Hello, and welcome to Prediction Week at The Dynasty Guru! Because Opening Day is only one day away(!), we thought it would be the perfect time to set some of our most bombastic last second takes in stone. Each day this week we’ll be featuring a different topic, and five of our finest Dynasty Gurus will do their best prognosticating in anticipation of what will surely be another terrific baseball season. Here is a quick look at the week:

Friday- What We’re Watching in 2019

Today we’re sharing predictions for how the upcoming season will turn out. This isn’t exactly fantasy limited material, but for fun and the love of the game. Here’s what our crew expects to happen in the upcoming season:

Bob Osgood

World Series: Astros over Cubs

Houston’s rotation, lineup, defense, and bullpen could all be considered elite, and they have plenty of experience from the last two seasons of deep playoff runs. Boston will not give up this crown easily, but no one has repeated since 2000, and they’re the team with a weakness (bullpen). The Cubs are bound to get a couple of bounce-back years from a group of players who are still all in their twenties and really seemed to hate working with ex-hitting coach Chili Davis. Rizzo and Bryant should return to form, and better contributions from Contreras and Happ, whenever he’s recalled from Triple-A, would help. The Cubs may need to trade for a starting pitcher at the deadline to get here though.

AL MVP: Mookie Betts – Boston will make the playoffs, and the Angels won’t. Betts equals Trout’s contract in two years. (Long shot bet: Altuve 20/1 or 25/1 depending on where you look. 2017 winner, should be healthy again).

NL MVP: Nolan Arenado – Leads Colorado to an NL West crown over a disappointing Dodgers squad. (Long shot bet: Max Scherzer 50/1 – finished top 10 in MVP voting last three years).

AL Cy Young: Trevor Bauer – Might’ve won last year before fracturing his fibula. Spent the offseason adding a change-up, rather than dating. Bauer also offers surprising value at 20/1 in some places.

NL Cy Young: Max Scherzer – Sign him up for 300 more K’s. (Long shot bet: Jameson Taillon – 40/1 to 60/1 range)

Jordan Rosenblum

World Series: Brewers over Rays

This is more what I’ll be rooting for this season, with Fangraphs assigning both teams 25-30% odds of making the playoffs. A World Series like this would revolutionize MLB strategy with teams trying to mimic the winners.

AL MVP: Giancarlo Stanton – Stanton will hit like he was expected to in his first season in New York.

NL MVP: Ronald Acuna Jr – This race will be a dead heat between Acuna and Juan Soto. I believe Acuna Jr.’s defensive value will win out over Soto’s offensive edge.

AL Cy Young:*

NL Cy Young:*

*as of press time, Jordan did not get back to us on Cy Young winners. We can only assume he expects the awards to be given to no one.

Nick Doran

World Series: Astros over Cardinals

The Astros are the smartest team in the majors and they always get their most out of their talent. They will be healthier this year than last year and will easily win their division and knock off the Red Sox and Yankees (both of whom win more games than Houston) in the playoffs. The Cardinals will win the National League pennant simply because I don’t want them to.

AL MVP: Mike Trout – Trout will produce 15 WAR and win another AL MVP while clinching his mantle as the best player to ever take the field.

NL MVP: Paul Goldschmidt – Goldy wins NL MVP by batting .340 with 35 home runs and 110 RBI.

AL Cy Young: David Price – See my bold predictions from yesterday for more on this pick.

NL Cy Young: Aaron Nola – Nola and Nick Pivetta finish 1-2 in the NL Cy Young race.

Ross Jensen

World Series: Astros over Phillies

The Astros win the World Series for the second time in three seasons. This time they will do it defeating the surprise Phillies, who make it over the Dodgers.

AL MVP: Mike Trout – Trout takes home his third MVP award after the best season of his career.

NL MVP: Juan Soto – Soto has a monster offensive season and cannot be denied the MVP award, despite the Nationals falling short of the playoffs.

AL Cy Young: Blake Snell – At 25, he led the AL in wins and ERA. The Rays will probably be better this season than last year and I see no reason not to go with Snell again to win his second straight Cy Young award – even if there is some regression with his ERA.

NL Cy Young: Aaron Nola – At the same age as Snell, and with a much-improved team behind him, I like Nola’s chances at winning his first Cy Young. His peripherals have been remarkably consistent the last three years while the results have improved. I see him inching forward a little more this year, enough to separate himself from the NL pitching crowd.

Jonathan Merkel

World Series: Yankees over Braves

I liked the Yankees to win it all last season. A year later and nothing has changed. They won 100 games with only 112 games from their best player. And Judge is my MVP pick this year. I think the team coalesces around him, Stanton, a veteran infield and their bullpen from Hell. Also working in the Yankees’ favor is the best GM in baseball, Brian Cashman. I think he does what it takes to shore up the rotation if and when they need an upgrade. The Braves finally make it after a long rebuild. I love their core, and I love their depth, but I think they miss out on a title.

AL MVP: Aaron Judge – Judge steals an MVP award from a very deserving Mike Trout while hitting over 50 homers and finishing with 9 WAR. While Trout is once again phenomenal, he finishes behind Judge in WAR and suffers due to even more voter fatigue.

NL MVP: Nolan Arenado – Arenado and the Rockies take the NL West and push the NLCS to 7 games against Atlanta. Arenado wills this team the whole way with his incredible play and finishes with over 7 WAR.

AL Cy Young: Justin Verlander – Life continues to be way better for Verlander than it is for anyone else as he takes home another Cy Young Award after leading the league in strikeouts.

NL Cy Young: Jack Flaherty – Flaherty pulls a Snell to dark horse his way to the award while winning me a very important bet with Adam Lawler along the way.