The Kansas City Royals are your 2015 World Series champions. They’ve earned it, and we’re happy for them, but their victory means something terrible for baseball fans everywhere: the offseason is upon us. We will go the next few months without any baseball. Truly, these are dark times.
To distract us from the doldrums that are winter’s baseball-less months, we’re looking ahead to next season. Which teams can do what the Royals and New York Mets did this year, and reach the World Series? Let’s have a look.
- Toronto Blue Jays
At the end of the regular season, the Toronto Blue Jays were probably the single best team in baseball. They didn’t win it all, though, because sometimes life isn’t fair (and sometimes the Royals are just unbeatable and awesome). The 2016 Blue Jays will have some holes to fill (ace David Price, among others, will likely be moving on), but they are in win-now mode, so they’ll go out this offseason in search of answers. If they can make the right moves following the departure of GM Alex Anthopoulos, they can get back to the postseason and make a splash.
- Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers were a popular pick to win it all this year, and they’ll remain a popular pick next year. The Dodgers have to fill more holes than most of the teams on this list, but they also have more money with which to fill them. Re-signing or replacing Zack Greinke will be the number one priority for Los Angeles, but if they can do that, they’ll remain favorites to win the pennant. The Dodgers fired manager Don Mattingly after their season ended; maybe a new coach can guide this team to the promised land.
- Houston Astros
The top three clubs on this list are the teams with the most young talent, and the Houston Astros may have the most exciting young team in the entire American League. Dallas Keuchel, probably the single-best pitcher in the AL this season, is under team control. So is José Altuve, their best position player by WAR. Carlos Correa was a rookie last year. This Astros team may still be a year away, but, as the Mets and Cubs have proven, sometimes a young team bursts into the spotlight early.
- Chicago Cubs
The Cubs were fantastic this year, and they’re only getting better. Chicago won the third-most games of any team in baseball, though they had the misfortune of doing so in the game’s best division, and therefore had to play a Wild Card Game in Pittsburgh. The Cubs won that game and topped the Cardinals in the NLDS, but they came up short against the Mets in the NLCS. That’s okay – this Cubs team will only be better next year. They’re likely to sign an ace in the offseason and, if they do, they’ll be a frighteningly complete team. All of their young hitters are under team control. Prepare to see these Cubs in the postseason every year for a very long time.
- New York Mets
The Cubs have the young bats. The Mets have the young arms. We hope you enjoyed the 2015 NLCS, because we think you’ll be seeing these two teams go at it on that stage a few more times in the coming years. The Mets have an embarrassment of riches in their starting rotation: they have Matt Harvey, Jacob DeGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz all under team control. And did we mention that they’re getting Zack Wheeler back after he missed 2015 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery? The Mets brass has been targeting 2016 for years now. The fact that the Mets won the pennant a year ahead of schedule should terrify other teams.
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