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Pres Predictions & Futures MLB 2020

The predictions are finally here for the 2020 MLB season from the Dead Pres Team. Is there a better way to kick off the season than looking into some MLB futures? I don’t think so. Below, we’ll discuss how we think each division is going to round out and where you can find value betting the futures. (All odds are provided by Bovada unless stated otherwise.)

MLB season to begin with Gerrit Cole making Yankees debut?

AL East

  1. New York Yankees (-265)
  2. Tampa Bay Rays (+280)
  3. Toronto Blue Jays (+2800)
  4. Boston Red Sox (+1200)
  5. Baltimore Orioles (+20000)

No surprises here. It’s nearly impossible not to back this New York lineup. Led by heavy hitters such as Stanton, Judge, Torres, and Sanchez, as well as the addition of 2019 AL Cy Young runner-up Gerrit Cole to an already solid rotation, I think this division winner comes as a no brainer to most. Behind the Yankees, we have the Tampa Bay Rays, who are coming off a great 2019 campaign. The Rays should compete for a wildcard spot with all their young talent. Rounding out the division we have a young and talented Toronto team, led by Vlad Jr, Biggio, Gurriel, and Bichette, which we expect to be competing very soon. Next up is a Boston team, who just moved on from 2018 MVP Mookie Betts and missing their ace in Chris Sale due to Tommy John surgery. With a poor pitching staff and a big hole to fill in Betts, we expect this team to struggle. Lastly, we have the Baltimore Orioles who will once again struggle. They will be without their best bat in Trey Mancini and their pitching is very weak like years past. 

Value Futures in the AL East:

Yankees to win AL (+175)

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AL Central

  1. Clevland Indians (+300)
  2. Minnesota Twins (-150)
  3. Chicago White Sox (+325)
  4. Kansas City Royals (+8000)
  5. Detroit Tigers (+12500)

We are going to back the Cleveland Indians in what we expect to be a very tight AL Central race. The Indians are led by the stellar three-headed monster atop their rotation in Shane Bieber, Mike Clevinger, and Carlos Carrasco. They also bolstered both their offense and defense with the offseason additions of Domingo Santana and Cesar Hernandez. Those additions, along with Fransico Lindor, Carlos Santana, Jose Ramirez, and Franmil Reyes should give Cleveland a steady offensive attack behind what we believe to be the best pitching rotation in the AL Central. We have the Twins next and expect them to be right on the heels of the Indians. Coming off a big season, the Twins have kept many of the same faces around for the 2020 season. Minnesota’s pitching depth is a bit of a concern, as we expect some regression from Jake Odorizzi, along with a poor back end of the rotation with Homer Bailey and the inexperienced Randy Dobnak. The Twins offense should continue their success but in a shortened season we give a slight advantage to the Tribe. Third, we have the Chicago White Sox, who are loaded with young talent across the board and some great veterans in Jose Abreu and Tim Anderson. The White Sox also added a couple of solid southpaws in Dallas Kuchel and Gio Gonzalez in the offseason but will be missing star pitcher Michael Kopech this year. We think it is a bit too early for the Sox in this shortened season and have them closer to being on the wrong side of 500. The Royals should struggle once again this season and will try to edge out the Tigers to keep from a last play finish in this division.

Value Futures in the AL Central:

Cleveland Indians to win AL Central (+300)

Cleveland Indians to Make the Playoffs (-115) (via MyBookie)

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AL West

  1. Houston Astros (-160)
  2. Oakland Athletics (+250)
  3. Los Angeles Angels (+650)
  4. Texas Rangers (+1800)
  5. Seattle Mariners (+6600)

The most hated team in the MLB will have another good season in 2020 whether fans want to believe it or not. The Astros lineup will continue to be a top offense in baseball behind the bats of Jose Altuve, George Springer, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, and more dangerous hitters. The arms they will face in the AL West may be as weak as any division while also facing weak pitching staffs against the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants. The loss of Gerrit Cole is obviously big but they will have the services of Lance Mcculers Jr back this year along with Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke. The Oakland A’s should be right on the heels of the Astros returning a talented roster across the board, with very little weak spots, led by Matt Chapman and Marcus Semien. Their starting staff consists of a finally fully healthy Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, Mike Fiers, and two top prospects in Jesus Luzardo and AJ Puk. Let’s not forget about the fact they also have a top bullpen in the league. The A’s will certainly make some noise being sound from top to bottom and are one of our favorite dark horse teams to give the Astros a run for their money to take the AL West. However, we simply think the bats of the Astros will just be too strong. The Angels added top free agent Anthony Rendon in the offseason and should return a healthy Shohei Otani and Tommy La Stella. Their offense will likely be in the top half of the league this season led by Mike Trout. However, with such a poor pitching staff we expect them to get bested by the likes of the Astros and Athletics. Rounding out the division we have the Texas Rangers followed by the Seattle Mariners who we believe will both have slim odds to compete for the postseason.

Value Futures in the AL West:

Oakland Athletics to Make the Playoffs (-105) (via MyBookie)

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NL East

  1. Philadelphia Phillies (+375)
  2. Atlanta Braves (+175)
  3. Washington Nationals (+250)
  4. New York Mets (+325)
  5. Miami Marlins (+10000)

There is no bias here, believe it or not. For those who don’t know, the DP team is from Philly but this Phillies team is legit! In such a stacked division, headlined with the defending world champion Nationals and a loaded Braves team, the Phillies are somewhat flying under the radar. The value is too good to pass up at +375! Led by Bryce Harper, J.T Realmuto, and newest addition Didi Gregorious, this team can hit with almost any offense in the league. Philadelphia also added Zack Wheeler to pair with ace Aaron Nola, to try to improve what was an underwhelming pitching staff in 2019 along with getting back key bullpen arms from injury. Are we arguing that the Phillies have more talent than the Braves? No, but we think the shortened season can help this fired up team go on a run and win in a tight race. The Atlanta Braves are the favorite to win this division and for good reason. Atlanta will pick up where they left off as a top offense last season, ranking top ten in about every major hitting category. Along with that, they added Marcell Ozuna who adds power to the middle of this Atlanta lineup. Their pitching is headlined by young ace Mike Soroka along with other solid veterans who get help from a top bullpen in the MLB. Atlanta also added veteran Cole Hamels in the offseason however his return isn’t expected anytime soon hurting this rotation in the shortened season. Next, we have the defending champion Washington Nationals who ended the season on an unreal run. The 2019 Nationals were the perfect case of getting hot at the right time. However, I don’t think this team has as much talent as either the Braves or Phillies. The Nationals bullpen struggled the majority of the 2019 season until their Cinderella playoff run and we expect regression for this group. Even with a top starting staff and MVP candidate Juan Soto, we don’t have faith in the Rendon-less Nationals to win in such a loaded division, although they will certainly compete. Rounding out the Division we have the Mets and Marlins. We expect the Mets to compete this season with a very solid starting staff led by Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, and Steven Matz. The injury of Noah Syndergaard will be pivotal for the Mets this season as his absence took New York from a top staff back down to average. The Mets lineup should be solid again this season led by Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil along with Yoneis Cespdes who returns from injury. We however do not believe New York has the firepower to win this division although they should be competitive. The Marlins will be the Marlins and finish last in an absolutely stacked division.

Value Futures in the NL East:

Philadelphia Phillies to win NL East (+375)

**Atlanta Braves to Make the Playoffs** (+105) (via MyBookie)

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NL Central

  1. Cincinnati Reds (+240
  2. Chicago Cubs (+275)
  3. St Louis Cardinals (+250)
  4. Milwaukee Brewers (+325)
  5. Pittsburgh Pirates (+5000)     

The NL Central should be one of the most competitive divisions in baseball this season. We have the new look Cincinnati Reds taking the NL Central in what we expect to be an extremely tight race. The Reds top three arms are as good as any in the majors with Luis Castillio, Sonny Grey, and Trevor Bauer. Cincy also added big bats in the offseason in All-Star Mike Moustakas and Nicholas Castellanos to pair with returning players such as Enguino Suarez, Aristides Aquino, and Joey Votto. Right behind the Reds, we have the Chicago Cubs looking to make their fifth playoff appearance in the last six seasons. Chicago sends out one of the best lineups in baseball behind stars Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez. However, the pitching staff of Chicago will likely struggle after doing very little to fix what was one of the worst bullpens in the 2019 MLB season. The Cardinals are coming off a season in which they made the playoffs yet again and they should be a solid team once again. The loss of hard-hitting outfielder Marcell Ozuna will leave a big hole in the Cardinals lineup who already struggled scoring runs, ranking in the bottom ten teams in terms of runs batted in. In this tight division, we expect St Louis to stay competitive but think they are a few steps behind the Reds and Cubs. The Brewers will likely struggle in this division due to their poor starting pitching. The Brewers should have a decent offensive attack led by former MVP Christian Yelich but still far behind the top MLB offenses. Although they sport one of the league’s top bullpens as well, we just don’t see Milwaukee putting up too strong of a fight in this division. Lastly, we have the Pittsburgh Pirates who should struggle once again this season. The Pittsburgh offensive attack could surprise some with bats like Brian Reynolds, Adam Frazier, and Josh Bell but the pitching has too many holes to compete this season. 

Value Futures in the NL Central:

Cincinnati Reds to win NL Central (+240)

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NL West

  1. Los Angeles Dodgers (-450)
  2. Arizona Diamondbacks (+750)
  3. San Diego Padres (+750)
  4. Colorado Rockies (+3500)
  5. San Francisco Giants (+5000)

Another no brainer here. The Dodgers should run away with this division with arguably the best roster in baseball. Most notably, the addition of Mookie Betts to what was an already loaded offense consisting of 2019 MVP Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, and Josh Turner along with other great bats. The Dodger staff will be solid again this season led by Walker Buhler and Clayton Kershaw. The team I see giving the Dodgers the most issues and our pick to finish behind them is the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-backs are coming off a very solid 2019 and added All-Star caliber center fielder Starling Marte. Ketel Marte and David Peralta took the league by storm last season both with huge seasons for the D-backs along with the powerful bat of first baseman Christian Walker. Arizona’s pitching also improved this offseason signing future Hall of Fame southpaw, Madison Bumgarner. This team is one to watch out for and we believe they will be a postseason team in 2020. The Padres follow the Diamondbacks who are hoping to bounce back from a disappointing season. Along with returning stars Manny Machado, Frendo Tatis Jr, and Eric Hosmer, the Padres also added Tommy Pham in the offseason who should produce. The problem for the Padres is their starting rotation. Outside of Chris Paddack, I do not believe the Padres have any arms that will strike fear in opposing offenses and that will keep San Diego out of any contention in their 2020 campaign. The Rockies will likely run into issues again with their starting staff and bullpen. Colorado’s offense will be fun to watch again led by Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story, and Charlie Blackmon. We are preparing for plenty more overs in Rockies games once again! The Giants will have a rough season on both sides of the ball like last season as they will be in the rebuilding process led by new head coach Gabe Kapler. 

Values in Futures in the NL West: 

Arizona Diamondbacks to Make the Playoffs (+175) (via MyBookie) 

Beyond excited for this MLB season and to have our sports back. This season should be exciting and we are expecting plenty of surprises with the 60 game season. All the plays above are just what we are eyeing for the value from each division. Everyone get ready for one hell of a season and let’s win some money!

 

Be sure to follow @DeadPresPicks on Twitter!

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