Regular Season + Post-Season
AL East - Red Sox
It's tight, but the Red Sox's youth starts to shine through in Benintendi, Betts and Bogaerts. Pomeranz rebounds as well, sealing the back end of a great rotation, sans Price. Wright still gets in trouble, but he's neither as good as the first half last year nor as bad as Dickey the entirety of last year.
Blue Jays nab second place (and the first place wildcard spot) and we all praise Morales for his 35 home run season (NOT 40) . Gibbons gets sick of Mudge and benches him, gives Steve Pearce left field and Morales sticks at first and is surprisingly serviceable. Pearce gets injured, Pompey recovers quickly from his concussion and gets his final test in left (he runs with it, gets a .250+ BA and retains the job for the rest of the season).
Anyhoo, enough about the Jays. Tampa Bay gets hit by the injury bug bad, but it's strong yet untested starting rotation gets it to third. Orioles start to fall apart offensively, with Trumbo unable to perform his career season again and the resulting outfield mess gives their opponents more and more runs and causes their starting rotation more and more headaches. They place fourth. Yankees flail completely, with the sole shining star being yes... Aaron San- I mean Gary Sanchez. They finish a disappointing last and without an above .500 winning percentage since Jesse Barfield was on the team.
AL Central - Indians
A lot less for the rest of the divisions now. Indians take the division with their all around good pitching and hitting. Tigers really try for it though but finish just outside of the wildcard again, in second place. The Twins' youngsters pull their weight, and coincidentally pull their team into third place as well. The Royals are in free fall now, but just avoid the basement by a hair. And the White Sox enter full rebuild mode and trade away their last remaining bright spots like Quintana for more prospects.
AL West - Astros
Jose Altuve is as good and ever, and so is pretty much the rest of the team. Sort of lineup you don't want to run into in a back alley (also known as the O.co). Rangers and Mariners fight and fight for second place, but are badly stung by the up and coming Angels, who, in a streak of brilliance, storm back 2015 Jays style in the second half and grab second place for the wildcard. This leaves the Rangers in a non-playoff third, the Mariners limping in fourth, and the Athletics in fifth.
NL East - Nationals
Oof. Not the greatest division. Nationals win their division easily, leaving the second place Mets in the dust (with the second Wildcard spot). The Marlins, Braves and the Phillies battle it out for last, with the Marlins nabbing third, the Phillies getting fourth, and the Braves in the caboose.
NL Central - Cubs
I really don't pay attention to this one. Cubs dominate per the new usual, Cardinals grab the NL wildcard and the Pirates are in third. Brewers nab fourth, andddd the good ol' Reds place last.
NL West - Dodgers
The usual Dodgers - Giants affair ends in a Dodgers victory, and the Giants aren't better than either the Mets or the Cards this year to get the wildcard spot. Rockies nab third, Diamondbacks fourth, and Padres fifth.
NL Wildcard = (3-0 Mets over Cardinals)
AL Wildcard = (6-3 Blue Jays over Angels)
ALDS - Astros over Indians (3-2), Blue Jays over Red Sox (3-2)
NLDS - Dodgers over Mets (3-1), Cubs over Nats (3-0)
ALCS - Astros over Blue Jays (4-3)
NLCS - Dodgers over Cubs (4-2)
WS - Astros over Dodgers (4-2)
Postseason Notes:
Jay Bruce hits a three run homer in the NL wildcard. Josh Donaldson and Devon Travis go deep in the AL Wildcard. Pompey gets two steals.
Two of the most exciting ALDS series', the Red Sox and the Jays slug it out while the bullpens of the Indians and the Astros battle. Carlos Beltran hits a two run homer to seal it for the Astros in game 5. Zeek does something incredible meanwhile, and saves Game 5 for the Jays.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Cubs juggernauts roll over the Mets and Nats quickly in the NLDS. Nothing notable, except Anthony Rizzo sprains his left ankle while running to first on a routine out. That will cost the Cubs in the NLCS.
The ALCS is another slugathon, but the Jays have been battered around too much and bow out in a tearful Game 7. Jason Grilli announces his retirement, and Stroman cements himself as a playoff pitcher even further. Altuve gets two home runs in the series while Bautista gets three.
The NLCS is an upset, as the Cubs sans Rizzo lose badly to the Dodgers in six games. Clayton Kershaw isn't stretched and makes some good starts. Logan Forsythe is the series MVP with a couple of home runs and 6 RBI's.
The World Series turns the baseball world on it's head as good hitting trumps the good pitching of the Dodgers' team, and with some luck, the Astros win it. Jose Altuve of course grabs the series MVP and the Astros take home their first World Series.
End Of Season Stats
NL Cy Young: Noah Syndergaard
AL Cy Young: Chris Archer (with an amazing rebound)
NL MVP: Kris Bryant
AL MVP: Jose Altuve
NL ROY: Josh Bell
AL ROY: Rowdy Te- Oh fine, Andrew Benintendi
And for the Jays:
HRs: Josh Donaldson (38)
RBI's: Josh Donaldson (104)
BA: Devon Travis (.298)
Steals: Kevin Pillar (24)
2B's: Kevin Pillar (36)
Most likely to impress on the base paths: Kendrys Morales
SO's: Jarrod Saltalamacchia (138)
Wins: Aaron Sanchez (15)
ERA: Marcus Stroman (3.18)
