The 2023 MLB season is officially in the rearview mirror, and what a surprising six months of baseball it was.
Each year in our season preview, I make a bold prediction for each team, but nobody could have foreseen the way certain things this year played out. Now, these weren't silly predictions like "The Rangers will play the Diamondbacks in the World Series," but what I like to call realistic bold predictions.
So, as the offseason begins, it's time to look back at what I got right -- and wrong -- and grade each one of my predictions.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The prediction: The Dodgers' big four of Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Will Smith and J.D. Martinez will outproduce the Padres' big four of Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts.
Nailed it -- and it wasn't even close. We used Baseball-Reference's runs created above average and the Dodgers' foursome was plus-137. The Padres' foursome was plus-89. Freeman and Betts ranked second and third in the National League at plus-58 and plus-56, while Soto was the Padres' top performer at plus-53.
