Early MLB 2018 Betting Picks and Season Predictions

The major players in the MLB free-agent class of 2018 took much longer to find homes than they normally do. So while Jake Arrieta is the newest member of the (ostensibly) up-and-coming Philadelphia Phillies, and while Yu Darvish is now cashing big checks from the Chicago Cubs, we really have yet to see whether they will help their team a whole lot. Let’s take a look at some early thoughts about how the 2018 season will fold — with some MLB betting tips for you to consider.

Early MLB 2018 Betting Picks and Season Predictions

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The Yankees will win the American League East

The Baby Bombers surged late in the 2017 campaign and took a wild card, finishing two games beside Boston. However, this year, they’ll have a full year of Sonny Gray in the rotation alongside Masahiro Tanaka and Luis Severino, and they’ve added basher Giancarlo Stanton to an already potent lineup that included Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge. There are some questions, of course — how will Gleyber Torres fare in his rookie campaign at third base? Will Miguel Andujar leave spring training on the major league club? This prediction has a lot to do with what the rest of the division is (and isn’t) doing. Baltimore hasn’t helped their starting rotation, which was dead last year in MLB in terms of ERA. Tampa Bay appears to have gone into fire-sale mode, jettisoning Logan Morrison and Evan Longoria. Toronto looks like they are going to try again with the same crew, and they did add some position player depth with Curtis Granderson and Yangervis Solarte. Boston is still looking for that extra power hitter for their lineup.

Look for the Tribe in the American League Central

Cleveland won their division by 17 games last year — and they had a weak first half to the season. They’re bringing back Corey Kluber, Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco in their rotation, and Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez anchor the batting order. Minnesota picked up a wild card in this division last year, but they don’t have hurler Ervin Santana for up to 12 weeks thanks to surgery on his right middle finger. The other teams in the Central — the White Sox, Detroit and Kansas City — are all in rebuilding mode. The White Sox are the closest to contending, while the other two franchises are still heading down toward rock bottom.

Houston should roll in the American League West

Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole are the newest members of one of the most powerful rotations in the game, as a pitcher who went 10-2 with a 3.22 ERA (Brad Peacock) has almost no chance to win a spot in the rotation. So the Houston Astros would look like a contender in just about any division, but they are in the AL West, where none of the other teams look solid at this point. Yes, the Angels still have Mike Trout, and they brought back Justin Upton, but they’re adding retread Ian Kinsler to their infield. They did win the Shohei Otani sweepstakes, but he doesn’t look ready to pitch or hit against major league competition yet. Texas looks like they’re heading back to their 1980’s strategy of signing pitchers several years after they were any good, as retreads Tim Lincecum, Matt Moore, Doug Fister and Bartolo Colon have all pitched for a Rangers team that has taken a beating in the Cactus League. Seattle needed starting pitching, but all they dragged in were Marco Gonzales and Erasmo Ramirez. Oakland is a young, talented team, but they seem to have settled into a role of contending to a point and then dealing their prospects away to save money.

What about the American League wild cards?

They might well both come from the East, as Toronto does have a solid core, and it doesn’t look like Minnesota will catch lightning in a bottle again, at least not yet. Look for the Red Sox to do just enough to edge out the legion of also-rans in the American League to catch the other wild card.