Last season, I was up and down in my predictions. I correctly predicted the Orioles and Blue Jays in the playoffs and had Mike Trout as the MVP. I incorrectly picked the Astros to make it to the World Series as they failed to reach the playoffs, and I had zero of the finalists for AL Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, or Comeback Player of the Year. So I’m going to try it again this year, because why the hell not? Without further delay, my predictions for the American League in 2017.

[Related: 2017 National League Predictions]

American League

East

(see my full AL East prediction here)

Boston Red Sox (95-67) – With a rotation stacked with aces and a lineup nearly just as good, the Red Sox are the team to beat in the American League.

Baltimore Orioles (90-72) – With their window closing, it’s now or never for Baltimore. The American League’s winningest team over the last five seasons, the Orioles will ride their bullpen to back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since 1996-97.

Toronto Blue Jays (87-75) – The loss of Edwin Encarnacion will have a bigger impact than people think, and while the rotation will still be superb, the Blue Jays run of consecutive postseason appearances ends at two.

New York Yankees (83-79) – Aroldis Chapman is back to lead the bullpen, and a young and talented lineup will keep the Yankees relevant, but their shaky rotation and overall inexperience will keep them out of the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.

Tampa Bay Rays (78-84) – The rotation will return to form, but as always, the offense will let this team down, as will the bullpen. Still, the Rays will be competitive throughout the season.

Central

Cleveland Indians (94-68) – Their rotation can make an argument as the best in the league, and their bullpen can do the same. The addition of Encarnacion and the return of Michael Brantley catches the offense up with the pitching and the Indians run away with the Central.

Detroit Tigers (85-77) – This team is old, but reliable. Justin Verlander and Michael Fulmer anchor the rotation, and there’s always Miguel Cabrera. They’ll play good baseball, but a late-season swoon will knock them out of contention in September.

Kansas City Royals (83-79) – If the Royals can avoid the injury bug that plagued them in 2016, they’ll contend. Unfortunately for Royals fans, Salvador Perez already injured his knee in the World Baseball Classic and though he’ll be ready for Opening Day, it’s likely something they’ll have to monitor all year. The magic that took this team to back-to-back World Series in 2014-15 may be all but gone.

Chicago White Sox (78-84) – The White Sox will be the surprise of the summer in Major League Baseball, hovering around .500 for most of the season. Still, they’re a couple years away from seriously contending, despite the haul they got from the Red Sox for Chris Sale.

Minnesota Twins (63-99) – The worst team in baseball in 2016 (59-103), the Twins gave catcher Jason Castro–who hasn’t hit his weight in either of the last two seasons–a 3-yr, $24.5M deal this offseason in the hopes that his pitch-framing abilities will help the American League’s worst pitching staff (5.08 ERA in 2016). Spoiler: it won’t.

West

Houston Astros (91-71) – Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran should bring quality veteran leadership to a young and extremely talented lineup, and the addition of Charlie Morton should help a rotation where everyone not named Lance McCullers under-performed in 2016. If Dallas Keuchel, Mike Fiers, and the like can rebound in 2017, the Astros could be scary-good.

Texas Rangers (88-74) – Yu Darvish is healthy. Cole Hamels is still Cole Hamels. Despite the loss of Ian Desmond to the Rockies, and Adrian Beltre beginning the year on the DL, the Rangers have a formidable lineup with the addition of Mike Napoli and a full season of Jonathan Lucroy, and their bullpen has some solid arms heading into the season. They’ll compete in arguably the league’s tightest division, and will come away as a Wild Card team, making the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Seattle Mariners (87-75) – Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz makeup one of the most dangerous 3-4 combos in all of baseball, and the addition of Jean Segura, who led the NL in hits in 2016, gives the M’s a legitimate leadoff hitter. Felix Hernandez heads up a decent starting rotation the will have the Mariners in it to the end, but they will ultimately fall just short of the playoffs for the second year in a row.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (81-81) – Mike Trout is the best player in baseball, and Albert Pujols is a prolific run-producer. Any lineup featuring both of them is bound to score some runs. The pitching is what will let this team down in 2017, and they’ll fall short of the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons.

Oakland Athletics (75-87) – The rotation is young and inexperienced. The lineup has some power in Khris Davis and Marcus Semien, but not much else. The A’s just lack the talent to compete with the other heavyweights in this division in 2017, but the future could be bright.

Awards

AL MVP

1. Mookie Betts–Boston Red Sox
2. Mike Trout- Los Angeles Angels
3. Manny Machado– Baltimore Orioles

Dark horse candidate: Francisco Lindor – Cleveland Indians

AL Cy Young

1. Jose Quintana – Chicago White Sox
2. Chris Sale – Boston Red Sox
3. Aaron Sanchez – Toronto Blue Jays

Dark horse: Yu Darvish – Texas Rangers

AL Rookie of the Year

1. Andrew Benintendi – Boston Red Sox
2. Aaron Judge – New York Yankees
3. Yoan Moncada – Chicago White Sox

Dark horse: Lucas Giolito – Chicago White Sox

AL Comeback Player of the Year

1. Pablo Sandoval – Boston Red Sox
2. Michael Brantley – Cleveland Indians
3. Alex Cobb – Tampa Bay Rays

Dark horse: Greg Bird – New York Yankees

Playoffs

Wild Card: Orioles d. Rangers

ALDS: Red Sox d. Orioles, Indians d. Astros

ALCS: Red Sox d. Indians

WS- Cubs d. Red Sox

The Cubs are just too good for even the Red Sox overcome. A second straight title will take the Cubs from the darlings of Major League Baseball to one of the most hated teams in the country. So there you have it, my American League and World Series predictions. Enjoy the 2017 season. It should be another great one.