MADE EXCLUSIVELY FOR MEMBERS SPECIAL EDITION Keys to victory for all 30 teams Projected lineups Predicting the regular season SEASON PREVIEW BASEBALLBASEBALL Giants put belief in veteran core ANDREW MCCUTCHEN (ABOVE) JOINS EVAN LONGORIA IN SAN FRANCISCO SPECIAL EDITION USA TODAY SPORTS sider 2018 AMERICAN prediciton Baltimore LEAGUE 72-90 Orioles 2017 record: PREVIEW 75-87 Manager: Buck Showalter, eighth season full season with USA TODAY’s predictions: Fifth place AL East Orioles (622-569) East W-L Missed New York Yankees 93-69 playoffs Coaches: Scott Coolbaugh (hitting); Roger McDowell Boston Red Sox 89-73 (pitching) Toronto Blue Jays 79-83 Tampa Bay Rays 76-86 Projected lineup Baltimore Orioles 72-90 Pos. Player R HR RBI SB BB SO Avg. OBP Slg. Central C Caleb Joseph 31 8 28 0 10 72 .256 .287 .413 Cleveland Indians 97-65 1B Chris Davis 65 26 61 16 11 95 .215 .309 .423 Minnesota Twins 86-76 2B Jonathan Schoop 92 32 105 1 35 142 .293 .338 .503 Chicago White Sox 73-89 3B Tim Beckham 67 22 62 6 36 167 .278 .328 .454 Kansas City Royals 73-89 SS Manny Machado 81 33 95 9 50 115 .259 .310 .471 Detroit Tigers 63-99 Manny Machado LF Trey Mancini 65 24 78 1 33 139 .293 .338 .488 West USA TODAY SPORTS CF Adam Jones 82 26 73 2 27 113 .285 .322 .466 Houston Astros 100-62 RF Colby Rasmus 17 9 23 1 7 45 .281 .318 .579 Los Angeles Angels 86-76 DH Mark Trumbo* 79 23 65 1 42 149 .234 .289 .397 Seattle Mariners 81-81 *check status Texas Rangers 80-82 Pitching Oakland Athletics 74-88 Rotation Thr. Player W-L ERA G Sv IP H BB SO PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS RH Dylan Bundy 13-9 4.24 28 0 169.2 152 51 152 AL wild cards: Red Sox, Angels RH Kevin Gausman 11-12 4.68 34 0 186.2 208 71 179 AL Division Series winners: Astros, RH Andrew Cashner 11-11 3.40 28 0 166.2 156 64 86 Indians RH Chris Tillman 1-7 7.84 24 0 93.0 125 51 63 ALCS winner: Indians RH Alex Cobb 12-10 3.66 29 0 179.1 175 44 128 World Series: Indians over Nationals Dylan Bundy Closer GETTY IMAGES RH Brad Brach 4-5 3.18 0 18 68.0 51 26 70 Keys to victory 1. Start off well: Given nings over 28 starts in his could expand on those the uncertain future of numbers slotted in the Manny Machado, Adam er. Gausman, the open- three hole in the lineup. Jones, Zach Britton and ing-day starter in 2017, 4. Showalter miracle: Brad Brach, who all be- saw his ERA skyrocket to Buck Showalter is a three- come free agents after the 6.60 in mid-June. But a time manager of the year. season, the Orioles need He has an enduring ability to win early and a lot. Oth- 4.68 after he posted a 3.39 to get the most out of his erwise, the quartet could roster, even if his teams be gone by the July 31 3. Schoop’s progres- seemingly have lesser tal- trade deadline. sion: Jonathan Schoop ent than that of his divi- 2. Anchoring the ro- had a breakout season in sion foes. But even Sho- tation: The Orioles are 2017 and was the team’s walter likely will need a counting on young pitch- best player, making the ers Dylan Bundy and Kev- American League All-Star winning record and better in Gausman to grow. They team and receiving votes than third in a top-heavy made big strides last year for the AL MVP award. At AL East behind the New and are now expected to 26, he has room to im- York Yankees and Boston become the leaders of the prove. He set career highs Red Sox. in home runs (32), RBI 2 with a 4.21 ERA in 169 ⁄3in- (105) and OPS (.841) and Scott Boeck Organization wrestles with decision on trading Manny In the end: Machado en route to losing season. KIM KLEMENT/USA TODAY SPORTS 2 SPECIAL EDITION USA TODAY SPORTS sider 2018 2018 prediction Boston prediction Chicago 89-73 Red Sox 73-89 White Sox 2017 record: 2017 record: 67-95 93-69 Fourth place First place Manager: Alex Cora, first season with Red Sox AL Central Manager: Rick Renteria, second season (67-95) AL East Missed Lost in ALDS Coaches: Tim Hyers (hitting); Dana LeVangie (pitching) playoffs Coaches: Todd Steverson (hitting); Don Cooper (pitching) Projected lineup Projected lineup Pos. Player R HR RBI SB BB SO Avg. OBP Slg. Pos. Player R HR RBI SB BB SO Avg. OBP Slg. C Christian Vazquez 99532 7 17 64 .290 .330 .404 C Welington Castillo 44 20 53 0 22 97 .282 .323 .490 1B Hanley Ramirez 58 23 62 1 51 116 .242 .320 .429 1B Jose Abreu 95 33 102 3 35 119 .304 .354 .552 2B Eduardo Nunez 60 12 58 24 18 54 .313 .341 .460 2B Yoan Moncada 31 8 22 3 29 74 .231 .338 .412 3B Rafael Devers 58 10 30 3 18 57 .284 .338 .482 3B Yolmer Sanchez 63 12 59 8 35 111 .267 .319 .413 SS Xander Bogaerts 94 10 62 15 56 116 .273 .343 .409 SS Tim Anderson 72 17 56 15 13 162 .257 .276 .402 J.D. Martinez LF Andrew Benintendi 84 20 90 20 70 112 .271 .352 .424 Yoan Moncada LF Nicky Delmonico 25 9 23 2 23 313 .262 .373 .482 USA TODAY SPORTS CF Jackie Bradley Jr. 58 17 63 8 48 124 .245 .323 .402 USA TODAY SPORTS CF Adam Engel 34 6 21 8 19 117 .166 .235 .282 RF Mookie Betts 101 24 102 26 77 79 .264 .344 .459 RF Avisail Garcia 75 18 80 5 33 111 .330 .380 .506 DH J.D. Martinez 85 45 104 4 53 128 .303 .376 .690 DH Tyler Saladino 23 0 10 5 23 67 .178 .254 .229 Pitching Pitching Rotation Rotation Thr. Player W-L ERA G Sv IP H BB SO Thr. Player W-L ERA G Sv IP H BB SO LH Chris Sale 17-8 2.90 32 0 214.1 165 43 308 RH James Shields 5-7 5.23 21 0 117.0 116 53 103 LH David Price 6-3 3.38 16 0 74.2 65 24 76 RH Lucas Giolito 3-3 2.38 7 0 45.1 31 12 34 RH Rick Porcello 11-17 4.65 33 0 203.1 236 48 181 RH Miguel Gonzalez 8-13 4.62 27 0 156.0 167 55 100 LH Drew Pomeranz* 17-6 3.32 32 0 173.2 166 69 174 RH Carson Fulmer 3-1 3.86 7 0 23.1 16 13 19 RH Steven Wright 1-3 8.25 5 0 24.0 40513 RH Reynaldo Lopez 3-3 4.81 19 0 91.2 96 36 72 Chris Sale Closer Lucas Giolito Closer USA TODAY SPORTS RH Craig Kimbrell 5-0 1.43 67 35 69.0 33 14 126 USA TODAY SPORTS RH Nate Jones 1-0 2.31 11 0 11.2 9 6 13 *check status Keys to victory A closer look 1. Keeping the bullpen Red Sox are hoping for a Boston is looking for him 1. The performance of trading talented players to and a .750 OPS, but enters healthy: Over the past big year from Rafael Dev- and Chris Sale to set the young starting pitchers: rebuild, and Abreu is next two years, the Red Sox tone at the top of the rota- The White Sox acquired ing for improvement. bullpen has struggled be- league season. Last year’s tion and form one of the Lucas Giolito and Reynal- man’s future is probably 4. How soon will Eloy cause its expected impact rookie sensation hit 10 better 1-2 punches. do Lopez for Adam Eaton with another team, and a Jimenez make it to the players, besides Craig home runs in 58 games. 4. Can Dustin Pedroia last year, and the two majors? Jimenez was the Kimbrell, have been in- The Red Sox also signed return to the lineup combined for about 100 to a trade at the deadline prize of the Jose Quintana jured. In each of the previ- J.D. Martinez to DH. He soon? The veteran second to the contender. Until trade and is touted as a hit 45 homers last year. baseman had knee sur- ished strong and is look- then, he will take his place top 10 prospect in all of ton acquired Carson 3. David Price return- in the middle of the line- Smith and Tyler Thorn- ing to form? In his sec- likely won’t be back until ERA, while Lopez is look- up, but the stronger his a righty with a ton of pow- burg to build a bridge to ond season for Boston, early June. Until then, ing to improve upon his start is, the more likely he er, and it’s only a matter of Kimbrell, but both players Price battled injuries, Brock Holt and Eduardo 4.72. Additionally, Carson is to be traded. time until he gets the call combined for just eight in- starting only 11 games and Nunez will try to fill his v- Fulmer has a 3.86 ERA in 3. Yoan Moncada: to the majors.