Stateside baseball starts tomorrow, get psyched! Right now, though, it’s time to focus on what’s important: preseason predictions! Before we dive deep into countless hours rearranging lineups, FAAB bids, and making trade offers in order to win a couple hundred dollars in our friends and family league, which equates to roughly twenty-eight cents per hour, we here at Razzball want to take a moment and document some predictions for the upcoming season. These preseason predictions are a mix of real baseball (MVP, ROY, Cy Young, etc.) and fake baseball (who’s our infatuation; who will return the most value; who will flop). We do this every season, and we haven’t learned any lessons ever, so here it is again! Here is LAST YEAR‘s post if you’re interested. For every correct prediction, there are plenty who thought Colt Keith and Vaughn Grissom were going to matter…or maybe that was just me.
Without further ado, here are the Razzball staff picks for the upcoming season along with a few blurbs from the staff on why they made the choices they did. Be sure to let us know your picks down in the comments, put your name on it so we can praise you in October, or look back next year and point and laugh.
Psyche! One further ado, this season’s first Buy/Sell is now available on our Patreon. It will be posted early on the Patreon all year, so sign up for that. Anyway II, the picks:
| Writer | ROY (NL) | ROY (AL) | Cy Young (NL) | Cy Young (AL) | MVP (NL) | MVP (AL) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grey | Roki Sasaki | Cam Smith | Paul Skenes | Garett Crochet | Elly De La Cruz | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| Rudy | Dylan Crews | Kristian Campbell | Zach Wheeler | Joe Ryan | Jackson Chourio | Aaron Judge |
| ADHamley | Matt Shaw | Jasson Dominguez | Michael King | Logan Gilbert | Francisco Lindor | Gunnar Henderson |
| B_Don | Roki Sasaki | Roman Anthony | Paul Skenes | Cole Ragans | Kyle Tucker | Aaron Judge |
| CableBoxScore | Dylan Crews | Kristian Campbell | Paul Skenes | Logan Gilbert | Juan Soto | Bobby Witt Jr |
| Coolwhip | Roki Sasaki | Jasson Dominguez | Paul Skenes | Cole Ragans | Shohei Ohtani | Bobby Witt Jr |
| Disco Stu | Matt Shaw | Kristian Campbell | Tyler Glasnow | Framber Valdez | Jackson Chourio | Gunnar Henderson |
| EWB | Roki Sasaki | Cam Smith | Spencer Strider | Pablo Lopez | Shohei Ohtani | Yordan Alvarez |
| Jakker | Dylan Crews | Cam Smith | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Tarik Skubal | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Yordan Alvarez |
| Jeremy Brewer | Bubba Chandler | Alan Roden | Paul Skenes | Garrett Crochet | Shohei Ohtani | Bobby Witt Jr |
| JKJ | Roki Sasaki | Coby Mayo | Paul Skenes | Cole Ragans | Shohei Ohtani | Mike Trout |
| Kelder | Matt Shaw | Kumar Rocker | Zach Wheeler | Garrett Crochet | Bryce Harper | Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. |
| Latch-key Kid | Dylan Crews | Cam Smith | Paul Skenes | Logan Gilbert | Juan Soto | Bobby Witt Jr |
| Laura Holt | Matt Shaw | Jackson Jobe | Jacob deGrom | Garrett Crochet | Bryce Harper | Yordan Alvarez |
| Lineup Builder | Matt Shaw | Kristian Campbell | Corbin Burnes | Logan Gilbert | Pete Alonso | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| Maks | Dylan Crews | Jacob Wilson | Spencer Schwellenbach | Tarik Skubal | Elly De La Cruz | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| MarmosDad | Dylan Crews | Cam Smith | Paul Skenes | Tarik Skubal | Shohei Ohtani | Vladimir Guerrero Jr. |
| MattTruss | Roki Sasaki | Cam Smith | Paul Skenes | Framber Valdez | Ozzie Albies | Yordan Alvarez |
| Mike Couillard | Matt Shaw | Jasson Dominguez | Paul Skenes | Bryce Miller | Shohei Ohtani | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| RotoSurgeon | Dylan Crews | Jasson Dominguez | Dylan Cease | Garrett Crochet | Francisco Lindor | Bobby Witt Jr |
| SandwichPick | Roki Sasaki | Jacob Wilson | Zack Wheeler | Tarik Skubal | Shohei Ohtani | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| Son | Roki Sasaki | Jasson Dominguez | Kodai Senga | Garrett Crochet | Shohei Ohtani | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| The Great Knoche | Tirso Ornelas | Kristian Campbell | Chris Sale | Jacob DeGrom | Juan Soto | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| The Itch | Matt Shaw | Cam Smith | Paul Skenes | Tarik Skubal | Shohei Ohtani | Bobby Witt Jr. |
| The Real Joey Bart | Roki Sasaki | Jasson Dominguez | Paul Skenes | Garrett Crochet | Shohei Ohtani | Aaron Judge |
NL Cy Young
Chris Sale: “Sure, Paul Skenes is cool and all, and has a girlfriend more famous than he is, but ya know what he doesn’t have? Almost 2,000 MLB innings on his oft-injured pitching arm. I mean experience, he doesn’t have experience! More importantly, Chris Sale has a decent team behind him and goes deep enough in games where he could touch 20+ wins this season if he makes 35 starts. Gimme Sale with 20 wins and a sub 3.00 ERA with 200Ks to win the Cy Young on the senior circuit.”
AL Cy Young
Framber Valdez: “It would appear I have some strong Astros taeks this year. Yordan, MVP, Altuve, bust-o, Framber, Cy Young. I feel like this is the season that Predator Blood goes ham and pitches himself to a huge off-season deal. The MLB is a war of attrition and staying healthy is half the game. Framber racks up a huge IP total and those IPs are sparkling…despite having Jose Altuve misplaying every wall ball in center all year.”
AL MVP
Gunnar Henderson: “I like Gunnar Henderson as AL MVP as he’s a rising star on an excellent team that really just needs to extend his fantastic 1st half or 2024 for a whole season to get in the conversation with Judge and Witt Jr.”
| Writer | Sleeper | Bust | Infatuation | Come Back | MVFP | MVFH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grey | Brandon Pfaadt | Rafael Devers | Elly De La Cruz | Spencer Strider | Robbie Ray | Cam Smith |
| Rudy | Brandon Lowe | Emmanuel Clase | Jackson Chourio | Merrill Kelly | Taj Bradley | Yandy Diaz |
| ADHamley | Matt McLain | Luis Garcia Jr. | CJ Abrams | Austin Riley | Cristopher Sanchez | Lars Nootbaar |
| B_Don | Victor Scott | Bo Bichette | Matt McLain | Austin Riley | Bryce Miller | Victor Robles |
| CableBoxScore | Lane Thomas | Jacob DeGrom | Ezequiel Tovar | Ronald Acuna Jr. | Hunter Brown | Pete Crow-Armstrong |
| Coolwhip | Ryan Weathers | Max Fried | Roki Sasaki | Spencer Strider | Ryan Weathers | Wyatt Langford |
| Disco Stu | Bailey Ober | Fernando Tatis Jr. | Jake Burger | Jesus Luzardo | Sean Manaea | Ezequiel Tovar |
| EWB | Heliot Ramos | Corbin Carroll | Shohei Ohtani | Robbie Ray | Robbie Ray | |
| Jakker | Hunter Brown | Alex Bregman | Kerry Carpenter | Lance McCullers | Hunter Brown | Kerry Carpenter |
| Jeremy Brewer | Trevor Larnach | Mark Vientos | Brent Rooker | Spencer Strider | Hunter Brown | Kerry Carpenter |
| JKJ | Tyler Kinley | Jordan Romano | Edwin Uceta | Sandy Alcantara | Ryan Weathers | Christian Encarnacion-Strand |
| Kelder | Gavin Williams | Jose Ramirez | Cam Smith | Austin Riley | Hunter Brown | Brent Rooker |
| Latch-key Kid | Dustin May | Jacob deGrom | Jeremiah Estrada | Robbie Ray | Robbie Ray | Bo Bichette |
| Laura Holt | Tyler Fitzgerald | Ozzie Albies | Bryan Woo | Shane McClanahan | Tanner Bibee | Jazz Chisholm |
| Lineup Builder | Cody Bellinger | Jarren Duran | Brent Rooker | Jacob deGrom | Kodai Senga | Jazz Chisholm |
| Maks | Ben Rice | Pete Crow-Armstrong | Sal Frelick | Sandy Alcantara | Christopher Sanchez | Jackson Chourio |
| MarmosDad | Bryan Woo | Garrett Crochet | Jo Adell | Bo Bichette | Gavin Williams | Kyle Manzardo |
| MattTruss | Pete Crow-Armstrong | Jose Altuve | Ezequiel Tovar | Ronald Acuna Jr. | Yusei Kikuchi | Ryan Mountcastle |
| Mike Couillard | Christopher Morel | Shane McClanahan | Junior Caminero | Mike Trout | Nathan Eovaldi | Luis Rengifo |
| RotoSurgeon | Hayden Birdsong | Justin Steele | The Rays Offense | Zack Gelof | Brandon Pfaadt | Oneil Cruz |
| SandwichPick | Christian Encarnacion-Strand | Jarren Duran | Willson Contreras | Bo Bichette | MacKenzie Gore | Jackson Chourio |
| Son | Michael Conforto | James Wood | The Athletics | Kodai Senga | MacKenzie Gore | Jurickson Profar |
| The Great Knoche | Rhys Hoskins | Ozzie Albies | Byron Buxton | Liam Hendriks | Nick Lodolo | Michael Toglia |
| The Itch | Ceddanne Rafaela | Mookie Betts | Lawrence Butler | Jacob deGrom | Spencer Schwellenbach | Lawrence Butler |
| The Real Joey Bart | Thairo Estrada | Max Fried | Jack Flaherty | Paul Goldschmidt | Spencer Schwellenbach | Cody Bellinger |
Sleeper
Pete Crow-Armstrong: “I have seen the slander about his advanced metrics and holes in his swing, but those metrics don’t take into account a player making adjustments and figuring things out. Maybe I’m too into the vibes but PCA feels dynamic to me, a player who could go 25/50 if everything breaks right. He’s currently got a round 11 (pick 132) ADP in the RCLs and that feels like a ridiculously great bargain for a potentially huge impact player. I am all the way in on PCA for 2025.”
Infatuation
Jack Flaherty: “Flaherty was quietly one of the best pitchers in baseball last year, posting a 3.17 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 10.8 K/9 rate. Toeing the rubber in a pitcher’s park like Comerica only adds to his value and some tricks from Tarik Skubal could be the thing to put him over the top.”
Most Valuable Fantasy Pitcher
Hunter Brown: “I took Hunter Brown as my MVFP because I can use the B-Ref splits. Then I took out his 9.78 ERA from the first month and looked at the second half ERA of 2.26 and 74 strikeouts in 71 innings. Zach Wheeler but at a steep discount. He’s the ace you want.”
Hunter Brown: “After the first weekend of May last year, only two qualified pitchers had a better ERA the rest of the season than Hunter Brown at 2.46. Those guys won the NL Cy Young (Chris Sale) and NL Rookie of the Year (Paul Skenes). He has looked just as good this spring and only has a ninth round ADP, that is easy value.”
Comeback Player
Liam Hendriks: “Hendriks has been awful so far this spring, and his velocity is way down from where it used to be. That being said he should find his groove, and whether he is closing or not should garner plenty of votes for Comeback Player of the Year. Since I drafted him quite a few places early let’s hope he does it with plenty of saves on the resume.”
And finally, we are just going to let MarmosDad take the mic:
“Bo-h my goodness! BDon is gonna have a Bfield day with this Bone…wait, that doesn’t work.
Are You Ready? Then let’s Break It Down.
You know what they say…You can’t spell Bounceback without Bo.
Well, with the country’s Commander-in-Chief demonizing anything and everything to do with Canada these days, I figured it was time to fully embrace the 1990s WWE heel role and play the villain with a Bo Bichette comeback prediction. They say Canadians are nice and polite. Well, not this time! (sorry in advance if offend anyone).
It’s just me and Bo out on a tiny island in the northern waters, miles away from the warm waves crashing onto the sunny shores of Razzball DX…I mean Razzball HQ.
Oh, the plight of the Blue Jays fan. The swings and misses from the front office have been well-documented. The superstar’s negotiations with the club? That’s been well documented too. The good news is that Blue Jays fans from a certain age group still think the 1993 World Series was, “only, like, 10 or 15 years ago, right?”
Vlad Jr. isn’t the only homegrown talent looking for a big payday after the 2025 season is over.
Bo had some rinky dink injuries last year and he seems all healed up and ready to go. As fun as it is to rip on Bo for being the Participation Trophy recipient to Golden Boy Vlad Guerrero Jr., I said to the other Writers that I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bo ‘turn it on’ in a walk year and push the statistical envelope so he hits the negotiation table loaded with ammunition to cash in on a big payday.
This kid is smack dab in the middle of his prime, (27 years old), and wants to land a hefty contract somewhere in the off-season. It’s easy to forget that in 2021, at age 23 (!), he put up a 121/29/102/25 line with a .292 AVG. Topping that set of numbers four years later will get him more than a few zeroes on that next long-term deal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bo hit .280+ in his walk year and I won’t be surprised to see 20 homers and 10-15 steals with healthy runs and RBI totals aboot…I mean, to boot.”
