Before giving my 2016 picks, let’s look back at the results for 2015.
For 2016, I am approaching my picks from a different point of view. My picks will be made with the assistance of people who live at the training sites and spring training venues of the MLB teams. This list is composed of 31 ESPN baseball reporters. These reporters include such notable people as Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian, and Aaron Boone. What I am doing is pooling their choices together with the use of descriptive statistics. Taking raw data and analyzing it is what I teach in my Baseball and Statistics course at Quinnipiac University. The table below summarizes the 31 expert picks.
Using the above table as my aid, here are my picks.
- For the American League, the three divisional winners will be the Blue Jays, the Royals, and the Astros.
- My conference pick for the World Series is the Blue Jays.
- For the National League, the three divisional winners will be the Nationals, the Cubs, and the Giants.
- My Conference pick for the World Series is the Cubs.
- My World Series champion for the 2016 season will be the Cubs.
If the Cubs do win the 2016 World Series this will be their first World Series win since 1908. It will also put an end to the longest championship drought of any major North American professional sports team.