The Phillies are the best team in the National League and there is no doubt about it. Their staff is so much better than everyone else even with the early injuries to Blanton, Lidge and Romero. With Halladay who will probably win the NL CY Young followed by Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton(when healthy), and Jamie Moyer who somehow still has something left. Kyle Kendrick should fill in for Blanton while he's out and he can be a solid 5. Meanwhile Ryan Madsen will fill in for Lidge and he does have experience closing and is a great guy in the pen. Their bullpen is injured but still above average. Brad Lidge is still an elite closer when healthy despite all the blown saves last year. The Phillies line up is very deadly. They have the ability to play small ball and use their speed to hit and run around the bases or they can belt homers left and right. This team is going to be very difficult to beat. You can't outscore them with Ryan Howard who will probably go for 50 homers and the combination of Jason Werth, Chase Utley, and Raul Ibanez will hit 20-40 home runs with around 100 RBIs each. They have the ability as a team to steal around 100 bases with the fast feet of Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins, Werth and Utley. They have the pitching, the bats, the speed and the defense. How do they not win the division?
Coming in second will be the Atlanta Braves in Cox's last year. They have 5 good starters and a decent line up but that bullpen worries me. I'm not sure Billy Wagner is the same closer he was 4 years ago so I hope they have a backup plan. Tommy Hanson needs a big year if he's gonna be the ace. It's good that he has some veterans to rely on with Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson(due for a comeback year?) if he gets in trouble. They also have the other young arms in Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami to finish out the staff. (nothing related to baseball but I just think it's funny or at least semi-odd that they have a J name with 2 J syllables in the last named followed by a K name with 2 K syllables in the last name) Ok back to baseball now if Jason Heyward is as good as everyone says he is and I think he is this team has some great potential. Along with Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, and Nate McLouth, they could pose a big threat to a lot of pitchers in the NL. Yunel Escobar is going to become one of the premier short stops in the MLB this year so watch out for him. There are some questions that need to be answered which can decide this teams fate for the wild card. Do Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus still have enough in the tank to help this team make a playoff run? Can Tommy Hanson pitch as well as he did last year and become the teams ace? Can the Melkman deliver in Hotlanta without all that protection in the line up? Does the fact that this is Bobby Cox's last year will this team into the playoffs? I think Chipper can perform well but Glaus will only be good for a .250 avg with 20 homers and 100+ strike outs and that's if he stays healthy. I believe in Tommy Hanson, maybe 16-17 wins and I think he'll only get better this year. The Melkman will deliver, but not the way he did in New York. If you had to pick a manager to make the playoffs Bobby Cox would be in the top 3 no doubt (Joe Torre, Tony La Russa would be the other 2) but this division is tough and there are so many other teams in the NL that have a chance that I'm just not sure.This is a good team but in the wrong division. They have a bright future if they can find an adequate replacement for Cox but they'll have to fight for a wild card spot with the Marlins and the other teams in the NL for it.
Josh Johnson, CY Young contender. Hanley Ramirez, MVP contender. Both are among the best at their positions but is it enough to improve on last year? Not quite sure with the players around them and the Braves getting better. They have a great left side of the infield with Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez, and Jorge Cantu and that right there makes a solid middle of the line up. I really like the outfield too with Chris Coghlan who is great at getting on base, Cody Ross who could become another dangerous bat and I'd like to see what Cameron Maybin can do starting all year. The starting pitching is where a lot of games need to be won though. Johnson can hold his own and I really like the acquisition of Nate Robertson. Those 2 along with Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez could be a formidable foursome. I'm not sure who the 5th will be but I love these four and their 5th will probably be better then the Mets 3rd. They're bullpen also worries me. Leo Nunez as a closer actually scares me and just like Atl I hope they have someone else that can come in. That's why they need the SP's to be great and I expect them to be neck and neck with the Braves all year and will be a fun team to watch.
The New York Metropolitans...... I mean Medicalpolitans. This team is a joke it really is. How can you spend so much money on great talent to see half of it injured(Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and David Murphy all start season on DL). If Johan Santana could pitch every single game to the 8th inning and have Francisco Rodriguez pitch the 9th they might have a chance but obviously that's not the case. Those two are the only bright spots on that pitching staff. There may be one more if the Mets decide to keep Jennry Mijia on the roster. He is a great arm in that bullpen and that is very badly needed. It's sad to see a Cy Young contender like Johan get grouped with these useless #4 starters. John Maine belongs in the bullpen. Mike Pelfry will never be as good as he should've been. Oliver Perez...just thinking about his 12 million dollar a year contract makes me laugh. I guess when you can get through spring training with just under a 9 era gives you the nod as the 5th starter on this mess of a team. Jon Niese might be the only one with any kind of potential but I doubt it. You'll probably see Bobby Parnell and Fil Nieve get thrown into the fire, and get burnt. Bad. If they bring Nelson Figueroa up from the bullpen to pitch a game send him right back there. He's 36 with 49 career starts there's a reason why he spent his whole life in the minors, He just not good enough but I guess that's the trend for all the Mets starters not named Johan. They'd be better off picking up Chad Gaudin who is better than those four scrubs. This team needs a big change and that should start with Minaya getting fired. This guy deserves the Glen Sather Award (NY Rangers president and GM, and professional team wrecker) for completely fucking up a team with stupid moves but somehow overshadowed because they made 1 or 2 great moves. This guy did get Johan which I give him credit for that it was a great move but to see the lack of pitching on this team is just disgusting. Mets fans have to be sick when they see games get killed by the pen and you see Heath Bell and Matt Lindstrom saving games left and right for other teams(great Omar trades for nada). Everyone knew the Mets needed help on the pitching staff and needed an everyday catcher. Do they get either one? Of course not. They should've got Bengie Molina but they wouldn't give him 2 years and he stayed in San Fran for less money.They got Henri Blanco and Chris Coste who isn't even on the team anymore. They shouldve got John Lackey. Nope. Take a chance on Wang? Nah. Jason Marquis. No. Then there was Joel Piniero. Negatory. I know the last three aren't that good but come on they're way better then what they have. They did get Kelvim Escobar though woo. He'll start the season on the DL what a surprise there. Jason Bay was a good pick up but what is that gonna do? Not a lot. Frank Catalanoto, Gary Matthews Jr. Henri Blanco. Why? Seriously Why? The Mets front office must've had a meeting trying to come up with some kind of plan to get players they don't need at all and piss their fans off more then they already have. It's tough enough to compete with the greatest team in sports with the Yankees but they really let their fans down this off season. On the good side David Wright should rebound and have a better year than last and when Beltran comes back he'll be good. Those two along with Johan, K Rod and maybe Mijia but those are the only bright spots in my eyes. If they ever all get healthy the medicals could have a good line up with Reyes, Wright, Beltran, Bay and Francouer but I don't think Reyes really cares since he knows this team won't make the playoffs and from what I hear is a big baby in the clubhouse. If you do for some strange reason go see a Met game don't worry about the heat because they'll be striking out so much it will feel like A/C. With 3 back up catchers, no power at 1st base, lack of a pitching staff and a slew of injuries, watch out Nationals you may be challenged for the worst team in the NL East. After the season I'd like to see a fire Minaya rally just like fed up Ranger fans did with Sather on March 7th of this year.
The Nationals had a GREAT offseason. Steven Strasburg looks like the real deal and with the moves they made should make them a lot more respectable then in years past. They got a decent closer in Matt Capps and picked up Miguel Batista and traded for Brian Bruney to buff up that bullpen. They picked up Chien-Ming Wang the toast of Taiwan who could be very good if he can get back to his old form. The Nats weren't done yet though because they signed Pudge Rodriguez, Adam Kennedy, Willy Taveras, Scott Olsen and Jason Marquis. All very good signings for this team and all will contribute to this team. With Marquis and John Lannan they have a pretty good one two combo and if Strasburg comes up thats a solid 3. My favorite part of this team is their line up. They have a nice mix of big bats and speed. If Ryan Zimmerman can give a repeat performance of last year and Adam Dunn and Pudge could try to hit above .250. Mix in some Josh Willingham who had a decent season last year and thats some big power for a team that used to be laughed at. Nyjer Morgan is very good defensively, very fast and very dangerous on the base path. He can steal at least 50 bases and their speedy shortstop Ian Desmond may be able to add some of his own. I really just can't wait til they call up Strasburg and give me a better reason to watch these guys other then when i bet against them. They do look promising in years to come but they're in the wrong division(just like every other team in this division). This team will deffinitely be better to watch this year and I'd love to see them top the Mets in the standings but that may be asking for too much. Im glad to see that they are making good moves to improve this team and make this team watchable other then on a blooper reel. Even if they finish in last National fans have something to be excited about with Strasburg and te fact that ownership cares and wants to improve the team.
Phillies 97-65
Braves 88-74
Marlins 86-76
Mets 78-84
Nationals 71-91
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