shutime

Hello Shutimers and welcome to a new year of baseball. On opening day 2023, I gave my predictions of which teams and players would have big years, who would win awards, and which club would win it all in October. It didn’t end well. So what better way to kick off 2024 than doing the exact same thing once again? Disclaimer: If you’re reading this post in late 2024 and beyond, don’t laugh too hard. You didn’t know either. Here we go!

Division Winners

National League West: Los Angeles Dodgers

I’d be a fool not to pick the Dodgers right? They’re clearly the best in the division and maybe the best club in baseball. The next closest contender would be the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dbacks added a great third baseman in Eugenio Suarez and look to be even better than they were last year. For me, they finish second behind the Dodgers for sure. The San Francisco Giants are not the most exciting team in baseball. I don’t expect them to have a blockbuster season. The signing of last year’s KBO MVP Award winner (Korea’s professional league) J.H. Lee coupled with the rumors of a Blake Snell signing get me more excited about the Giants. The Giants are my pick for third place. I had the Padres winning the Division and eventually winning it all last year. After losing Juan Soto and Josh Hader, I’m not entirely sure what to make of them. As I’m writing this, Blake Snell has yet to sign any contract and his landing spot is still unknown. Because of this, the Padres fall to my four spot. Sadly, that leaves only my beloved Rockies for the five-spot. You’ll be hearing a lot more from me about the Rockies this year.

National League Central: St. Louis Cardinals

I predicted Michigan would win the NCAAF National Championship three years in a row and they let me down each year. I finally decided to give up and had lost all faith in them. No way would they be my pick to win the Natty in 2024. Of course they would win it all. The Cardinals are no different. It seems like every year I say they’re going to make a deep postseason run and they completely flop. So my pick is officially the Cardinals. All of the pieces are there and barring any significant injuries, I think they’ll be a postseason team. I realize this is crazy because they finished in fifth place in the Central last year. Many don’t know this, but almost every year a team makes the playoffs who finished in fourth or fifth the previous year. Second place is a lot harder. The Brewers won the division last year and aren’t losing many pieces so they’ll take the second spot for me. The third spot goes to the Cubs. Chicago adding Shota Imanaga is a big deal. Losing Marcus Stroman is also a big deal. Plus, there hasn’t been a word on where Bellinger will land yet. Fourth place belongs to the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds might be my favorite team to watch in baseball. They could very well snag the third place spot over the Cubs this year and have a very bright future ahead of them. And no, I’m not talking about Elly De La Cruz. That makes the Pirates our next last place team. The Pirates may be the best last place team in baseball. Here’s hoping Paul Skenes helps turn this thing round this year!

National League East: Atlanta Braves

Look, all the excitement surrounding the Dodgers makes sense. But virtually everyone has let this Dodger-drama overshadow the Braves. The Braves won 104 games last season and were clearly the best team in baseball. Then they added Chris Sale. Now I’m not naive to the fact that Chris Sale is old and has been unimpressive on the mound. But what I do know is the Braves won’t be relying on him to do virtually anything. Point being, an extra veteran presence who doesn’t have to carry the load of an ace role all season is perfect for Sale, and can’t really hurt the Braves. They should take the division. The Phillies are next and don’t need much of an explanation. Back to back NLCS runs and nearly back to back NL Championships can give them the two-spot. The Marlins finish in third and Luis Arraez probably hits over .333. The Mets were highly disappointing last year. Then they lost Verlander and Scherzer. I don’t see them doing a whole lot this year but I also wouldn’t be surprised if they wake up and remember how to play baseball again. Similar to the Cardinals, the pieces are all there. Last place goes to the Washington Nationals but mark my words, they’ll be competing with the Braves in this division before the 2020’s are over. 

American League West: Houston Astros

I had the Astros last year and was very right. Basically everything I said about the AL West was spot on. Funny enough, I’m not changing anything this year. The Astros and Rangers really are a toss up for this division, heck they finished with the same record last year. It’s as simple as this though; the Astros added Josh Hader while the Rangers lost Jordan Montgomery. Rangers are my second place pick. You may have forgotten that the Mariners were actually in first place in September last year. I’m keeping them right where they are as I think they’ll be a little bit worse this season. The Angels are another easy team to place. They’re bad, but not the Oakland A’s bad. The A’s need to move to Vegas ASAP.

American League Central: Minnesota Twins

Boy was I wrong last year. The Twins were amazing last year and I’ll take them in the one spot. The Tigers started to turn things around last year but I don’t think they have the legs to finish above Cleveland in consecutive years. Cleveland is in the two spot for me and I’ll put Detroit in the three. The Tigers have so much to be excited about. This could really be their division in a few more years. The Royals and White Sox finished within five games of each other last year. I think they’ll be close again and both will have poor seasons. I do think the Royals have a lot more to be excited about this season and aren’t too far away from actually competing in the Central again. I’ll take the White Sox in last place. Hopefully no one gets shot during a game again this year.

American League East: Baltimore Orioles

The AL East is by far the hardest division to predict in baseball. So much has changed and so many players have come and gone since the World Series wrapped up. I still think the Orioles have all the excitement on their side, and I’m expecting them to win big time this season. The Yankees should have been much better than they were last year. Losing Aaron Judge and Nestor Cortes hurt them badly. But, with Juan Soto and Marcus Stroman (and potentially others soon) joining the club, they’ll be close contenders with Baltimore. I’ll have them finishing second. Third place for me goes to the Toronto Blue Jays, who haven’t gained or lost much and have won right around 90 games in three straight seasons. Fourth place goes to the Rays. I know, it’s crazy to predict that a team who won 99 games and had a lead in the division through almost the entirety of 2023 will finish in fourth. But, the Rays lost Franco and Glasnow. Red Sox in last, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they surpass the Rays.

NLCS

I’m taking the Dodgers to face off against the Phillies in the NLCS. This will probably age horribly but here’s why: The NLCS has seen two wild card teams face off in back to back years. There’s something to be said about the clear advantage teams may have when they’re forced to play consecutive days in a row and not given the “reward” of a playoff bye. The bye that the one and two seed receive in the playoffs very clearly hurts them. Last year, the Orioles, Astros, Dodgers, and Braves all lost in the NLDS. I’m taking the Dodgers because they just have too many pieces to choke again. Though many have said this before… If it does work out to be two wild card teams in the championship again, give me the St. Louis Cardinals.

ALCS

I’m not going to pretend like I actually have a clue here. The Yankees make a lot of sense to me. I’ll take the Yankees facing off against the Astros here. Again, if there truly is a wild card curse then I’ll take the Yankees facing off against the Rangers. 

World Series

The official Shutime World Series prediction is….

The Yankees defeat the Phillies! The truth is this is such a bizarre choice and probably won’t even be close. But nobody had Diamondbacks v. Rangers last year either.

Player Awards

NL MVP: Ronald Acuna Jr

Acuna had a historic season last year and doesn’t seem like he’ll be slowing down anytime soon. The fact that the Braves lineup is so dangerous makes it that much easier for him to rake. Honorable Mentions: Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. 

AL MVP: Adley Ruschmann

My AL MVP prediction was spot on last year. I had Ohtani winning with Julio Rodriguez as an honorable mention. Julio finished fourth and Ohtani obviously won the award. This year, I’m taking the star of Baltimore’s red hot Orioles. Honorable mentions: Yordan Alvarez and José Ramirez.

NL Cy Young: Spencer Strider

Strider is a strikeout monster and probably the safest pick I could’ve chosen. With all the crazy aces the Dodgers have, I wouldn’t be surprised if they dominate the award though. Honorable mentions: Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shota Imanaga.

AL Cy Young: Marcus Stroman

Stroman pitched excellently and I don’t have a lot of belief in many other AL pitchers who received Cy Young Votes. Framber Valdez is another close choice that I really like. Honorable mention: Tanner Bibee.

NL Rookie of the Year: Paul Skenes

Skenes looked like an MLB-level talent while pitching in the CWS at LSU. If he gets called up this year, I think it will go well. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga are my other two picks. The hard thing about predicting a rookie of the year is that they’ve never played obviously so who knows?

AL Rookie of the Year: Evan Carter

Carter tore it up on the biggest stage and has the luxury of already having that under his belt. Plus, he’s in a lineup full of hitters and isn’t the only production the Rangers have. He’s probably the safest bet here. Honorable mention: Jackson Holiday.