The labor dispute between the MLB players union and the owners went annoyingly longer than expected. Once the agreed upon number came to fruition, fans had mixed emotions. On one hand, there is officially a baseball season. On the other, it is only at 60 games. The whole process is a microcosm of 2020. Weird. Despite this, if you are not excited for the condensed season and all the craziness that will unfold, then you are reading the wrong article. The 2020 season is slated to be one of the weirdest we have ever witnessed. Baseball is already an odd game and the oddities will only be magnified with stricter health guidelines, new rules, and a shorter season. Here is a weird MLB Season Preview to go along with the theme.
Future Bets (World Series Odds)
Tampa Bay Rays +1600
The reasoning is obvious here. The Rays have a plethora of arms that essentially will limit the amount of games they are at pitching disadvantage from inning one. To go along with these arms, is a diverse, young, and exciting lineup. If they get hot for the latter stretch of these 60. Watch out
Atlanta Braves +1800
The Braves are similar to the team above in their depth. They will be able to beat you with their arms and have a lineup full of pop along with an MVP candidate in Ronald Acuna Jr. Atlanta may have to dethrone a dangerous Dodgers team. But we’ve seen that narrative happen before…
Los Angeles Angels +2600
To cut straight to the point, this is purely based on the dynamic trio of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and Anthony Rendon. If Julio Teheran can bounce back in a shortened season, this team could be as dangerous as any.
Fantasy Sleepers
Nick Ahmed SS/D-Backs: there are a ton of heavy hitting SS available. If you decide to go elsewhere with your upper echelon of picks, Ahmed can provide numbers all over the board late in a draft.
Matthew Boyd SP/Tigers: Boyd has always been better than his numbers suggest. His high strikeout tendencies minimize the risk associated with the high-upside.
Khris Davis DH/Athletics: the thinking behind a Davis selection is that he could very well hit 20 HRs in these 60 games. Grab him late and he could be the difference for you down the stretch.
What new trend(s)will we see?
– Teams will rarely deploy “the opener” or the more traditional bullpen day strategy, due to every game holding a little more importance.
-2 closers: the traditional closer may not be what traditional fans are accustomed to. Especially teams like the Rays, Nationals, Red Sox, Diamondbacks, Giants, Mariners, Diamondbacks and Rockies. These teams could masterfully deploy more than one closer.
-Best Hitter leads off, second best hitter hits next, then you fill out the middle of the lineup with the remaining “power guys” and round it out with the remaining speed and/or contact specialists
-We have already seen the perennial run driver move from third to second in the order in some lineups. Put them atop the lineup to maximize their ABs in 55-60 games.
Prospects to look out for
There will be no minor league system. Each team has a 60-man Player Pool they can pull from if need be. This makes some prospects much more important than they may have been in a regular full season.
-Wander Franco (TB/SS): the Rays are stingy with their money and service years but if they are atop the AL, I do not see a scenario where you wouldn’t call up the number one prospect in baseball.
-The White Sox: the talent from the farm has finally arrived. This could be a critical growth year for the ChiSox
Luis Robert OF
Michael Kopech SP
Andrew Vaughn 1B
Nick Madrigal 2B
-Mackenzie Gore SD/SP: Gore is the best pitching prospect in baseball. His promotion all depends on how the Padres first 20 games go
Award Picks
AL MVP: Shohei Ohtani (LAA)
NL MVP: Ronald Acuna Jr (ATL)
AL Cy Young: Shane Bieber (CLE)
NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer (WSH)
AL Rookie of the Year: Brendan McKay (TB)
NL Rookie of the Year: Dustin May (LAD)