MLB 2020 Preview: part 1

By: Schwartz

Oh my god, I love baseball so much. What’s up guys, it’s Schwartz again, and I am fired up. It’s been over 250 (!!!) days now since Jose Altuve bashed a slider from Aroldis Chapman over the left field wall and ended the Yankees season, while I was still on the phone with my Dad celebrating DJ LeMahieu’s own all-time dinger in the top half of the frame. I was devastated. Tearful even. Hell, I watched CC Sabathia cry on the mound, you can’t blame me for doing the same at home. It straight-up sucked. It felt like this moment would never come, where the Yanks would get their shot to make things right. But we’re here now, it’s almost time for opening day, and I never could have imagined how much has happened between that night and now. The Bryceless Nationals won a World Series without winning a single home game. Gerrit Cole flipped from the evil Astros to the evil empire. Anthony Rendon took his talents to LA, and Mookie Betts was sent across the country to the same city. CC Sabathia got pissed at Alex Bregman and his teammates for being scumbags, and Bregman’s scurvy crew of course issued an entirely unapologetic apology. Jess Mendoza said some extremely questionable stuff. Weeks and weeks of “good faith” negotiations led absolutely nowhere, and did nothing but cost us games. And of course, the Astros cheating scandal somehow just happened to take down the managers of the Yanks’ three biggest rivals. So here I am to wrap up everything that’s gone down, and preview all of the pure, unfiltered awesomeness that’s going to be coming our way between the first pitch extremely soon- FINALLY- and the last out of October. Let’s go.

So I wrote that intro, banged out over 8,000 words of preview for you guys...and then Corona nipped the season in the bud. Things obviously stand a bit differently now than they did then, so I’ve had to amend some of my points, but we’re still in for another awesome season of MLB baseball, and the wait is making me appreciate it more than ever. NOW let’s go!

To start it all off, here’s a tiered Power Ranking of all 30 MLB clubs! There are a lot of great teams in the league, and this is how I think it all shakes out. Additionally, it was a crazy, extra-long offseason, so below the power ranks, I put together a consolidated list of key acquisitions organized by team. You guys can use this to stay calibrated while picking through my previews for each team.

Tiered MLB 2020 Power Rankings

Tier 1- The Top Contenders

1. Yankees

2. Dodgers

3. Nationals

Here they are, your top dogs. Two superteams, and the defending champs. Arguably, no teams have made a bigger (positive) splash this winter than the Yankees and Dodgers, two already-elite teams that have bolstered their ranks. For the Yankees, the key to their offseason was not only adding ace Gerrit Cole to a megadeal, but prying him away from their top AL competition, the Houston Astros. The addition of Cole is more valuable than ever, as the Yankees will be without rising star Luis Severino for the entirety of the season, as he elected to undergo Tommy John surgery several months ago. It’s worth noting that Severino has barely participated in the Yankees’ recent success, missing nearly all of last regular season, and rarely being at his best in October, so there is still reason to believe that the team will be successful even without their hard-throwing righty. Similarly, Domingo German will now miss the entire season due to his domestic violence suspension, as the regular season will be three games too short for the suspension to be satisfied. Youngsters Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt and Michael King have all been strong in the minors and extremely sharp in early scrimmages, and they will look to fill the void left by these two arms. Still, Severino and German are both major losses to be sure, and having Gerrit Cole on the roster feels better than ever. To be totally frank, Cole’s deal would be worth the money if all they did with him was sit him down on the bench and have him cheer for the team; the bottom line is they never have to face him in a key October game again, and that is priceless.

Speaking of priceless, so are the Boston Red Sox after dealing lefty David Price and star right fielder Mookie Betts to the Dodgers. This move is one that really affects both top contending teams in a positive way- the Dodgers by adding a superstar, and the Yankees by further weakening their biggest division rival. But when I initially wrote this piece, Price was expected to be a key postseason arm for the Dodgers, shoring up a somewhat top-heavy rotation. However, in a highly interesting development, he has chosen to opt-out of the MLB restart due to concerns with the pandemic. While the Dodgers lost all-star starter Hyun-Jin Ryu, they retain a strong core of their rotation in the talented youngster Walker Buehler (more on him later) alongside LA legend Clayton Kershaw, and managed to bolster their bullpen with A’s late-game maestro Blake Trienen. While anything can happen in baseball, all eyes are on these two teams to meet in late October to decide a champion.

But don’t tell that to the Nationals, who despite losing Anthony Rendon, one of the best players in franchise history, have every intention of beating LA again and defending their title. Washington has also temporarily lost longtime starter Ryan Zimmerman, who has chosen not to participate in this season after the league gave players the option to sit out without consequences. Joe Ross and Wellington Castillo made the same choice, leaving the Nats somewhat shorthanded. They retained instant-legend and World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg, and of course Mad Max Scherzer, who remains perhaps the best pitcher in baseball; but watch out for the health of his arm after opting for a cortisone shot before World Series game 7 and pitching through a brutal injury to deliver the Nats their first title. As a sort of indirect replacement for Rendon on their infield, Washington also brought in Starlin Castro, who has had some really solid seasons over the years. Nothing is at all certain, but it would be a real surprise if a team outside of these three raises the Commissioner’s Trophy this fall.

Tier 2- plan on october

4. Rays 

5. Braves

6. Twins

7. A’s

8. Cardinals

These five teams were all participants in last year’s playoffs, and there’s no reason to expect anything less from them in 2020. While only one of them actually won a postseason series, and it was against another team within this group, each team impressed all of us with both their talent and resolve from start to finish of the 2019 season. Atlanta’s youth showed plenty of promise in their hard-fought series against the Cardinals, the Rays pushed the (openly cheating) Astros to the absolute limit before falling, and the A’s fought tooth and nail all regular season against the filthy cheaters in their division, eventually losing a hard-fought AL Wild Card game to the Rays that was far closer than the final score indicated.

The Twins famously brought the “bomba squad” out of absolutely nowhere, riding an unreal offensive surge to the tune of an MLB-record 307 Home Runs. They somehow added even more pop to their lineup by adding former MVP Josh Donaldson, curiously instead of addressing the pitching that got carved up by the Yankees. I would keep an eye on the Twins offense to come back to earth due to the combination of a healthy dose of regression, as well as the MLB’s efforts to tweak the baseballs, which were clearly a bit off last year. A less homer-friendly ball could really affect an offense that really lived and died by the longball, and doesn’t really have the pitching staff to put out great arms every single day in a shortened season, which might be the standard for contenders.

These teams had highly varying offseasons, from the Rays’ strong efforts to catch the Yankees, to the bevy of both additions and losses in Atlanta, to the puzzling lack of really anything happening in St. Louis. But all of these teams remain highly talented and should have solid expectations of a postseason appearance- and an attainable goal of making it last well into October. I expect all of the Braves, Twins, and Cardinals to win their crowded, open divisions, the A’s to take full advantage of the potential decline of the juggernaut Astros and contend for the AL West crown, and the Rays to push the Yankees into September in pursuit of the AL East title. All five teams in this tier have significant obstacles to face, both internal and external. I especially see the Braves’ starting pitching as a glaring flaw that could hamper their ability to make a deep run, and they also lost Donaldson to the Twins and Nick Markakis and Felix Hernandez after the duo decided not to join project restart. But all of these clubs have the talent in the organization to have a really impressive season and make this a year to remember.

Tier 3- cheaters in disarray

9. Astros

10. Mets 

11. Red Sox

When settling on the order of these power rankings, I spent a good 15 minutes staring blankly at my laptop screen when it came time to place these three teams. Each with the talent to contend, each with fatal flaws that could keep them out of October altogether. The Astros were the most challenging of the bunch. Their roster remains likely within the top 3, and could vault them to that lofty region of the rankings, where they’ve been perennially situated for the last three or so years. Or, the organizational turmoil that has been brought down by the sign-stealing scandals from 2017 and 2019 could prove too much to overcome, particularly with the loss of the man I’m now calling Dave the Camera Guy, or whoever was responsible for gifting them with the tools to essentially be unbeatable at home until whatever happened in the 2019, road-sweep world series. Beyond the culture shock- and the question of just how good these guys (who have posted suspiciously dramatic home/away splits the past 3 seasons and more notably, postseasons) will be offensively- there are legitimate, concrete losses that will affect this team. The largest of course is Gerrit Cole, who has defected to his boyhood favorite team, the New York Yankees. Jeff Lunhow, the general manager who brought in Justin Verlander just in time to snuff out the 2017 Yankees in the ALCS, is also no longer at Houston’s disposal, so we will have to see how far the remaining talent can take them.

The Red Sox maintain much of their championship roster from two seasons ago, with the glaring omissions of 2018 MVP Mookie Betts, up-and-down lefty David Price, and cheating scumbag manager Alex Cora who was ALSO A 2017 ASTRO. Whatever. Talents such as JD Martinez, Andrew Benintendi, and Xander Bogaerts are still in Beantown, but all of the turmoil combined with an extremely strong pair of contenders in the AL East lead me to leave the Sox outside of my postseason predictions. Unfortunately, the Sox’s playoff odds were harmed even further by the loss of Chris Sale to Tommy John surgery, as their embattled ace will miss the entire season.

And that brings us to Steve Cohen’s almost-acquisition, the Mets. They were minorly affected by the same scandal that rocked the two aforementioned teams, but not as much because the manager they let go, Carlos Beltran, never actually managed a game for them. Their more pertinent fatal flaw is the injury bug, which should be considered fluky and not something that you can assume from year to year, but it really does always happen to the Mets. That being said, having ditched the worst manager in baseball, and with high hopes that they won’t get slammed quite as badly by health issues this year*, the Mets have legitimate aspirations to play some October baseball, even playing in the hyper-talented NL East division, and now having to face off against the also insane AL East

*those high hopes were already dealt a significant blow by March when the Amazin’s lost their star flame-throwing starting pitcher, Noah Syndergaard, to Tommy John surgery for the entirety of 2020

Tier 4: Hoping for a playoff spot

12. White Sox

13. Cubs

14. Brewers

15. Angels

This tier is a hodgepodge of previously good teams that have developed some serious concerns, and previously bad teams that are beginning to elevate themselves. The White Sox and Angels fall into the latter designation, having made some of the biggest waves this offseason. The Angels struck a deal with a pair of World Champions, 2017 Cubs manager Joe Maddon and Nationals superstar third baseman Anthony Rendon. The Halos hope this October-seasoned duo, along with baseball’s best player in Mike Trout, will help elevate their organization to where they would like to be. They also recently brought in Julio Teheran to aid a rotation that I see as the most likely issue that could cause them to struggle in their quest to return to October.

The White Sox shelled out an ungodly amount of money this offseason, bringing in stud catcher Yasmani Grandal, veteran starting pitchers Dallas Kuechel and Gio Gonzalez, and a high upside power hitter in Edwin Encarnacion, while on the side, inking franchise cornerstone Jose Abreu to a serious extension. It’s unclear how much of a leap this team can take in one year, but Chicago’s southsiders are making a serious attempt to find out.

Then there are the two NL Central stalwarts to discuss. The Brewers had some extremely strong stretches last year, but what we saw when they lost 2018 MVP Christian Yelich for an extended period, as well as the loss of Grandal, raise serious concerns about the team’s depth. They were fortunate to retain closer Josh Hader, as the bullpen ace was at the center of numerous trade rumors this offseason. The Cubs, of course, won the 2016 World Series and had all the makings of a true dynasty, but they haven’t attained that level of success since then. This offseason, they didn’t really add or lose anyone key, and have balked at extending their young star third baseman Kris Bryant, so it’s really hard to expect them to be too much better this year. Still, a return to 2016 form is possible, with most of that team’s core still intact. None of these teams are anything near a lock to play postseason baseball, but if they are able to stay healthy and be their best selves, they all have a shot

Tier 5- fringe contenders and dark horses

16. Indians

17. Phillies

18. Padres

19. Diamondbacks

20. Reds

These are 5 of the most in-the-middle teams in all of baseball. Each one has a number of reasons to believe they can make a playoff push, but all have more reasons that they maybe shouldn’t hold onto hope for too long. The Indians, playing in the extremely confusing AL Central, can hope for the regression of the upstart Twins, and stalling in the progress of the new White Sox’s rise. However, having lost Corey Kluber and not really adding anyone over the offseason, and potentially in the market to trade franchise leader Francisco Lindor, I don’t really see them rising to the top in a crowded division.

Speaking of crowded divisions, the Phillies have a ton of exciting talent, from former MVP Bryce Harper to young star Rhys Hoskins, but they are still extremely likely to once again finish fourth in the ridiculous NL East division. Luckily, they did steal SP Zach Wheeler from the division rival Mets, and bring in some more former Yankees, Sir Didi Gregorius, their new shortstop, and skipper Joe Girardi, who of course managed the legendary 2009 Yankees, the best team we’ve seen in some time. Still, it’s hard to see them improving too much on a mediocre 2019, considering the division competition they’re up against- 3 teams in the top 10 of these rankings. Their talent didn’t mesh last year, and while Girardi has a great track record at managing huge personalities, it’s not a lock for great team chemistry to be there right away.

The Padres have as much young talent as any team could hope for, headlined by phenom Fernando Tatis Jr.  and a strong farm system. The Diamondbacks also added some huge talents in Madison Bumgarner, arguably the greatest postseason pitcher ever, and Starling Marte. However, much like the Phillies, both of these teams have to contend with an absolute beast atop their division, the stacked LA Dodgers. To even make a wild card, they’d have to outpace every team within this tier, as well as the NL East teams that fall short of the division title. The future could very well be bright in both the Arizonan Desert and in Ron Burgundy’s home city, but they’re going to have to wait a bit longer to see some success. The Padres in particular could suffer from inexperience if they’re in position to make a run towards the end stages of the season.

The Reds may be the best poised to make the leap out of all the teams in this group, as their division doesn’t have a true stalwart who we can expect to come out on top, but I have the least faith in the team itself out of this group. Cincy had a hell of an offseason, bringing in strong veteran players, the versatile Nick Castellanos and World Champ Mike Moustakas, as well as exciting Japanese product Shogo Akiyama to bolster the outfield. They also have new experienced arms in Wade Miley and Pedro Strop, and of course Joey Votto remains a constant in Southern Ohio, even if he’s coming off a serious down year. For the Reds, like every team in this tier, October isn’t a pipe dream. Baseball is always changing, and anything can happen for teams like these. However, if their postseason dreams are going to come true, these squads have a lot of work ahead of them. It is worth nothing that despite their flaws, the added randomness of a shorter schedule this season will likely afford one or more of these clubs the chance to play October ball.

tier 6- rough winter, little optimism

21. Rangers- missed on FA

22. Rockies- monitor arenado situation 

These teams both have a bit of star talent, but are not good enough to be considered contenders. They’re also not in the sort of full-fledged downward spiral that generally denotes a rebuilding franchise. The Rangers in particular acted like a team with playoff aspirations this winter, reportedly making heavy runs at Anthony Rendon and Madison Bumgarner. Of course, they missed out on both, but came away with decent consolation prizes in Corey Kluber and Todd Frazier, both solid veterans. The Rockies, meanwhile, didn’t add or lose anyone just yet, but have an increasingly strained relationship with their best player, third baseman Nolan Arenado. It seems extremely likely that Arenado will be on his way out of the Mile High City before too long, but for now, both of these teams are in a limbo that no franchise wants to be in.

Tier 7- Young and rebuilding

23. Blue Jays 

24. Mariners

The Mariners came into 2019 on a tear, defying expectations and drawing murmurs about playoff baseball returning to Seattle. These aspirations quickly subsided, as the team’s success absolutely evaporated and the season spiraled to garbage. However, there is plenty of optimism around the organization’s future, and 2020 will be an interesting year in its ability to answer some questions. Mitch Haniger, Seattle’s 2018 All Star, had his season cut short by injury, and the M’s will want to see how his bounce-back attempt goes. Large and endearing slugger Daniel Vogelbach, much like the team, starting the year on a blistering rampage of homers, before also spiraling into total garbage before the season was over; his form will be of note for the Mariners as well. The organization boasts a top-rated farm system too, so some top prospects could get their first taste of MLB action as the season likely becomes a lost one.

The Blue Jays, on the other hand, have already called much of their young talent up to the league, and their development in year 2 will be intriguing to watch. Young, hopefully future superstars such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr, Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio all hope to take a step forward in 2020. Bichette in particular impressed during his time in the pros last year, and Vlad Jr. was once the top prospect in all of baseball, so plenty of eyes will be on the Jays’ youngsters this season. It will also be interesting to see what the Jays have in Japanese righthander Shun Yamaguchi, as they hope he will be a cornerstone of the rotation along with new acquisition Hyun-Jin Ryu. Neither of these teams has high hopes for 2020, but both should be excited about the years to come later.

tier 8- Bad, bad teams i don’t want to write about

25. Royals

26. Giants

27. Pirates

28. Marlins

Oh boy. Pretty much all of these teams were on the minus-side of the winter transactions, or at best stood pat, which isn’t too great for a group of clubs who already weren’t so strong on the field last year. There isn’t too much to write about any of them, as they know as well as we do that they won’t be playing meaningful games for too long this year. The best they can hope for is to have a breakout player or two that they can move at the trade deadline, whenever that may be, and turn into valuable assets for years to come. Otherwise, this year is all about staying healthy, developing youth talent, and seeing what you can expect your farm system to produce for the future. Good luck to these teams in the 2021 draft, it’s going to be a big day for all of them.

tier 9- aaa level of play

29. Orioles

And then there’s the Orioles, who have all of the concerns of many other low-tier teams without any of the upside. They do have Adley Rutschman, the former first-overall pick catcher out of Oregon State who was intentionally walked with the bases loaded back in college. That’s pretty nuts, and while Adley probably won’t make his debut this season, he’s a real bright spot to look forward to. Additionally, he won the College World Series in 2018, and that’s the closest the words “won,” “World Series,” and “Orioles” have been in a long time so that’s kind of cool.

tier 10- the tigers

30. Tigers

I...I don’t wanna do this, man. I like Detroit fans, I like Austin Romine. I don’t like Miguel Cabrera but as for the rest of Tigers Nation…this would be too shitty for you guys to read, and moreover, too horrible for me to write. Try again next year and love you all. Here’s a picture of a cute but sad tiger cub, to summarize how I feel about this team.

Key acquisitions and losses

AL West:

Astros

Losses: Cole, Hinch, Lunhow, Dave the Camera Guy, 5 million dollars

Adds: None

Angels

Losses: No key losses

Adds: Rendon, Bundy, Teheran, Maddon

A’s

Losses: Trienen, Profar, Roark

Adds: None

Rangers

Losses: No key losses but they really wanted Rendon or Bumgarner and missed out

Adds: Kluber, Frazier

Mariners

Nothing

AL Central:

White Sox

Losses: So much money

Adds: Grandal, Encarnacion, Kuechel, Gio Gonzalez, extended Abreu

Indians

Losses: Kluber

Adds: Didn’t lose Lindor yet! Still around for now

Tigers

Losses: 114

Adds: Nova, Cron, Romine 

Royals

Losses: that cool vibe they had in 2015

Adds: Maikel Franco

Twins

Losses: 3 out of 3 ALDS games. CJ Cron

Adds: Donaldson, Bailey, Hill, retained Odorizzi against fairly long odds

AL East:

Orioles

Losses: 223 in 2 seasons. Unbelievably impressive

Adds: Adley Rutschman. Not a pro yet but a great get in the 2019 draft

Red Sox

Losses: Betts, Price, Cora, Sale, Dignity

Adds: Verdugo

Yankees

Losses: Gregorius, Betances, Romine, German, Severino

Adds: Cole, absence of Ellsbury, a healthy Andujar and Stanton, both of whom missed almost all of 2019

Rays

Losses: Nothing Key 

Adds: Martinez, Renfroe, Tsutsugo

Blue Jays

Losses: Nothing Key

Adds: Ryu, Roark, Yamaguchi

NL West:

DBacks

Losses: Nothing Key

Adds: Bumgarner, Marte

Rockies

Losses: Continuing to be the Rockies

Adds: A feud with their best player

Dodgers

Losses: Ryu, Verdugo

Adds: Betts, Trienen, Price, Lux when he’s called up

Padres

Losses: Nothing Key

Adds: Pham, Profar

Giants

Losses: Bumgarner

Adds: Nothing key

NL Central:

Cubs

Stood pat. No moves, but they won’t pay Kris Bryant

Reds

Losses: Nothing Key

Adds: Moustakas, Castellanos, Akiyama, Strop, Miley

Brewers

Losses: Grandal, Moustakas

Adds: Garcia, Smoak

Pirates

Losses: Marte

Adds: Nothing key

Cardinals

Losses: Ozuna

Adds: Not much

NL East:

Braves

Losses: Donaldson, Teheran

Adds: Ozuna, Smith, Hamels, Fernandez

Marlins

Losses: Nothing

Adds: Villar, Dickerson, Kemp

Mets

Losses: Wheeler, Frazier, Syndergaard

Adds: Porcello, Betances, Rojas

Phillies

Losses: None

Adds: Wheeler, Gregorius, Girardi

Nationals

Losses: Last Year. Everyone is 0-0 now. Also Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman

Adds: Castro, Thames