• Ronald Acuña gets called up in mid-April

The Braves are building an incredible farm system to go along with their new stadium. Leading that system is outfielder Ronald Acuña. Many were surprised when he was sent down to the minor leagues after a scorching spring training in which he batted .432 with four home runs and showcased all the tools that made him the number two prospect on MLB.com’s list of prospects. The driving sentiment behind Acuna’s assignment to AAA ball is purely financial. Calling him up a few weeks into the season allows the Braves to keep him for an extra year without having to worry about arbitration because he wouldn’t accumulate a full year of service time in 2018. Acuña’s a special prospect who’s going to light up the major leagues soon, just not on opening day.

• Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton become the new Bash Brothers

In Oakland in the mid-90s, there was no duo cooler than that of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco. Both hit mammoth home runs and did so with a level of ease that made them appealing to their fans. Now, the same is about to happen in New York. Nobody needs to explain Giancarlo Stanton’s reputation as a power hitter, his 504-foot homer in 2016 speaks for itself. His partner, Aaron Judge, burst on the scene as a rookie last year and became a fan-favorite of the Big Apple with his moonshots. Together, they’re going to capture the imagination of every Yankee fan in the Bronx and beyond.

• Shohei Otani is a disappointment at both the plate and on the mound

It’s been a rough spring training for Otani, the Japanese phenom who was touted as the next Babe Ruth. Otani boasted considerable prowess as both a batter and a pitcher in Japan, garnering immense amounts of interest from many teams. He eventually signed with the Angels and the hype increased from there. He’s struggled mightily in the spring, batting a measly .107 and pitching to an atrocious 27.00 ERA in just 2.2 innings of work. While it’s early, many scouts have expressed serious concerns with Ohtani’s play, with some questioning if he’ll ever be able to adjust to major league pitchers and batters. Those concerns seem to be a bit overblown, Ohtani is still an elite athlete with a vast amount of upside. He hasn’t had any time to adjust to the majors yet, having been denied an opportunity to develop in the minor leagues like his fellow Angels. This year will be disappointing for Ohtani and Angels fans, but success should follow him after the initial struggles.

• The Giants suffer another disappointing season even after their offseason upgrades

It is an even year, meaning the Giants have a decent chance of winning the World Series. They won it 2010, 2012, and 2014, but expect them to fall short of the ultimate goal and the playoffs for the third time in four years. They made some bold moves over the offseason, acquiring big names like Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen. Bruce Bochy and his staff hoped that adding those players to a team that already included Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey would be able to get the Giants back to the postseason, where they could conceivably make some noise. Unfortunately, Bumgarner suffered his second major injury of the last two years, breaking his left pinky after it was hit by a line drive during spring training. Bumgarner is expected to be out for 6-8 weeks, and in what looks like it will be a competitive Wild Card race, that could be enough to knock San Francisco out of the playoff picture.

• The Braves, Phillies, and Mets all valiantly compete for the first time in three years

The NL East has been dominated by the Nationals over the past few years, partially because of Washington’s talent, but also because of the ineptitude of the other teams in the division. Atlanta and Philadelphia tore their rosters down to build through the draft with young players and as for the Mets, they mismanaged their best assets, their pitchers. Now however, Atlanta has a treasure trove of young talent, lead by the aforementioned Acuña, Philadelphia has a young team that has been bolstered by the acquisition of possible ace and former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, and the Mets could make some noise if they are healthy. A rotation with the top two starters as Thor and Jacob deGrom could make some noise, more so if Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler can put it all together after injuries sapped them of their effectiveness last year. The Nationals are and should be the favorites, but for the first time in a few years, the division is competent. As for the Marlins… RIP.

• Manny Machado is traded at midseason after the Orioles drop out of contention

The former third-basemen and current shortstop’s name was already being floated in trade discussions this winter, but nothing came out from it. The Orioles are trying to shore up a terrible rotation that ranked 26^th in the MLB last year with a 4.97 ERA by signing ex-Tampa Bay Ray Alex Cobb. It isn’t going to work. This team is old, it’s not that talented, and it’s finally time to bring it all down. Trading Machado should and will hurt as he’s an incredible player who many hoped could be the next face of the Orioles. After they fall out of contention, the Orioles should trade him at the deadline to a team that needs him for a playoff run and can hope to pay him the mega-deal he’s sure to attract after this season.

• Mariners playoff drought continues

The team doesn’t have much talent, King Felix isn’t getting any younger, and their division is headlined by the defending champions. 17 seasons and counting.

• Award Winners
  1. NL
     1. MVP: Bryce Harper
     2. Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw
  2. AL
     1. MVP: Jose Altuve
     2. Cy Young: Chris Sale

Harper is in a contract year and if he’s healthy, he’s the best player in the NL and quite possibly the MLB. Kershaw has lost the award the last few years due to injury and the brilliance of Max Scherzer, but if he’s guaranteed good health, this award might as well have his name written on it. Altuve’s small stature at 5’6” doesn’t limit him at all on the diamond, as he hit a scorching .346 last year. Sale was the favorite for most of last year, but he faltered down the stretch, allowing Corey Kluber to seize the award. It won’t happen that way this year.

• Division Winners
  1. NL
     1. East: Nationals
     2. Central: Cubs

• West: Dodgers

1. Wild Card: Brewers and Diamondbacks

1. AL
   1. East: Yankees
   2. Central: Indians

• West: Astros

1. Wild Card: Red Sox and Twins

As stated earlier, the NL East is better, but still not good enough to unseat the team in the nation’s capital. The Cubs have stiff competition from the new look Cardinals and revamped Brewers but should be able to stave them off with the addition of Yu Darvish. The Dodgers are incredible, with talent at every position and good depth. The addition of Julio Urias to an already potent rotation could decide their ceiling. The Brewers added two impact players this offseason in Christian Yelich and Lorenzo Cain, while the Diamondbacks can ride their star power of Zach Greinke, Robbie Ray, Paul Goldschmidt, and Archie Bradley to a playoff berth. In the AL, the Yankees bring back the core of last year’s team with some new additions. Giancarlo Stanton should be a great addition for them along with Sonny Gray, who arrived via trade late last year and should shore up their rotation. The Evil Empire is back. The Indians have gotten rid of their racist logo, and that should bring them enough good karma to win their division. That and the fact they have Corey Kluber, Francisco Lindor (side note: Lindor might be Vice President on the Make Baseball Fun Again campaign next to President Bryce Harper), Jose Ramirez, and that’s before you talk about the rest of their rotation and the incredible bullpen. The Astros won the championship last year, then they added Gerrit Cole, giving them a front line of Dallas Keuchel, Cole, and last year’s premier postseason performer, Justin Verlander. The Sox should compete with the Bronx Bombers for the AL East. They’ve got the power bat they lacked last year with J.D. Martinez and should lock themselves into a date with the Minnesota Twins. The Twins made a surprising playoff run last year, led by ace Ervin Santana… I finally understand why it was surprising. They’ve got some talent, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano (who won’t be serving any suspension for his domestic violence allegation) and the addition of Jake Odorizzi should get them to their second consecutive playoff berth.

• Nationals over Yankees in the World Series

Is this a bit of a homer pick? Yes. Is it bold to pick the Nationals to win it all even though they’re the only MLB team to never win a playoff series? Extremely. Will this look insane once they implode in the playoffs? Probably. But then you look at this team and you just have your jaw drop in amazement of the talent level. Their starting rotation has the best top two in the entire MLB with Strasburg and Scherzer. Behind those two, Gio Gonzalez is coming off the best year of his career and Tanner Roark is still a very good fourth starter. The bullpen has a three-headed monster with Brandon Kintzler taking the 7^th, Ryan Madson taking the 8^th, and Sean Doolittle closing the games. The lineup is extremely strong. The weak links from last year, catcher and left field, seem to have been fixed. Matt Wieters has had a great spring training and Jayson Werth has been replaced by Adam Eaton. If this team puts it together, they might win the championship that DC has been craving for so long.