Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Season Predictions: NL East

This is the last post in this series and I've saved the best for last. I'm being a little bias but I can't help it because I'm a die hard Mets fan. I predicted the Mets to win their division this year even though I've been having nightmares about the Braves and Phillies lately. The Mets are now led by Johan Santana who is untouchable in the second half of the season. What this means for the Mets is that as long as they stay 5+ games above .500 until the All-Star break Santana will lead them the rest of the way. Also, right now the Mets are pretty much slumping and they're still 2 games above .500, Moises Alou is due to come back soon and their hitters should be coming out soon.

The Mets have created what I like to call a "Pitchers Haven". What this means is that Omar has assembled the best defense in the major leagues along with the best pitching coach, the best defensive catcher and an extreme pitcher's ballpark. So, the Mets don't really need to acquire so much proven pitching but rather rough, unfinished guys with filthy stuff. All these factors along with playing in the NL gives the Mets a great rotation and bullpen which is the key to winning the World Series. On another note if you look at Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey and the bullpen's numbers with and without Schneider(best defensive catcher) you'll see a HUGE difference. The Mets also have Pedro and El Duque on the DL.

The Braves are an excellent young team with a great core but have sustained many injuries to their pitching staff thus far. Their closer, setup men(top 3 in their pen), John Smoltz(their Ace), Mike Hampton. This leaves them with the worst bullpen in the league and a thin rotation led by Tim Hudson and Tommy Glavine along with prospects Jair Jurrjens(the best of them), Jo-Jo Reyes and Chuck James. Their hitting is just fantastic with Mark Teixeira, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur. They have more coming, so Mets fans look out.

The Phillies are very overrated! The Marlins have a great young team but have NO pitching and the Nationals are extremely talented and will be the Mets main competition along with the Braves in years to come.

The Rest of the Division Goes as follows:
1. New York Mets(I'm being very bias, but can't pick against them)
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies(extremely overrated)
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins(the last three teams will be very close together)

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