10 Bold Predictions for Major League Baseball in 2023
It's less than two weeks into the 2023 calendar year. There are bold predictions of things that will happen in Major League Baseball over the course of the next 11.5 months. Most of them are about things happening during the 2017 season.
Trey Mancini is a free agent. He got traded from Baltimore to Houston and had a disappointing season. The O's have already signed Kyle Gibson and spent $12 million on Adam Frazier, Mychal Givens and James McCann. They might be willing to bring Manka back to the team.
Corbin Burnes is one of the best pitchers in the majors over the past three seasons. He has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining before hitting free agency in November 2024. Spotrac projects his 2023 salary at $12.7 million and his 2024 salary closer to $18 million. If he stays healthy, Burne could be offered a contract on par with or more lucrative than Stephen Strasburg's seven-year, $245 million deal from the Nationals in 2019.
Trevor Story might miss a significant chunk of the season. Enmanuel Valdez is a top prospect who could become an everyday middle infielder for the Red Sox. He was one of two prospects that Boston received from Houston in the trade for Christian Vázquez. Valdes is one the top candidates for AL Rookie of Year. He could compete with Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Volpe for that title.
Arizona Diamondbacks are unlikely to make the postseason. Three of the last five NL Cy Young winners came from teams that missed the playoffs. Arizona's Zac Gallen is a semi-sleeper candidate to win the CyYoung Award. The team won 74 games in 2022. They improved from 52 wins in 2021 to 74 wins the next season.
Carlos Correa was the 2015 AL Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star. He was offered a 13-year, $350 million contract by the Giants, but he signed a six-years, $200 million deal with Minnesota. Corrares was +2800 to win NL MVP before his deal fell apart. He hit .307 and homered at a 162-game pace of 28 last season.
The St. Louis Cardinals won the Willson Contreras sweepstakes. They lost Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and José Quintana to free agency. The Cardinals have enough players to win 101 games for the first time since 2004. They will have home-field advantage in the postseason. It's not a sure thing that they will win the World Series or even the NL pennant.
Atlanta, New York and Philadelphia are expected to miss the playoffs in 2023. The Mets have the highest Opening Day payroll in the majors. Red Sox, White Sox and Angels had the second, third and fourth-highest Opening day payrolls in American League last year. They each finished .500 or worse while missing the playoff picture. In 2021, the Angels, Phillies, Padres, Mets, Nationals, and Cubs had top 10 Opening-day payroll.
The Houston Astros finished 168 games ahead of the Texas Rangers in 2017. The Rangers have been spending big in the past 14 months. They signed Corey Seager, Marcus Semien and Jon Gray to long-term deals. Jake Odorizzi, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi were signed this offseason. Texas has a six-man starting rotation with a combined payroll salary of $106.15 million in 2023.
Toronto Blue Jays haven't won a postseason game since 2016. They made the playoffs in 2020, 2022 and 2021, but missed out by one game in 2021. Toronto made some trades during the offseason, including trading Teoscar Hernández, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno for Daulton Varsho, Kevin Kiermaier, Erik Swanson and Adam Macko.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been unusually quiet this offseason. They have signed Noah Syndergaard, J.D. Martinez and Shelby Miller to one-year deals worth $24.5 million each. The team is getting below the luxury tax line for 2023 to reset the clock and clear the books to be able to throw money at Shohei Ohtani next year. Ohtorani will be a Dodger in 2024 on a six-figure contract.
