and Wil Myers but will have young talent to compliment him as well. Young Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. will be joining the team later in the season so the Padres can keep him for another year of service time but once he comes up the Padres offense will be electric. But what is a team with an electric offense but no pitching? Nothing. The . Padres Pitching Rotation is filled with names that many people would not recognize but if these unknown pitchers can perform the Padres will be able to compete for 2nd place in the West. 
• Colorado Rockies
• The Rockies have consistently had a dominant offense with Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, and Trevor Story at the heart of the lineup and added another key piece to the equation in Colorado with 2B Daniel Murphy. In 2019 the ball will continue to fly for the Rockies and they will compete as one of the top offenses in 2019. The Rockies made the playoffs again in 2018 and in 2019 will aim to do the same thing. They have the lineup and the pitching to not just get back to the playoffs as a wild card but maybe even challenge the Dodgers to be the NL West champs. 

NL CENTRAL

• Milwaukee Brewers 
• In 2018 the Brewers came up just short of making it to the World Series and although they made some additions and had no big subtractions 2019 may not be the same season that 2018 was. The Brewers welcomed back The Moose to Milwaukee after his short stint with the team last year. But just like last year the Brewers biggest question is going to be starting pitching which they did not address during the offseason. If the Brewers are going to take the next step they will need to sign or trade for a pitcher that will take their rotation to the next level. With reigning MVP Christian Yelich back for another year the Brewers will have an offense that will be lights out again and opponents will not want to mess with them.
• St. Louis Cardinals 
• In 2018 the Cardinals finished just 3 games out of a playoff spot and they are coming back for more with an even better lineup. The Red Birds added First Baseman Paul Goldschmidt into the mix and their offense is going to be even more of a threat than it was last year. With a young rotation and a young lineup ready to compete the Cardinals will be back in playoff contention and will be challenging the Cubs and Brewers for a chance to win the NL Central Division Title. The Cardinals ran out of gas at the end of the season and will need to keep up the energy all season if they are going to make a playoff run this upcoming year. 
• Chicago Cubs 
• In 2018 the Cubs made it to the playoffs again with the second best record in the National League but it was very short-lived. They ended the regular season with a Game 163 loss to the Brewers which forced them to play in a Wild Card game the next day and ended up losing that one as well. The Cubs made no major additions besides reliever Brad Brach, but with all the returning stars in the lineup, the Cubs are destined for another run at a ring in 2019. The pitching staff remains loaded and same with the lineup with MVP candidate Javier Baez and Kris Bryant headlining. Joe Maddon has his squad in a good spot to compete in the NL Central and win another ring for the Windy City since the team on the other side of town is nowhere close. 
• Pittsburgh Pirates 
• 2018 was a mediocre year for the Pirates and they hoped to bring in Manny Machado in 2019 but failed and are without a big star to be in the middle of their lineup. The Pitching Staff in Pittsburgh will be dominant as usual with Chris Archer and Jamison Tallion but the offense won't be much of a factor. 2019 may be a rough year for the Pirates since the NL Central continues to stack up and they continue to be left out. The Pirates most likely won't be raising the Jolly Rodger too much this upcoming season and the fans should look forward to the future since the Pirates will most likely be out of playoff contention come October. 
• Cincinnati Reds 
• Coming off a disappointing 67 win season in Cincinnati the Reds will have a lot more to look forward to in 2019. They may not be close to the playoffs but with additions like Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Tanner Roark, Alex Wood, and Sonny Gray the fans will have more big-name players to root for other than Joey Votto (who is still amazing). The Reds are my dark horse this year in MLB with a solid lineup and a pitching staff with depth and experience. Although they are in one of the best divisions in the MLB they will compete and could bring a winning attitude into Cincy. 

NL EAST

• Atlanta Braves 
• 2018 the young Braves made a surprised many and brought the bright lights back to Atlanta baseball. With young phenoms like Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies leading the way, the Braves are destined to compete in the NL East again. They added MVP Josh Donaldson to the lineup and he will help balance out the veterans and young players in the clubhouse. The Braves will have to address the pitching staff more this year if they will end up making a splash in the playoffs. As it is with so many teams the Braves have a dominant offense with little to no pitching and won't make it to the promised land if they can't pitch consistently. 
• Miami Marlins
• Derek Jeter is entering another year as the chief executive officer for the Marlins and the whole organization seems to be in a mess. They have once had a team where the last two NL MVPs were the main pieces to the team but since then they have traded them away along with other great player and they are starting from scratch. 2019 will be another season where meaningless baseball will be played in Miami and fans won't have much to cheer for. The Marlins will be apart of the competition for the first pick in the MLB draft along with the Giants and Orioles. 
• Philadelphia Phillies 
• The 2019 offseason for the Phillies was very busy and very exciting and this upcoming season should be exciting to watch. As many know they signed Bryce Harper to an outrageous contract that is worth $330 million. Joining Harper as the new kids in town Jean Segura, J.T. Realmuto, and Andrew McCutchen will all have the goal of bringing the Phillies to the top of the National League. The Phillies will have Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta and Cy Young candidate Aaron Nola back at the top of the rotation but it will be the names behind them who will be the ones making the impact on how this season goes for the Phillies. The Phillies have the promise to end up in the Fall Classic and it will be fun to watch how the season ends up for the team in the City of Brotherly Love. 
• New York Mets
• The Yankees were not the only team in New York to make big moves this offseason and the moves the Mets have made will hopefully bring them back into playoff contention.  They traded for one of the top closers in the league Edwin Diaz and a power bat from the left side in Robinson Cano from the Mariners with hopes that they can bring the Mets back the playoffs where they were just a couple seasons back. The Mets are in a tough NL East but will easily be in the mix to sneak into a playoff spot. The Mets still have reigning Cy Young champ Jacob DeGrom and Noah Syndergaard at the top of the rotation and they will be throwing to the old Met Killer Wilson Ramos who was just signed this past offseason. The Mets will be a team to watch this year if they can stay healthy, but they are in a tough division so the playoffs might stay out of reach for at least this year. 
• Washington Nationals 
• The offseason was rough for the Nationals as they parted ways with Bryce Harper but putting that aside from the Nats still, have a chance to make the playoffs again after a rough 2018 season where they finished barely above .500. They added Patrick Corbin to the stacked rotation they Nationals have with Scherzer and Strasburg. The biggest question for the Nationals will be if their offense will be able to produce around young star Juan Soto. They still have veterans who can produce but they could end up being just as bad as they were last year and it will be something to watch. The Nationals window to win a World Series anytime soon has closed but they still have a chance to compete in the NL East. 

That is the preview for each team in 2019 and here are my picks for MVP, Cy Young, and World Series

I believe Mike Trout and Javier Baez will win the MVPs while Gerrit Cole and Walker Buehler will win the Cy Young award. My World Series vote is Yankees and Dodgers with the Yankees winning it all.