Baseball Fever. Time to catch it.

We’ll never get use to this annual March season opener, as it always sneaks up on us. Just 11 days after the high school sports winter season wrapped up, the Major League Baseball season officially opens for all 30 teams. Yes, we have to acknowledge the fact the Dodgers and Cubs had their two-game set in Japan last week while half of us were sleeping.

But we’ll be wide awake come Thursday, when the Red Sox open things up at Texas. Hard to believe it’s here already.

Speaking of the Red Sox, let’s go with our predictions by division:

AL EAST – Are you sitting down? We are anointing your Boston Red Sox as the AL East champs, you bet your Gary Crochet. Here’s the thinking: The Yankees lost Juan Soto, Gerritt Cole, likely Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Gil, and you can bet there will be more. Baltimore just has not harnessed the youthful talent it seemed to have two years ago. Can you name me three Orioles? Tampa went from 99 wins in 2023 to 80 a year ago and are playing in a spring training facility. Toronto may deal Vlad Guerrero at the deadline.

Then there’s your Sawx. They got themselves an ace, and a third baseman who can field, as we think the Alex Bregman signing puts them over the top. They win a suddenly weak division. Yeah, yeah, we know…

AL CENTRAL – Those Guardians never cease to amaze us by winning without a ton of talent. Not this time. The Central is Tiger Town, with their ace Jack Flaherty and Tarik Skubal right behind him. Something just tells us these Tigers, who shocked everyone by making the playoffs last year, will keep going.

The Royals did the same thing, and feature one of the game’s best players, Bobby Witt Jr. They have a great rotation (Cole Ragans, Michael Lorenzen) but just need a little pop. They should beat out the Guardians, who had their fun winning the division last year (who thought the Central would put three teams in?). Cleveland has a shaky rotation. Mickey Gasper’s Twins are the ones we’re not quite sure about, as they looked like a playoff team a year ago until they collapsed (12-27 finish). Merrimack High/Silver Knights alum Gasper was hitting .310 this spring playing in the infield, so he should stick with the big club. The Twins lost regional television revenue and didn’t seem to improve much. The White Sox. ‘Nuff said.

AL WEST – Step right up, Astros. We doubted you in the past, but you showed a lot by overcoming a slow start to win the division last year, and there’s not doubt the road goes through Houston, led by Jose Altuve plus Yordan Alvarez and Yainer Diaz. Don’t know how they do it (pitching is so-so), but we’ll go with them. But right behind them will be the playoff-bound Rangers, because no team managed by Bruce Bochy can be bad two years in a row, can it? Of course the question is whether we see Jake DeGrom pitch at all, perhaps the most brittle arm in baseball.

This will be Dan Wilson’s first full season as Seattle’s manager, and the Mariners just missed out on the playoffs last year. But the Mariners don’t hit well enough and Luis Castillo is on the back nine. The Athletics are another team playing in a minor league park, and they actually spent some money in the off-season (Luis Severino, etc.). They’ll be OK through the first half then fade. The Angels? Poor broken-down Mike Trout.

PLAYOFFS

AL – Division champs Boston, Detroit, Houston. Wild Cards Baltimore, Kansas City, Texas.

Pennant: Detroit. A.J. Hinch, managerial legend.

NL EAST – Ah, Juan Soto’s division. The only problem for the Mets is that Clay Holmes is their Opening Day starter. So we’re going with the Braves once again, as they some standouts (Ronald Acuna Jr., Matt Olson) who had down years in 2024. But Chris Sale didn’t, winning the N.L. Cy Young. We like Atlanta over Philadelphia, which hasn’t added much to a team that has lost in the World Series, the NLCS and then the NLDS in successive seasons. We say they take the next step back and miss the playoffs entirely. They should have beaten the Mets a year ago.

The Nats? Improving, but not enough. The Marlins? Could be in White Sox territory.

NL CENTRAL – The Cubs need to get this thing done. They had a bad May and a worse September – just two games behind the Metsies in the Wild Card race then collapsed. They got a star in Kyle Tucker and added some other veteran Craig Counsell went there to manage for a reason besides the $$.

His old team, the Brewers, were just .500 last year. They got Nasty Nestor Cortes Jr. from the Yankees but gave up Devin Williams. That alone could keep them out of the playoffs.

We’re waiting for the Cardinals and Reds to snap out of it, especially the Reds. Those of you who remember the Big Red Machine of the 1970s know what we mean. Can Terry Francona’s managing after a year in retirement do the trick? It’ll be fun to see. St. Louis is boring and held hostage by third baseman Nolan Arenado, who could be traded at the deadline. Then there’s the Pirates, who w e say will ride their Paul Skenes-led young talent past the Cards and possibly the Reds to finish third.

NL WEST – Who don’t the Dodgers have on their roster? It’s ridiculous. The only question this year is when and how Ohtani will pitch. Snell will be fine, and once Mookie Betts gets healthy all systems are go in the lineup. Win 100 this year, Dodgers. The Padres (Xander Boegarts, Fernando Tatis, Jr., Manny Machado) have lots of talent on paper. But they have ownership issues, etc., and we say the Arizona Diamondbacks will pass them after a down year, paced by young standout hitter Ketel Marte. And don’t forget, they signed Orioles rental ace Corbin Burnes. Strong off-season in a strong division.

And don’t discount the Giants, led by starting pitcher Logan Webb the bat of shortstop Willy Adames. And Justin Verlander won’t hurt unless he gets hurt.

Colorado? Good grief, they just seem so irrelevant, can somebody rescue the Rockies?

NL – Braves, Cubs, Dodgers (Division champs); Mets, D-Backs, Giants (Wild Cards).

Pennant: Please. The Dodgers simply won’t lose.

WORLD SERIES: Dodgers over Tigers. Someone had to represent the A.L.to be L.A.’s latest victim.

OK, fans, Clip, Save, and when October rolls around, laugh.

Baseball’s back.

Tom King may be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on X at @Telegraph _TomK.