Nothing gives Nate or Rhys the warm and fuzzy fuzzies like players being told they are making the opening-day roster. Without further ado, here are Nate's and Rhys's preseason playoff predictions.

Nate's Playoff Predictions

American League

1 Baltimore Orioles

2 Texas Rangers

3 Minnesota Twins

4 New York Yankees

5 Seattle Mariners

6 Houston Astros

National League

1 Los Angeles Dodgers

2 Atlanta Braves

3 Cincinnati Reds

4 Arizona Diamondbacks

5 Philadelphia Phillies

6 San Diego Padres

AL Championship: Texas Rangers vs. Seattle Mariners

NL Championship: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Atlanta Braves

World Series: Texas Rangers vs. Philadelphia Phillies

Winner: THE Philadelphia Phillies

Reasoning: As I sit here hoping UNC Wilmington beats Texas Tech to save my March Madness Bracket, I can’t help but turn my playoff predictions into a similar underdog story. The Dodgers should win the World Series… but what if they don’t? I want to see a juggernaut offense or elite pitching in October… I believe Texas versus Seattle is the epitome of that. I expect the Mariners to improve their offense at the deadline to make this playoff push realistic. The American League is as volatile as ever, with all six of my playoff teams having realistic World Series hopes. The Phillies and Braves are the two most formidable opponents for the Dodgers in my opinion, with their lineup depth and health being their key to success this year. I end up giving the edge to the Phillies over the Braves and Rangers with a rotation that feels primed to win in the playoffs. 

Rhys' Playoff Predictions

American League

1 Texas Rangers

2 Boston Red Sox 

3 Detroit Tigers

4 Tampa Bay Rays

5 Baltimore Orioles

6 Cleveland Guardians

National League

1 Philadelphia Phillies

2 Los Angeles Dodgers

3 Milwaukee Brewers

4 New York Mets

5 Atlanta Braves

6 San Diego Padres

AL Championship: Texas Rangers vs. Boston Red Sox

NL Championship: Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

World Series: Texas Rangers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

Reasoning: How could you bet against the Dodgers? Their rotation is crazy good, and the lineup is chock-full of impact hitters. A top-of-the-lineup of Betts, Freeman, and Ohtani will be awesome, as we saw last year, and maybe one of the prospects will step up and fill out the lineup. They can platoon teams to death. The Rangers lose in the World Series because they are a tier below the Dodgers. The Phillies and the Red Sox put together fantasy seasons but ultimately fell short in the championship series, as Boston just doesn’t have the pitching that the Rangers do, and the Phillies run into one of the best teams we have ever seen.

Will Wagner, 3B TOR (Grapefruit League) 2-for-2, 2B, 2 R, 2 BB 

The son of Bill Wagner, in case you didn’t know, is a 26-year-old rookie who might be hitting the top of the Blue Jays lineup. It is still to be determined whether this is a good idea, but I like what might be happening here. Will Wagner get on base and have some power? And just having that steady presence at the top of a lineup with Vlad and Santander behind him might be the best move. I want a slightly better version of this archetype, but the Blue Jays only trade for glove-first hitters.