MLB regular-season win totals
(Posted Tuesday at Westgate) Chicago Cubs............................................ 96½ Los Angeles Dodgers............................... 94½ Cleveland Indians..................................... 93½ Boston Red Sox ........................................ 92½ Washington Nationals ............................ 91½ Houston Astros......................................... 91½ New York Mets......................................... 88½ San Francisco Giants ................................ 87½ Seattle Mariners....................................... 85½ Texas Rangers........................................... 84½ Toronto Blue Jays..................................... 84½ St. Louis Cardinals.................................... 83½ New York Yankees................................... 83½ Detroit Tigers............................................ 83½ Pittsburgh Pirates..................................... 82½ Colorado Rockies ..................................... 80½ Los Angeles Angels.................................. 80½ Baltimore Orioles..................................... 79½ Tampa Bay Rays........................................ 78½ Arizona Diamondbacks........................... 77½ Miami Marlins .......................................... 76½ Minnesota Twins...................................... 75½ Atlanta Braves.......................................... 75½ Kansas City Royals.................................... 74½ Oakland Athletics .................................... 74½ Philadelphia Phillies................................. 72½ Cincinnati Reds......................................... 70½ Milwaukee Brewers................................. 69½ Chicago White Sox .................................. 68½ San Diego Padres..................................... 67½ Cincinnati and Milwaukee are just awful. I’m not sure they’re going to press the Cubs to keep winning and winning. At some point, the Cubs will rest their players much more than last year.
“It’s hard to win that many games two years in a row. If I were betting, I’d bet the under.”
Baseball Prospectus projects the Cubs to win 91 games and the Dodgers 99. Salmons also loves Los Angeles, in large part because of a deep pitching staff — led by Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill — that is healthy again after an injury-plagued 2016. He also expects shortstop Corey Seager, the 2016 National League Rookie of the Year, to continue to improve.
“I’m very pro-Dodgers this year,” Salmons said. “They literally have seven or eight guys who can start games. They’re really loaded.”
The defending American League champion Indians added slugger Edwin Encarnacion and left-handed reliever Boone Logan and also will return outfielder Michael Brantley, who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury.
“They look like a powerhouse right now,” Salmons said. “Their division is just terrible.”
Indeed. The White Sox, one of Cleveland’s AL Central foes, are one of only three teams with win totals at fewer than 70. Chicago is at 68½, the Brewers 69½ and the Padres last at 67½.
“The White Sox are in 100 percent rebuild mode right now,” Salmons said. “I’m not sure what San Diego is doing, to be honest. Two years ago, they were trying to buy up every free agent and it blew up in their face. They traded away their whole farm system. Now they’re trying to do the opposite. They’re a mess.”
In the middle of the pack are a few teams that struggled last season that Salmons expects to improve.
“Like Minnesota (75½). They just had a train wreck last year, but I don’t think they were as bad as their record showed,” he said. “Oakland (74½) and Tampa (78½) are in the same boat. They’re both better than their records last year.” Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal. com or 702-266-6080. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.