DETROIT – It’s been a long and frustrating offseason, but Major League Baseball season is finally here!
Between the lockout, two furious rounds of free agency and a handful of blockbuster trades, the league looks much different than it did six months ago at the end of the 2021 season.
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The Local 4 newsroom is full of baseball fans, and there’s a wide range of opinions about how good the Detroit Tigers will be and who will make the new 12-team playoff.
Here are postseason picks from every corner of the newsroom.
Brandon Carr, web news producer
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Los Angeles Angels
- AL wildcards: New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: St. Louis Cardinals
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, San Diego Padres
Tigers outlook: Wildcard team.
Jason Colthorp, anchor/news reporter
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Seattle Mariners
- AL wildcards: Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: St. Louis Cardinals
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres
Tigers outlook: “I fully expect the Tigers to be in the hunt for the AL Central title into August/September.”
Jamie Edmonds, sports anchor
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Houston Astros
- AL wildcards: Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers
- NL East winner: New York Mets
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals
Sean Forsyth, technician
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Seattle Mariners
- AL wildcards: Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: St. Louis Cardinals
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: San Francisco Giants, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets
Paul Gross, meteorologist
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Los Angeles Angels
- AL wildcards: Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres
Tigers outlook: “Obviously, the success of any professional sports franchise highly depends on team health. Any team could find unexpected success or failure based on this. That being said, the Tigers trading for Austin Meadows shows that winning games in April, May and June are just as important as the ones in August and September.
“We’ve added a power-hitting outfielder to play for the injured Riley Greene, and, when he’s back, we’ll have tremendous outfield depth. If the Tigers can stay healthy, they actually have decent starting pitching, decent hitting, and a much improved defense for a team that overachieved last year. A.J. Hinch now knows what he has in the bullpen and where to use them (we still need bullpen help, obviously).
“We have the veteran player leadership and a manager who has instilled a competitive culture to squeeze every possible win out of the season and sneak into that last wildcard spot!”
Ken Haddad, manager of digital content and audience
- AL East winner: Tampa Bay Rays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Houston Astros
- AL wildcard: Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees
- NL East winner: New York Mets
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcard: Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants
Tigers outlook: Wildcard team.
Derick Hutchinson, lead digital editor
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Houston Astros
- AL wildcards: Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees
- NL East winner: Philadelphia Phillies
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals
Tigers outlook: “The Tigers could make a serious playoff push if they take advantage of their games against Cleveland and Kansas City, but there’s stiff competition in the American League. Even though they improved drastically this offseason, the roster doesn’t stand out in any one area, and I have questions about the starting rotation.”
Chuck Jackson, assignment editor
- AL East winner: Boston Red Sox
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Texas Rangers
- AL wildcards: Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, New York Mets
Tigers outlook: “The Tigers need one more year to contend for the AL Central. The young pitching staff will make improvements, but they need to go through the ups and downs of a full 162 games.”
James Jackson, assignment editor
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Minnesota Twins
- AL West winner: Seattle Mariners
- AL wildcards: Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros
- NL East winner: Philadelphia Phillies
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres
Tigers outlook: “The Tigers will be in the running for the final playoff spot, but won’t get in due to a lack of clutch hitting.”
Doda Lulgjuraj, executive producer
- AL East winner: New York Yankees
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Los Angeles Angels
- AL wildcards: Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets
Tigers outlook: Wildcard team.
Chris Page, producer
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Seattle Mariners
- AL wildcards: New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: St. Louis Cardinals
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants
Tigers outlook: “The Tigers should finally become an 80-win team this season, put the rebuild in the rearview mirror and contend for one of the wildcard spots.”
Ian Rhodes, news operations manager
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Detroit Tigers
- AL West winner: Houston Astros
- AL wildcards: Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees
- NL East winner: Philadelphia Phillies
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: San Fransisco Giants, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals
Tigers outlook: Division winner.
Brandon Rothenberg, associate producer
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Seattle Mariners
- AL wildcards: New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: St. Louis Cardinals
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres
Adam Spindler, producer
- AL East winner: Toronto Blue Jays
- AL Central winner: Chicago White Sox
- AL West winner: Houston Astros
- AL wildcards: Tampa Bay Rays, Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees
- NL East winner: Atlanta Braves
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- NL wildcards: San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals
Tigers outlook: The most fun-to-watch .500 team in the league, full of talented new guys who just met each other. Next year, they’ll be battle-tested and ready for a playoff run.
Overview
Here are the cumulative picks from the group:
- AL East winner: Blue Jays (11), Rays (1), Red Sox (1), Yankees (1)
- AL Central winner: White Sox (12), Tigers (1), Twins (1)
- AL West winner: Mariners (5), Astros (5), Angels (3), Rangers (1)
- NL East winner: Braves (9), Phillies (3), Mets (2)
- NL Central winner: Brewers (9), Cardinals (5)
- NL West winner: Dodgers (14)
- AL wildcards: Yankees (10), Rays (7), Astros (6), Tigers (6), Red Sox (4), Mariners (4), Blue Jays (3), White Sox (1), Angels (1)
- NL wildcards: Padres (10), Giants (7), Mets (7), Cardinals (6), Phillies (5), Braves (4), Brewers (3)