Phillies and Mets are 1 and 1A in this division, will probably flip-flop into first place all year long:
1. Philadelphia Phillies- Solid rotation, with youngster Cole Hamels, ageless Jamie Moyer, and wife-beater Brett Myers. Brad Lidge may implode in the 'pen, but Flash Gordon a good alternate. Lineup anchored by the last 2 MVPs in Howard and Rollins, it will all depend on how they deal with being the chase-ee this time around.
2. NY Mets- Plus- you get the best pitcher in baseball (Johan Santana). Minus- you do absolutely nothing else to upgrade a team that had one of the biggest collapses in MLB history. Will score alot, will pray for Pedro to be '99-04 Pedro, will hope John Maine and Oliver Perez continue to exceed expectations. Johan can only pitch every 5 days.
3. Washington Nationals- A distant 3rd, but 3rd nonetheless. Jason Bergmann, Shawn Hill and John Lannan (above) will be in the Nats' rotation for the next decade, and with a solid 7th thru 9th inning bullpen, they don't have to blow their arms out in the process. A halfway decent lineup with little power, depending on how the new Nats Park plays. The start of the revival of a long-downtrodden franchise.
4. Atlanta Braves- Glavine's back!(he's 62) Hudson's healthy!(really?) Mark Kotsay replaces Andruw! (uh-oh..) Jo-Jo Reyes is our 5th starter! (umm...) Do you think Teixeira is ready to head back to Texas?
5. Florida Marlins- Their bid to move to the Carolina League was denied, so they will have to settle for being the worst team in the NL. By trading their only two marketable players (Dontrelle & Miguel Cabrera), the 675 people that came out last year may not be back. Their new stadium in 2010-11 may be too late.
6 comments:
Wow, I don't know what to say about this. Are you inferring that having Bergman, Hill, and Lannan for the next decade is a good thing? You knock the Braves for Glavine (13-8/4.45 ERA/42 years old) yet praise the Phils for Moyer (14-12/5.01 ERA/46 years old)? Is he still "Flash" Gordon at the age of 41 (and an ERA near 5.00 last year)? Were you wearing a Ryan Howard jersey when you wrote this? I know how you tend to adopt teams as you move. The Braves will be able to score and have a solid 1-2-3 in the roatation. A young bullpen will make or break this team. This season is let-down city for your beloved Phillies and Charlie Manuel will be fired. The Mets are the class of the National League and will run away with it if Pedro is half as good as he was three years ago. We can agree that the Marlins will be terrible, but Marlins fans should not get too down, for they are due for their World Series crown in 2009.
I'm sorry, the Mets are the class of what now? The question is, are you bandwagoning your brother's team because the Cards stink? Moyer is the Phils' 4th starter, while the Braves are counting on Glavine to be their number 2 guy. Big difference. The Braves will be able to score with whom? Who's getting on in front of Teixeira and Chipper? And Pedro will not be what he was 3 years ago, he will be broken down before the All Star break. I call em like I see em, and the Mets are the most overrated team out there. Would anyone pick them to win if not for Johan? Can one person change everything? The answer is no.
The Mets are the class of the National League. It's pretty clear. I'll take Johan over Cole Hamels, Pedro over domestic abuse, Maine over Kyle Kendrick, Opie over Moyer (in a landslide), our bullpen over theirs (Lidge/Gordon over Wagner?? Please. PLUS Duaner's back.) Dont forget that the Phils gave up 70 more runs last year. Offensively, I think the teams are similar. We have the chip on our shoulder, the momentum of Johan and Pedro back, Reyes is more focused, Beltran is healthy. First base aside, we're solid top to bottom.
Dan- I can respect your thoughts on this, and as I say in my very first line, "Phillies and Mets are 1 and 1A in this division, will probably flip-flop into first place all year long." I don't think I'm wrong in thinking the Mets are going to be fighting the Phils all year. There are too many questions on each side, hoping Pedro and Wagner stay healthy on the Mets' side, hoping Lidge and 3/5 of the starting rotation don't commit hari-kari on the Phils. I still strongly believe that the Mets are not the class of the NL. A team that failed down the stretch as miserably as they did, and their only move was Johan (a huge move, granted). Church is nowhere near the talent of Milledge, and Schneider will give you much better defense, but brings his .225 average with him. We shall see.
Let's go senators.
I cannot wait to see the NL West predictions. Let me guess Schmidty, Nomar, and company are the class of the NL. Let me be clear, I don't carry anyone's water and will walk a long distance before catching a ride on anyone's bandwagon. Glavine is not the Braves' second starter, that honor belongs to Smoltz. I realize these clowns are old annoying, but they are solid. Regarding their offense, Francoeur bounced back with a solid year last season (.293/19/105). His homeruns were down, but that probably means he stopped taking some sort of injection. Yunel Escobar will get to play everyday and is better than Renteria at this point. McCann is the best hitting catcher in the NL (Martin owes me one more year before he takes the crown). Add Teixeira and Jones to the mix and this team can hit. Don't sleep on them when it comes to the Wild Card. Am I the only one who didn't know that So Taguchi is now on the Phillies? That makes me sad.
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