LA Dodgers 38.0 (106-56 Last Year)
Added Betts, Treinen, Wood | Lost Verdugo, Hill, Ryu, Maeda
Opt Out: David Price
Give me the over! Last year through the first 60 games the Dodgers had won 41 games and they’ve actually gotten better. For additions you could also include: Lux, May, Gonsolin. 38 seems like a very attainable number.
New York Yankees 37.5 (103-59 LY)
Added Cole | Lost Gregorious, Encarnacion
If they could keep everyone healthy, this would be an easy over, but in juries are my main concern. Now, they had 38 wins through 60 games last year even with the injuries. They added Cole, they’ll start healthy, the schedule is generally favorable so I’ll take the over, barely.
Houston Astros 35.0 (107-55 LY) New Manager – Baker
Lost Marisnick, Cole, Harris, Miley
This season is going to be a mess for the Astros for the obvious reason PLUS they lost an Ace in Cole and didn’t replace him. 40 wins through 60 games last year but I’m going to take the under on the 35 number for this year. I think they start out a little slow and will miss Cole.
Minnesota Twins 34.0 (101-61 LY)
Added Donaldson, Bailey, Hill, Maeda |Lost Schoop, Gibson, Perez
They surprised everyone last year and through 60 games were 40-20 with an 11 game lead in the Central! They are improved with the Donaldson addition and the additions of Hill and Maeda. This might be the easiest over to take.
Tampa Bay Rays 34.0 (96-66 LY)
Add Martinez, Tsutsugo, Renfroe|Lose Garcia, d’Arnaud, Pham, Pagan
37 wins at the 60 game mark in 2019 and they had Glasnow pitching out of his spikes, and a line-up that included Tommy Pham, one of the games best and underrated hitters. I don’t think Glasnow repeats his early 2019 performance, I don’t think Morton repeats a career year, I don’t know what Tsutsugo is going to do. For those reasons I’m going to take the under.
Atlanta Braves 33.5 (97-65 LY)
Added Ozuna, d’Arnaud, Hamels, W. Smith|Lost Donaldson, Keuchel, Teheran
Opt Out: Felix Hernandez, Nick Markakis
I feel like Atlanta is essentially the same team they were last year plus some seasoning on the young guys, and last year they were 33-27 after 60. I’m going to take a slight under on that 33.5 because they’re going to be stuck facing some of the best pitching in baseball this year thanks to the format of the 60 game schedule.
Washington Nationals 33.0 (93-69 LY)
Added Castro, Thames, Harris |Lost Rendon, Dozier
Opt out: Joe Ross, Ryan Zimmerman, Wellington Castillo
Last year the Nats were on the outside looking in with a 27-33 record. We all know how that turned out. With the loss of Rendon, Zimmerman and their number 5 starter, plus the difficult NL East schedule, I’m concerned about the Nats chances this year. I’m going to take the under.
Chicago Cubs 32.5 (84-78 LY) New Manager - Ross
Lost Castellanos, Hamels, Edwards Jr.
I’ve been skeptical about Ross as a manager and therefore I’m going to put my money where my mouth is and take the under. The team is loaded with talent but I swim against the current with my belief that the manager does matter. Last year the Cubs had 34 wins in their first 60 games under Maddon who they’ll miss this season.
Oakland Athletics 32.5 (97-65 LY)
Lost Profar, Roark, Treinen
The A’s were slow out of the gate last year and had a 30-30 record after 60 games. These losses won’t hurt them because they have a lot of young talent (Mateo, Luzardo, Puk) that will get a lot of opportunity this season. I’m going to take the over…they could pass the Astros for the division.
Cleveland Indians 32.5 (93-69 LY)
Added Deshields Jr., Clase | Lost Kluber
They could sweep the awards with Lindor for MVP and Bieber or Clevinger for CY. Probably not, but there going to be in the mix. 30 wins at the 60 game mark last year but Lindor and Clevinger both missed the start of the season. I like the over here with everyone ready to go and a weak division.
Cincinnati Reds 31.5 (75-87 LY)
Added Castellanos, Akiyama, Miley
All of the new additions and young talent did not click last year for the Reds. They began the season 28-32 over the first 60 games. The young guys are a year older, Castellanos and Akiyama are nice additions so I think the Reds take a step forward this season and finish a few games above .500 – therefore lock me in for the over.
New York Mets 31.5 (86-76 LY) New Manager – Luis Rojas
Added Marisnick, Betances, Porcello, Wacha | Lost Wheeler and Syndergaard out for season
Turmoil in the head coach role over the last few months, a downgraded pitching staff (Wheeler and Thor out, Porcello and Wacha in), a difficult NL East and AL East interleague schedule – I think the Mets are at or just below .500 so I’ll take the under.
Philadelphia Phillies 31.5 (81-81 LY) New Manager - Girardi
Added Gregorious, Wheeler |Lost Dickerson, Franco
A new manager, an upgraded infield with Didi and Rotation with Wheeler so I have the Phillies a few games better than the Mets so I’ll take a slight over.
St. Louis Cardinals 31.5 (91-71 LY)
Added Kwang-Hyun Kim | Lost Ozuna, Martinez, Wacha
Opt out: Jordan Hicks
Year in and year out the Cardinals are there so a over/under of just 31.5 seems like a no brainer to go over. They’ll be above .500 in the hunt for the NL Central title.
Boston Red Sox 31.5 (84-78 LY) – New Manager Ron Roenicke
Added Pillar, Verdugo, Perez, Mchugh |Lost Betts, Price, Pomeranz, Porello,
I like the additions but the loss of Mookie is going to prove to be too large. In 2019 The Red Sox started the season a surprising 31-29 coming off their World Series title. They still have a ton of talent but no Mookie, something up with Benintendi, no Sale, no Price – I just don’t see it. I’ll take the under.
Chicago White Sox 31.5 (72-89 LY)
Added Grandal, Mazara, Encarnacion, Gio Gonzalez, Keuchel
Opt Out: Michael Kopech
A lot of new additions but ask the Reds how that worked out last year. The Sox went 29-31 to start the 2019 season so 31.5 doesn’t seem like that much of a leap so I’ll take the over despite a lot of guys needing to get used to each other.
Los Angeles Angels 31.0 (72-90 LY) New Manager - Maddon
Added Rendon, Bundy, Teheran |Lost Calhoun
The Angels were 29-31 in the first 60 games of 2019, now they’ve got Rendon and a healthy two-way Ohtani so an improvement of just a few games seems reasonable. Oh and a big upgrade at manager with Maddon. I’ll take the over.
Arizona Diamondbacks 31.0 (85-77 LY)
Added Calhoun, Marte, Bumgarner
Opt Out: Mike Leake
An underrated offense, underrated rotation and underrated by Vegas, but here we can make some money on the deal. They went 30-30 to start ’19 and got better this offseason. They’ll beat up on the Giants, Rockies and Padres too. I’ll take the over.
Milwaukee Brewers 30.5 (89-73 LY)
Added Garcia, Smoak, Navarez, Anderson, Lauer | Lost Grandal, Moustakas, Lyles
Gandal and Moustakas are big losses but they also made some nice additions. That being said the NL Central is going to be a battle this year and I worry that the Brewers don’t have a good enough rotation to hang in there. I’ll take the under.
San Diego Padres 30.5 (70-92 LY) New Manager – Jayce Tingler
Added Pham, Dozier, Profar, Grisham, Pomeranz, Pagan, Davies
In the NL West last year, at the 60 game mark, 4 of the 5 teams were at or above 30 wins! San Diego was at 31. They have improved enough to make me feel confident that 31, 32, 33 wins is a good bar for them so I’ll take the close over.
Texas Rangers 28.5 (78-84 LY)
Added Kluber, Gibson, Lyles | Lost Pence, Deshields Jr, Mazara
The first team we’ve encountered on this list with an over/under number that would have them under .500 for the season. Last year the Rangers had 32 wins after the first 60 games. They focused on pitching this offseason and that should help. It won’t be enough to win the division but it should be enough to get them over this 28.5 number. I’ll go over.
Toronto Blue Jays 27.5 (67-95 LY)
Added Shaw, Ryu, Roark, Anderson, Yamaguchi | Lost Smoak
There is a lot of hype around the Jays thanks to Guerrero, Bichette, Biggio and the offseason acquisition of Ryu. The problem is that after Ryu their rotation is just going to be throwing BP to the New York, Tampa and Boston lineups. I’d love to be wrong and maybe Borucki surprises, and they give Pearson a chance in the rotation and they make it work. They won’t surprise anyone and sneak into the playoffs but they should be able to beat that 27.5…barely, so I’ll take the over.
Colorado Rockies 27.5 (71-91 LY)
No significant moves.
Opt Out: Ian Desmond
They just can’t pitch and they’re in the wrong division to have a weak staff. The Dodgers, Diamondbacks and improving Padres will smack them around. The only hope is that the offense, led by Arenado and Blackmon will be able to win games. I’m not optimistic. I’m going under.
Pittsburgh Pirates 25.5 (69-93 LY) New Manager - Derek Shelton
Lost Marte, Nova
There really isn’t much to be optimist about here for the Pirates. We’re getting into the worst teams in baseball portion of the over/under. Last year the pirates hung around and went 29-31 after 60 games. I like Josh Bell and some of the other young guys, but with the Reds improving there’s no way they match last year’s start so I’m going slightly under.
San Francisco Giants 25.0 (77-85 LY) New Manager - Kapler
Added Pence, Gausman | Lost Pillar, Bumgarner, Smith
Opt out: Buster Posey
Kapler completely had a let down last year with a very talented Philadelphia team and now he goes to a less talented Giants team. They won 25 of the first 60 last year and will probably be right around there again this year but I’ll go under with the Padres and Diamondbacks getting better.
Kansas City Royals 25.0 (59-103 LY) New Manager - Matheny
Added Franco
Free Whit Merrifield. That’s all there is to say. Under. Sorry KC.
Miami Marlins 24.5 (57-105 LY)
Added Dickerson, Villar, Aguilar |Lost Castro
Miami won 23 games to start the 2019 season but they weren’t stuck playing NL and AL East teams. That’ll have an impact, even though they have improved year over year. I will take the under.
Seattle Mariners 23.5 (68-94 LY)
Added Edwards Jr | Lost Navarez, Santana
The only hope for Mariner fans is that they start out the way they did last year and make a run for it because it’s a short season. That’s unlikely though. They have a lot of young talent in the pipeline and it’ll be interesting to see how much of it gets regular playing time this year. Under.
Detroit Tigers 22.0 (47-114 LY)
Added Schoop, Nova
I actually think the Mariners, Tigers and Royals are the 3 candidates to win less than 20 games. There is no reason for them to mess around and hurry any of the young talent up this year.
Baltimore Orioles 20.5 (54-108 LY)
Lost Villar
Is Chris Davis back? He looked good in March. He hit another homer the other day. They’ve got John Means, who looks good. They’ve got guys that play hard so I’m actually going to say over…21 or 22 wins.