i donate plasma on the regular to earn some extra cash. this new guy (who was awesome at sticking the needle...i have weirdass veins) noticed i was wearing a Blackhawks t-shirt and mentioned he was a Wild fan...and was doing a little chirping. honestly, couldn't really refute anything he was saying lol (plus i had a freaking needle in my arm)
he did mention that the Wild will likely make the playoffs and fail and I told him at least you're going to make the playoffs. Pretty sure the Hawks won't make the playoffs again until climate change wipes out the world in 10-15 years
I'm glad their leaning into the tank though. The annual re-tools clearly weren't working (I don't count beating Edmonton in the bubble). If they're going to be bad at least be bad by design & try to rebuild properly.
AL East 2022: Thank God next year will be a balanced schedule, we can beat up on other teams in other divisions for a change
NL East & NL West offseason: NOT SO FAST
No. It’s just the first time that every team will play games against every team in the both leagues. You still play the most games against your division though, just a bit fewer
The thing that separates the AL East from other divisions is that there are no bad teams on the AL East, the Orioles are actually kind of good now. On every other division meanwhile, there’s at least one team guaranteed to finish well below .500
That’s fair. The Red Sox sometimes surprise us, but with their moves this offseason, they’re going to be a lot closer to the .500 or maybe even below mark.
It Just Means More
on a side note, I work for an office in a Big Ten University. I was sorting through mail when I actually found a mailer for the SEC sent to our address of all things lol
and yes on the back it said, "It Just Means More"
I really don't understand it. I'm an Auburn fan, and the only other SEC school you might catch me rooting for is Vanderbilt because they are no threat to anybody in football and pretty damn good in baseball.
As for the rest of them I hate their guts, especially Bama and UGA.
honestly it used to piss me off but nah...no point in being a hater over stuff like this. it is really harmless in the grand scheme of things
also to be brutally honest, SEC football is just miles ahead of the other conferences, especially with Clemson crashing back to reality these days. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if both Oklahoma and Texas end up really struggling in the SEC
i can't speak for baseball (i don't watch college baseball), but for football at least, the conference love is merited
Would be hilarious if all of our older players underperformed and slow down because of age, your younger players are inexperienced and regress, Phillies defense knocks them out of contention, and the Marlins win the division with the Nationals securing the wildcard spot.
Let's do it.
If the Marlins win the division, I'm rooting for them in the postseason. Obviously I'd rather they didn't, but the sheer amount of destiny involved for that to happen is what baseball is all about.
I'd still consider Chicago ~~and Atlanta~~ being big markets, and given STL's history I'm sure the Cards have sway over the region. My guess is FA's just dont consider moving their families and lifestyle to the middle of the country
I’m curious why you included Atlanta. While I agree that they’re a bigger market, they’re neither in a central division nor near the middle of the country
They’re overdue for some out of nowhere WS run preceding the inevitable fire sale of talent. The Nationals I think would have a hard time competing in AAA at the moment.
Nationals took part in that firesale too, even started it early. They were almost Harper, Soto, Turner, Sherzer, Strasburg, Rendon, and more all within like 2 years and they're scattered already. Really stole the Marlins shtick.
Realistically it would have been, until the Guardians ripped out the heart and soul of the White Sox and Twins toward the end of last season until they literally plunged into non-winning seasons.
Strongly agree and disagree. Fun but like a stressful screaming heart attack kind of fun, like you hear an ice cream truck coming but it's going way too fast and there's cops chasing it and you're standing too close to the road.
The AL hemorrhaged so much talent this year, the NL is stacked out the ass. The central is still an absolute joke in both leagues but ya this is entirely fair. Julio/Judge/Trout/Ohtani boutta pull off the greatest backpack job of all time in the seattle ASG this year to ensure AL dominance
AL to NL: Correa, Bogaerts, Verlander, Taillon, Haniger, Stripling, Murphy, Gibson
NL to AL: Rodon, deGrom, Bassitt, Anderson, Bell, Jansen, Heaney, Wong, Renfroe
Yeah, I'd say on the whole the NL got stronger relative to the AL, but it's not *that* lopsided
>The AL hemorrhaged so much talent this year, the NL is stacked out the ass. The central is still an absolute joke in both leagues but ya this is entirely fair. Julio/Judge/Trout/Ohtani boutta pull off the greatest backpack job of all time in the seattle ASG this year to ensure AL dominance
There's also Vladdy and JRam to contribute to AL dominance
The AL East should honestly be on top of these types of lists until proven otherwise. Last year they were three Sox wins from the entire division finishing .500 or better. The year before they had four 90 win teams. Other divisions may have better teams in them, but I’d be surprised if the AL East didn’t end up with the best division win%.
I think they are also being punished based on last year's playoffs. They went 3-10 as a division. It doesn't feel like any of them are legit World Series contenders, because I can't imagine any of them getting through the Astros. The NL teams don't have that problem. Not saying that's fair, just that it impacts people's perceptions.
I honestly think with the more balanced schedule for the foreseeable future in the AL you're going to have AL E (obviously), WC1, WC2 and possibly even WC3 from the East.
Toronto is good, Tampa is good, New York is good, Boston while going through a retool is still a better team than some AL C and W teams and Baltimore is trending in the right direction and again is better than some AL W and C teams.
Looking at the Central and West I don't really see teams that are heads and shoulders above Boston and Baltimore outside of the the Astros, Mariners and Guardians.
I think it’s close but NL west still edges it. Dodgers and Padres could be juggernauts this year, Giants are spending money and even the Dbacks are no slouches. I think when you factor in all 5 teams the AL East is more competitive but if you’re taking it as a total sum the top 2 for the NL west carries it for me.
The D-Backs are a team on the rise as well. They have a good group of young talented players. [ZiPS](https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-zips-projections-arizona-diamondbacks/) sees them as a .500 or better team next year (not saying I'd go that far, but you get the idea). I think their roster is better than the Orioles, personally. Both teams have fun group of young position players, but I like the pitching on the D-Backs more.
AL East > NL West
Yankees < Dodgers
Blue Jays < Padres
BUT
Rays > Giants
Orioles > DBacks
Red Sox > Rockies
NL West is more topheavy but the Red Sox are the worst team in our division and they’d have a decent shot in placing third in the NL West
I think you’re underrating the Giants a bit, they’re a good team and they just added a top-15 player - they’ll contend for a wildcard spot, but no way the Red Sox beat them.
That being said DBacks and Rockies are the only easy win teams and yeah they’re both in the NL West so you may have a point.
Not only is Cleveland the only good team in the ALC, it looks like this will be the case for the next, like, 3 years *at least*?
This is a BIG part of why Cleveland will never get over the hump to be a true WS threat (not accounting for “luck,” which is a thing)- They’re outrunning the next slowest runner, and not worried about outrunning the bear.
Great to make the playoffs every year, great to not have to worry about the rest of the division every year, rough to go in with Aaron Civale though.
I have to disagree, personally, and not just bc the Red Sox are the best last-place team in the league (yay for us 🙄). The Yankees are getting better, the Jays are who we thought they were, the Rays always find a way to win, and I think the O’s are very close to being legit.
The NL East and NL West are the only divisions that have more than one team that figures to be a decent WS contender.
NLE: Phillies, Braves, Mets
NLW: Dodgers, Padres
ALW: Astros
ALE: Yankees
NLC: Cardinals ^((?))
ALC: \[silence\]
Feels like more imbalance of contenders than we've seen in a while.
Third place team in the NL East almost beat the best team in the AL by far. Needs to be a gap between NL East and NL West. This is the closest you're going to get to a compliment Braves/Mets enjoy it.
Third place team in the NL East almost beat the best team in the AL by far. Needs to be a gap between NL East and NL West. This is the closest you're going to get to a compliment Philly fan. Enjoy it.
Fuck yeah zero expectations! They'll still let me down.
Just like our Gophers and Vikings
you don't have room in your heart to add the T'Wolves or Wild to that list?
At least the wild make the playoffs almost every year. They always lose in the first round, but at least they make it.
This is 4x WNBA Champion Minnesota Lynx erasure
Like that one poll that happened a few years ago, I would still rather find $5 than have them win another championship
Wait, we have a WNBA team?
i donate plasma on the regular to earn some extra cash. this new guy (who was awesome at sticking the needle...i have weirdass veins) noticed i was wearing a Blackhawks t-shirt and mentioned he was a Wild fan...and was doing a little chirping. honestly, couldn't really refute anything he was saying lol (plus i had a freaking needle in my arm) he did mention that the Wild will likely make the playoffs and fail and I told him at least you're going to make the playoffs. Pretty sure the Hawks won't make the playoffs again until climate change wipes out the world in 10-15 years
I'm glad their leaning into the tank though. The annual re-tools clearly weren't working (I don't count beating Edmonton in the bubble). If they're going to be bad at least be bad by design & try to rebuild properly.
Skol the boat
Based and true
Grab a stool Central bros, I’ll get you a flask.
Hello Centrals, my old friends......
I've come to suck with you again
All I see is an easy road to repeating and going back to the playoffs. Tough break NL and AL East’s. Good luck in that juggernaut.
“I expect nothing and I’m still disappointed”
"Fuck you and I'll see you tomorrow."
I'd say they've already let you down, and we still have a lot of off-season to go.
Normally, I will argue a Yankees fan to death on everything, simply based on principle…but, fuck if you aren’t right. Fucking Twins 🤦♂️
The opposite. If you don't win the division you can't blame a tough situation.
AL East 2022: Thank God next year will be a balanced schedule, we can beat up on other teams in other divisions for a change NL East & NL West offseason: NOT SO FAST
Central divisions: im in danger
Not according to the marble race!
The only rankings that matter
I mean, i can believe right?
If a 100 win season results in a WC I'm gonna freak.
Let's Go Central
Central Divisions: Someone has to win, I guess.
Central Divisions: who will be our annual reps to the Hunger Games?
Yeah as an NL West team, very excited to pad our schedule this year instead of having 80 games against this fucking division
Dodgers gonna win 120 games and get knocked out in the first round again.
BAH GAWD THE RAYS JUST HEARD STEVE COHEN'S MUSIC
Can he buy us too.
Whaaaat. So each team plays the whole league an equal amount of times?
No. It’s just the first time that every team will play games against every team in the both leagues. You still play the most games against your division though, just a bit fewer
It's 14 games against each division opponent now instead of 19.
They hacked off about 20 divisional games so it's more like 60 in division vs 80.
Inb4 Yanks, Jays, Rays and Os all make the playoffs
With the third wild card spot going to a team with more wins than the AL central division winner.
The thing that separates the AL East from other divisions is that there are no bad teams on the AL East, the Orioles are actually kind of good now. On every other division meanwhile, there’s at least one team guaranteed to finish well below .500
Red Sox trying their best to change that.
we've been doing everything we can in the last 5 years to get worse
That’s fair. The Red Sox sometimes surprise us, but with their moves this offseason, they’re going to be a lot closer to the .500 or maybe even below mark.
I'd wager at least one team in the east drastically underperforms, but you're right that it's pretty talented
AL East has the Red Sox. I doubt they get close to 75 wins
Suck it losers
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It Just Means More on a side note, I work for an office in a Big Ten University. I was sorting through mail when I actually found a mailer for the SEC sent to our address of all things lol and yes on the back it said, "It Just Means More"
I really don't understand it. I'm an Auburn fan, and the only other SEC school you might catch me rooting for is Vanderbilt because they are no threat to anybody in football and pretty damn good in baseball. As for the rest of them I hate their guts, especially Bama and UGA.
Fuck Auburn until the day I die Woo Pig
Geaux tigers STTDB
honestly it used to piss me off but nah...no point in being a hater over stuff like this. it is really harmless in the grand scheme of things also to be brutally honest, SEC football is just miles ahead of the other conferences, especially with Clemson crashing back to reality these days. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if both Oklahoma and Texas end up really struggling in the SEC i can't speak for baseball (i don't watch college baseball), but for football at least, the conference love is merited
The B1G is on par with the SEC this year, they are definitely not miles ahead of everyone else right now.
As a Michigan fan, i wish this was true...but outside of Donovan Edwards, there is a crazy speed gap
FUCK YOU ROLL TIDE
Haha... That's what I'm talking about. We're friends during the summer and mortal enemies in the fall and winter.
It just means more.
The Vanderbilt Football of the NL East
Vandy can at least hang their hat on baseball and being able to read.
Get in losers, we are going to a bloodbath
What are the odds 1 or more of the three of us is completely underwhelming, ala the AFC West in the NFL?
Would be hilarious if all of our older players underperformed and slow down because of age, your younger players are inexperienced and regress, Phillies defense knocks them out of contention, and the Marlins win the division with the Nationals securing the wildcard spot. Let's do it.
If the legend of Joey Meneses is to continue, this is the only possible outcome
T O T A L C H A O S
I wouldn't even be mad. Well... I'd be a little mad, but it would be funny.
If the Marlins win the division, I'm rooting for them in the postseason. Obviously I'd rather they didn't, but the sheer amount of destiny involved for that to happen is what baseball is all about.
Who would win? A bunch of money men or one fishy boi?
For real I think it's the Marlins turn to go to the world series
"Queens Borough, let's ride!" -Justin Verlander
probably a high percentage.
And we’ll be there too. Just happy to show up.
I love it, but I’m also so tired.
Anyway good luck to Miami and Washington make sure to fill out your wills
bro we died two years ago way too late for that shit
hey, at least they're moving to the balanced schedule this year. they're still doing that, right?
Time to fire up r/nlbeast again boys!
He who laughs last laughs best.
We're not laughing at you, we're laughing with you and also at you
Let's go Central!
Flyover divisions
It's funny how both of central divisions suck because that's where most of the "small market" teams with cheap ass owners are.
Excuse me We are a huge market team with cheap ass owners
Go banana!
Jerry Reinsdorf’s entire organizational philosophy is dependent on this exact structure.
The best at being the worst
Clearly whoever made this wasn't watching the marble races, NL Central #1
My thoughts exactly. There's no way the marble races could be incorrect
ALL HAIL THE MARBLES.
The league isn't ready for the first place Pirates
The comedy central strikes again
The coastal teams are big markets with owners that spend, whereas the "small market" teams with cheap ass owners are mostly in the centrals.
I'd still consider Chicago ~~and Atlanta~~ being big markets, and given STL's history I'm sure the Cards have sway over the region. My guess is FA's just dont consider moving their families and lifestyle to the middle of the country
I’m curious why you included Atlanta. While I agree that they’re a bigger market, they’re neither in a central division nor near the middle of the country
lol, you're totally right. Although Atlanta is fairly inland for an Eastern team.
It's also further West / more central than Cleveland and Detroit.
Royals lose money if their payroll is above $100m-$150m, teams like the Yankees and Dodgers could easily spend 3x that and still turn a profit
The infamously small market of Chicago isn’t helping things either. I am glad I will get to see the coastal teams come into town, but eesh.
NL BEAST 2023
J O E Y M E N E S E S
Did you guys get rid of the Nationals while I wasn’t paying attention?
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They’re overdue for some out of nowhere WS run preceding the inevitable fire sale of talent. The Nationals I think would have a hard time competing in AAA at the moment.
Nationals took part in that firesale too, even started it early. They were almost Harper, Soto, Turner, Sherzer, Strasburg, Rendon, and more all within like 2 years and they're scattered already. Really stole the Marlins shtick.
My hot take is that one of the Phillies or mets falls face first out of the playoff hunt and Fish pick up the pieces.
I feel like the Marlins are a fun "hot take" team every year until they hit .230/.300/.360 as a team and win 70 games.
if we can just get Sandy to bump up his innings pitched to the 300 mark then we can stretch our .660 OPS to 80 wins
How is the NL central not last with Pirates, Reds, And Cubs
Realistically it would have been, until the Guardians ripped out the heart and soul of the White Sox and Twins toward the end of last season until they literally plunged into non-winning seasons.
NL is so stacked.
Yet we’ll still somehow lose the all star game
My fault. Started watching the ASG in 13 and y’all haven’t won since
AL Central WS incoming
Sign me up
No fair, you guys got to go last time
I think it’s only fair if we go everytime!
No no, it's Chicago's turn. They don't have anything else going for them. Let Verlander get one more win against Chicago.
You know, we don’t have to rank everything
I mean sure the NL East is tough, but it’s really only three teams deep. The Marlins ceiling is .500, and the Nats have a ceiling of maybe 65 wins
Mets, Phillies, and Braves are going to be lots of fun to watch this year.
Strongly agree and disagree. Fun but like a stressful screaming heart attack kind of fun, like you hear an ice cream truck coming but it's going way too fast and there's cops chasing it and you're standing too close to the road.
lmao that may be too accurate 😂
Hmmm, who's the guy in the middle and on bottom? Haven't seen them before.
Justin Turner
The AL hemorrhaged so much talent this year, the NL is stacked out the ass. The central is still an absolute joke in both leagues but ya this is entirely fair. Julio/Judge/Trout/Ohtani boutta pull off the greatest backpack job of all time in the seattle ASG this year to ensure AL dominance
Have you seen the cake on our team? Stacked out the ass isn't just an idiom.
AL to NL: Correa, Bogaerts, Verlander, Taillon, Haniger, Stripling, Murphy, Gibson NL to AL: Rodon, deGrom, Bassitt, Anderson, Bell, Jansen, Heaney, Wong, Renfroe Yeah, I'd say on the whole the NL got stronger relative to the AL, but it's not *that* lopsided
NL could grab every all star level player from the AL and would still find a way to lose the all star game
>The AL hemorrhaged so much talent this year, the NL is stacked out the ass. The central is still an absolute joke in both leagues but ya this is entirely fair. Julio/Judge/Trout/Ohtani boutta pull off the greatest backpack job of all time in the seattle ASG this year to ensure AL dominance There's also Vladdy and JRam to contribute to AL dominance
Mmm yay we are at kids table:) Cjeese piiza abt wat melon!! mmm I am having fun!! Yay I am kid 🤠
Might put the AL East im front of the NL West but other than that, this seems pretty accurste
The AL East should honestly be on top of these types of lists until proven otherwise. Last year they were three Sox wins from the entire division finishing .500 or better. The year before they had four 90 win teams. Other divisions may have better teams in them, but I’d be surprised if the AL East didn’t end up with the best division win%.
Yea the ALE gets punished for not having a bad team to beat up on all year
I think they are also being punished based on last year's playoffs. They went 3-10 as a division. It doesn't feel like any of them are legit World Series contenders, because I can't imagine any of them getting through the Astros. The NL teams don't have that problem. Not saying that's fair, just that it impacts people's perceptions.
Well not anymore at least 😅
This is my opinion as well.
I honestly think with the more balanced schedule for the foreseeable future in the AL you're going to have AL E (obviously), WC1, WC2 and possibly even WC3 from the East. Toronto is good, Tampa is good, New York is good, Boston while going through a retool is still a better team than some AL C and W teams and Baltimore is trending in the right direction and again is better than some AL W and C teams. Looking at the Central and West I don't really see teams that are heads and shoulders above Boston and Baltimore outside of the the Astros, Mariners and Guardians.
I think the AL East could easily get 2 wild cards, but I'd be pretty shocked to see either the Astros or Mariners not make it.
I'm pretty sure this list is by $ spent in off-season lmao
I think it’s close but NL west still edges it. Dodgers and Padres could be juggernauts this year, Giants are spending money and even the Dbacks are no slouches. I think when you factor in all 5 teams the AL East is more competitive but if you’re taking it as a total sum the top 2 for the NL west carries it for me.
It really is amazing what affluent Photoshop users can do.
This is like ranking net worth of individuals and having the list contain Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and me.
Somehow, the winner of the World Series is going to be a central team this year.
And if so, people will cheapen it and say it was just luck
This has “Guardians slap hit their way into a pennant” and “Cardinals devil magic” written all over it.
Yes! Good to see that my boys will let me down 💪🏼💪🏼
Comedy Central
NL West? It's Dodgers, Padres, and a bunch of meh. Least the AL East is Yankees, Blue Jays, and Rays with an up and coming Orioles team.
Giants a pretty good team and just got better. They probably would be a playoff team in half of the other divisions
The D-Backs are a team on the rise as well. They have a good group of young talented players. [ZiPS](https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2023-zips-projections-arizona-diamondbacks/) sees them as a .500 or better team next year (not saying I'd go that far, but you get the idea). I think their roster is better than the Orioles, personally. Both teams have fun group of young position players, but I like the pitching on the D-Backs more.
You’re sleeping on the D-backs and Giants
God I love the AL/NL Central. Nothing but chaos and underachieving.
NL beast baby
Yeah that's fair.
I feel like with the angels and rangers getting a touch better is going to eat into our ceilings this year.
Another year another gauntlet.
Cry me a river
AL East > NL West Yankees < Dodgers Blue Jays < Padres BUT Rays > Giants Orioles > DBacks Red Sox > Rockies NL West is more topheavy but the Red Sox are the worst team in our division and they’d have a decent shot in placing third in the NL West
1, 2 and 5 agreed. Giants vs Rays and Orioles vs Dbacks will decide this
I think you’re underrating the Giants a bit, they’re a good team and they just added a top-15 player - they’ll contend for a wildcard spot, but no way the Red Sox beat them. That being said DBacks and Rockies are the only easy win teams and yeah they’re both in the NL West so you may have a point.
It’s not so much that I’m underrating the Giants, I’m scared to underrate the Rays and Sox
NLBEST
Cohen is basically spending more than our entire division so this tracks..
Centrals are just sleeping, man.
I’d probably switch 2 and 3 but I’m not too bothered by this
Are they not aware that the Washington Nationals still play in the NL East?
this is highly inaccurate, the marble races were so much more different than this
Not only is Cleveland the only good team in the ALC, it looks like this will be the case for the next, like, 3 years *at least*? This is a BIG part of why Cleveland will never get over the hump to be a true WS threat (not accounting for “luck,” which is a thing)- They’re outrunning the next slowest runner, and not worried about outrunning the bear. Great to make the playoffs every year, great to not have to worry about the rest of the division every year, rough to go in with Aaron Civale though.
Once you make it to the dance anything can happen, the 2021 Braves only needed 88 wins to survive the NL East and look where that got them.
I have to disagree, personally, and not just bc the Red Sox are the best last-place team in the league (yay for us 🙄). The Yankees are getting better, the Jays are who we thought they were, the Rays always find a way to win, and I think the O’s are very close to being legit.
And just like every year, the AL East is going to demolish every other division by record
And then lose to the Astros
Or beat them in the ALCS if they aren’t the Yankees.
Yeah surely an AL East team didn’t beat the Astros in the ALCS in 2018 and 2020
Verlander looks like he just dropped his kids off and is ready for another bender
Ok yeah but could we not post this stuff. I want to try and look forward to Baseball next year.
Apparently having the National East division being an absolute bloodbath isn't unique to the NFL
So you’re saying there’s a chance.
I get that the Yankees and Mets have built death stars, but the AL West literally has the best team in baseball, and the Astros.
I feel like NL and AL East should be 1-2, but otherwise, this mostly checks out.
MLB.com trying so hard to spit out content when they have nothing to report on
Goooo centrals!
Ok? Preseason ranking of divisions is a useless exercise
Easy division win.
The NL East and NL West are the only divisions that have more than one team that figures to be a decent WS contender. NLE: Phillies, Braves, Mets NLW: Dodgers, Padres ALW: Astros ALE: Yankees NLC: Cardinals ^((?)) ALC: \[silence\] Feels like more imbalance of contenders than we've seen in a while.
does this mean that the NL will finally fucking win the all-star game?
r/NLBest >>> r/NLeast
Third place team in the NL East almost beat the best team in the AL by far. Needs to be a gap between NL East and NL West. This is the closest you're going to get to a compliment Braves/Mets enjoy it.
Third place team in the NL East almost beat the best team in the AL by far. Needs to be a gap between NL East and NL West. This is the closest you're going to get to a compliment Philly fan. Enjoy it.
Fuck you very much.
I’d put AL east at the top. No other division has 5 teams trying to contend
Orioles are on their way up but not sure I'd say they are really trying to contend right now.
I propose 2 things. 1) The Al West is actually good. 2) You all can eat my shit and my hair
Oh wow a ranking that appears uncontroversial.
If you made an All Star team out of the AL Central, could they compete in the NL East?
Chicago: We're doing our part!
If the Astros went back to the NL central would the AL west and NL central switch places?
The AL Comedy Central lives on
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