Wednesday, March 26, 2008

MLB Preview: NL East

First of all this is ridiculous for me to try to handicap with my Braves bias...just let that be said

1) New York Mets- wow that's painful....I think this lineup is simply too much to contend with and with Johan there and Pedro supposedly healthy I don't think they can lose....That said, Pedro's never healthy for the whole year, Delgado and Alou are a thousand years old, and LoDuca is gone behind the plate replaced by Brian Schneider (who can't hit) so there are still some holes....X-Factor for the Mets is always the Bullpen and Pedro for me.....Wagner is usually pretty good and Heilman has been respectable but outside of that, there isn't alot to like...Pedro has to make 25 starts for this team...b/c the Oliver Perez/El duque duo isn't exactly consistent....I think the Mets squeak out the division IF Pedro is healthy, if not that goes to......

2) Atlanta Braves- People keep talking about the Phillies and I just don't see it....So here we are....Yes, there are some holes here (back-end of rotation and setup guy until Mike Gonzalez returns) but there are also some great strengths....First of all, This may be the 2nd best infield in baseball (behind the Yankees) if you include the catcher spot...2nd, the top end of the rotation is extremely good behind Smoltz and Hudson and there are legitimately 7 starters on this team....that said, 3 of them are significant question marks but that's where depth helps....also, it allows for Smoltz and Glavine to take an extra day between starts when need be...I really think a critical position here is Mark Kotsay in centerfield...everyone else in the lineup you pretty much know what you're getting barring injury but Kotsay is a huge ?????.....Only a couple things have to go right for the Braves to win the division and only a couple have to go wrong to end up in 3rd place

3) Philadelphia Phillies- We hear about Philly's lineup alot....but once you get outside of the Shortstop-2b-1B dominance....what else is there? Sure Rollins, Utley and Howard are great...but 3 bats do not a lineup make...Elsewhere it is pretty suspect....and the gigantic Achilles heel for Philly remains the bullpen....Brad Lidge (why!?!?) was signed to close and immediately went down to the DL and the guys before him were the ones that were dreadful last year (Tom Gordon included)...The rotation is immediately better since Brett Myers moves back there and he teams with Hamels to form a steady 1-2 but after that it's a bit dicey...Kyle Kendrick is young, Jamie Moyer is ancient, and Adam Eaton is about as up-and-down as it gets....I just see too many doubts to put Philly ahead of either NY or Atlanta and thus they land here

4) Washington Nationals- There are actually quite a few guys I like on this team (in the lineup really) with Lastings Milledge, Ryan Zimmerman, Nick Johnson, Austin Kearns....this lineup will actually be decent to good...that's where it ends...the rotation is likely the worst in the entire majors (rivaling Texas) without 1 single reliable staple guy to be seen...they also have listed a remarkable EIGHT starting pitchers on the depth chart...meaning they have no idea what's going on either...Chad Cordero can close the door when they have leads but there aren't many coming....

5) Florida Marlins- FIRE SALE!!!! That seems to be the theme for Florida...and Okay, I take it back Washington, Florida might be as bad as you in the rotation....there are definitely some brightspots for Florida in Ramirez, Willingham, Uggla and the bats...but too much youth and exactly ZERO pitching to speak of (unless Andrew Miller is already good....plausible I guess)...To be respectable, Florida will need decency from Mark Hendrickson and Scott Olsen from the rotation....Good luck fellas

No comments: