Now that the WBC is over, I am going to continue my series of predictions. Here are my predictions for the American League East.

American League East

Boston Red Sox
Toronto Blue Jays
New York Yankees
Baltimore Orioles
Tampa Bay Rays

The Sox win this one easily, but the real competition is for second place. The Blue Jays just lost on of their stars and the talented young Yankees are on the rise, but in the end, the Blue Jays are the better team. The Orioles are also good, but they can only manage fourth place. The Rays have a lot of work to do if they want to return to their glory days.  because I am behind schedule, I am going to also do my National League East predictions.

National League East

New York Mets
Washington Nationals
Miami Marlins
Atlanta Braves
Philadelphia Phillies

This is slightly biased, but not unrealistic. The Mets are over their World Series hangover, and their stars are coming back after injuries. The Nationals are weaker, and the Marlins are good, but not ready to win the division. The Braves are definitely improving. The acquired good players such as Bartolo Colon and have great prospects. The Phillies also have a good future, but the Braves will oust them for fourth place. Tomorrow, I will post my NL Central and NL West predictions before my Opening Day Special.                                                                                                                                                                                            

The U.S. finally won the WBC! Team USA beat Puerto Rico 8-0 last night to win their first gold medal in the Classic. Marcus Stroman, the 2017 WBC MVP, only allowed one hit in seven innings. Adam Jones was another huge contributor to team USA this year, hitting a walk-off single in their first game and making a spectacular catch against the Dominican Republic. Team Puerto Rico, which also got silver last year, was undefeated up until last night and should be very proud of themselves for making it this far, here's a recap of the game. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/31426364/v1245449483/32217-usa-wins-2017-world-baseball-classic

The World Baseball Classic Championship is tonight, and it will be a classic. The United States finally made it to the championship, but they will have to face their undefeated territory, Puerto Rico. It reached the championship by hitting a walk-off sac fly against the Netherlands. You can see another play that highlighted this game here. http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/219702800/v1243857383/nedpur-molina-finds-profar-too-far-off-bag-at-first Plays like that are why Yadier Molina is considered a future hall of famer. The USA got to the big game by finally beating two time champion Japan 2-1 to reach its first WBC championship. The Netherlands, Japan, and Puerto Rico reached the semifinals in 2013 too, but the Dominican Republic won it all. The game is at Dodger Stadium at 9:00 pm.Hopefully, the U.S. can wins its first gold medal tonight. Go USA!

USA played its first World Baseball Classic game yesterday against Columbia, kicking off its Pool C play. Columbia took a 2-0 lead in the 5th inning, but the U.S. came back, and the game went into extra innings. In the tenth, Adam Jones hit the game winning single, which you can see here. http://m.mlb.com/video/v1235162683/must-c-clutch-adam-jones-wins-it-for-team-usa/?affiliateId=clubMEGAMENU The U.S. will face a tough Dominican Republic team at 6:30 tonight. Columbia is beating Canada 3-1 right now. Both teams are 0-1 in Pool C. In Pool A, Israel, which is 3-0, and the Netherlands will advance to Pool E, along with Japan, who is also 3-0, and Cuba. In Pool D, Italy had an incredible rally on Thursday, when they scored 5 runs in the ninth. Italy and Puerto Rico would advance with the U.S and Dominican if Round 1 ended now, which it is not. Be sure to cheer on your country this year!

Spring Training is in full swing, and the biggest stars are warming up. Minor League prospects are trying out for the big leagues. The Yankees, Angels, Pirates and Rays have had the most success, losing very few games, or none. The World Baseball Classic starts tomorrow, with the U.S. starting on March 9th against Columbia. The U.S. team features a lot the Major League’s best talent, including Daniel Murphy, Giancarlo Stanton, Andrew Miller, Andrew McCutchen, and Buster Posey. However other countries have a lot of talent too, such as the reigning champion Dominican Republic, who have Jose Bautista, Manny Machado, Jose Reyes, Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Carlos Santana, and many more. It’s going to be really competitive this year, and hopefully, the U.S. will win its first WBC.

   Also, as I promised, I am continuing my series of predictions for the regular season with the AL Central.

American League Central

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

Kansas City Royals

Minnesota Twins

Chicago White Sox

Isn’t it a little obvious that a team that made it through nine innings of Game 7 of the World Series, and then bought a superstar would win the division? The Indians are a shoe-in.  The Tigers have a lot of talent and are ready to contend. The Royals are plagued by too many injuries, and their playoff window is closing. The Twins have a promising future, but still have a LONG way to go. The White Sox have too many problems, especially after firing their manager and losing their superstar. Next time, I will post my AL East picks.

By the way, for all you basketball fans out there, I am starting a new blog soon called Hoops Now and Then. Be sure to check it out!