2019 MLB Predictions

In years past I have gone as far as to predict win totals/win-loss totals. I’m not going to be doing that anymore, at least for baseball. I may give a ballpark for wins, but won’t break things down as far as say Team X will finish 92-70.

 

AL East

Red Sox

Yankees

Rays

Blue Jays

Orioles

Lots of people are high on the Rays, and rightly so. But in this division they won’t be able to contend. Put them in any other division in the league and they would be able to contend for a Wild Card spot if not the division. They have a better roster than last year though, and if there is one surprise team to steal a Wild Card spot it’s the Rays. I wouldn’t be stunned by it, but I just don’t see it happening. The Yankees and Red Sox are the class of this division. The Yankees made some moves in the offseason, but not the right ones. They did not add a marquee starter the team needed to reach the World Series, which is typically the goal for every season. So once again their rotation will be what holds them back. And that is before even accounting fur Luis Severino’s injury (which will keep him out till at least May), CC Sabathia’s (who should not have even been re-signed) suspension and injury. They can hit all the home runs they want, it won’t help in the end.

The Red Sox made little moves in the offseason, frankly because they didn’t need to. They’re set up not only for now, but for the long haul. Without being tied down to long, expensive contracts to the likes of Bryce Harper or Manny Machado, they will be able to add pieces as they need to.

Toronto learned this the hard way, as they saw their window to win and went for it, but it ultimately didn’t work out. They had many player friendly contracts cluttering up their roster, and had to cut ties with all of them in order for the financials and on field expectations to sync up. At least what they’re doing makes sense. At this point I have no clue what the Orioles are doing. I understand getting rid of aging stars, but you still need to field a competitive roster. So yet another last place finish for them.

 

AL Central

Indians

Twins

White Sox

Royals

Tigers

The easiest division in baseball the past couple seasons remains just that; the easiest division in baseball. The Indians will run away with it simply because no other team is ready to contend. Scratch that, the Tigers and Royals will be contenders; for the worst record in baseball. Just a couple seasons ago the Twins were the darlings of baseball by earning a Wild Card spot. Two seasons later though they move on from the manager who led them to that Wild Card berth, and lose one of their best players in free agency. They did add some pieces to fill out roster holes, but it still won’t be enough to contend in the division. But if there is one team to sneak up on Cleveland it will be the Twins.

 

AL West

Astros

A’s

Angels

Rangers

Mariners

Both the Angels and A’s weak spots are their rotation. Neither of them have a bonafide  front line starter. I just can’t count Shohei Ohtani because he is not a dedicated pitcher, regardless of him being out for 2019 due to Tommy John surgery. I can easily see both of teams battling it out for one of the two Wild Card spots though. With the A’s to their lineup and rotation being slightly better. The Astros are still the best team in this division if not the league. Even with the subtractions to their rotation. Nobody else comes close to them in this division. You can pencil them in now as one of the teams in the ALCS.

Seattle is in rebuild mode, finally recognizing that the Robinson Cano signing was a mistake. I don’t think they had to give up one of the up and coming closers in the game though in that same deal though. Texas is a bit of an oddball, as they don’t seem to be doing much of anything. They’re not exactly in rebuild mode, but they’re not in contention either. They still have a better roster than the Mariners though.

 

NL East

Phillies

Nationals

Braves

Mets

Marlins

The Phillies came very close to winning the division last season, and came out of nowhere to do so. They overachieved, and what does that usually spell? A front office that overspends and overreaches in the offseason to bulk up the roster. Philadelphia admitted they would be big players in the market, and boy did they follow through. Landing arguably the best free agent in history, stealing a young quality catcher from a division rival, adding yet another former MVP to their outfield and a quality veteran late reliever to bolster their bullpen. Their only weak spot appears to be their rotation, which could use another quality arm. But that is an area that can be easily addressed by the trade deadline.

Rotation depth is Atlanta’s weak spot though, and their lineup additions simply aren’t enough to compete with the Phillies. Washington lost their best player in the offseason and decided to take the money they could’ve used to re-sign him to beef up their already beefed up rotation. The Nationals will be forever haunted by not trading Bryce Harper at the 2018 trade deadline, as they got absolutely nothing for him. For a team that has been on the cusp of a pennant for quite a while now, the additions of starter Patrick Corbin, catcher Yan Gomes (granted it fills a long time hole in the lineup) second basemen Brian Dozier (yet another lineup hole) simply won’t be enough in this division. Washington has missed their window, as the rest of the division has caught up to them.

With all that said, sadly the Mets will be the odd man out in this division. They’re good, which is more than Mets fans have been able to say for pretty much the team’s entire existence, but it’s still not enough. Matt Harvey flamed out, they’re still paying Bobby Bonilla, and they still have holes to fill. Maybe their youngsters will pan out, but it won’t be in 2019. And which Robinson Cano shows up is anyone’s guess.

The Marlins clearly showed where their priorities lied with a completely unnecessary rebrand in the offseason. A new logo does not mean a fresh start in Miami, as it’s more of the same tear down and relying on luck more than talent to finish with a .500 record. They will be far and away the worst team in baseball, if not shooting for the worst record in history. There is no nobody left in Miami; Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, J.T. Realmuto, Justin Bour, Dee Gordon and Jose Fernandez are all lone gone. Can anyone even name one player in the Marlins’ projected opening day lineup? If this was happening in any other city in the nation, there would be regular protests and marches in the street or outside the ballpark/team facilities. But remember, this is a place where you can buy field box seats for $12.50 and offers free shuttle service to and from the game, and even then, the ballpark is at least 90% empty every game.

 

NL Central

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Reds

Pirates

 

This division is a tossup between the Brewers and the Cardinals. I will give the edge to the Brewers right now, because I think their rotation is slightly better (glaring weak spots for both teams) . Health will be a major factor in how this division plays out. Whichever team has the least amount if injuries will go a long way in deciding this division. The Cubs capitalized on their window, winning their first World Series title in over 100 years a couple seasons ago. But now, that roster is aging, and they depleted their farm system in order to win that elusive ring. But can you really blame them? Cincinnati is finally showing signs of awakening from their hibernation. Making bold moves in the offseason. But it still won’t be enough. This division has been one of the toughest in baseball for the past decade or so. Not because one team perennially dominates is, but the exact opposite actually. All these teams have been contenders within the last decade, and their success and downfall has been contingent on each other.

Pittsburgh fans will once again be left wondering why. As ownership doesn’t seem to care and just doesn’t get it. Their lineup is a joke. Why they traded for Chris Archer is anyone’s guess. And when it was on the heels of giving up their best pitcherin ages (Gerrit Cole) last season , for next to nothing, makes the move even more puzzling. The Pirates will get burned by the Reds getting markedly better.

 

NL West

Dodgers

Rockies

Diamondbacks

Padres

Giants

While the Dodgers have a great deal of subtractions, they’re still far and away the best team in this division.  My only concern is their pitching, as Clayton Kershaw has shown signs of age, Kenley Jansen has had some nasty injuries. The D’backs lost bigger pieces, the Rockies pitching will never be enough to seriously contend due to Coors Field, and the Giants simply don’t have the roster to contend.

The Padres made one of the two biggest splashes in free agency with the signing of Manny Machado, but it still won’t be enough. There simply aren’t enough pieces around him and Hosmer (who signed as a free agent last winter), to contend. While the Padres are making moves, they’re not the right moves. While baseball has no salary cap, being tied to one player for so much money really limits what a small market team can do. Especially in a city that recently lost their NFL team to relocation and has no other big 4 pro league franchises. Now San Diego’s hands are completely tied, if they weren’t tied enough already with the Hosmer signing last winter. They have no pitching, their farm system is not where it needs to be to rebuild and their ballpark plays as one of the biggest in MLB so which slugger will be foolish enough to sign with them…

 

AL Playoffs

Wild Card Game

Yankees vs A’s

 

Division Series

Red Sox vs Indians

Astros vs Yankees

 

Championship Series

Astros vs Red Sox

 

National League Playoffs

Wild Card

Cardinals vs Rockies

 

Division Series

Phillies vs Brewers

Dodgers vs Cardinals

 

Championship Series

Dodgers vs Phillies

 

World Series

Astros vs Dodgers

 

Astros are World Series Champions

 

 

The Gaslight Anthem = The ’59 Sound Sessions (Regular/Standard & Deluxe Editions)

Side One Dummy Records continues to cash in on The Gaslight Anthem. A few years ago they released a singles box set, then a few years later they released a b-sides album, and most recently they released a demos album from the band’s sophomore album The ’59 Sound. Call me a sucker because I bought all of them, but in all reality all of these releases are completely unnecessary and a pure cash grab.

The ’59 Sessions, as the demo album is called, even has a regular/standard and deluxe edition; again, both of which I bought, but the point remains the same. It’s all unnecessary. If I wasn’t a completionist I wouldn’t have bought either of them. Though I did buy the deluxe edition for literally 50% off, and bought the regular edition for $12 shipped. To further illustrate how much of a cash grab this release is; Side One Dummy released a ton of variants.

Let’s delve into the deluxe edition first, which is a photobook that has the LP housed within it. It’s a 60 page book full of live photos, promo/press shots, hand bills and images of the original demo CD the band made. The original retail price of it was between $49-$57. After buying the deluxe edition I do not feel like it’s worth that price. For the price I paid, 50% off retail, it is worth it. There are literally no words in the book other than captions. It’s full of photos. While some of them are interesting, lots of them are laid out in a fashion that is not optimal for viewing. Some pages have 11 photos on them, all of them very small. While other pages have only one photo enlarged for appropriate viewing. The layout of the book is wonky, which is a detriment to the book. The binding for the book however, is very nice. And so is the construction of the pages themselves. Nice glossy pages inside a hardbound cover.

There are eight variants for the deluxe edition alone. It’s spread out over thousands upon thousands of copies. So if you’re waiting for a price drop, you will almost certainly find one. I stumbled upon Smartpunk (yes, they are not only back, but diving head long into the vinyl game with exclusive variants and their own label) having a 50% sale on all their exclusives around Black Friday of last year, which is when I bought my copy. So here is the pressing info; 5,000 copies on black (mass retail exclusive), 1,000 copies on royal blue (Side One Dummy Euro & U.S. mail order exclusive), 1,000 copies on white (Side One Dummy U.S. mail order exclusive), 1,000 copies on “ultra” clear (yet another Side One Dummy U.S. exclusive), 300 copies on mint green (Spotify “fans first” exclusive), 300 copies on highlighter yellow (Smartpunk exclusive), 300 copies on red (the last of three Side One Dummy U.S. mail order exclusives) and 100 copies on baby pink (Side One Dummy Euro mail order exclusive). Of all those variants only three have sold out as of posting this: the double mint, red and baby pink.

It’s important to note that only the Smartpunk exclusive comes hand numbered and with its own unique hype sticker, which is where the hand numbering is done. Smartpunk affixed these stickers themselves and did the hand numbering as well. The aforementioned price range is squirrelly. As Side One Dummy themselves was not even the cheapest option; The Spotify pre-order was at $49. Side One Dummy Charged $50, Smartpunk charged $55 and Bull  Moose (who tends to be on the cheaper side of indie record stores) charged $57 All before shipping. But of course, that doesn’t mean your local record store or other online retailers did not charge even more for the deluxe edition.

The regular/standard edition is a single LP housed in a standard single pocket jacket. An insert is included, which has yet more photos printed on it. No liner notes, no lyrics; just more photos and credits. While the pressing info for the regular/standard edition has not been released, it’s a bit less to deal with as there is only one variant; black vinyl.

A download card/code is included with both the deluxe and regular editions. Which nets you high quality 320 kbps MP3s. The track list for The ’59 Sessions does not only include demo versions of songs found on the final cut of The ’59 Sound. It includes a Johnny Cash cover; “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” and two unreleased tracks; “Placeholder” and “Our Father’s Sons.”

Brian Fallon – Sleepwalkers

With The Gaslight Anthem seemingly on a hiatus, Brian Fallon has kept himself busy by diving head first into his solo career by releasing two albums since Gaslight’s most recent album was released in 2014. His newest solo album, Sleepwalkers, was released in 2018 and picks up with where his previous effort, Painkillers, left off. Though if I had to choose one album, it would be Painkillers.

With that said Sleepwalkers is not a bad album by any stretch. The album’s one downfall is its length; with every song close to if not much longer than four minutes. Unless you’re Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin or Lynyrd Skynyrd, the sweet spot for any song is three-tofour minutes in my opinion. Anything longer than that and interest can start to fade, and when every song on an album is longer than that, it’s tough to listen to the entire thing with an earnest ear.

Sleepwalkers was pressed as a double LP (speaking again to the 12 track album’s run time) with two distinct pressings spread across some variants. In this case, when I say pressings it corresponds to a U.S. and Euro pressing; not a first and second pressing. The U.S. pressing is the only one with variants, two in total. Pressing info has not been released for either variant, and it appears as if neither is limited. There is a deluxe variant on red translucent vinyl and a standard variant on black vinyl. The red is/was exclusive to Brian Fallon’s official web store, and comes with a series of 12 exclusive art prints.

One lame thing regarding the purchase options on Brian’s web store is that only bundles are available regardless of variant; you can’t buy just the record. The deluxe bundle costs $35 before shipping ($45 if you want it autographed along with a t-shirt) and the standard bundle costs $30 before shipping (no autograph option but includes same t-shirt). All bundles come with a poster, but one catch with the poster though, only the deluxe bundle comes with it autographed. Regarding the price, if you were to buy this anywhere other than via Brian’s web store, the price would be between $20-$25.

There seems to be some confusion regarding the Euro pressing, as some people think there is a separate German pressing aside from the broad Euro pressing. There is only one Euro pressing. It’s not a UK pressing, nor is there a German pressing of any kind. It’s one broad pressing meant for distribution across all of Europe. Though that is not to say someone outside of Europe can’t order it for import. All copies from the Euro pressing are on black vinyl. Where the confusion comes in is due to the German exclusive bonus 7” that was included for free if you ordered from either German distros Greenhell or Flight 13.

The confusion/misinformation does not stop there either, as some sites have the aforementioned bonus 7” being limited to 500 copies. Pressing info for the German exclusive bonus 7” has not been officially released, anywhere. The only concrete info on the bonus 7” is that it’s pressed on translucent brown with black marble/translucent blood red with black marble vinyl, and it’s a promo. The track listing for the 7” includes “Forget Me Not” on the a-side with an exclusive acoustic version of the song on the b-side.

As a U.S. resident, if you were to buy the Euro pressing from one of the aforementioned German distros, you would have to fork over a good chunk of change. After the exchange rate it comes out to close to $40 before international shipping. As of posting this copies of the album including the bonus 7” are long sold out directly from distros, but Greenhell occasionally sells copies on Discogs including the 7”, and from personal experience it costs around $60 buying it off Discogs from them after shipping.

Despite the record being a double LP, only the deluxe edition form the U.S. pressing comes in a gatefold jacket, all the other variants/pressings come in a cheap, flimsy single pocket jacket. An insert is included with all copies though, but no download card/code since this is an Island Records release. Island records seems to be one of the pioneering major labels to not include a digital download card/code in any of their vinyl releases as of 2017. And the music industry wonders why they lose money.