AL West

 

1st - Houston Astros

The Astros have come a long way in the past few seasons coming off three straight 100-loss season from 2011 to 2013!  The 2015 iteration made an appearance in the playoffs losing a heartbreaking series to those never-say-die Royals.  This season should breed more of that success as the Astros have only gotten stronger.  This, now post-season endowed, franchise will be aspiring for World Series glory and rightly so.  The lineup comprises of one of the most exciting young talents in the game.  I'm referring to 21 year old rookie of the year short stop Carlos Correa who exploded onto the major league scene last year.  Correa will be surrounded by more solidarity this season as well with Carlos Gomez now slated to be in the lineup all season. Jon Singleton will most likely get the Opening Day nod at 1st base after raking in the minors lin 2015, with almost unreal power numbers.  Once owning the spotlight that Correa now owns, George Springer will be another year experienced patrolling the outfield grass with less pressure on his shoulders. Jose Altuve will of course lead this team on the field as he is the wily MVP-caliber veteran at the ripe, old age of 26.  The starting rotation touts some of the best arms in the league consisting of AL Cy Young award winning Dallas Keuchel.  Even if Collin McHugh struggles and/or Lance McCullers isn't ready for full time responsibilities in the majors, the bullpen will pick up the pieces.  Primed for closing greatness, Ken Giles, acquired from the Phillies in the off-season, will head this deep bullpen that also comprises of Will Harris, Tony Sipp, and Ken's only competition for the 9th inning role, veteran Luke Gregerson, depending on health.  Houston's readiness to leave the recent past behind is cognizant in the precise construction of this roster. The Astros should finish atop this division and contend to represent the American League in the World Series. 

2nd - Texas Rangers

 

Before last year, the Rangers seemed to be headed for that ill-fated period of mediocrity after finishing the 2014 season with 67 wins, but they surprised many baseball fans and pundits by winning the division!  What's the explanation?  Part of the answer lies within the division. Other than the Astros, the competition isn't exactly fierce.  The Rangers are surely taking advantage with a roster balanced by still relevant veterans and upward trending youth.  At age 36, Adrian Beltre has only a couple of productive years left in him, but is the epitome of veteran leadership on the team still producing great numbers at the plate while flashing a swift glove at third.   Adrian will be mentoring the likes of young power slugger Joey Gallo who will be looking to have a full season impact on the team. Roughned Odor looks primed to break out at second.  Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland round out what is not exactly an explosive offense, but definitely an above average one.  The outfield is a little messy at the moment especially in left with Josh Hamilton amid an eternal struggle to stay sober and healthy leading to recently signed Ian Desmond set to experiment in left field after a horrid defensive season at short (and offensive). The bullpen instability may be the reason the Rangers can't overtake the Astros again.  A pen with Shawn Tolleson closing out the ninth doesn't exactly strike fear in opposing lineups.   The starting staff can be described in the same light as the offense. Led by Cole Hamels, the Rangers rotation will need to wait for Yu Darvish to return to really be omplete.  Yu isn't slated to return until June (late May at the earliest), so this may be a reason the Rangers get off to a slow start, but seem to be built for a strong finish as was the case in their 2015 campaign. 

3rd - Oakland Athletics

The mish-mosh of players that are the Oakland Athletics will not be given a chance by many to be anything more than condemned to the basement of the division.  However, I believe the players on this team are more capable than the notion of being pegged basement dwellers.  Sonny Gray and Sean Doolittle are more than capable enough to carry the starting rotation and bullpen respectively.  Stephen Vogt, Jed Lowrie, and Khris Davis are more than capable enough to carry the offense.  Lastly, Josh Reddick and Billy Burns are more than capable enough to carry the defense.  The A's names, on paper, may not radiate success, but when was that ever true in recent years where they've won games in the upper 80's or in the 90's before 2015? The pieces of this puzzle are as unique and as seemingly random as ever, but put together, should result in another surprisingly successful season.  These Athletics will make up the center of an AL West sandwich between the Astros and Rangers at the top and the disappointing Angels and Mariners at the bottom.  

4th - Los Angeles Angels

 

Mike Trout must have some real excruciating pain in his shoulders from carrying this team in recent seasons.  The 2016 season will be more of the same as the front office has done little to improve this franchise.  Andrelton Simmons is an extraordinary defensive talent at short and a tremendous acquisition for any team, but the Angels needed a few more complimentary transactions to go along with the addition of Simmons this off-season.  None were made and therefore the Angels are left with an aging Albert Pujols on offense and a burnt out Jered Weaver on the mound.  The offense as a whole has under-performed and there are no signs that will change in 2016, which means that bounce back seasons from multiple arms in the starting staff will be desperately needed for this team to make any noise in the AL West.   The fate of this team doesn't rest solely on the shoulders of Mike Trout, but also on Jered Weaver, Garrett Richards, C.J. Wilson, and Andrew Heaney. 

5th - Seattle Mariners

Just last year, the Mariners were predicted by many baseball experts to win the division even make a bid for a World Series  They finished without coming close to any of the aforementioned accolades.  Was it disappointment or just an erred diagnosis? Felix Hernandez, Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager and Robinson Cano are legitimate superstars of the game, but the drop off after these four is rather concerning.  The offense lacks depth while the pitching rotation continues to disappoint behind Felix Hernandez.  Taijuan Walker and James Paxton have not come close to tapping any sort of potential which has been nothing but detrimental to the overall success of this club. With that said about the starting rotation, the bullpen isn't strong enough to pick up their pieces. The Mariners will once again disappoint any of those who stand by their predictions a season ago claiming 2015 was only an aberration. 

NL West

1st - San Francisco Giants

Even year aside, this Giants teams has been retooled and is primed to make another run at a World Series, which would become their 4th championship in the last 6 seasons.  With the acquisition of Johnny Cueto, the Giants now possess one of the best 1-2 punches in baseball, which more importantly changes their dynamic in the division especially with their hated rivals, the Dodgers who no longer have their 1-2 punch of Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke in tact, as Greinke went to the Diamondbacks in the off-season.  Jake Peavy, Jeff Smardijza, and Chris Heston will combine to make this staff extremely dangerous over the long season.  Matt Cain's health makes the former ace a wild card for the staff, but if he can recover any sort of semblance of success from his past, then this rotation will be even scarier.  The bullpen may not be as formidable as it once was, but it still has plenty of depth for skipper Bruce Bochy to mix and match depending on the situation.   The offense will compliment the pitching nicely.  No one will overwhelm opposing arms with power or speed, but the lineup is full of professional hitters.  Even the younger position players (Joe Panik and Matt Duffy) seem to play with advanced baseball savvy and aptitude.  The acquisition of  Denard Span does help a bit with speed both on the base paths and in the outfield, plus he gives the Giants a contingency plan in case Angel Pagan struggles with nagging injuries again. The biggest strength of these Giants is the plethora of leadership that exists in the clubhouse from the MVP-caliber Buster Posey to the exuberant Hunter Pence to the somber Brandon Belt to the stoic Madison Bumgarner to the tenured Javier Lopez. Of course, future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy is the ultimate leader of this team that will bid for yet another championship.

2nd - Los Angeles Dodgers

 

The Dodgers will be the most interesting team to watch in 2016, mainly in regards to team culture.  The enigmatic personalities and story-lines will be constant headliners throughout the season and will ultimately be the demise of their campaign to make a real bid for a World Series appearance.  The Dodgers have put together a roster with the kind of depth that can be deceptively detrimental to a ball club.  There's almost too much veteran depth on the team where it will most likely leave someone unhappy from lack of playing time.   Platoon examples of this idea come in the form of Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford in left field and Howie Kendrick and Chase Utley at second base.  Then of course there's Yasiel Puig who always seems to add his own unique element of dysfunction to the clubhouse.  Even with these cultural shortcomings. the Dodgers will be in the picture to contend for the division.  There's just too much talent here for the Dodgers not to be a thorn in the side of the Giants. Clayton Kershaw is one of the best pitchers in the game.  Adrian Gonzalez can be considered the best veteran pure hitter in the game.  The youth on this team has a lot of upside from Joc Peterson to Corey Seager.  Kenley Jansen has become a legitimate shut down closer.  Japanese import Kenta Maeda's potential in the majors will be compelling as well. Even with the Diamondbacks beefing up their roster in the off-season, there still isn't much competition in the division other than the Giants, so even though new manager Dave Roberts will be dealing with plenty of internal politics, the Dodgers should contend for the division.

3rd - Arizona Diamondbacks

 

The Diamondbacks have some pretty impressive pieces on their roster.  Paul Goldschmidt has become a proven superstar.  Late bloomers A.J. Pollock and David Peralta broke out last season showing off how capably productive they can be.  To a lesser extent, Yasmany Tomas flashed proof of his potential.  

The D'backs of course acquired Zach Greinke in the off-season to give themselves a bona fide ace on their rotation.  Unfortunately, the positives stop there.  Newly acquired Jean Segura will be manning short stop coming off of back to back extremely disappointing seasons.  The rotation behind Greinke is extremely over valued with Shelby Miller coming over in a trade from the Braves in what many would say was a horrible deal for the D'Backs.  Brad Zeigler owns the closer role for now after coming off of a career year in 2015.  There's no certainty that the 36 year old can repeat that success.  There's just too many question marks on this team to predict them to be in the mix with the Dodgers and Giants throughout the season. 

4th - Colorado Rockies

 

The Rockies lack pitching. This has been the ongoing theme for this franchise since it's inception in 1993. There's no one in either the rotation or in the bullpen worth discussing.  The only factor keeping these Rockies out of the basement can really be hedged on just one man, Nolan Arenado.  Arenado is one of the best all- around players in the league. Not only does his mile high, air-induced offensive stats put him among the best, but his defensive prowess is high caliber as well.   Carlos Gonzalez can be a huge factor as well, but that all depends on his ability to stay on the field.  The era of those Rockies that made late season playoff pushes and surprised unsuspecting division rivals is over.  These Rockies are destined for mediocrity in 2016.

5th  - San Diego Padres

The Padres are coming off a payroll spiked failed experiment in 2015, where they acquired the likes of Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel, and James Shields. Kimbrel and Upton have since departed leaving what was thought to be a promising roster, in limbo.  Matt Kemp is nothing but a shadow of his former self.  "Big Game James" at 34 has passed him prime.  The rest of the roster seems to be riddled with cast aways from Derek Norris to Jon Jay to Wil Myers to Alexei Ramirez to Fernando Rodney.  This franchise attempted to emulate the big market cultures of teams such as the Yankees and Dodgers, but failed miserable (also see 2012 Marlins).  This team's direction needs to point towards pitching . The ballpark was built for it.  The staff can be prudent in 2016, but will not suffice in carrying the team in any sort of the capacity.  The offense and bullpen will weigh heavily on this team resulting in a last place finish. 



Resources:

<rotowire.com>

<baseball-reference.com>

<mlb.com>
 

 Image Resources:

Carlos Correa: <http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/sports/2015-06-09/372c4030-0e69-11e5-bf27-a76cd125f4df_AP543657940732.jpg>

Josh Reddick and Stephen Vogt: <http://images.performgroup.com/di/library/sporting_news/58/23/vogt-reddick-ftr-0529-gijpg_63jdiauf4wl11042jdg7pij63.jpg?t=-1599828531>

Robinson Cano: <http://cdn.nextimpulsesports.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cano.jpg>

Johnny Cueto: <http://lubbockonline.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/14979196.jpg>

A.J. Pollack: <http://wtop.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Diamondbacks-Pollock-Baseball-1862x1254.jpeg>

Matt Kemp: <http://cdn.sandiegouniontrib.com/img/photos/2015/09/30/hppadresa345158x003_r900x493.jpg?122770e84b36f1c039d5c4c2ca15c2d8bc4ecd52>