House That Hank Built
Fansided

Predictions for the 2019 Atlanta Braves season from the TomahawkTake staff

By Alan Carpenter

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees takes the field to start the game against the Tampa Bay Rays during Opening Day at Yankee Stadium on April 3, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees takes the field to start the game against the Tampa Bay Rays during Opening Day at Yankee Stadium on April 3, 2018 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 29: Shortstop Francisco Lindor #12 of the Cleveland Indians loses his grip on the throw to first as Tyler Austin #31 of the Minnesota Twins is out at second during the fourth inning at Progressive Field on August 29, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – AUGUST 29: Shortstop Francisco Lindor #12 of the Cleveland Indians loses his grip on the throw to first as Tyler Austin #31 of the Minnesota Twins is out at second during the fourth inning at Progressive Field on August 29, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /

AL Central

There are a couple of avenues of disagreement here in the Central division.  This has to do with the top and the bottom… though we’re all in agreement on the mediocre middle.

Here’s the summary:

  • We expect the Indians and Twins to fight it out on top
  • We expect the White Sox to finish 3rd.
  • We expect the Tigers and Royals to battle for the basement

This time it was Fred with the thought that the Twins will overtake the Indians.  There’s reason to believe this, too:  the Twins have some improved offense while the Tribe still has a sketchy outfield.

It’s the Minnesota pitching that will need to step up to get them past Cleveland, and that’s why the rest of us favor the Ohioans.

Speaking for the rest, I’m banking on the Indians’ pitching to carry them this year… but it’s also evident that they used the off-season to walk a fine line between ‘subtracting’ and ‘trying to stay in front of their division’.

That’s a tough dance maneuver to pull off… and it can be dangerous.  This is particularly true when your rotation is led by a guy that was openly on the trading block for much of the Winter.

They also have some key injuries as we break camps – so don’t write off the Twins… Fred could be right.

On the bottom… it’s either Royals (4) and Tigers (5) or Tigers (4) and Royals (5).  Jake and Fred joined me with the former order; Clint and Kyle took the latter.

Not much else to say here… except that 200 losses could come from those 4th/5th spots in this division.

AL West

I’ll be quick on this one, because there was a consensus again… for the most part.

  • Astros the best (unanimous)
  • Rangers the worst (unanimous)
  • the rest??

Mostly we just don’t know what to do with the Angels and Mariners.  Most of our crew thinks LA finishes 2nd.  I don’t think they have the pitching to get there (as usual), so I grudgingly put them in 3rd place.  Kyle had no such reluctance and made them 4th.

Oakland could do their usual thing and surprise everybody… Kyle and I place them 2nd in the division.

As usual, Billy Beane will probably be checking under couch cushions looking for enough cash to help make July moves, but his teams do compete.  The rest of our writers generally agreed and ranked them 3rd.

Thus Seattle is left to finish in 4th place – so say the majority (Kyle placed them 3rd since he dissed the Angels).

In terms of off-season moves, it was the Seattle doing all the moves, but mostly in lateral/downward directions.  The Angels tried and couldn’t get a lot done.

The Astros had their own self-imposed limits, but they were mostly set regardless.  The Rangers?  Just trying to field a plausible team.

Let’s move over to the Senior Circuit.

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