The AL was yesterday, the NL is today.NL East
Atlanta
Philadelphia
New York Mets
Washington
Florida
Atlanta will have the best lineup in the NL this year. That and a solid, not spectacular, pitching staff will spell success. Philly has too many questions surrounding their pitching. The Mets are going to be a huge disappointment. Their lineup is quite suspect and the pitching past Santana will be only fair. Pedro does not make 25 starts. Nats will be almost respectable with some of that young talent. Marlins traded away their two best players and their young pitchers are banged up.
NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee
Cincinnatti
St Louis
Houston
Pittsburgh
If the Cubs finally get Brian Roberts, they may run away with the Central. Brewers need a bit more pitching but may sneak in with the wild card. Cincinnatti will be a winning team. Pujols injuries linger and Cards limp along behind. Astros would finish last if not for Pirates with overrated lineup and no pitching after Oswalt. Pirates will be the Pirates.
NL West
San Diego
Los Angeles
Arizona
Colorado
San Francisco
Lackluster lineup but a potentially dominant pitching staff 1-5 will win them the West. Balanced Dodgers will contend until the end, probably get Wild Card. Arizona takes a step back, they overachieved in 2007. Rockies too but mostly because their pitching staff returns to mediocrity. Giants may be the worst team in the NL.
The NL West may be air tight again, sans the Giants.
ReplyDeleteI think the D-Backs may win the division just because of their pitching, but their youngsters need to pick up the slack.
You're picking ATL to win the East? Bold prediction; however, the Mets and Phils have a lot of weaknesses and the Braves could be a dark horse if the pitching (despite the age) stays healthy.
D-Backs could take the division if their young hitters come of age, no doubt. But their pitching the top two is questionable. Johnson may not come back strong.
ReplyDeleteYep, Atlanta on the strength of their bats. But it will be a three way race all year.
I agree with you on the NL East. Adding Santana was great, but outside of that most of their rotation has some question marks attached. Some of their players are starting to age quickly (Delgado) and think the Braves will be in that race all season. I'm working on getting my picks up this week.
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