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August is here, which basically means it's a month full of 90 degree days, sporadic thunderstorms, and repeatedly checking Twitter and Bleacher Report to make sure your favorite football team didn't suffer a horrific injury. The Dog Days of Summer also signal the The Hunt for October for many MLB teams. This past week saw the MLB Trade Deadline come and go with some very intriguing moves made by a lot of teams. So, let's take a look and see who will make the postseason and be left standing with baseball's top prize.
AL EAST
1st - New York Yankees - Division Winner
2nd - Toronto Blue Jays - 2nd Wild Card
3rd - Baltimore Orioles
4th - Tampa Bay Rays
5th - Boston Red Sox
The Bronx Bombers are back a year after Derek Jeter bid the world of baseball goodbye, and they'll take the AL East crown in 2015. The AL East this year is down, and the Yankees have taken advantage by having a 5 1/2 game lead on Toronto. They may not make a lot of noise in October, but they'll still win the division this year.
The real story of the Trade Deadline belonged to the Toronto Blue Jays. The birds north of the border made a big splash adding Troy Tulowitzki and David Price to their line up. This team is officially all in. They have mortgaged the future and have a stacked line up of power bats along with adding a legit Cy Young candidate to their lineup in hopes of bringing a ring back to Canada. Their GM better hope it works, but these moves should be enough to get them into the playoffs.
AL CENTRAL
1st - Kansas City Royals - Division Winner
2nd - Minnesota Twins
3rd - Chicago White Sox
4th - Detroit Tigers
5th - Cleveland Indians
These O's Ain't Royal was the baseball chant of 2014. You know you're getting old, when you have to look up multiple websites to understand the pun. This season the Royals have cakewalked through the AL Central and should have a playoff spot locked down before any other team in the American League.
Minnesota is currently sitting in position for the 2nd Wild Card spot, but I think the moves Toronto made outweigh the efforts of the Twins and the Blue Jays will overtake Minnesota by the end of the season. The big shocker this year has been the lackluster performance of Detroit, who seems to be in rebuilding mode after trading Price and Cespedes, who is on his 4th team in just over a year.
AL WEST
1st - Houston Astros - Division Winner
2nd - Los Angeles Angels - 1st Wild Card
3rd - Texas Rangers
4th - Seattle Mariners
5th - Oakland Athletics
I don't know who this guy with the 19th century facial hair is, but someone in Houston needs to make sure he's at every game in October and notify MLB as to where he's sitting. The Stros have been hot all season and they currently sit with a 4 game lead over the Angels. This team has an IT factor that has propelled them to 1st place in the AL West, and going into October, they'll be a trendy pick everywhere outside of Missouri and Kansas.
The Halos have the best player in baseball and barring a complete collapse, they'll be in the post season, but I don't think they have enough juice to catch Houston. They'll match up against Toronto in a 1 game playoff that will be held in Anaheim.
NL EAST
1st - Washington Nationals - Division Winner
2nd - New York Mets
3rd - Atlanta Braves
4th - Miami Marlins
5th - Philadelphia Phillies
Who's winning the NL East? Bryce Harper has a thought. The Mets and Nats are tied for 1st place today, but based on their records, it looks like there's only room for 1 team from the NL East to head to the postseason, and that will be the Washington Nationals. The Mets have added a big bat in Yoenis Cespedes, but they've married themselves to focusing on pitching rather than hitting which is a huge gamble for any organization. Byrce Harper and the Nats pitching staff, which if you haven't looked is pretty impressive in it's own right, will come out on top and win the NL East.
NL CENTRAL
1st - St. Louis Cardinals - Division Winner
2nd - Pittsburgh Pirates - 1st Wild Card
3rd - Chicago Cubs - 2nd Wild Card
4th - Cincinnati Reds
5th - Milwaukee Brewers
Look, you might as well go ahead and do yourself a favor and write in the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS or higher for every playoff season for the next 10 years. They could take 9 random guys off a D League softball team and make the playoffs. They have the best farm system in baseball, and by far the best record in baseball. How good are they? The Pirates are 61-43 and 5 1/2 games behind the Cardinals; that's how good they are.
What's really going to be intriguing is the 1 game playoff in Pittsburgh that will be held between the Pirates and Cubs. The Cubs have called up Byrant and Schwarber, two players who look poised to stay on the North Side for a long time to come, and it's clear Joe Maddon is a wizard. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has had an epic season that only hasn't gotten a ton of attention because the best team in baseball is in their division. All eyes will be glued to the Steel City for this elimination game.
NL WEST
1st - Los Angeles Dodgers - Division Winner
2nd - San Francisco Giants
3rd - Arizona Diamondbacks
4th - San Diego Padres
5th - Colorado Rockies
If this was an even numbered year, I'd put the Giants in the playoffs, but they seem to be human during odd numbered seasons. Still, they've got a very good team and will make a run at the last Wild Card spot as the season comes to an end. Between Kershaw and Greinke its going to be hard to score runs against the Dodgers, but the postseason has proved to be Kershaw's downfall. Donnie Baseball has done a good job in LA, and the Dodgers will win the NL West this season and look to get to the World Series.
PLAYOFFS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
1. Kansas City Royals
2. Houston Astros
3. New York Yankees
Wild Cards
1. Los Angeles Angels
2. Toronto Blue Jays
The Angels will have to go up against David Price in Anaheim in a winner take all elimination game. It's hard to bet against Mike Trout and the Angels, especially at home, but I think Price is too good a pitcher and the Blue Jays are flat out loaded with Tulowitski, Donaldson, Batista, and Encarnacion. I'm predicting Toronto pulls the upset and faces the Royals in the ALDS.
ALDS
Kansas City is too talented to lose to Toronto and David Price can't pitch every playoff game. The Royals feel like they let the trophy slip away last year and they won't be ousted early in the postseason in 2015. Royals in 4.
On the other side, the Yankees and Astros match up in a series that looks to go 5 games. I think the Yankees have benefited from a relatively week AL East and the Astros look at themselves as the Royals of 2015. It'll go 5 games, but the Astros continue on their journey by winning an elimination game in Houston. Astros in 5.
ALCS
It's the Royals against the Astros in the ALCS. Where the Royals were the darlings of baseball last year, the Astros are everyone's favorite team this year, but I think this is where the Astros magic runs out and Kansas City wins the best of 7 season series in 5 and advances to the World Series.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
1. St. Louis Cardinals
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
3. Washington Nationals
Wild Cards
1. Pittsburgh Pirates
2. Chicago Cubs
The Cubs will have to travel to Pittsburgh in a winner take all or nothing game if they want to fulfill the Back to the Future 2 prophecy. I think it's just a year too early. The Cubs have made an amazing turnaround, but they are still a year away. They aren't even the 2nd best team even in their own division, as I'd argue that Pittsburgh is clearly better on multiple levels. If the game was at Wrigley, the Cubs would have a great shot, but being that it's on the road, they'll falter and prepare for 2016.
NLDS
The Pirates, by winning the elimination game against the Cubs, get the wonderful gift of having to play the Cardinals in a best of 5 series. The Cardinals are built for October, and they will take care of the Pirates in 3 games, with a clean sweep.
The series to watch is going to be the Dodgers and the Nats. This cross-country series is going to be epic: Kershaw vs. Scherzer, Greinke vs. Zimmerman, and Puig vs. Harper. Set your DVRs because this series should go 5 awesome games. The Dodgers get to play at home for game 5 with Kershaw on the mound. The problem is he has to face Max Scherzer, and though both pitchers will put on impressive performances, the Nats will have a late push and go on to face St. Louis in the NLCS.
NLCS
The Nats riding high off their victory in LA, will give the Cardinals plenty to handle. A rotation with Scherzer, Zimmerman, and Strasurg coming off the the DL will prove formidable, but St. Louis knows how to win in October and it will be an all Missouri World Series with the Cardinals winning in 6.
WORLD SERIES
Kansas City vs. St. Louis will be a baseball purist's dream. It's small-ball fundamentals at it's best. These two teams are what every old school baseball fan dreams of in the World Series. We can only hope this series goes 7 games, but I don't think it'll get there. Kansas City has had a great season, but St. Louis is the better team, and they'll win the World Series in 6 games.
Here's to hoping I'm way off, and the Cubs win the World Series and prove Marty McFly right. #LetsGo
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