Moving on to the NL Central:
In order for Milwaukee to threepeat as division champions, they have to hope that Brandon Woodruff is all the way back from various ailments that kept him off the field until last summer. Last year's ace, Freddy Peralta, is gone (Mets), and Brandon Sproat, who came to the Brewers in that trade, hasn't really shown what he can do after a September audition produced an 0-2 record in New York.
The Brewers don't have enough space in the infield to accommodate off-season acquisitions Luis Rengifo (LA Angels) & David Hamilton (Boston), which begs to ask what the front office is thinking in the post-David Stearns era.
Chicago starts the season without star outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who was injured during the World Baseball Classic. That means that either Justin Dean (Dodgers) or Kevin Alcantara will join Ian Happ & Pete Crow-Armstrong in the outfield. That takes the shine off heisting Alex Bregman away from Boston (Scott Boras Badenov strikes again). Losing Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers doesn't help.
In St. Louis, the Cardinals may regret trading Willson Contreras to Boston, since the returns on that deal (pitchers Richard Fitts & Hunter Dobbins) are questionable at best. Erratic reliever Ryne Stanek (Mets), speaking of risks, proved last year he's not closer material, but trust Oliver Marmol to put him in to close games anyway. A bad start, and Marmol may be gone-zo.
Pittsburgh has to strengthen its offense to back up their rotation. Paul Skenes gets the ball on Thursday to open the season vs. the Mets, who will see former teammate Gregory Soto coming out of the Pirate pen after he underperformed for them last summer. Pittsburgh is high on rookie pitcher Bubba Chandler, hoping he's another Skenes. Offensively, the Pirates acquired Jake Mangum & Brandon Lowe (Tampa Bay) and Ryan O'Hearn (San Diego). Still got a ways to go to contend.
Cincinnati welcomed back Eugenio Suarez (Seattle) with a free agent deal. Problem is, where to put him? Ke'Bryan Hayes, acquired from Pittsburgh last year, was playing third most of the time, and that's Suarez's primary position. However, Suarez still has a short fuse....! Nathaniel Lowe (Boston) will likely share first base with Spencer Steer.
Weak sauce, yo'.
Projected order of finish:
1. Milwaukee, by default.
2. Chicago.
3. Pittsburgh.
4. Cincinnati.
4 (tie). St. Louis.
To the west we go.
Some people still hate the Yankees because they won so much back in the day. After winning back-to-back titles, and spending money like water out of a faucet to add to their already packed roster, Los Angeles is approaching that same level of apathy. In addition to Kyle Tucker (see above), they also lured closer Edwin Diaz away from the Mets, a move made because they still see Roki Sasaki as a starter, even though he was a lights-out closer during the playoffs. Given how Diaz was prone to erratic periods during his time in New York, the Dodgers should hedge their bets.
San Diego is hoping Griffin Canning can find his form after his lone season with the Mets ended due to injury. Just the same, the Padres also picked up German Marquez (Colorado) to further shore up the rotation. A bigger deal was landing Nick Castellanos as a free agent (Philadelphia), though he figures to be a DH in an already crowded outfield. Walker Buehler was invited as a non-roster player after bombing in Boston, but we don't see him pitching in Petco Park unless he's a visiting player.
San Francisco is trying something different. They went to the college ranks, and signed Tony Vitello (Tennessee) as their new skipper, after Bob Melvin bombed out in 2 seasons. The only real free agent signing they made was journeyman outfielder Harrison Bader (Philadelphia), who will platoon, since they also have a surplus in the outfield. Perennial batting champion Luis Arraez comes north from San Diego, strengthening the infield defense.
Offense is also what Arizona is looking for, so they acquired Nolan Arenado (St. Louis) and Carlos Santana (Chicago) to man the corners. Otherwise, the Diamondbacks look about the same as they did last year. Over in Colorado, 2nd year manager Warren Schaeffer is hoping Michael Lorenzen can carry over what he did for Italy in the WBC. Jose Quintana (Milwaukee) has been up & down, which explains why he's always on the move. Outfielder Jake McCarthy came over from Arizona, while Edouard Julien reunites with his former Minnesota teammate, Willi Castro (Chicago), to form a double play combo that can help the Rockies' defense. We'll see. Rookie Kyle Karros is the son of former player and current Fox analyst Eric Karros (Los Angeles, Chicago, Oakland).
Projected order of finish:
1. Los Angeles.
2. San Francisco.
3. San Diego.
3 (tie) Arizona.
5. Colorado.
Of course, I could be wrong.
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