A Team by Team Season Wrapup of Major League Baseball
Arizona Diamondbacks: When you open 1-7, not even power hitter Paul Goldschmidt can rescue you from finishing with a league-worst .395 record. If your ace pitcher has a 4.34 ERA, you know you need to rebuild.
Atlanta Braves: Trading leads with the Nats until 50 games out, the Braves finished the season with one of their most notorious September collapses. Hopefully there are enough Waffle Houses in the new stadium to support one of the dumbest managers in the game, because when you choke in the most important part of the season every season, there’s a problem.
Baltimore Orioles: Going up, up and away in a mediocre AL East isn’t hard, especially when your offense has the 9th highest batting average, the 8th highest runs scored and 3rd highest slugging percentage in the league. The question is: how many Manny Machado clutch hits can carry the team in the postseason?
Boston Red Sox: From World Series champs to unlucky bottom feeders, the Sox have a long way to go before they make the playoffs again. Bobby Valentine, anyone?
Chicago Cubs: Still moaning about Steve Bartman. Still the whipping boy of a powerful NL Central. Still haven’t won a World Series since the Ottoman Empire. Keep praying, Chicago.
Chicago White Sox: What’s worse, being ignored for a team as bad as the Cubs, or not being able to complain about it because you finished with the same record?
Cincinnati Reds: The NL Central had a four-horse race for the division in mid-August, but it was the Reds that bit the dust. Finishing only 3 games from the bottom of the division that includes the Cubs, Johnny Cueto dropped hard in his last few games and still finished with 20 wins. They are looking good for 2015.
Cleveland Indians: Almost. Michael Bourne, David Murphy and Michael Brantley almost batted the Indians into the playoffs, but destiny had to be nice to the Royals and give the Indians a losing streak to let that poor city have a chance for two first-round playoff exits in two sports.
Colorado Rockies: If the season ended in July, Tulo and Blackmon would’ve been fighting for the MVP, both sporting over .400 batting averages. Alas, the Rockies finished 2 games out of the bottom and everyone remembered that one hot outfielder and a dominant shortstop can’t carry the sorriest pitching staff in the MLB.
Detroit Tigers: Eking out the AL Central division champ, Miggy and company hoped to reclaim the World Series that should’ve been theirs last year. When you have the best offense and Max Scherzer, you have to be optimistic about your odds.
Houston Astros: Laugh all you want, the Astros are the next big dynasty. With electric prospects and Jose Altuve, the Astros are looking for payback for a decade of humiliation.
Kansas City Royals: After winning the AL Wild Card game against a dwindling Oakland side, the Royals are heading into the ALDS against considerably the best team in baseball. Can the Royals carry on their luck through the first round of the postseason against a strong Angels team? Probably not.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Being neck and neck with the Giants until last couple of months of the season, the Dodgers are looking pretty well going into the postseason. With stars like Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Yasiel Puig, the road ahead of the Dodgers looks fairly bright.
Los Angeles Angels: What is there to say about the Angels this season? After overtaking the A’s after the All-Star Break, the Angels have become the best team in baseball led by powerhouse Mike Trout. If they don’t win it all this year I will be highly disappointed.
Miami Marlins: After a great start to the season, the Marlins managed to fall apart after the loss of ace Jose Fernandez due to an elbow surgery. Hopefully his surgery did not take away his ability to pound the strike zone; otherwise, 2015 will be another unsurprisingly tough season.
Milwaukee Brewers: Being a part of the postseason run late into the season makes the Milwaukee Brewers another hopeful prospect to do well in the 2015 season in a competitive NL Central division. Well, competitive, not counting the Cubs.
New York Mets: Well… they had the same record as the Atlanta Braves in a lackluster division. They could do a little better next year but not much.
New York Yankees: With the departure of Derek Jeter and the return of A-rod, the Yankees will finally be able to focus again on what they have done the most out of any team in the MLB, win championships.
Oakland Athletics: Tsk tsk, Oakland. How do you go from best team in baseball with one of the best pitching staffs in the game to a Wild Card failure, allowing the Kansas City Royals to come back after having a fairly comfortable 7-3 lead? There is still some faith, but there is definitely some frustration settling in the Oakland area.
Philadelphia Phillies: The worst team in the worst division. Pathetic.
Pittsburgh Pirates: A competitor with stars like Andrew Mc”Clutch”en, the Pirates ought to have a chance in this year’s postseason run. If they lost to the Giants yesterday, they can’t possibly go wrong in the 2015 season.
San Diego Padres: Since when have the Padres been a competitor in the MLB? 1998? They won’t make another playoffs run in a while.
Seattle Mariners: Even though the Seattle Mariners didn’t end off the season with a bad record, they couldn’t manage to overcome a tough AL West division. They will be a competitor next season if they beef up their pitching rotation somehow.
St. Louis Cardinals: Winner of the NL Central division, the St. Louis Cardinals are looking to bounce back in their second straight postseason run. They’re going for the gold, and are not afraid to beat out the tough competition from the west.
Tampa Bay Rays: Collapse. With the departure of David Price to the Tigers, the Rays are not looking too well going into next season.
Toronto Blue Jays: The third best team in the AL East. Not surprising, and to hear that they are above both the Red Sox and the Rays isn’t that much of a shocker either. Improvement is on its way. Get ready for an invasion from the north.
Texas Rangers: What has happened to baseball in Texas? It’s gotten so bad that they are officially worse than the Astros. What has the world come to?
Washington Nationals: The best team in the NL record-wise may be a tough team to face this postseason. With a strong pitching staff and lineup, there aren't any foreseeable problems with this franchise.