2023 MLB predictions: Wild Cards, Playoffs, World Series, more

It's opening week, and you know what that means — season predictions!

There are lots of questions going into the 2023 season: What does Year 2 of MLB's expanded playoffs have to offer? How will rule changes play out over the season? Is this the year your favorite team will make a run in October, or your favorite player will win a postseason award?

No one can definitively know what's in store for us this season, but that doesn't stop us from making our best guesses. We put 28 ESPN writers, analysts and editors on the spot to predict what will happen in baseball this year, from the wild-card contenders all the way up to the World Series champion, plus the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year in both leagues.

For each category, we've asked a contributor or two to explain why they chose what they chose. Did they hit the nail on the head or were they way off their mark? Only time can tell — and you better believe we'll be circling back to these predictions come October.

Let's see what our experts had to say.

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AL picks | NL picks | WS picks | AL awards | NL awards

Our pick: New York Yankees (16 votes)

Who else got votes? Toronto Blue Jays (11), Tampa Bay Rays (1)

Why will the Yankees win the AL East?

A complete list of this year's voters:

Buster Olney, Paul Hembekides, Jeremy Willis, Jeff Passan, Michael Kay, Eric Karabell, Bradford Doolittle, Tim Kurkjian, Jesse Rogers, Kiley McDaniel, Joe DeMartino, Joon Lee, Alden Gonzalez, Jacob Nitzberg, Tim Keown, Enrique Rojas, Phil Orlins, Jessica Mendoza, Brendan DeAngelis, Liz Finny, Doug Glanville, Rachel Ullrich, Dan Mullen, Karl Ravech, Matt Marrone, Tristan Cockcroft, Gregg Colli, David Schoenfield

The Yankees will win the AL East by a slim margin over the Blue Jays