Completely correct, and in no way wrong, predictions for the MLB season

Baseball is back! Which means it’s time for completely accurate predictions that will in no way prove to be wrong 162 games from now.

After a long, cold winter of free agent inactivity and lack of trades, baseball has mercifully returned. If the Hot Stove wasn’t going to satisfy us, then perhaps having the games back will scratch the itch we’ve had for baseball ever since the Red Sox won it all back in October.

Despite a boring offseason, the storylines are bountiful this year. Bryce Harper swapped out his Nationals badge to begin a tour of duty with the Phillies that won’t end for over a decade. Manny Machado latched on with the upstart Padres, who could be this year’s team that arrives ahead of schedule. Boston put together an all-time great season last year on its way to a World Series, but did the Yankees do enough to overtake them in the AL East? The championship window is quickly closing for the Cleveland Indians, who have a plucky Twins team to worry about in the historically atrocious AL Central. Houston got even better this winter yet seem to be an afterthought in most of the conversation heading into this season.

Since we’re experts sat down and hashed out how they thought this year would go, from division winners to whether or not Mike Trout is a lock to be AL MVP. Our panel consists of FanSided Editor-In-Chief Jason Cole along with fellow baseball aficionado Josh Hill, Jake Walerius, Matt Verderame, and Patrick Schmidt.

Here were some glaring observations from when we all talked through our predictions:

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr., if healthy, is the runaway favorite to be the most exciting rookie of the last handful of years. His father was electric to watch and the apple doesn’t seem to have fallen too far from the tree.
• Sleepers are always fun to pick, and the Tampa Bay Rays appear to be the chic pick this year. the Minnesota Twins aren’t very far behind. Don’t sleep on the Chicago White Sox — although none of us picked them to make the Wild Card — or the Seattle Mariners. It comes down to who gets to play more games against terrible teams within their division?
• Mike Trout is the LeBron James of baseball in both good and bad ways. While he’s undoubtedly the best player in the game — and one of the historically best of all-time — he may suffer in the MVP voting because voters feel too obliged to vote for him. LeBron suffers from this year in and year out in the NBA. Trout should always win MVP but he may suffer from being too good.
• There’s a bottleneck in the National League that will create a ton of tension in the latter half of the season. The Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals are all separated by a hair and injuries could come to define their season. Bryce Harper makes the Phillies contenders but the Nationals use money they allocated to pay him on much needed upgrades across the lineup. Of course, then there’s the Baby Braves, a year removed from “arriving too early” who look to be one pitcher (and a closer) away from being one of the most deadly rosters in baseball. That’s six teams and only as many as five of them can make the postseason, assuming the Padres don’t decide to arrive early and challenge in the West.

Since this is the internet — a place where you’re never wrong — here’s exactly how this year’s MLB season will go, depending on who you listen to:

Jason Cole, Editor In Chief

AL East: New York Yankees
AL Central: Minnesota Twins
AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Card: Red Sox over Indians
ALCS: Yankees over Red Sox

NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Wild Card: Phillies over Cubs
NLCS: Dodgers over Brewers

World Series: Dodgers over Yankees

AL MVP: Aaron Judge, Yankees
NL MVP: Bryce Harper, Phillies
AL Cy Young: Gerrit Cole, Astros
NL Cy Young: Stephen Strausburg, Nationals
AL Rookie Of The Year: Eloy Jimenez, White Sox
NL Rookie Of The Year: Victor Robles, Nationals

Josh Hill, Managing Editor

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Cleveland Indians
AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Card:  Yankees over Twins
ALCS: Astros over Yankees

NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Wild Card: Phillies over Nationals
NLCS: Cardinals over Braves

World Series: Astros over Cardinals

AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
NL MVP: Ronald Acuna, Braves
AL Cy Young: Jose Berrios, Twins
NL Cy Young: Aaron Nola, Phillies
AL Rookie Of The Year: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
NL Rookie Of The Year: Peter Alonso, Mets

Matt Verderame, NFL Editor

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Cleveland Indians
AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Card: A’s over Twins
ALCS: Indians over Red Sox

NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: St. Louis Cardinals
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Wild Card: Brewers over Cubs
NLCS: Brewers over Dodgers

World Series: Indians over Brewers

AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
NL MVP: Paul Goldschmidt, Cardinals
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, Red Sox
NL Cy Young: Noah Syndergaard, Mets
AL Rookie Of The Year: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
NL Rookie Of The Year: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres

Patrick Schmidt, College Editor

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Cleveland Indians
AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Card: Yankees over Mariners
ALCS: Astros over Red Sox

NL East: Philadelphia Phillies
NL Central: Chicago Cubs
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers

NL Wild Card: Cardinals over Brewers
NLCS: Cubs over Phillies

World Series: Cubs over Red Sox

AL MVP: Francisco Lindor, Indians
NL MVP: Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
AL Cy Young: Trevor Bauer, Indians
NL Cy Young: Kyle Hendricks, Cubs
AL Rookie Of The Year: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
NL Rookie Of The Year: Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres

Jake Walerius , Soccer Editor

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Cleveland Indians 
AL West: Houston Astros

AL Wild Card: Yankees over Rays
ALCS: Astros over Red Sox

NL East: Atlanta Braves
NL Central: Chicago Cubs
NL West: San Diego Padres

NL Wild Card: Brewers over Dodgers
NLCS: Brewers over Braves

World Series: Astros over Brewers

AL MVP: Mike Trout, Angels
NL MVP: Nolan Arenado, Rockies
AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander, Astros
NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer, Nationals
AL Rookie Of The Year: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays
NL Rookie Of The Year: Victor Robles, Nationals