has sprung. They also tell us the Boston Red Sox and the rest of Major League Baseball open up on Thursday.

Opening Day at Fenway in March? Who’s bright idea was that?

The best thing about last year’s lockout was the fact baseball started when it should, in early to mid-April. But here we go, as this current weekend is the last one until, well, November, without Major League Baseball.

And that means before the action starts it’s time to give you our annual predictions. Last year we, er, picked the Toronto Blue Jays to win it all. OK, but we did have five of the six playoff teams in each league right. We missed on the Phillies and Guardians. Who knew?

We’re here to tell you the Boston Red Sox may not be quite as bad as everyone thinks, because they have some pitching quantity hoping for quality and the veterans they’ve brought in (Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen) have won, and Japanese star Masataka Yoshida could be a key. Problem? Health with pitching, very weak up the middle, as Trevor Story’s injury doesn’t help and neither did the dumping of catcher Christian Vazquez. They may surprise through the first half of the season but could eventually hit a wall, as they did a year ago. But you know what – when expectations are low, the Red Sox have a knack of being way better than expected.

So let’s take a look:

AL EAST – We still say Blue Jays, like we did a year ago. They have a powerful offense (Vlad Guerrero, Jr.), it just depends on whether the pitching can come through as well as their defense, which should be improved over a year ago after bringing in outfielders Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho.They had to change managers to make their move, but this year should be smoother.

That’s because the Yankees will take a step back. Their pitching is ravaged already with injuries, there is no reliable closer, and New York’s veteran dead wood like Josh Donaldson, Aaron Hicks and Gleyber Torres will hurt. They’re better off going younger up the middle with spring sensation Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza at second and short, respectively, but that will take a bad first half for convincing. Tampa is Tampa and will make the playoffs with players we never heard of. That leaves your Red Sox and the Orioles. Baltimore surprised everyone last year but we say they’ll take a step back and finish last and your Sox fourth – unless Tampa fades, then the Sox move in to take third.

AL CENTRAL – We thought the White Sox would be good, but they were managed by an out-of-touch Tony LaRussa and are now basically staring over. We thought maybe, just maybe, the Twins. But we so overlooked a young Guardians team that still has one of the best managers in Terry Francona and probably should have beaten the Yankees in last year’s playoffs. It’s a long season, and Cleveland’s cream will eventually rise again to the top. As for the Twins, this year Rocco Baldelli will be fired as they fade. The White Sox are still the White Sox, they’ll take second, Minnesota third. Detroit is a mess; the Tigers should have improved greatly last year but didn’t, they’ll slip into fourth with the hapless K.C. Royals fifth.

AL WEST – The defending World Series champion Astros are still the Astros, even if sparkplug Jose Altuve is out for two months, the latest WBC casualty. Seattle ended its playoff drought by going all in on pitching ace Luis Castillo and the should make it again. Sorry, the Angels still can’t pitch after Shohei Ohtani although they improved in getting Dodger All-Star Tyler Anderson. But owner Artie Moreno wanted to sell, now doesn’t, and team hasn’t had winning record since 2015. Nope.

Texas has Jacob deGrom, but for how long before he has an itch he can’t reach and has to go on the DL? Oakland is closer to extinction than the the playoffs.

NL EAST – It’s a Brave old world. The champs from 2021 are still the team to beat here, despite the Mets bluster. Good young players who are signed long term.

The Mets made a lot of noise, especially with Justin Verlander, but all he does is replace de Grom and they basically didn’t do what they really needed – get some bats. And of course now closer Edwin Diaz becomes the main WBC casualty, so no trumpets at CitiField.

Gotta love the Phillies. Every year it seems there’s a team that is struggling after 60 games and then turns it around – remember, that’s what the Nationals did in 2019. But for the Phils, Bryce Harper is out until midseason. It’s possible the defending NL champs may not make it.

NL CENTRAL – The St. Louis Cardinals are like the Atlanta Braves – always good, just not great. They added catcher Willson Contreras, have names Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado and pitcher Adam Wainright. It’s a week division so its either them or the Brewers. The rest – Pirates, Reds and Cubs – just aren’t in the same class.

NL WEST – We love the spendthrift Padres. They just need to be able to pitch to go with the everyday lineup they put out there, and we thought they would’ve beaten the Phillies last year in the NLCS. They actually underachieved during last year’s regular season (89 wins), but that won’t happen this time, thanks to the additions of players like old friend Xander Bogearts, hitter Nelson Cruz, and they’ve got the pitching led by Yu Darvish. And they get Fernando Tatis, Jr. back from his suspension in late April. We’ll see how that goes.

The Dodgers? Loaded, even when they lose key free agents. But it’s the Padres turn. The Giants had their moment (108 wins) two years ago and blew it, and this off-season they said no to Carlos Correa and Aaron Judge said no to them. Can they bounce back? Possibly, if they can get something out of Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger and some of the arms they added. The Diamondbacks and Rockies just seem to be in a constant rebuild.

PLAYOFF TEAMS

AL – Toronto, Cleveland, Houston, New York (Wild Card), Tampa (Wild Card), Seattle (Wild Card).

ALCS: Cleveland over Astros. Yup.

NL – Atlanta, St. Louis, San Diego, Mets (Wild Card), San Francisco (Wild Card) L.A. (Wild Card)

NLCS – San Diego over L.A. Their turn.

WORLD SERIES: Padres over Guardians.

There you go, fans. Clip and save and have a great laugh once again come the beginning of November.

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter at @Telegraph _TomK.

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