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          Keith Law Blog

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          Law: Predicting the 2018 win-loss record of all 30 MLB teams

          Will Corey Kluber and the Indians return to the World Series in 2018? Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire
          • Keith Law, ESPN Senior WriterMar 29, 2018, 11:00 AM ET
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            • Senior baseball analyst for Insider
            • Was special asst. to Blue Jays GM
            • Wrote for Baseball Prospectus
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          Editor's note: Last week, ESPN's Keith Law made his predictions for which players are going to break out in 2018. This week, he makes his predictions for every team's finish, which team will win the World Series and which players will be taking home the major awards.

          National League East

          The Nationals appear to be the class of the division, again, by a wide margin, with above-average or better regulars at five of eight positions, two aces in their rotation and no real weaknesses other than catcher and maybe their fifth starter. They will also get help from within whenever they recall Victor Robles and could get a late-season boost from Erick Fedde or Joe Ross (due back in August, roughly, after recovering from Tommy John surgery). The Mets have a best-case scenario for this year in which they approach 90 wins, if their front four make about 100 starts, if Michael Conforto gets into 120 or more games, if Amed Rosario hits like he did in the minors and not like he did in the majors, if they stop sabotaging themselves with bad roster decisions. I doubt it happens, but it's at least within the realm of possibility.

          The Phillies are sneakily better, not playoff-good, but .500 is also a not unreasonable hope for this roster, if Scott Kingery and J.P. Crawford have big rookie seasons (as I somewhat expect for both players) and one of their young regulars takes a step forward, although their rotation's No. 3-5 spots are going to drag them down and the team might cycle through numerous candidates throughout the year. Atlanta's tremendous pitching depth is still bubbling under the surface; if I lived in the area, I'd drive to see Gwinnett County rather than go to Boondoggle Park in Marietta. By the time August rolls around, they should have several of their top pitching prospects somewhere on the major-league staff -- Mike Soroka, Max Fried, Kolby Allard -- but they don't project to score enough runs this year to sniff .500. The Marlins are a dumpster fire. The only reason to watch this team in 2018 is to see if they become the first club since the 2004 Expos (#RIP) to fail to draw a million fans.