It has been nearly three weeks into the MLB offseason, and big moves are already being made. There is likely to be a shift in the playoff picture.
It is late November, only three weeks removed from the World Series, and here I am already making MLB playoff predictions. These extremely early playoff predictions could shift with the way the offseason pans out, but it is already evident who are going to be buyers and who are going to be sellers. With these trends, I can formulate a very early playoff prediction and perhaps take a crack at the exact layout of the divisions at season’s end. If I’m right, I’ll look like a genius. If I’m wrong, then hey, it’s early.
Obviously, some teams will repeat and are easy picks (Cubs), while others are more dark horse choices. Regardless, some of these picks may surprise you, and others will be obvious. Trying to pick the rankings of the teams within the divisions poses difficult questions as well. There always seem to be clubs that are surprisingly bad, and decent teams that should have been horrible. It is always tricky to predict playoff teams, especially in November.
I am still going to take a crack at it, though. Granted, I can’t be too far off from what is actually going to happen. If big name free agents don’t go where I expect, these picks could be horribly wrong. Injuries, trades, and a plethora of other factors come into play on which clubs make October baseball. That is why these predictions can be a complete disaster. But if these predictions are correct, then you heard it here first! With all that being said, here are my very early playoff predictions for the 2017 MLB season.