Considering the first power rankings for this year’s major league baseball season, it is looking like the Dodgers and the Blue Jays are going to be some of the bigger contenders this year. Practically a super team, including Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, the Dodgers are almost guaranteed to at least be a playoff team. The Blue Jays have picked up some good free agents in Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer this offseason that could really help their roster out, so they will also be a contender.

One team who is a contender year after year, the New York Yankees, might be worse off than past years. They have made very few moves during this offseason, which is a surprise, because they could use some help when it comes to pitching. Another team who has made some surprising moves this offseason is the New York Mets. The Mets traded away Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil. These players have been a part of their program for awhile and are some surprising tradeaways for the Mets.

The Atlanta Braves, who suffered some crucial injuries last year, could be looking at a really good bounceback year. Ronald Acuna Jr. is going to be their guy this year. He has had some troubles with injuries the last couple years, but if he can stay healthy, he should be a top player in the league.

The Detroit Tigers are a strong, young team. While being a playoff team last year, they didn’t make it very far after that. Their strong pitching staff is going to keep them rolling through the season, while young players like Riley Greene and Casa Grande’s own Spencer Torkelson should keep their offense going. With these guys getting this team going, they should be a strong contender this year.

Now let’s take a look at what some students at Casa think about this upcoming season. Senior Carver Pacheco, whose favorite team is the Giants, said, “The Dodgers will be the best team this year because of how dominant and stacked their roster is.” Senior Isaac Smith-Skeels said, “The Dodgers will be the best team because they have an all-star team [on their] roster.” The Dodgers really do have an extremely good pitching staff and possibly an even better offense, so these Gauchos may be right about them looking pretty strong this year.

Mr. Weaver, who teaches ASB and P.E here at Casa, believes that the Giants will be strong this year. This is his favorite team though, so he might be a little biased. He thinks that the team will have a strong infield this year, they have some big names with Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Luis Arraez, and Matt Chapman filling out the infield. He thinks that the young talent that the team has will heave a great impact this year. Weaver said that, “The starting rotation won’t be as good as the past, but the top two starters will help the team through their season.” Starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, with a decent bullpen, will try to keep the runs scored against them lower than last year when they let up 684 runs on the season. Weaver is also very excited about having a new head coach on their staff this year. Tony Vitello coached at the University of Tennessee, and although he has no professional baseball experience, he was able to secure the job. Weaver brings up some good arguments for why the Giants will be strong this year and hopes they will put up a better season than their last year’s record of 81-81.

Ryder Nicholas, a sophomore here at Casa, said his favorite team is the San Diego Padres. He has faith that with their new manager Craig Stammen they will come through with a great season. He believes that they have a strong pitching rotation and bullpen and said, “We have the best closer in baseball.” This closer is Mason Miller, going into his second season and even though he is young, Ryder believes that he will have a great season and help the Padres get some wins. Ryder said “Superstars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado will carry the team this year.” These are two players who truly can be called superstars. Tatis is a monster with the bat and Machado brings some power and really strong defense. This Padres team is definitely filled with talent and Ryder is hoping they can put up a great season.

While every team mentioned here has good talent and are strong contenders, the real question that everyone is asking is who will win it all?