1st—Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies are undoubtedly the class of the NL East after assembling one of the greatest pitching rotations in baseball history. It’s always risky to prematurely label something “great” before the season begins but these pitchers are just too good—Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball and Cliff Lee may be the second best. Throw in Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, who are both legitimate aces, and you have four pitchers on one team who can win 20 games each. While injuries to all-star second baseman Chase Utley and closer Brad Lidge are concerning, the incredible pitching staff will easily carry this team to a division title.
2nd—Atlanta Braves: The Atlanta Braves’ present and future looks promising. They should be one of the favourites to claim the NL Wild Card since the division title looks out of reach. Future Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones has recovered from injury and Jason Heyward became a star in his rookie season after hitting .277 with 72 RBIs and 83 runs. They should carry the offence and the pitching staff looks great. Emerging stars Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson complement veteran studs Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson nicely. Hanson is especially impressive—look for him to improve on his 3.33 ERA from last season and challenge for the Cy Young Award.
3rd—Florida Marlins: The Marlins are not lacking in star power, but they do lack depth. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez is one of the best players in baseball. He hit .300 with 21 homeruns and 32 stolen bases in what was a disappointing year by his standards. Two second-year sluggers, Gaby Sanchez and Mike Stanton, will complement Ramirez and both could hit 30-plus homers. But other than these three, the lineup looks very weak. Josh Johnson is one of the best and most underrated pitchers in baseball but he’s coming off surgery and has very little support in the rotation. This season look for the Marlins to show flashes of brilliance but finish out of the playoffs.
4th—New York Mets: Every year the Mets spend over $100 million on their team and every year they find a way to miss the playoffs. There hasn’t been this much money wasted since Charles Barkley last went to Vegas. This year the Mets are hoping Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, and Jason Bay can remain healthy and lead this team to a playoff berth. Keep dreaming Mets fans. Mike Pelfrey will be the only competent starter when the season begins, as Johan Santana will be recovering from surgery. Sure David Wright is a superstar at third base but this team is not nearly healthy or talented enough to compete.
5th—Washington Nationals: The Nationals made strides this offseason by bringing in (albeit also overpaying for) solid veterans Jayson Werth and Adam Laroche to compliment slugging third baseman Ryan Zimmermann. But let’s be honest, the most exciting part of the Nationals was 22-year-old phenom Steven Strasburg with his 100 mph fastball and unhittable curveball. Unfortunately he’s injured this year so the best part of watching the Nationals will be sitting on the bench and rehabbing.
