PECOTA Projects Cubs For 92 Wins, White Sox For 82 Victories
(CBS) With the start of spring training upon us, MLB projections are out in full force for the 2016 season.
On Monday came the lofty expectations from USA Today for the Cubs and White Sox, who were each projected to sit atop their leagues this year. On Tuesday came the longstanding tradition of the data-driven, highly anticipated, more conservative PECOTA projections from Baseball Prospectus.
PECOTA could also be classified as a believer in the Cubs and White Sox, to a lesser degree. It projects the Cubs to win the NL Central with 92 wins, comfortably ahead of the 83-win Pirates. The Cardinals are projected to fall back to 82-80.
The Cubs' projected 92 wins are second only to the Dodgers, who are picked to go 94-68.
PECTOA pegs the White Sox to take second in the AL Central -- at 82-80, 10 games behind the division-winning Indians. The White Sox's projection isn't enough to sneak into the playoffs, as it'll take 86 wins to nab that second AL wild-card slot.
Interestingly, the model has the defending World Series champion Royals falling back to 76-86.