2019 Predictions

It's a little late, I know, but I thought I'd chime in with my 2019 predictions, which I guarantee will be wrong. But what's baseball without some speculation? I'm going with my gut on these, so these predictions will be a testament to my gut's value.

Regular Season Standings:

AL West

Houston Astros
Los Angeles Angels
Oakland Athletics
Texas Rangers
Seattle Mariners

AL Central

Cleveland Indians
Minnesota Twins
Chicago White Sox
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals

AL East

New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox*
Tampa Bay Rays*
Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles

NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Francisco Giants

NL Central

St. Louis Cardinals
Chicago Cubs*
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
Cincinnati Reds

NL East

Atlanta Braves
Washington Nationals*
Philadelphia Phillies
New York Mets
Miami Marlins


Playoffs:

Wild Card games:

Nationals over Cubs
Red Sox over Rays

Division Series:

Dodgers over Nationals
Cardinals over Braves
Astros over Red Sox
Yankees over Indians

League Championship Series:

Cardinals over Dodgers
Yankees over Astros

World Series: 

Yankees over Cardinals


Come on, you really think we're going to get out of this decade without getting stuck seeing the Yankees in the World Series? It's been 100 years since the Yankees completed a calendar decade without a World Series appearance, so the odds are good that this is the year the current crew finally gets their coronation. Borderline Hall of Famer CC Sabathia will get to ride into the sunset a champion, former small-market star Troy Tulowitzki will show the world that that the big city is where it's really at if you want a ring, and hot young stars like Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino, Miguel Andujar, and Gleyber Torres will be seen as the building blocks of a new Yankee dynasty, all of whom are destined to have their numbers retired. And losing with class will be the National League's grandest franchise, the St. Louis Cardinals, who do everything the right way, including applauding their opponents as they lose to them. The media will talk about how baseball richly deserved such a beautiful ending to the 2010s. Oh, it'll be sickening.