In 2019, the Tampa Bay Rays posted a 96-66 record and clinched a wild card spot in the process. It was a huge stride in the right direction for a team with a young core, so there is excitement as the team head into the 2020 season.
The Cincinnati Reds failed to reach the MLB postseason yet again but there were some very encouraging signs in their 2019 performance, which is hard to find in many other 75-87 teams. The Reds achieved an 11-win year-to-year improvement behind a solid first year for manager David Bell and behind a historic season to their starting rotation, which had the fifth-best ERA in the NL.
So why did Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball decide that the only suitable punishment for the Houston Astros players was public humiliation?
Prospects Isan Diaz and Jordan Yamamoto provide a spark both on the mound and with the bat. The rebuild seems to be working.
2019 was a bad year for the Boston Red Sox and it got progressively worse as it went on. A year after storming to a World Series title in one of the greatest seasons in franchise history, they dropped from 108 wins to a mediocre 84 and missed the playoffs altogether.
The Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t an exciting team to preview ahead of the 2020 season. They lost 93 games in 2019 and while PECOTA predicts them to pick up an extra W in 2020, the outlook is pretty bleak.
After successive division titles, the Atlanta Braves return for 2020 with most of their core still in place. Despite losing Josh Donaldson, they still have two of the National League’s finest hitters in Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuña.
The Yankees have been knocking on the door for three years running and they now have reason to believe that they will succeed in 2020, in large part due to one addition to the roster.
After a disappointing 81-81 season in 2019 which cost Gabe Kapler his job, the Philadelphia Phillies bring back the key parts of that team whilst adding potential stars for both their offence and pitching. However, in a competitive NL east, Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA projects them to win just 76.8 games.
There aren’t many other ways that the Yankees could get better this off season but while they seem to have their business in order, there is one lingering trade in the air that Brian Cashman could well swoop in to take the Yankees to another level.
The Baltimore Orioles’ outlook remains bleak. The 2019 season was brutal, as they racked up 108 losses. That was, at least, an improvement on the 115 tallied in 2018.
The New York Mets started the 2019 season without tremendous expectations but with an absolutely loaded roster which ended up heavily underperforming.
Major League Baseball and Passyunk Avenue have teamed up to bring an interactive, activity-led baseball experience to Westfield, London. Home Run House is semi-permanent, and will be open for 12 months. This follows on from the success of London Yards last year and the growing interest in MLB after the inaugural MLB London games between …
MLB, Passyunk Avenue look to recreate ballpark experience with Home Run House Read More »
World Series champions are set to compete in 2020 despite losing Anthony Rendon.
Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers haven’t been the most consistently competitive teams in recent memory. They have combined for just two NL Central titles in the last decade and had to go through unkind periods of rebuilding in order to reach their current places of contenders.
