Many teams have been looking toward next season even before this one was wrapped up. Well, the Astros won their second World Series in six years Saturday night, and now every team has its eyes on the future.
But, before we move on to 2023, let's take one more look back at this season to see how accurate we were in our preseason predictions.
In our 2022 season preview, I made a bold prediction for all 30 teams. My predictions are what I call bold yet realistic. I mean ... did I predict anybody to hit 62 home runs? No, that would be silly. Still, now is the time of reckoning. Let's see how those predictions fared and look into our crystal ball to see what it says about each team's 2023 season.
Cleveland Guardians
The prediction: Steven Kwan hits .304 to become the first qualified Cleveland rookie to hit .300 since Dale Mitchell in 1947.
OK, Kwan finished at .298, falling one hit short of batting .300. Still, do you know what else I wrote about the Guardians in our best-case scenario section? Cleveland signs Jose Ramirez to a long-term extension, Shane Bieber returns to Cy Young form, Triston McKenzie becomes a dominant starter, Emmanuel Clase is the best closer in the game, and the offense scrapes together enough runs for the Guardians to steal the AL Central title with 90 wins. That's like completing Wordle on the second try.