MLB: Season predictions series

The Major League Baseball season will be here before we know it. At least we all hope so.

I need it badly. I can't wait for the first game. I will be locked in. With the season just days away, I am going to start a series of blogs about the year, breaking down each divisions with Vegas betting odds and predictions on postseason awards.

The first series will be the AL East. Here is a breakdown of what you can expect this year.

American League East

The Vegas projections is what I will predict because this division to me is pretty easy. The Yankees are supposed to run away with the division and Baltimore will be one of the worst teams in baseball.

If the Yankees stay healthy, they should cruise. The Rays should be very good and the Red Sox could be above .500, too.

Prediction of finish with the Vegas win total projections. 

1. Yankees (38.5)

2. Rays (34.5)

3. Red Sox (32.5)

4. Blue Jays (26.5)

5. Orioles (20.5)

Yankees

Health is the key to the whole season. With only 60 games. a major injury could be devastating to any franchise. The Yankees haven't been able to full avoid the injury bug in a while. If guys like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and James Paxton can stay healthy, they could win 40 plus games.

The roster is loaded, led by pitching ace Gerritt Cole, closer Aroldis Chapman and every day players Judge, Stanton, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit.

Best chance at MVP - Torres

Torres has been on the verge of greatness for a few years now. I lean Torres because Judge and Stanton just haven't proven to me they can stay healthy.

Best chance at Cy Young - Cole

No doubt Cole is the ace. And if is as good as he was in Houston last year, he will win the Cy Young. Mostly because he plays for the Yankees and if he pitches that well, New York probably won 42 games.

Need a big season from - Stanton

Yankee fans got a glimpse of what Stanton can do two years ago when he hit 38 homers and drove in 100 runs. But he played just 18 games last year. He needs to be big again this year if the Yankees want to reach full potential.

Rays

The Rays pitching staff was recently voted second best in baseball by the MLB Network team. And looking at the roster, that is the only thing that scares me about this team.

I can't believe they won as many games as they did last year with that roster but it just shows you that "Moneyball" can work if you put together the right pieces.

In a playoff series, throwing Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Charlie Morton out there would spell trouble for most teams.

Best chance at MVP - Austin Meadows

I love Meadows. I drafted him on my fantasy team back in March when we thought we'd get a full season. If the Rays win the 34.5 projected wins or more, he probably had a big year and will be in the mix for the award.

Best shot at the Cy Young - Glasnow

I love Snell. But I think Glasnow is due for a big year. He was 6-1 with an ERA of 1.78 last year in 60 innings. He'll be the No. 2 starter this season and those numbers will get you Cy Young votes when it's over the course of the entire season.

Need a big season from - Nick Anderson

Anderson is the closer for this year's team. And he's got some hype with him. I think he's in for a huge year and if he can close out games consistently playing the tough schedule the Rays will see, it could help close the gap between them and the Yankees.

Red Sox

I could see the Red Sox winning 35 games or 25 games. The talent is there but the pitching staff has a lot of questions to me. Chris Sale is getting up there in age, Nathan Eovaldi has had injury issues and Collin McHugh hasn't been a full time starter since 2016.

Best chance at MVP - Xander Bogaerts

It could realistically be JD Martinez or Rafael Devers, too. But Bogaerts had the highest WAR of the three last year. Bogaerts hit over .300 with 36 homers and 105 RBIs last year. That was his second straight all-star season and if he plays on that level again, he will elevate Boston in the standings and put himself in the mix for the award.

Best shot at Cy Young - Eduardo Rodriguez

Chris Sale is the obvious choice but health concerns have slowed him a bit and his 4.40 ERA was the worst in his career last season.

Rodriguez was 19-6 last with year with an ERA of 3.81. That ERA is not Cy Young worthy but the 213 strikeouts is a good start. If he can keep the Ks up and lower the ERA some, he could be in the conversation.

Need a big season from - Sale

Back to Sale. He was 6-11 last year in 25 starts but his ERA will have to get better if the Red Sox have any chance to challenge the Yankees or Rays.

Can he stay healthy? Is there room for a bounce back year? The Red Sox are paying him a lot of money to be the ace. He'll need to pitch like it this summer.

Blue Jays

I think Toronto is still a few pieces away but it has plenty of talent and some last names most older fans will recognize.

The signing of Hyun-Jin Ryu will either be huge or a dud I figure. If he can pitch like last year, the Jays will be better than the 26.5 win projection Vegas has on them. But Ryu is always hurt so that's an obstacle, too.

Best chance at MVP - Bo Bichette

It could be Bichette. It could be Cavan Biggio or Vlad Guerrero Jr. All three are young studs who should push the Blue Jays into contention in a few years.

I am going with Bichette because  of his ability to hit over .300. He batted .311 with 11 HRs and 21 RBIs in only 46 games last year. His OPS also was .930 in that short span.

Best shot at Cy Young - Ryu

We have seen Ryu do it before. There aren't a lot of other options on the pitching staff. Ryu was fantastic for the Dodgers last year and it got him a big free agent contract. If he wins 6-8 games and has the 2.32 ERA he had last year, that should be good enough to at least put him in the discussion.

Need a big season from - Ken Giles

Teams that are a few pieces away usually find themselves in close games. If the Jays can stay close with the powerhouse teams they'll face in the AL and NL East, Giles will need to be at his best to give them a chance to win enough games to stay close.

Orioles

Not much to say with this team. The Orioles won't be in any discussion except maybe the battle for the No. 1 pick in the draft.

I can't tell you who the best player on the team is. Chris Davis once was but he's had a down year for the past several.

Trey Mancini hit .291 last year with 95 RBIs. That was pretty good.

I also loved Jose Iglesias in Cincinnati last year. Iglesias will be a great addition defensively and he'll do well at the plate with two strikes.

The Orioles won't have any MVP candidates and won't see anyone come close to Cy Young worthy. Not even a big season from one of three mentioned above will move the needle to more than 20 wins.