10 bold predictions for 2020 MLB season, including what's in store for Mets and Yankees

If ever there were a season to make bold predictions, surely it’s this one, when the 60-game schedule narrows the gap between the haves and the have-nots, and any team’s championship hopes will be as dependent on Covid-19 testing as performance.

As such, I’m resisting the temptation to pick the Yankees, the deepest and most talented team in the American League, to win it all in 2020.

For one thing, I’ve picked them each of the last two seasons, only to see them fall short in October, and even though Gerrit Cole could be the guy to put them over the top, I feel the shortened season and the absence of fans in ballparks plays in favor of the ever-dangerous Rays.

More on that to come, but for the moment, let’s just be happy that a baseball season is going to be played, one whose reduced length will be fueled with intensity from the start, as teams will recognize the need for urgency in a 60-game season.

Here in New York, expectations are high, and as the Mets’ young core of position players continues to blossom, I think both local teams will make the postseason for the first time since 2015.

With that in mind, here are my 10 bold predictions for a season so unlike anything we’ve ever seen that simply getting to the finish without any virus-related interruption would be the biggest victory of all.

10 ) LUIS ROJAS WINS NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR

I just have a feeling Rojas could be the right man in the right place for these Mets. Got to spend some time around him in spring training, before interviews became strictly Zoom affairs, and he has a quiet confidence and a feel for communicating with players that speaks to his years of managing in the minors.

As a young manager, he’ll have his share of challenges, especially if veterans like Robinson Cano and Yoenis Cespedes look old, or Edwin Diaz gets off to another rocky start. But Rojas grew up around the game as the son of Felipe Alou and Mets people are convinced he’s a natural in the dugout.

9) GIANCARLO STANTON LEADS THE MAJORS IN HOME RUNS

Only the villainous Astros should benefit more from empty stadiums than Stanton, for now the burden of trying to finally win over Yankee fans is not an issue, and he can relax and let his talent take over. Assuming he can stay healthy, of course, and that’s a big if. But there too the shortened season should work in his favor.

As I’ve written more than once, I still think Stanton is mostly a mistake-hitter who won’t deliver in October against elite pitching, but if he’s healthy and relaxed at the plate he can’t help but pile up home runs over the regular season, especially with his ability to slash opposite-field line drives into the Yankee Stadium right-field porch.

8) YOENIS CESPEDES WON'T BE THE BEST DH IN THE NL

Yes, the Mets benefit from having the new DH rule, but it’s hard to visualize Cespedes getting through 60 games without getting hurt again, even if he doesn’t play the outfield. And there are plenty of other DH candidates around the league, including the likes of ex-Met Daniel Murphy with the Rockies, Ryan Braun with the Brewers, and Kyle Schwarber with the Cubs.

My sleeper, meanwhile, is Austin Riley, the Braves’ young slugger who started hot last year but faded when pitchers got him to chase breaking balls. He’s got huge power and he’s weak with the glove at third base, so the DH might be perfect for him.

7) SURPRISE: THE EXTRA INNINGS RULE PROVES POPULAR, HERE TO STAY

I’m telling all you stodgy traditionalists, starting the runner at second base in extra innings will win over fans before too long. Call it gimmicky if you insist, but I like it because it creates instant action as well as strategical decisions about bunting, intentional walks, etc., which is more than you get in many an extra-inning game when hitters are all trying to hit the ball out of the park and nothing happens for hours on end.

It doesn’t mean I’d want to see it in the postseason, but for the regular season it makes a lot of sense. Give it a chance and it will grow on you.

6) GERRIT COLE WINS UP TO THE HYPE, WINS CY YOUNG AWARD

I can’t see Cole being suffocated by the pressure of his $324 million contract or pitching in New York. If anything, he seems perfectly-suited for all the scrutiny he’ll receive as a Yankee, for he loves talking about all things pitching and seems to embrace the spotlight.

At 29 he might just be at the peak of his powers, combining his overpowering stuff with a cerebral approach that he refined with the help of the Astros’ analytics department. The short season reduces his edge but Cole looks ready to dominate.

5) JACK FLAHERTY ENDS JACOB DEGROM'S CY YOUNG RUN

It’s not that I think deGrom’s brilliance suddenly will begin to fade. It’s just ridiculously hard to win three straight Cy Young Awards, especially in a shortened season when he’ll get 12 starts at most, and just a couple of bad ones could cost him the award.

So instead I’ll go with Flaherty, the Cardinals’ 24-year old right-hander who was even better than deGrom _ and everybody else in the NL _ in the second half last year, going 7-2 with a crazy-good 0.91 ERA over 15 starts. With his high velocity and wipeout slider, he’s entering his third full season in the bigs and appears to still be an ascending talent.

4) JEFF MCNEIL WINS BATTING TITLE, SETS TEAM RECORDS

It’s fun to think about McNeil making a run at .400 over 60 games, and he might be the best pure hitter in the big leagues, but the relief pitching is just too good in baseball these days for that to be realistic.

He seems to think he can do it, though, which may be a sign that he’s ready to concentrate on hitting the ball all over the ballpark, as he did in the first half last year, hitting .349, before going for power in the second half as his average fell to .278. If that’s the case I think McNeil will lead the NL in hitting and maybe even top the Mets’ high-water mark of .354, set by John Olerud in 1998.

3) ALEX BREGMAN, CODY BELLINGER WIN MVPs

I know we’ve reached a point where voters equate value with WAR, but I don’t think Mike Trout should win the MVP in years when the Angels don’t contend at all. Last year the Astros’ Bregman put up spectacular numbers (41 HR, 112 RBI, 1.015 OPS) and probably deserved the award, if you think playing in meaningful games should be part of the criteria.

In any case, at age 26 he might still be getting better, as is Bellinger, the Dodgers’ 25-year old superstar who won his first MVP Award last year, hitting 47 home runs while earning a Gold Glove for his play in right field.

2) METS EARN WILD CARD BERTH, LOSE TO DODGERS IN NLDS

Anything could happen in the closely-bunched NL East over 60 games, but I’ll give the nod to the still-improving young Braves, and pick the Mets to finish second, which would guarantee them a playoff spot with the field expanded from 10 to 16 and all second place teams earning spots. They should be fun to watch, with plenty of offensive firepower, but I need to see Diaz bounce back in a big way before I can see them winning the division.

1) RAYS TOP YANKS IN AL EAST, DEFEAT DODGERS IN WORLD SERIES

Yep, I’m all-in on the Rays, and not just for bold-prediction purposes. They’re obviously a very good team whose chances of winning the AL East are improved by the shortened season, as the Yankees’ superior depth and home run power will be less of an advantage over 60 games.

And come the postseason the Rays’ Big Three at the top of the rotation -- Blake Snell, Charlie Morton, and Tyler Glasnow -- can dominate even the best lineups. Don’t forget how close they came to knocking off the Astros in the ALDS last year. They’ve got a strong bullpen, a farm system rich in young talent, and if anyone is accustomed to playing without fans in the stands, it’s the team whose ballpark is usually empty anyway.

So I’ll take the Rays over the Yankees in either the ALDS or ALCS, depending how the matchups go, and then, well, for all of the Dodgers’ depth and talent, something always seems to go wrong for them in October.