Power Rankings (6-10)

10) Boston Red Sox – Ed Nunez

Next we welcome our only minority into the rankings…. and so we don’t get sued, we made sure to put him in the top 10, so here we are. Ed has a well-rounded team that didn’t perform to the best of their ability in the 2017 year. I think the Red Sox will bounce back this year and it weighs heavily on Noah “Thor” Syndergaard and his health. When Thor is on, he is a dominant pitcher and he will pair nicely with Tanner Roark, German Marquez, Jake Odorizzi, and Joe Musgrove. Pitching staff goes deep and seems like a consistent core that will put up good numbers weekly. The offense has made good strides as well having good names such as Domingo Santana, Eugenio Suarez, Jonathon Schoop, Ender Inciarte, and Manuel Margot. Now there isn’t any superstar names in the lineup, but it consists of solid hitters that will pair well with the pitching staff. I think this team will be the biggest sleeper of the year for the American League and will sneak into the playoffs. From there, anything can happen.

Projection: 2nd Place AL East – Wild Card Winner – Lose in ALCS

9) Detroit Tigers – Tommy Pilewicz

And at number 9, we have your 2018 AL Central Champion. No I did not type that wrong, I wasn’t trying to type 2017. Tigers have the AL Central crown in the bag this year, you heard it first. It is a story as old as time as we could say what would happen if this team was put in the NL East? Well I could say pretty surely, a last place finish, but guess what? This isn’t lala land or some fake reality, this is FANTASY BASEBALL and the Tigers are in the AL Central and they’re going to the playoffs. Tigers have a top 10 offense with guys lake Jake Lamb, Carlos Correa, Brian Dozier, Starling Marte, and Tommy Pham. The pitching needs a little work, but the Tigers do have depth to last through the season. I can see this team making a couple more moves later in the year to get ready for the playoffs, but overall this team is ready to go back-to-back.

Projection: AL Central Champion – 1st round knockout

8) Seattle Mariners – Mike Duncan

For some reason as I was putting together the power rankings, I kept thinking I was putting the Mariners too low as they are World Series champions and have been to back-to-back ALCS games. This team has a different vibe though and it could result in an upsetting year in Seattle where it is raining tears (Seattle rain joke). This has a lot to do with the injuries of Justin Turner, Daniel Murphy, and Jeff Samardzija. No one is out for the year or anything, but start of season injuries due to tend to linger on throughout a year, so this could cause concern for the Mariners. But they still crack the top 10 due to guys like Jean Segura, Jackie Bradley Jr, DJ Lemaheiu, Eric Thames, and a little guy known as Mike Trout. The offense will still put up big numbers and should still get them an AL West title unless the Rangers make a big run at them. Not including Shark, the pitching staff revolves around Kyle “The Professor” Hendricks, Corey Kluber, and Zach Daives. Not a bad group at all, but the pitching lacks depth, so I can see Seattle trading one of their bats for a strong pitcher around the deadline this year. Overall, still a solid ass team and will have a good chance of another ALCS appearance if he can avoid more injuries.

Projection: AL West Champion – 1st round knockout

7) St. Louis Cardinals – Andrew Kemper

This Cardinals team is going to be fun to watch this year without a lot of talented players that could and should put together a team to win the NL Central. The pitching is there with Chris Sale, Carlos Martinez, James Paxton, Rasiel Iglesias, and Andrew Miller. I think this team’s downfall will be the lack of starting pitching depth, but I think that will be addressed as the season gets deeper. The offense is loose butthole and has a lot of guys ready to put up big points lead by their fearless leader Joey Votto. Also some great young talent that will play a big role in this 2018 includes Ozzie Albies, Andrew Benedenti, Maikel Franco, Nomar Mozara, and Jose Pirela. There are other young and veteran bats on the team, but you get the point, that the offense fucks and of course Cardinals would have a fit if I didn’t mention they have Yadier Molina. I think this NL Central race will come down to the last week for who takes home the crown.

Projection: Tied for 1st Place NL Central (Wins Tiebreaker) – Loses 1st Round

6) Cincinnati Reds – Rob Prohaska

We have arrived at Sherriff Rob, who will compete with the Cards for the NL Central title. Rob has made the playoffs the last 2 years and wants to make it a 3rd straight. Rob relies on his Cubbies with Anthony Rizzo providing the power and Jon Lester providing the pitching consistency. Rob has some good pitching to go around Lester with guys like Gerrit Cole, Alex Wood, Ervin Santana, Marco Estrada, and Colin McHugh, who apparently is going to average 39 fantasy points per game according to Fantrax. It doesn’t stop there as the offense provides a good deal of pop with Matt Weiters, Mark Trumbo, Chris Davis, Yonder Alonzo, Andrelton Simmons, and Kole Callhoun. I think the difference between the Reds and the Cardinals is the depth, which the Reds win in for sure. That can change throughout the year, which is why I still have the Cardinals taking home the NL Central with a tiebreaker. I think the Reds have a lot of talent, but for the 2018 year, he will fall just short of the playoffs for the first time in Reds history. The biggest disappointment in Cincy since Skyline Chilli.

Projection: Tied for 1st Place NL Central (Loses tiebreaker – Misses playoffs)