For the 86th year of the Midsummer Classic, baseball turns its sights to Petco Park in San Diego, California. This will be the first time the MLB All-Star game will be played at the San Diego Padres new ballpark. It was first opened back in 2004. Now every year there is always a lot of discussion and some of it a little dated about how the teams are put together. No system will ever be perfect. Fans don’t always get it right and managers won’t either. The fact that the players are able to vote for participants was a great choice and they know who is deserving. Regardless of who should or shouldn’t be in the game lets just accept that the best players will always be involved one way or another. Here are my all-stars keeping with the rules that every team be represented and a total of 34 players for each league.
Pirates
2016 MLB World Series & Awards Predictions
StandardMLB Awards
NL MVP – OF Bryce Harper Washington Nationals
AL MVP – OF Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels
NL Cy Young – Clayton Kershaw Los Angeles Dodgers
AL Cy Young – Chris Archer Tampa Bay Rays
NL Rookie of the Year – SS Corey Seager Los Angeles Dodgers
AL Rookie of the Year – OF Byron Buxton Minnesota Twins
NL Manager of the Year – Bruce Bochy San Francisco Giants
AL Manager of the Year – A.J. Hinch Houston Astros
Postseason Projections
NL Division Winners – Cubs, Giants, Mets
NL Wild Card Winners – Cardinals, Pirates
AL Division Winners – Royals, Blue Jays, Astros
AL Wild Card Winners – Rangers, Red Sox
NLCS – Giants over Cubs
ALCS – Royals over Astros
World Series – Royals over Giants
National League Central
Standard* – indicates new to team
1. Chicago Cubs
108 years and counting since their last World Series title. That could all end this season for the ‘lovable losers’.
2. St. Louis Cardinals
You want to count them out, but they have one of the deepest talent pools in all of baseball.
3. Pittsburgh Pirates
They would be the favorites to win the division if they weren’t in the NL Central.
4. Milwaukee Brewers
The rebuilding has begun for the Brew Crew and they will look to be contenders in two seasons.
5. Cincinnati Reds
Having Joey Votto keeps them competitive, but they need to rebuild the pitching staff.
10 Questions Heading Into Spring Training
StandardHalloween came and went. We stuffed our faces during Thanksgiving and celebrated the season at Christmas. We rang in the New Year and let Valentines go to the wayside. Pretty soon the unofficial holiday of Opening Day will be upon us and there are always a ton of questions as to what the new baseball season will bring us. I only have ten, but they are the ten most important and burning questions going into Spring Training. Continue reading
2015 MLB Postseason Preview
StandardThis was a very interesting year for baseball. It certainly was another exciting year of action and suspense, but not if you were expecting certain teams to not be in contention. Three of my five National League teams are in with the exception of the San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals. I struck out so to speak on the entire American League field. Not a good year for me, but I’m willing to admit that I was wrong. Especially on my World Series prediction of Boston vs. Washington. Take that in for a moment. With that said lets see how this years Wild Card games will matchup. Continue reading


