He'll also be a key catalyst for the Toronto Blue Jays, who will have a chance to give opposing pitchers fits once all their pieces are in place. The San Diego Padres' aggressive approach to rebuilding their starting rotation this offseason likely means MacKenzie Gore will spend another year honing his craft in the minors.
With four above-average pitches, plus command and deceptive mechanics, Gore has been on another level. In , he posted a 1. The 6'3" right-hander logged a 1. He then ripped off three straight scoreless starts in the playoffs, ending his first postseason run with a 0. The league will adjust, but Anderson has the stuff and poise to continue to dominate for the next decade atop a staff that is still taking shape.
Relative to the otherworldly expectations heaped on him when he made his MLB debut shortly after his 20th birthday in , Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Get ready for the " best shape of his life " stories in spring training, and with more experience under his belt, he has nowhere to go but up. He has the ability to develop into a Miguel Cabrera-type force who hits for average and power while contending for MVP Awards. The consensus No. Players his age simply don't have the type of offensive approach he showed while splitting the season between Single-A and High-A as an year-old.
The Rays have no reason to rush him with Brandon Lowe and Willy Adames occupying the middle infield spots, and there are several other quality middle infield prospects in their pipeline who are ahead of Franco in terms of development. Once he arrives, he will work toward unseating Evan Longoria as the best homegrown hitter in franchise history.
In , Alex Bregman hit. His home-road splits speak to a hitter who is capable of doing damage regardless of the circumstances:. He slumped during the shortened season, but his age, track record and extremely disciplined approach bode well for his chances to rebound in and remain an elite hitter in the years to come. Since Francisco Lindor debuted midway through the season, only Mike Trout He already has a strong case as one of the most well-rounded shortstops in MLB history.
Will the New York Mets be able to come to terms with him on an extension similar to what the Los Angeles Dodgers and Betts agreed on after Betts was traded in February, or will Lindor hit the open market next offseason?
Shane Bieber was a fourth-round pick in the draft and never appeared on a Baseball America Top prospect list before reaching the majors in His rapid ascent from No. He went with a 1. Luis Robert has the ability to be a superstar for a long time, but the way he ended the season is at least a reason to pause. He's too talented not to rebound, and he may be in the running for the No. After suffering from blisters for much of the regular season, Walker Buehler showed why he is the most promising young starter in the game during an impressive postseason run.
In five playoff starts, he went with a 1. Clayton Kershaw has passed Buehler the torch, and Buehler similarly checks all the boxes to win multiple Cy Young Awards. The back end of that deal could be messy, but he should still be one of the game's marquee players five years from now, as he handled the transition to another team and another league seamlessly last season.
Expect more of the same for the foreseeable future. Consider me sold on Adley Rutschman's living up to the hype of being the No. The switch-hitter batted an absurd. The money, however, will be there. The Colorado Rockies third baseman has won a Gold Glove in each of his six big league campaigns.
He's also hit at least 37 home runs and driven in at least runs in each of the last four seasons. Even adjusting for the Coors Field bump, that's impressive. If you like wins above replacement, no player has produced more than Arenado Assuming the Rockies don't blow him away with a gaudy extension offer, Arenado will be the most coveted free agent of the offseason.
Now, let's consider some in-house candidates. Meaning, players who are in their arbitration years or about to enter them who deserve big-time extensions. As he embarks on his age season, Lindor has already snagged a Gold Glove for his slick play at shortstop and finished in the top 10 in American League MVP voting each of the last three seasons. In , he posted career bests in home runs 38 , stolen bases 25 and OPS.
Cleveland isn't in the business of handing out megadeals, but Lindor is a generational talent at a premium position and just entering his prime. Rather than pay through the nose during his arbitration years and then watch him walk via free agency in , the Indians should open their wallet and lock him up now.
If Javier Baez keeps producing the way he did last season, the Chicago Cubs will be obligated to offer him a huge extension. That'll be a nice bargain for the Cubbies in If Baez replicates those numbers, however, Chicago will be all but forced to buy out his remaining arbitration years and beyond or risk losing a rising superstar to free agency in Yes, Bryant dinged his stock in an injury-shortened season, during which he posted career lows in batting average.
And if an. It might seem like a lot for the Cubs to commit megadeals to Bryant and Baez, and it's possible they'll have to make the mother of all tough choices. But that's the price you pay, quite literally, to retain top-shelf talent. After clubbing 52 home runs in and winning AL Rookie of the Year honors, Aaron Judge essentially had nowhere to go but down. And the Yankees slugger did dip a bit, as a fractured wrist limited him to games. Still, Judge finished with a. I don't care.
The Dodgers are the best team by a fairly reasonable margin, and the best team is the right pick for World Series champion for more picks from Jeff Passan, check out his 20 Questions ahead of the season. It's their turn. The Yankees have built a powerhouse AL team, but various injuries and other factors have derailed their chances in recent years.
Yes, the pesky Rays are one of those factors but their loss of Blake Snell and the comeback season for Corey Kluber in New York will be difference-makers this year. As for October, who's better and more experienced in the AL? At a time when most teams seem to be trying to cut payroll, San Diego went out and added a lot of top-tier talent this offseason, highlighted by Blake Snell and Yu Darvish. I think the Dodgers are going to top the Padres in the division during the regular season, but the nature of the postseason often creates chaos.
While the Dodgers are more talented on paper, this young Padres team has an exciting mix of rising stars and veterans with formidable playoff experience and can make another leap after reaching the postseason in I'll preface this by pointing out that last year I had Dodgers over the Rays in six in spring training, Dodgers over Rays in six in July, and Dodgers over Rays in six at the start of the postseason.
So listen up, my friends, the Mets are going all the way. The primary reason: This will be the Year of Jacob deGrom. He will dominate in the regular season. He will dominate in the playoffs. He will dominate in the World Series. The Mets will score runs with that offense, they get Noah Syndergaard back in the second half, they have one of the best players in the game in Francisco Lindor and they have the resources to add at the trade deadline. Picking the Dodgers? Picking the Mets?
American League: Mike Trout 22 votes. I know it's boring to say, "Because he's the best player in baseball and has been for a while," but it's still the truth.
I don't love picking chalk on all of my preseason predictions, but I'm fine doing this until he's not the best player, which very well could be the case by the end of this season.
Predicting when the Angels make the playoffs again? I feel fine betting against that until it happens. Tim Anderson. I expect the White Sox to be this year's version of the Padres, an incredibly young and exciting team that makes the leap into serious World Series contender. For all of the exciting talent on this team, including Lucas Giolito and Luis Robert , Anderson represents the heart and soul of the fun-loving South Side squad.
The year-old native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has been slowly rising up the ranks of the best players in the sport, hitting. National League: Juan Soto Also receiving votes: Ronald Acuna Jr. Ronald Acuna Jr. And ultimately Acuna -- the elder statesman at 23 years old -- will be the one who separates himself, if only slightly. Over the past three years, only seven National League position players have accumulated more FanGraphs wins above replacement.
Last year, only five of them had a higher weighted runs created plus. This year, Acuna will take another big leap forward on a Braves team that might be the sport's best outside of the Dodgers. With apologies to Gerrit Cole , Shane Bieber and a couple of others, he's the best pitcher in the game -- the perfect modern starter, mixing high-octane velocity he hit in spring training with excellent command of four pitches. Batters have hit. The Mets will finally give him the run support that he's missed in recent seasons, so I see 20 wins with an ERA around 2.
If the Mets win the division, that will help his case.
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