1. Philadelphia Phillies: Jimmy Rollins said a couple weeks ago that the Phillies are the team to beat in the NL East, and I may be one of the few people who believes him. The Phillies have a better starting rotation than the Mets (led by off-season pickup Freddy Garcia) and a better offense than the Braves featuring names like Chase Utley, Rollins, and the inimitable incumbent MVP Ryan Howard. I’m expecting big things from this team that hasn’t done many big things in a long time.
2. New York Mets: They still have the strongest offense in the National League, and probably improved it with the addition of Moises Alou. This team returns a remarkable three players who finished in the top ten in MVP voting (Carlos Beltran #4, Jose Reyes #7, David Wright #9). The pitching staff isn’t where it could be with all that payroll money as New York missed out on some big names like Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt. On the strength of the position players alone, I’ll put this team in the Wild Card.
3. Atlanta Braves: I like the rotation packed with names like John Smoltz and Tim Hudson (and a Mike Hampton that may be returning from his elbow injury sooner than originally thought), but this team seems to have lost the winning spirit that it possessed (at least during the regular season) for a decade and a half before last season. The problem is, the division has improved by leaps and bounds around Atlanta, and the Braves have mingled right around the status quo. Watch for Andruw Jones (in his contract year) to be traded mid-season - and remember that Boston has shown interest in the center fielder in the past.
4. Florida Marlins: This is still a young and talented team for sure, but somehow they don’t excite me as much as they did last year (maybe it has something to do with the departure of 2006 manager Joe Girardi). The team was made up of mostly rookies last season, so how many of those players are going to go through sophomore slumps in 2007? They do still have perennial MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera manning third base, and Dontrelle Willis leading a very talented young rotation, but this team is looking up at a very tough division. Getting Jorge Julio to close out games will help, but not enough.
5. Washington Nationals: I view the Nationals in the same light as I do the Royals in the American League Central; basically, an afterthought in a division that is sure to pummel them into the ground. Like the Royals, the Nats have one young player who is sure to bring a lot of smiles to people’s faces in Ryan Zimmerman, but not much else going for them. The entire roster seems like a work-in-progress (especially the rotation), and that’s just not going to cut it in this division.
1. Philadelphia Phillies: Jimmy Rollins said a couple weeks ago that the Phillies are the team to beat in the NL East, and I may be one of the few people who believes him. The Phillies have a better starting rotation than the Mets (led by off-season pickup Freddy Garcia) and a better offense than the Braves featuring names like Chase Utley, Rollins, and the inimitable incumbent MVP Ryan Howard. I’m expecting big things from this team that hasn’t done many big things in a long time.
2. New York Mets: They still have the strongest offense in the National League, and probably improved it with the addition of Moises Alou. This team returns a remarkable three players who finished in the top ten in MVP voting (Carlos Beltran #4, Jose Reyes #7, David Wright #9). The pitching staff isn’t where it could be with all that payroll money as New York missed out on some big names like Barry Zito and Jason Schmidt. On the strength of the position players alone, I’ll put this team in the Wild Card.
3. Atlanta Braves: I like the rotation packed with names like John Smoltz and Tim Hudson (and a Mike Hampton that may be returning from his elbow injury sooner than originally thought), but this team seems to have lost the winning spirit that it possessed (at least during the regular season) for a decade and a half before last season. The problem is, the division has improved by leaps and bounds around Atlanta, and the Braves have mingled right around the status quo. Watch for Andruw Jones (in his contract year) to be traded mid-season - and remember that Boston has shown interest in the center fielder in the past.
4. Florida Marlins: This is still a young and talented team for sure, but somehow they don’t excite me as much as they did last year (maybe it has something to do with the departure of 2006 manager Joe Girardi). The team was made up of mostly rookies last season, so how many of those players are going to go through sophomore slumps in 2007? They do still have perennial MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera manning third base, and Dontrelle Willis leading a very talented young rotation, but this team is looking up at a very tough division. Getting Jorge Julio to close out games will help, but not enough.
5. Washington Nationals: I view the Nationals in the same light as I do the Royals in the American League Central; basically, an afterthought in a division that is sure to pummel them into the ground. Like the Royals, the Nats have one young player who is sure to bring a lot of smiles to people’s faces in Ryan Zimmerman, but not much else going for them. The entire roster seems like a work-in-progress (especially the rotation), and that’s just not going to cut it in this division.
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