2020 MLB Season: Full divisional, postseason, and award predictions

A 60-game season sprint means anything can happen. Here are my 2020 MLB season predictions.

The 2020 MLB season is almost here! It all kicks off with a doubleheader on ESPN starting with Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees taking on Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals before Mookie Betts makes his regular-season Dodgers debut at home against the San Francisco Giants.

The Friday slate of Opening Day games features heavyweight matchups including Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets hosting Ronald Acuna Jr. and the Atlanta Braves, Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers head to Wrigley Field to open up their season against the Chicago Cubs, and star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. kicks off his second season against Madison Bumgarner and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Petco Park.

But before we get there, we predict all of the division winners, the full postseason picture, and guess who will take home the coronavirus awards (Manager of the Year, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, and MVPs).

Let’s start with how all six divisions will shake out…

American League East

At the beginning of the off-season, the New York Yankees were already going to be one of the favorites in the American League, but then they turned into the clear-cut favorites after signing Gerrit Cole.

Cole is going to be leading a rotation that’s very strong even without Luis Severino (Tommy John surgery) and Domingo German. James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and Jordan Montgomery will round out the rotation before handing it off to a bullpen that brings back a lot of firepower that includes the likes of Adam Ottavino, Zack Britton, and Aroldis Chapman.

The lineup will yet again hit a lot of home runs, as Gleyber Torres, Giancarlo Stanton, and Aaron Judge are just some of the bombers in their deep lineup.

The Yankees are the best team set up to deal with a short 2020 MLB season and the uncertainty with the coronavirus due to their depth in all areas of the team, so they should win the AL East pretty easily.

The Rays are always the team that doesn’t have many big names in their lineup but they always seem to be in the postseason come the month of October.

Austin Meadows has recently tested positive for the virus so that will be a set back for Tampa at least at the beginning of the season, but they still have plenty of firepower in the lineup to stay afloat.

Erik Neander brought in more power this offseason including Hunter Renfroe, Jose Martinez, and Yoshitomo Tsutsugo. The rotation led by Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow will keep the Rays in the playoff picture the entire season and the bullpen is pretty much the same minus Emilio Pagan, who was traded to San Diego for Manuel Margot.

Don’t expect the Rays to not be playing meaningful baseball at the end of September.

The Red Sox are going to take a step back this year, as they traded their best player, Mookie Betts, to the Los Angeles Dodgers. But it doesn’t just end there.

They will be without their top two starting pitchers from last season–Chris Sale had Tommy John surgery and David Price was traded to the Dodgers–which leaves the rotation very depleted.

Nathan Eovaldi is their Opening Day starter after Eduardo Rodriguez just started getting on the field after testing positive for COVID-19.

The rest of the rotation is less than desirable, as Martin Perez, Ryan Weber, Brian Johnson, and an opener will pitch in games 2, 3, 4, and 5 following Boston’s Opening Day game against the Baltimore Orioles.

Their lineup is still their strong suit with plenty of home run hitters including Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, and Alex Verdugo.

It could be a long year for the Sox if the rotation can’t keep them in games.

Toronto will not be playing their games at Rogers Centre after their government denied their request to play 2020 MLB season games there during the pandemic.

But wherever they end up playing, their young stars will carry the offense this year. Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, and now first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be at the top of a very underrated lineup. Ross Atkins was able to bring in Hyun-Jin Ryu in free agency to be their ace followed by a few established starters including Chase Anderson and Tanner Roark.

This year is a perfect situation for Toronto to find find out what they have in their youngsters and keep developing Vlad Jr. at a new position.

The Orioles have continued to stockpile their farm system, bringing in Adley Rutschmann and Heston Kjerstad the last two drafts, but it will be another year of rebuilding for a young Baltimore club that will be without their best player, Trey Mancini, due to cancer.

A big question for Baltimore is to see if Chris Davis can finally cut down on the strikeouts after a couple of horrendous seasons.

John Means will be their ace and start on July 24 at Fenway Park vs the Boston Red Sox.

Let’s see how things shakeup in the American League Central for the 2020 MLB season.

The Minnesota Twins are a top-5 team in all of baseball, as they have one of the best lineups in the game featuring Nelson Cruz, Mitch Garver, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler, Eddie Rosario, and newly signed Josh Donaldson.

They upgraded their rotation, which kept them from winning a single game in the divisional round vs New York last October.

Jake Odorizzi accepted the qualifying offer this year to go back into the market when the starting pitching wasn’t as deep, and they traded for Kenta Maeda in addition to signing Homer Bailey and Rich Hill.

The Twins are too talented for any other AL Central team to come up and take the division away from them, but we will see if they can finally get far in the postseason.

Some might have thought that the Cleveland Indians would be in second place, but the Chicago White Sox seriously revamped their squad and are looking to open their window of contention for the 2020 MLB season.

Not only did they sign Yasmani Grandal, Edwin Encarnacion, and acquire Nomar Mazara to deepen their lineup, but they also signed Dallas Keuchel to pair with their ace Lucas Giolito and bring in Gio Gonzalez to jump into the back end of the rotation.

Tim Anderson, the 2019 AL batting champion, will need to produce again this season if the White Sox want to be in the postseason after 60 games.

Playing the NL and AL Central will certainly help them, as they will get to play three of the worst teams in baseball–the Tigers, Royals, and Pirates in 24 of their 60 games.

The Cleveland Indians didn’t do as much as the White Sox did this winter and what they did do was trade Corey Kluber, which isn’t getting talked about as much as it should be.

With that said, their rotation is still solid with Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, and Carlos Carrasco at the top.

I would be concerned with their lineup production because other than Carlos Santana, Francisco Lindor, and Franmil Reyes, there isn’t much there.

You could say Jose Ramirez but he hasn’t been himself since he finished in the top five of the AL MVP voting a few years back.

They should be in contention for the second Wild Card spot come September, but they seem to be a team that will just miss the playoffs in such a short season.

The Royals are another interesting team because as we all know, anything can happen in a 60-game 2020 MLB season. But with that said, they have a lot of young talent with a new manager (Mike Matheny), so it isn’t hard to imagine that there will be some kinks to work out.

Their pitching doesn’t help their cause in terms of making any run for October, as Brad Keller and Danny Duffy are their two best starting pitchers.

Ian Kennedy, a former starter, is now their closer and he is reaching the end of his career. They seem to be loading up on young power hitters as Franchy Cordero was just recently acquired to join a lineup that includes their leader Whit Merrifield, Jorge Soler, Salvador Perez, and Hunter Dozier.

Spencer Torkelson is going to impact the Detroit Tigers at some point in a very big way, but it isn’t going to be this year.

Miguel Cabrera is the only name casual baseball fans would know if you showed them Detroit’s lineup and Michael Fulmer seems to be in better shape as he tries to pitch the whole season.

Even though there is a mix of seasoned veterans like Cameron Maybin, C.J. Cron, Jonathan Schoop, and Jordy Mercer they just don’t have the talent to compete with the Twins, White Sox, and Indians.

Is the 2020 MLB season the year of Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels?

Yes, there will not be any trash cans to help the Houston Astros out during the 2020 MLB season, but this lineup is still easily the best in the American League West.

Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Michael Brantley will be providing the power this season in Dusty Baker’s lineup, but we know they will produce.

The starting pitching is the big question mark in terms of how far they can make it into October.

The last sight that Astros fans got to see last season was Gerrit Cole sitting in the bullpen in Game 7 of the World Series while the Washington Nationals celebrated in their own field.

Now Cole is in the Bronx and Justin Verlander is back to being their best pitcher.

Verlander and Zack Greinke are not the young spring chickens they used to be and nobody knows how Lance McCullers Jr. is going to pitch after coming back from injury.

The Astros have plenty of talent even without Cole to take the AL West yet again, but we have to wait and see if they have enough to beat the Yankees.

Just like the Rays, Bob Melvin and the Oakland A’s are always in contention despite not having a huge payroll like the other large-market teams.

Their pitching should improve this season with young guns like Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk being in the starting rotation.

But what will carry the club this season will be their offense. Marcus Semien nearly won the MVP last season at shortstop, and the two Matt’s–Matt Chapman and Matt Olson–were pillars in their lineup.

Khris Davis is their x-factor for the 2020 MLB season because in 2019 he struggled with his power, so if he can get back to hitting a bunch of home runs as he did in 2018, the A’s will be playing in October yet again and might get past the Wild Card.

A lot of readers might expect to see Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels in the third spot, but they don’t have the pitching that the Rangers have.

Texas would have been set up pretty good if they just would’ve stuck with Mike Minor and Lance Lynn at the top of the rotation but GM Jon Daniels went out and acquired Corey Kluber, Kyle Gibson, and Jordan Lyles to put the Rangers in a position to stay in ball games every single day.

Robinson Chirinos has returned to be their catcher and Todd Frazier has been added to their lineup as their third baseman. Add him to Joey Gallo and Elvis Andrus and you have a decent lineup.

Again their starting pitching is going to be the key this year but if they get anything more than they expect from the offense, they could surprise some people.

The Angels have the best player in all of baseball and then added Anthony Rendon to a long seven-year deal. Shohei Ohtani is back from Tommy John surgery as a pitcher once a week and then a DH the rest of the time, but their problem is the same problem it has been for the last few years–the pitching.

Andrew Heaney is going to be their “ace” this season followed by two guys that haven’t been great the last few years in Julio Teheran and Dylan Bundy.

Teheran lost more games than he won in 2019, leading the league in hit batters while Bundy led the league in home runs given up just two years back.

Their lineup is pretty star-studded–Trout, Rendon, Ohtani, Albert Pujols, Justin Upton, and Andrelton Simmons–but their pitching is definitely not. Joe Maddon will need to work his magic if the Angels want to reach October for the first time since 2014.

The Seattle Mariners always seem to get off to a hot start and so you might be seeing them near the top of the division at the beginning of the year, but they always fall off and I don’t expect any difference this year.

GM Jerry Dipoto has set up his club to be in a position to win in the future. Justus Sheffield was acquired from the Yankees, Jered Kelenic was brought in when they shipped Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano to the Mets in what turned out to be a very lopsided traded in Seattle’s favor, and Kyle Lewis has a very bright future.

But in terms of this season, all signs point to them being at the bottom of the AL West with Scott Servais using this year as a developmental two-month season for all of the young players that will get an opportunity to show what they can do.

Marco Gonzales will be the team’s Opening Day starter vs the Astros on July 24.

Can Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals repeat in the 2020 MLB season?

The Atlanta Braves might have the best roster on paper in the NL East but the Washington Nationals are the best team set up to win the East in a 60-game 2020 MLB season.

Losing Anthony Rendon is a big loss but Carter Kieboom is the real deal and people in Washington believe he can be their long term answer at third base. Don’t forget that Juan Soto, Howie Kendrick, Victor Robles, Trea Turner, and Adam Eaton are all still in Davey Martinez’s lineup so runs will be manufactured.

While most teams suffer from a ‘World Series Hangover’, that shouldn’t happen in the nation’s capital because their starting rotation got an extra three months rest and so they should be ready for a three month season (including October).

Playing the NL East and AL East is not the easiest schedule but having Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin in their rotation will certainly help them.

I am a believer in the New York Mets this year.

They have a pretty balanced rotation led by Jacob deGrom–the best pitcher in the National League right now–followed by Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz, Michael Wacha, and Rick Porcello.

The Nats rotation is still stronger than the Mets so they get the edge in the division.

Their bullpen should be the second-best in the National League behind San Diego if Dellin Betances, Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, and Seth Lugo can pitch the way we all know they can.

And they have one of the most talented lineups in the game including names like Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, Yoenis Cespedes, Robinson Cano, J.D. Davis, Wilson Ramos.

The health of Cespedes is a big factor as to why the Mets should contend this season. He is finally back and should DH the majority of the season, and everyone knows as long as he’s healthy then his power will come with him.

Luis Rojas has a very balanced team this season so as long as the Mets get out to a strong start then they will be in the playoffs.

The Atlanta Braves might be the division winner for many experts, but I don’t see it that way due to their battle with the coronavirus.

One of the most consistent players in the game, Nick Markakis, elected to opt-out of the 2020 MLB season after Freddie Freeman got kicked around during his bout with the virus.

Freeman is just getting back on the field so I’m sure he lost some weight during the time he was quarantined and a big question mark is how ready he will be when the season starts on Friday at Citi Field vs the Mets.

Their closer, Will Smith, has not returned from testing positive so that’s another big hole.

Yasiel Puig was supposed to fill Markakis’ void in the lineup, but he also tested positive so he will not be signing a contract with Atlanta, as of now.

While Mike Soroka, Max Fried, and Mike Foltynewicz are a good 1-2-3 punch, it isn’t as strong as the Nationals and Mets top of the rotation. Their projected 4th starter, Cole Hamels, is not going to be ready to go for the start of the season so Kyle Wright and Sean Newcomb will need to step up.

The Phillies are probably the strongest fourth-place team out there and deservedly so.

Joe Girardi their new manager and brought in Didi Gregorius on a one-year deal to be Philadelphia’s shortstop.

J.T. Realmuto is behind the plate looking for an extension before the end of the season, and he’s joined at the top of the lineup by a healthy Andrew McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins, and Bryce Harper.

GM Matt Klentak addressed the rotation, as he signed Zack Wheeler to be the team’s second starter behind Aaron Nola and in front of Jake Arrieta.

But with that said, the bullpen is what is going to prevent them from making the postseason.

Jose Alvarez, Adam Morgan, and Hector Neris figure to be Girardi’s 7-8-9 combination at the back end of games, which certainly isn’t strong by any means, especially considering their rivals inside the division have much more qualified guys like Sean Doolittle/Daniel Hudson (Washington), Dellin Betances/Edwin Diaz (New York), and Mark Melancon/Will Smith (Atlanta).

While anything can happen in a two month season, the Miami Marlins are going to be at the back of the pack again in 2020.

Derek Jeter and Co. did improve the team by adding Jonathan Villar, Corey Dickerson, and Jesus Aguilar, there’s still too many young and developing players that are getting playing time.

Brandon Kintzler and Ryne Stanek are the only recognizable names in the bullpen and Sandy Alcantara is the only real guarantee in the rotation to give Don Mattingly quality innings.

Can the Chicago Cubs return to prominence in the Central in the 2020 MLB season?

I know that there are many other teams in this division that have been in the postseason more recently than the Reds, as they haven’t reached October since 2013 when they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL Wild card Game.

But, the Cincinnati Reds have done enough to be a division winner in a situation like this. Their bullpen is probably the most underrated bullpens in the game. Raisel Iglesias, Amir Garrett, Pedro Strop, and Michael Lorenzen will be at the back of the bullpen, and Lorenzen is a two-way player which makes him more valuable to David Bell.

They have the best starting rotation in the NL Central with Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer, Wade Miley, and Anthony DeSclafani. Being five guys deep will keep their revamped offense in games.

Joey Votto looks like he’s in great shape, and you can add him to a top of the lineup that includes Eugenio Suarez, Mike Moustakas, and Nicholas Castellanos.

Being able to put Castellanos in the DH spot is going to make them that much better defensively in the outfield, as the Reds signed him because of what he brings to the table offensively.

The Cubs had a disappointing end to last season that included letting go of their 2016 World Series manager Joe Maddon. They brought in fan-favorite David Ross to be their skipper to try to bring more accountability to the clubhouse.

Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, and Anthony Rizzo are still in their lineup with Kyle Schwarber getting to slip into the DH spot so he can focus only on hitting.

What concerns me is Rizzo is already dealing with an ailing back issue, which happens every season around this time but if his back limits him from impacting the team offensively at the beginning of the season, that’s going to be a problem.

The starting rotation is a big question mark, and it is partly going to decide whether or not the Cubs make the postseason.

Kyle Hendricks is getting the Opening Day nod and Jon Lester is going to be fine, but Jose Quintana has already hurt his hand while washing dishes and Yu Darvish hasn’t really lived up to his contract that he signed following the 2017 season.

After being an All-Star in 2017, he followed it up with a season that abruptly ended after he suffered an elbow injury and then in 2019 he led the league with home runs given up (33).

Craig Kimbrel signed a deal with Chicago prior to last season, but got hit hard and so the only way I see the Cubs being in contention is if he can get his fastball back.

There are a lot of question marks with this team, but if answered they can be a playoff team.

The Milwaukee Brewers are going to contend for the division just like the Reds, Cubs, and Cardinals will, and Christian Yelich coming back from injury is a huge part of it.

Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, will provide a huge boost to a lineup that lost Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal. Who knows what they could’ve done if Yelich was in the lineup in the 2019 NL Wild Card game vs the Nationals.

The weakness for Milwaukee is going to be their pitching. Craig Counsell likes Brandon Woodruff but he isn’t a true ace. The rest of the rotation isn’t strong–Adrian Houser, Brett Anderson, Josh Lindblom, Eric Lauer, and Brent Suter are their main options.

A big storyline is going to be how frequent Josh Hader will be used at the back of the bullpen when it is just a 60-game 2020 MLB season. He could take on a 2016 Andrew Miller type role because Milwaukee doesn’t really need to save him for later in the season.

The big key for the Cardinals this season is they need their stars to be stars because every game matters.

Jack Flaherty is going to need to pitch as he did in the second half of the season for the Cards to have a chance at the division because Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson are up and down at times.

Paul Goldschmidt and Matt Carpenter are the two guys to watch for this team. Carpenter might be able to flourish on offense if he gets the majority of his at-bats in the DH spot. Goldschmidt is going to be what makes this team go.

He signed an extension before playing a single game for St. Louis after he was traded from Arizona and perhaps the expectations got to him.

Don’t let the 4 next to their name fool you. This division is deep and is going to be close so expect this team to be in contention late in the season.

The Pirates has a rough season last year, firing their manager Clint Hurdle and then their GM Neal Huntington. Sorry Pirates fans, it is going to be another rough year.

Ben Cherington is known for building his organization from the ground up and so it isn’t mind-boggling to see that there isn’t a lot of ‘star’ players on the major league roster.

Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds will be leading the offense and Joe Musgrove gets the Opening Day nod on July 24th against St. Louis.

Gregory Polanco, one of their established starters, tested positive for the coronavirus which challenges their depth even more.

Is the 2020 MLB Season finally the year of the Los Angeles Dodgers?

Not a surprise here with the Los Angeles Dodgers finishing in first place in the NL West for the eighth consecutive season.

They made it to the World Series back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018 and then won 106 games last year. If that wasn’t already good enough they added the second-best player in the world, Mookie Betts, to an outfield that already includes the reigning MVP, Cody Bellinger.

Dave Roberts arguably have the deepest lineup in Major League Baseball with Betts and Bellinger being surrounded by All-Stars and MVP candidates like Justin Turner, Max Muncy, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, and Gavin Lux.

The rotation is going to be solid once again this season with Clayton Kershaw starting on Opening Night vs the San Francisco Giants and Walker Buehler starting Game 2.

The loss of David Price is going to hurt them more than people think when the postseason comes, but they should be able to still thrive with Julio Urias, Ross Stripling, and Dustin May at the back end of the rotation.

This team has more pressure on them in a 60-game 2020 MLB season than they would have had in a 162-game season because they cannot afford to get out to a slow start because then they’ll be behind the 8-ball wherein a regular-season they would’ve had time to come back and climb back up in the standings.

The addition of Mookie Betts adds to the pressure I just mentioned because Andrew Friedman adding him for only one season until he hits the market means that this year the Dodgers have to win it all or else the season is a failure.

The reason I said that the Dodgers can’t get out to a slow start is because of this team. The Padres are used to losing to the Dodgers all of the time, but this season it is going to change.

Chris Paddack is entering his second season at the top of the Padres rotation, as he will take the ball on the 24th vs Arizona at Petco Park. The rotation is much better than people think as Dinelson Lamet and Garrett Richards are coming back strong from Tommy John surgery, and Zach Davies will give manager Jayce Tingler innings.

The Padres have a chance to upset the Dodgers because they have the best bullpen in the National League headlined by All-Star closer Kirby Yates, Drew Pomeranz, Emilio Pagan, and Craig Stammen.

Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado are going to be better offensively than they were last season, and Tommy Pham is going to be a huge piece in that lineup.

And of course, you can’t talk about the Padres and not talk about star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. I was someone who thought he would’ve won the Rookie of the Year over Pete Alonso if he would have stayed healthy all of last season due to the fact he is a much better all-around player.

At the top of the lineup, look for Tatis to score a lot of runs for San Diego and cause some commotion atop the NL West. The gap between the Dodgers and the Padres is inching closer and closer together so watch out for the Friars in 2020.

The Diamondbacks are also a team that will push the Dodgers to their limits this season.

Even after trading away their two best players, Paul Goldschmidt and Zack Greinke, Arizona was still able to win 85 games in 2019 and stay in the Wild Card race.

GM Mike Hazen had a great offseason, as he was able to swing a trade for Starling Marte to pair him with Ketel Marte in the middle of their lineup along with stunning the baseball world by signing Giants hero Madison Bumgarner to a five-year deal with $85 million.

Robbie Ray is still in the rotation and we saw what he could do a couple of years back when he was an All-Star in 2017. Luke Weaver and Zac Gallen are young and underrated starters that keep their club in ballgames every time they toe the rubber.

The bullpen isn’t too strong so that is what will hinder them this year, and ultimately that’s why they won’t be playing in October, but another huge reason why they’ll likely be behind Los Angeles and San Diego is just how competitive the Wild Card race is going to be.

The Nationals, Phillies, Braves, Mets, Cardinals, Cubs, Brewers, Reds, Padres, and Diamondbacks will be fighting for four spots (assuming LA gets the NL West), so there just isn’t much room for error in a 60-game 2020 MLB season.

The Colorado Rockies are a huge mystery this season and due to their pitching, they are fourth in the NL West.

Like I have mentioned numerous times already, we don’t know what is going to happen in a 60-game season and the talent that Colorado possesses makes them viable Wild Card contenders at least in the early part of the season.

Nolan Arenado is still in Denver despite his differences that he had with the Rockies organization this past winter. Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl will be hitting in front of him, which is good news for Rockies fans because they tend to get on base at a high rate.

Colorado is one of the teams that benefits most from the National League adding the designated hitter this season because Daniel Murphy is not a good fielder whatsoever, but he is a great hitter so he fits amazing in that spot.

Matt Kemp also could be an option at the DH position, as he recently signed with the club and Bud Black managed him when they were both apart of the San Diego Padres.

The rotation is a big x-factor as it always is because they play in Colorado with a high altitude.

German Marquez showed that he has ‘ace’ stuff on the mound but we’ll find out if he can do it again. Kyle Freeland was a great pitcher in 2018 but then hit absolute rock bottom in 2019, as he was actually sent down to the minor leagues at one point.

Jon Gray is nothing too special but he has always been consistent at home, especially against in-division teams.

Their bullpen experiment last season worked out horribly, as they tried to load up on bullpen help prior to last season. They signed Wade Davis and Bryan Shaw to close out games for them but playing in Denver isn’t the same as playing anywhere else so both pitchers struggled.

Shaw was released this past week and Davis is still the closer a year after he posted an 8.65 ERA.

Colorado has talent but it’s just a matter of stringing it all together.

I wanted to put the Giants in front of the Rockies but I just couldn’t find a valid reason to do so. The Giants are entering their first full season since 2010 without the successful combination of Bruce Bochy and Madison Bumgarner together, as Bochy retired after the 2019 season and Bumgarner signed with the rival Diamondbacks.

So in comes former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler to be the new Giants skipper as the organization starts a new era of Giants baseball with Farhan Zaidi as the President of Baseball Operations and Scott Harris as his general manager.

I was encouraged by what the team had going in such a short season, but injuries and opt-outs have derailed their plans.

Buster Posey, their Hall of Fame catcher, decided to opt-out of the 2020 MLB season partly because his two recently adopted daughters are premature so he wants to keep them safe (and rightfully so).

Two of their big pieces this year–third baseman Evan Longoria and first baseman Brandon Belt–might not be ready for their Opening Night game on Thursday vs the Dodgers because Longoria has an oblique strain and Belt has a sore heel.

There is uncertainty in the rotation, headlined by Opening Night starter Johnny Cueto who is coming back from Tommy John surgery.

The bullpen has lost Will Smith, who was their All-Star closer, so Tony Watson seems to fill that spot. The lineup is now filled with many older veterans that are past their prime years (Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Crawford, Hunter Pence) and young, unproven hitters (Mike Yastrzemski, Mauricio Dubon).

The San Francisco Giants are slowly transitioning out of their 2010s World Series era, and this year fans should just enjoy every win they get.

Who takes home the American League Awards for the 2020 MLB season?

Gerrit Cole is easily the best starting pitcher in the American League right now and he signed a 9-year, $324 million deal with the Yankees this winter.

When you have over $300 million in your pocket, you are going to have a lot of high expectations each and every time you take the hill but Cole is the perfect person to handle the expectations.

He has handled the media so well, and he was able to throw a lot during the break to stay ready for a short season. Therefore, I don’t see him struggling out of the gate, even in his first start on Opening Night against Juan Soto and the Nationals.

Cole finished last season by winning the last 15 regular-season games he pitched in and if it wasn’t for Verlander throwing a no-hitter he probably would have won the Cy Young.

In the last month of the season, all of his opponents will be non-playoff teams so there’s a big opportunity for him to rack up the strikeouts to help him secure his first of many Cy Young awards.

Luis Robert is a huge part of what the Chicago White Sox have going on the south side of Chicago, and he doesn’t have much competition for the AL ROY.

Some people have already started saying he is the next Mike Trout, and if his power tells you anything it’s that he is going to be special.

Last season in the minors, he hit .328 with 32 homers including a stretch with the Birmingham Barons where he hit 16 homers in 56 games.

If he can do that in Chicago he won’t just win the Rookie of the Year but he might give Mike Trout a run for the MVP.

This should just be named the Mike Trout award because he keeps winning it so even in a 60 game 2020 MLB season he shouldn’t have a problem hitting 15-20 home runs and drive in 60.

According to MLB.com, an average 60-game span for Trout looks like this: a batting average of .308, .424 on-base percentage, and 15 home runs.

The addition of Anthony Rendon (depending on where he is in the lineup) could create more offensive opportunities for Mike Trout, which will make it that much more fun to watch him on the West Coast every night.

Bob Melvin has been the manager of the Oakland Athletics for a long period of time, and he will be leading another young and talented team. Just like every year, they aren’t going to catch any of the headlines with the Astros and Mike Trout in their division but they’re going to win ballgames.

I have the A’s reaching the Wild Card game yet again and losing to Tampa because the Rays have deeper pitching but Melvin will deserve the award due to the unique circumstances.

His rotation isn’t Oakland’s strong suit but it is improving and Melvin will manage the bullpen well like he does every year. I am someone that believes the teams that continue to win at a high rate with the lower payrolls are the ones that deserve to have their managers rewarded and with the A’s it is no different.

Who takes home the National League Awards for the 2020 MLB season?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the World Series favorites according to many different experts and rightfully so, as they added Mookie Betts to a 106-win team. And if we are assuming the Dodgers make it far this season, then Walker Buehler would have pitched like an ace.

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David Price has opted out of the 2020 MLB season, which leaves Buehler and Clayton Kershaw as the two aces at the top of the rotation. Kershaw isn’t who he used to be and Buehler seems to be trending upward towards being the Dodgers ace (if he isn’t already).

Buehler has been very successful in his first two seasons, as in that timespan he had a lower ERA than Atlanta Braves Hall of Famer John Smoltz, more strikeouts than Jacob deGrom, a lower WHIP than Gerrit Cole, higher strikeout per nine (K/9) than Kershaw, and a better WAR than former Dodger Zack Greinke.

The main reason why I see Buehler winning over deGrom is that we don’t really know how healthy deGrom is after he exited from his last intrasquad start after one inning due to his back tightened up on him. deGrom says he’ll be ready for Opening Day on Friday vs the Atlanta Braves but the Mets said they are going to make sure he is 100%. The health of deGrom will be the determining factor if deGrom can stave off guys like Buehler, Jack Flaherty, and Max Scherzer for the Cy Young award.

Gavin Lux is the runaway favorite for the Rookie of the Year in the National League, and I don’t expect him to have much trouble winning it considering he’s going to be playing on the best team as their primary starting second baseman without much competition.

It seems to be a trend that Dodgers rookies don’t have much competition for the ROY, as Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger have been able to win it easily in past years.

Padres top prospect MacKenzie Gore is his main competition but he probably isn’t going to be in the rotation for the entire 60 games to build up his statistics while Lux will.

Another Dodger winning an end of the season award. Betts is the second-best player in all of baseball behind Mike Trout and now he doesn’t have to deal with him in the National League, so it is his award to lose in 2020.

There are plenty of players that could make a run for the award: Bellinger, Christian Yelich, Ronald Acuna Jr. Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, and of course Fernando Tatis Jr.

But, Betts has always been a consistent hitter at the plate and it shouldn’t change when he is leading off for Dave Roberts in a stacked lineup.

In Boston, Betts averaged more than 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 5.5 seasons there, so while he might not hit a lot of home runs in a two month season, his numbers are still going to be MVP worthy.

You could go a variety of ways in a very deep National League, but David Bell made the most sense because of the team’s recent lack of success.

The Reds haven’t made the postseason since 2013 when they lost the Wild Card Game. They’ve had six straight losing seasons including four of the last five seasons when they won less than 70 games.

But this winter everything changed. They added Wade Miley to a rotation that includes Sonny Gray, Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo, and Anthony DeSclafani and then added two heavy hitters–Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas–to a lineup that features Eugenio Suarez and Joey Votto.

Now, they sit as one of the favorites to win the Central as the division doesn’t have one great team, just three other good teams.

If the Reds make the postseason, and I think they will, then Bell should get the Manager of the Year because he would’ve been a big part of bringing October baseball back to Cincinnati for the first time since 2013.

Make sure to let me know @benfaddenmlb on Twitter who you think will win the World Series and who will take home the seasonal awards in a one-of-a-kind 60-game sprint!