Baseball season is once again upon us. No more football or college basketball to distract us. Hockey and the NBA are getting ready for their postseasons. Baseball's half year hold on us begins this week. We are talking baseball, competitive baseball. What will the season hold? Will the Chicago Cubs break their zero years curse and finally win it all again? Can the Indians get back to the Fall Classic and get that last damn out to end their own title misery? How will the 2017 Major League Baseball season play out? Here at SeedSing we have all the answers to your specific questions, and a few predictions. Get your bets ready.

Who is going to replace Boston as the AL East champs?

The Eastern division of the American League is going to feature the best races of the entire season. Most of the other divisions have a clear leader, not the AL East. Four of the five teams, if not all five, have the potential to end 2017 with 81 or more wins. It is going to be tough to come out on top in the AL East.

The Boston Red Sox, last year's division winners, added the best available veteran pitcher of the off season when they signed Chris Sale. Last year the Red Sox brought in David Price, the best available veteran pitcher of 2015. The Boston pitching staff will be one of the best in the MLB, and their lineup is still one of the deepest in all of baseball.

Unfortunately, superstar David Ortiz retired and will not be there to provide some dramatic 9th inning wins for the Red Sox this year. Ace pitcher Price is also battling injury, and has not been that great in the playoffs. The Red Sox will make the playoffs, they depth will carry them, but they will not be champions.

The AL East will return to the New York Yankees. The Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays will put up a fight, but the Yankees will turn them all away. The Bronx Bombers overachieved last year, and they will make the next step in 2017. Their starting pitching is not that good, but the bullpen and lineup are some of the best in the majors. The Yankees will fix the pitching and win the AL east with about 90 wins.

Will there be any other competitive divisions in baseball this year?

Only the NL West, and that is just a two team race.

The AL Central will easily be won by the Cleveland Indians again.

The AL West is going to be a runaway for the Houston Astros. They will get back to what them great in 2014, and no one will catch them. Not even the perennially overrated Seattle Mariners and the perennially overachieving Texas Rangers.

The NL East is going to be won by the Washington Nationals, with the New York Mets 20 games behind.

The NL Central will be dominated by the Chicago Cubs, more on them in a bit.

The NL West will have an interesting race between the San Francisco Giants and LA Dodgers. The Dodgers have all the money in the world, and still the best pitcher in baseball with Clayton Kershaw. The Giants have a battle tested veteran team, the best manager in baseball, and the second best pitcher in the game with Madison Bumgarner. The Giants will win a very close AL West division race.

With only one, or two, great division races this year, what is there to look forward to?

The wildcard races are going to be crazy, and one or more will need an extra game to determine the winners.

The NL is loaded with great teams. The Mets, Cardinals, Pirates, Marlins, Braves, and Diamondbacks all have a chance to win over 85 games and take one of the two wildcard spots. With the right trade, and a bit of luck, any of these squads could be a spoiler to the big dogs in the senior circuit.

The AL is not as competitive, but the teams in AL East along with the Royals (one year removed from winning the World Series), the Tigers, and the Rangers have chance to play October baseball. Once you get in the playoffs, who knows what will happen. The Wild Card races will make the regualr season worth watching all the way to the last game.

What teams have absolutely no hope in 2017?

The NL may have the best teams, but it also has the worst.

The Cincinnati Reds need to rebuild. Joey Votto is still great, and Billy Hamilton is fast, but the Reds have nothing else. Their best players not named Votto, who are not great to begin with, are injured. The Reds are going to provide easy wins for the NL Central, and the rest of their opponents, in 2017.

The San Diego Padres may be even worse than the Reds. There is not a Joey Votto to keep the Padres in the national conversation. San Diego doesn't even have interesting assets to trade. They, along with the Reds, will lose over 100 games. 

Speaking of bad teams, will Joey Votto and Mike Trout be able to escape their terrible situations?

No

The Angles will not be as bad as the Reds, but Mike Trout will be as stuck as Joey Votto will be. These players are incredible talents, and it would require something ridiculous for their respective teams to give these great players away. Plus, Joey Votto makes a whole lot of money. It seems like Votto, the Ted Williams of our generation, and Trout, the Mickey Mantle, will be stuck with sub .500 teams in 2017.

What will be the biggest surprises of 2017?

The Atlanta Braves will be a lot better than most people expect. The team ended 2016 with a bunch of momentum. The rebuilding effort seems to be ready for the next step. The Braves also added some veteran leadership by acquiring second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Reds. Do not be surprised if the Braves are in Wild Card contention in late September.

The Royals and the Pirates are going to be sneaky good in 2017. Both teams suffered through big injuries in 2016. With healthy squads, Kansas City and Pittsburgh will return to the playoffs.

The St. Louis Cardinals will win close to 100 games, but the Cubs will win over 110 games in 2017. The Cubs may even break the MLB record for wins. They are really good.

So, What will the 2017 MLB Playoffs look like?

After 162, or 163, games, the division winners and wild cards will look like this.

                  AL East -           New York Yankees      NL East -           Washington Nationals

                  AL Central -      Cleveland Indians        NL Central -      Chicago Cubs

                  AL West -          Houston Astros           NL West -          San Francisco Giants

                  AL Wild Cards - Kansas City Royals     NL Wild Cards - St. Louis Cardinals

                                              Boston Red Sox                                    Pittsburgh Pirates 

The ALCS will come down to a Cleveland Indians team looking for redemption, and a New York Yankee squad looking to return to dominance. Unfortunately for the Baby Bombers, Terry Francona and the Tribe are just way too loaded. Cleveland will win the ALCS in 5 games.

The NL playoffs will see an epic upset when the St. Louis Cardinals take down their hated rivals the Chicago Cubs in an incredible Divisional Playoff 5 game series. This will pit the Cards against the Washington Nationals, and resurgent NL MVP Bryce Harper, in the NLCS. In an anticlimactic battle, Dusty Baker's Nationals will win the NL Pennant in a four game sweep.

In a world where the Cubs win a championship, Clemson beats Alabama, the Cavaliers beat the Warriors, Mississippi State beats UConn, and the Atlanta Falcons give up a 25 point lead to the New England Patriots, Dusty Baker will win a few playoff series and get the Washington Nationals to the World Series. The fairy tale will end when Dusty's boys face the better manager in Terry Francona, and the better team in the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe will have their redemption and win the World Series in 5 games. Another curse broken.

Enjoy the 2017 Major League Baseball season.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He copied and pasted his playoff teams from last year and only changed two names. Is MLB becoming as predictable as the NBA?  Come tell us. 

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