MLB: Very Early 2017 Playoff Predictions

NL West

1) Los Angeles Dodgers

2) San Francisco Giants

3) Colorado Rockies

4) Arizona Diamondbacks

5) San Diego Padres

For the fifth consecutive year, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be crowned NL West champs. Los Angeles is the only team with an active streak over two and are likely to continue their dominance. As for October, well, that is not being discussed. But the Dodgers seem to make some sort of move every offseason to ensure their playoff inclusion. Expect that trend to continue, as they have been rumored to get nearly every second baseman on the trade market. With the best pitcher on the planet, the Dodgers should find themselves NL West champions yet again.

The San Francisco Giants will fail to reach the postseason, continuing their drought of missing out of odd-year Octobers. The Giants bullpen is a disaster and it seems like the big three closers all have different agendas. San Francisco will be good, don’t get me wrong, but their second half collapse last season only shows the lack of consistency they have. I just see other teams edging out the Giants for the Wild Card spots.

As for the rest of the division, the standings likely will remain the same. The Dodgers and Giants continue to get better while the bottom three remain neutral. San Diego and Arizona have attempted big offseasons, but both attempts were busts. However, the Colorado Rockies have one of the best hitting quartets in baseball. Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu, Carlos Gonzalez, and Trevor Story combine for insane numbers. Those bats in that ballpark may see them as dark horses for playoff contention.