Scott's 2020 Predictions

AL East
1.  Yankees 103-59 (1) The Yankees are quite good, and they added ace Gerritt Cole in the off-season. While this is the same as last year's regular season  record, they are hoping for a bigger postseason run.

2.  Rays 95-67 (4) The Rays will put together another solid season and are the only real threat to the Yankees in the East.

3.  Blue Jays 81-81 The Blue Jays added Hyun-Jin Ryu and that is huge, as it bolsters them to .500 and maybe fringe playoff contention.

4.  Redsox 79-83 They have quite a lot of talent, but tend to underachieve. Ron Roenicke is an okay managerial but lots of distractions with their sign stealing case and they are kind of starting a rebuild with the Betts trade.

5.  Orioles 60-102 They suuuuuuck

AL Central
1.  Indians 95-67 (3) The Indians should get to the playoffs even with the losses of Kluber and Kipnis as the former was traded out of an area of tremendous surplus and the latter is not very good. Remember, they won 93 games last season missing over 1000 player-games due to injury (2nd most in the AL only behind the Yankees who can buy their way around the injury bug) Outfield question marks are big but Lindor will have a big year, Ramirez will hopefully not have a prolonged slump again, and their rotation is still among the best in the AL.

2.  Twins 92-71 (1st team out) The Twins were quite good last year, but were also quite lucky. They only missed 500ish player-games due to injury, by far the fewest in the AL. They will come down to earth a little this year, but still have an impressive 92 wins, almost enough to return to the playoffs. Donaldson is a nice addition to their lineup, but I can't think of one SP of theirs aside from Berrios, and their bullpen sucks.

3.  White Sox 82-80 They won the offseason with additions like Encarnacion, Gonzalez, and Mazara. Add that to breakout seasons in 2019 by Jimenez, Moncada, Giolito, and Anderson and there may be something there. I think the young players regress a little bit, but the Sox should still make some noise.

4.  Royals 66-96 Jorge Soler aside, this team is quite crappy.

5.  Tigers 52-110 Nobody aside, this team is quite crappy.

AL West
1.  Asterisks 97-65 (1) Houston will play with a chip on their shoulder after everyone is calling them the villian for cheating. However, they are the premier team in the AL West. Their rotation is not as strong without Cole, but they have a powerful lineup and 'pen.

2.  Angels 93-70 (5) The signing of Anthony Rendon is huge and the additions of decent starters like Teheren and Bundy will barely get them into the playoffs. They can't waste yet another year of Mike Trout.

3.  Athletics 90-72 (2nd team out) The A's are crybabies and quite a bit overrated. Though I do like Sean Manaea, Jesus Luzardo, et. al to play well.

4.  Rangers 76-86 They have the talent to play the role of spoiler in a division with three solid contenders, but will not bring playoff baseball to their new ballpark.

5.  Mariners 70-92 Probably one of the better of the last-place teams, but they are in year 19 of their 5-year rebuild plan.

NL East
1.  Braves 92-70 (2) They lost quite a bit with Donaldson, but they have Acuna Jr. and a strong rotation.

2.  Mets 89-73 (4) I am very high on the Mets this year, even though, come August, they will remember they are the Mets and fall apart. But they have a solid rotation anchored by Syndergaard, de Grom, and Stroman, a solid bullpen with Betansas as a nice addition, and Pete Alonso leads a good line-up. Justin.

3.  Nationals 85-77 (T-1st team out) The champs will be unable to make it to the playoffs, as the gaping hole left by Rendon is just too much to fill.

4.  Phillies 78-84 They grossly underachieved last year, possibly due to inflated expectations. Kind of like Browns. This year the Phillies will also underachieve

5.  Marlins 62-100 The Marlins made modest improvements, but they are clearly the worst team in this strong division.

NL Central
1.  Reds 87-75 (3) I pick the Reds to win a very competitive NL Central as four teams will be in the race. Key additions like Moustakas, Akiyama, Castellanos Gray, and Miley, along with the July 2019 addition of Bauer. A rotation of Miley, Bauer, Gray, DeSclafanni, and Castillo is actually quite good. However, their bullpen is not good.

2.  Cardinals 86-76 (5) The Cards sneak into the playoffs. Jack Flaherty was unstoppable in the last two months of 2019 and look for that to continue. They lost a key part of their lineup in Ozuna going to the Braves, but look for someone else to step his game up.

3.  Brewers 81-81 The Brewers have a solid lineup and bullpen, but lack in starting pitching. They will be in the race for much of the season, but their starters not going far into games may take its toll on the pen once September rolls around. Gus.

4.  Cubs 78-84 They look old and are on the decline. Plus they have new manager David Ross to continue the trend of naming recent players as managers despite little to no coaching experience

5.  Pirates 65-97 The Pirates have made many trades over the last year and are gearing up for a long rebuild. See you in 2023!

NL West
1.  Dodgers 98-64 (1) Clearly the best team in an okay NL West, and adding Betts to an elite offense that already includes Bellinger. They lost Ryu in the off-season, but they still have a loaded rotation with Kershaw, Buhler, and new signing Price.

2.  D-Backs 85-77 (T-1st team out) A lot of potential but a lot of question marks. And their biggest signing was aging Bumgarner.

3.  Padres 79-83 They made big signings in 2018 and 2019 that have not worked out. So they don't have a lot of money to spend. These players best get going, or they can turn into the late-2010s Tigers.

4.  Rockies 71-91 Literally zero starting pitching, so they are a hard pass.

5.  Giants 64-98 They have a lot of expensive and, frankly, poor-playing veterans who are blocking players from a solid farm system from playing. The Giants have the potential to be very good soon, but not in 2020.

Playoffs
ALWCG: Angels over RAYS - one of the few times I choose hitting over pitching.

NLWCG: METS over Cardinals - The Mets have a deeper rotation and the Cardinals just have Flaherty, who they may need just to get to this point.

ALDS: YANKEES 3, Angels 0 - The Yankees are just that much better

Indians 3, ASTROS 1 - The Indians know this might be their last chance to win for a while due to pending free agency. And with Coronavirus hysteria, this series may be played in November, in which frigid temps should favor the team with worse hitting anyway.

NLDS: Mets 3, DODGERS 2 - Expect the Dodgers to flame out, yet again...

BRAVES 3, Reds 2 - Reds rotation will keep them in the series, but the Braves are clearly a better team

ALCS: YANKEES 4, Indians 1 - Yankees are just that much better, unfortunately.

NLCS: Mets 4, BRAVES 3 - This series will go down as a classic, but the Mets will come out on top.

WS: YANKEES 4, Mets 1 - The Yankees come out on top in a rematch of the 2000 Series. They are just more talented all around.

Fate of various sports due to COVID-19
As the CDC has announced guidelines against mass gatherings for the next eight weeks (through roughly early May), Sports leagues and other stuff now have an idea of how long this may last. Based on the outbreaks in China and S. Korea, this eight-week number seems adequate,although it could be extended or reduced. As such:

MLB

 * An abbreviated "spring training 2.0" will start in the first or second week of June. This will include 14 days of quarantined individual workouts followed by a week or two of team workouts and exhibition games.
 * The regular season will primarily be held in the spring training venues with no fan access. The MLB will realign into the Grapefruit League and Cactus League of 15 teams each.  The season will be 112 games and last roughly July 1 through October 31.  Teams will play the other 14 teams in their league 8 times each (4 home, 4 away).  Universal DH, no "inter-league," and games will not be organized into "series" due to the relatively short distance required to travel.
 * The leagues will not be broken up into divisions, and instead the top four teams in each league make it to the playoffs. Division series is 5 games, LCS is 7 games, and WS is 7 games (played at Dodger Stadium or another warm weather venue), with a projected end date around November 28.
 * No All-Star Game. LA will instead be given the 2022 All Star Game.

NFL

 * Draft will be held via conference call/skype format. Mr. Roger Goodell and others will announce picks and analysts will analyze from regular TV studios.  Fox will have TV cameras in the home of expected top picks and team "draft rooms."  Since it can't be a big public spectacle,Las Vegas will be awarded the 2022 Draft, which is the next available date.
 * Mini-camps and OTAs will be cancelled. Training camp, pre-season, and regular season as normal, though with no or limited fans (on a city-by-city basis).

NBA

 * NBA regular season will be called. Expanded playoffs to include the top 10 in each conference, all at a central location.  7 vs 10 and 8 vs 9 will play a "two-game series" in which the lower seed must win twice and higher seed must win once.  Then regular playoffs would start, but all rounds except the Finals would be shortened to best-of-5.  This would start in late June or early July and end in miod-to-late August.  Possibly delay the start of the 2020-21 season by a couple weeks, but the 2020-21 Finals would be complete by June 30, 2021.

NHL

 * Who cares

MLS

 * Probably start in July after the June international window (which may or may not happen). Can't extend the season too much due to

Horse Racing

 * The Triple Crown will be contested in September and October. I have been told that other horse races exist, but nobody really cares about that.

International football (soccer)

 * Top European leagues will complete their full 38-game schedule, possibly into early June. Domestic cups and the Champions League may be cancelled.
 * These events will be played during what was the June international window.
 * The 2020-21 season will start in August as scheduled. Though many rounds (possibly the entire seasons) could be played without fans.
 * If fans are still not allowed, the 2020-21 Champions League could use a neutral site format in which the group stage is only 3 games instead of 6, and the knockout stage is a single game, rather than the typical home-and-away series.

Golf

 * Events will be postponed through mid-June. Starting at that point, events will happen, but without galleries.  All golf tournaments that have been rescheduled for later in the year will be played on those dates, with or without fans

College sports

 * College basketball is done. As are all other winter/spring sports.  As compensation, all current college athletes and incoming freshpeople (i.e. current high school seniors) will be given an extra year of elegibility.  COllege football will be played, though with limited fans.

Scott's wedding

 * Will not be affected, since it is May 2021. Although two of Scott's friends have weddings this upcoming May.  I feel sorry for them (but they didn't invite me, so they deserve to suffer).