By David A. Avila

Published March 28, 2021

Back-to-back winners in the World Series are rare especially in this age of free agency. The Los Angeles Dodgers are poised to become the first team since the New York Yankees to accomplish the feat since the late 1990s.

Every off-season, baseball pundits gather around the fireplace and discuss the newest acquisitions and what they mean to the next baseball season. When the New York Met organization changed ownership and is now led by Steve Cohen and his billions, the Mets became the soup of the day.

Perhaps baseball’s best pitcher is the Mets Jacob DeGrom, but one pitcher is not enough, even if you add Carlos Carrasco via a trade and star infielder Francisco Lindor. It can’t hurt though.

Meanwhile the Dodgers added a third Cy Young Award winner to their staff when they signed Trevor Bauer. The team from Chavez Ravine already possessed two in Clayton Kershaw and David Price. Adding last year’s Cy Young winner makes them incredibly strong.

This year the marathon returns with a 162-game season and a bevy of playoffs. Anything can happen in the playoffs as the San Francisco Giants demonstrated in their three World Series championships in 2010, 2012 and 2014. They weren’t the best team but the most playoff-ready team behind a strong pitching staff.

Most predictors base their projections on offensive categories, but the truth of the matter is pitching always beats hitting. Always. Think 1963 and 1965 Dodgers behind Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Those teams were called the “hitless wonders” and consisted of Maury Wills and Jim Gilliam getting on base, stealing second and scoring on singles. They often won games 1-0.

Trades play a significant part of each year and though one player can make the difference in a team’s standing, often it’s the youth that play a prominent role in a team’s standing. Which team will emerge with that special young talent that seemingly comes out of the bushes?

Predicted Standings

NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

San Francisco Giants

Arizona D-Backs

Colorado Rockies

Beware of the outliers in the NL West. With everyone concentrating on the L.A. and San Diego teams as the favorites, let’s not forget there are three other teams with talent and unique skill sets. The San Francisco Giants led by former Dodger exec Farhan Zaidi have been rebuilt like a mini-Dodger team. Hidden depth especially in the infield position has been created for this Giant team that also picked up starting pitcher Alex Wood from the L.A. team. With Buster Posey back and Mike Yastrzemski with another year of experience, this team is poised to upset a lot of favorites. Of course, the Dodgers are the powerhouse with incredible pitching depth that none of the other teams can match. The Padres come close in both pitching and hitting.

NL Central

St. Louis Cardinals

Milwaukee Brewers

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Pittsburgh Pirates

Forget about the St. Louis Cardinals adding Nolan Arenado to the roster, this team has lots of pitching. Arenado will help defensively with his multiple Gold Gloves in the left side of the infield, and that’s very important for the Cardinals. But the Cardinal’s outfield is only so-so defensively. Neck and neck with St. Louis will be Milwaukee with its own blend of superior pitching. They also have a very strong hitting attack especially if Christian Yelich returns to MVP form. One understated offensive threat is Keston Hiura a second baseman moving over to first base because of the addition of Kolten Wong. The Brewers will be strong and young. Alas, the Cubs though formidable offensively have been gutted of their starting pitching. It’s down to Milwaukee and St. Louis.

NL East

Atlanta Braves

New York Mets

Florida Marlins

Washington Nationals

Philadelphia Phillies

It’s going to be a dog fight. The NL East is deep from team to team with Atlanta expected to lead the way again this year. Stat freaks keep picking other teams and the Braves keep toppling their predictions. They nearly toppled the Dodgers in the 2020 NLCS and had them 3-1 in the series before getting swept aside. Every team in this division has pitching and offense. Atlanta has a deeper rotation, but New York could possibly match them in pitching this year. Offensively the Braves lead the way with the Mets and Phillies close behind. And don’t forget Florida and its young talent that surprised everyone last year. They do have pitching. Expect each team to knock each other around with the Braves depth keeping them on top again.

AL West

Houston Astros

Los Angeles Angels

Oakland Athletics

Seattle Mariners

Texas Rangers

Of all the divisions this may be the toughest to predict. Houston continues to produce young pitching talent and proved it last year when they managed to make the playoffs despite losing their ace Justin Verlander for the year. He will be gone this year too, but the Astros still have pitching. Next might be the Los Angeles Angels with added depth to their starting rotation with the pick-up of innings eater Jose Quintana and closer Raisel Iglesias. And when adding a healthy Shohei Ohtani, the Angels just might be ready to claim the top spot. Offensively, the Angels do not lack a thing. Of course, you can never count out Oakland. They have a knack of dipping into their farm system and finding a nugget to quickly help their cause. The other teams are just not ready to compete.

AL Central

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Minnesota Twins

Kansas City Royals

Detroit Tigers

The Al Central is going to depend on depth this year especially with Kansas City improving. The Royals no longer are patsies for any of the top teams. Chicago has the deeper pitching staff and has an offensive attack to take the lead. But every year somehow Cleveland and its pitching rich staff find a way to compete. The Twins have offense galore but can ace pitcher Kenta Maeda stay healthy to lead the team? He is the key and always has been a clutch pitcher, but he is getting up in years. It should be a tight race until the end just like last year. Chicago has more youth so they have to be the favorite.

AL East

New York Yankees

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

Boston Red Sox

Baltimore Orioles

Expect a tighter race this year with Tampa Bay leading the way again. The Yanks have a lot of offensive firepower and seemingly a deep starting rotation, but health is always a concern for the Bronx Bombers. Somehow the Toronto Blue Jays match the Yankees offensively, but no team can match Tampa when it comes to overall pitching. Despite the Rays losing Blake Snell and Charlie Morton, they picked up Rich Hill and Michael Wacha. Each pitcher has shown brilliance in the past and if they can find it again, the Rays will be competing again. Overall, it’s really the Yankees and their purchasing power that can find missing pieces to fill the gaps. In the end, the healthier team will win the division.

2021 World Series Prediction:

L.A. Dodgers vs. NY Yankees in World Series.

Last year I predicted Tampa Bay would meet the Dodgers in the World Series. That proved correct. This year the Yankees should progress all the way if Corey Kluber and Domingo German can stay healthy. The Yanks can afford to lose Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to injury, but not any of their starting pitchers.