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2014 MLB Preseason Poll

Seventeen BtBS writers picked all six division races, all ten playoff teams, and the World Series champions.

USA TODAY Sports

Before the 2014 season starts for real on Monday, the writers at Beyond the Box Score were asked to give their picks for the upcoming season. In all, 17 writers and editors responded.

We'll first go through the division races. The writers ranked each team one through five. Teams received seven points for a first-place prediction, five points for second, three for third, two for fourth, and one for fifth. Here are the results for the division races, with first-place votes in parentheses.

American League

EAST PTS CENTRAL PTS WEST PTS
Red Sox (11) 105 Tigers (15) 115 A's (8) 99
Rays (5) 95 Royals (1) 73 Rangers (7) 88
Yankees (1) 45 Indians (1) 67 Angels (2) 65
Orioles 35 White Sox 31 Mariners 38
Blue Jays 26 Twins 20 Astros 17

National League

EAST PTS CENTRAL PTS WEST PTS
Nationals (13) 111 Cardinals (17) 119 Dodgers (17) 119
Braves (4) 93 Pirates 68 Giants 68
Mets 42 Reds 66 Diamondbacks 53
Phillies 42 Brewers 32 Padres 39
Marlins 18 Cubs 21 Rockies 27

The writers were also asked to pick the two wild card winners. Teams received two points for a first place wild-card vote, and one point for a second place wild-card vote.

Wild Cards

AL PTS NL PTS
Rays 21 Pirates 16
Red Sox 9 Braves 13
A's 7 Reds 10
Indians 3 Nationals 5
Tigers 3 Diamondbacks 3
Rangers 3 Giants 3
Angels 3 Padres 1

Also receiving votes: Royals 1, Yankees 1.

Lastly, the writers picked the AL and NL pennant winners, and the number of games each team would win in the World Series. Teams received four points for a series win, two points for a series loss, and one point for each game they were projected to win. The results are below. The number in parentheses represents the number of writers who picked that team to win the World Series.

World Series

TEAM PTS ODDS
Dodgers (5) 58 11/2
Tigers (3) 42 8/1
Rays (5) 40 15/1
Nationals (3) 28 12/1
Cardinals (1) 18 9/1
Red Sox 17 15/1
Braves 4 18/1
Yankees 4 12/1
The point values are a little bit arbitrary of course, but predictions are predictions and put them down on internet paper will prevent us from lying about our forecasting ability in late August when the Brewers are like 90-40. Enjoy, and happy baseball!

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Bryan Cole is a featured writer at Beyond the Box Score. He likes to hide a Joe Maddon gnome around the house to freak out his wife. You can follow him on Twitter at @Doctor_Bryan.