Nick's Yearly Baseball Predictions

Every year I go out on a limb and make some asinine baseball predictions. Last year I correctly picked Arizona and Philadelphia to win their divisions. I also picked Detroit to win the World Series, so hey no one is perfect. Anyway here are my 2008 predictions for the NL. I will do the junior circuit tomorrow.

National League
East
1. New York Mets – I hate picking the Mets but I can’t help it. The addition of Santana makes them the team to beat. They have a lineup that while old will still score some runs and now with Santana heading a staff with Pedro and Maine in it they should win despite Willie Randolph.

2. Philadelphia Phillies – I like a lot of parts of the Phillies. But, the back end of their rotation scares me and they have a couple of holes in their lineup. Still they are one of the best teams in the NL and should hang with the Mets all year.

3. Atlanta Braves – I like some of the Braves moves. They have re-tooled and got younger on the field. Their pitching however is looking old. Hudson will be fine but Atlanta is still counting on greybeards John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, and that scares me.

4. Washington Nationals – I feared this team would lose 110 games last year and they surprised me. While the pitching is still very suspect, they have some talent. Moving into a new ballpark will give them a boost and they should be better then they were last year but will get buried in a tough division.

5. Florida Marlins – This team on paper is a mess. A lot of prospects and could be great players. Ramirez at short ids great and Uggla is a nice player but that is it. Their rotation after showing some promise in 2006 regressed last year. Will be a long year for this team in perpetual re-building mode.

Central
1. Chicago Cubs – I just think they have the best team in the Central, which is a pretty weak division. Plus I don’t think Hendry is done tweaking this team. Should score runs and pitching staff is pretty good.

2. Milwaukee Brewers – The Brewers wilted last year under the pressure of a pennant race. This year they can fall back on that experience. I love their lineup but their pitching is a tad troubling. If Sheets can stay healthy, (a big if) then they will battle the Cubs all year.

3. Cincinnati Reds – I like a lot of the moves the Reds made in the off-season. I do not like the hiring of Dusty Baker. He is the wrong manager for a young team. Still, in this division they have enough to finish third.

4. Houston Astros – A lineup that could lead the league in runs scored and a pitching staff that could lead the league in giving them up. Baseball is pitching and if you don’t have it you can’t win. Roy Oswalt is an ace and he is all they have.

5. St. Louis Cardinals – How the mighty have fallen. This team is in serious trouble. They will have trouble scoring runs and their rotation is a colossal question mark. A number of things are going to have to go right for them to compete and I just don’t see it all happening.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates – Someone wake me when this team gets a clue. Don’t give me the small market excuse either. Sixteen consecutive losing seasons is the definition of bad management. This year, things don’t look much better, but I do like some of the young arms the Pirates are collecting.

West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers – This is a very tough division with four teams that could wind up winning it. The Dodgers have a nice mix of young and old, and I like the Joe Torre hiring. In a tough race that should go down to the wire the Dodgers pitching depth wins it.

2. Arizona Diamondbacks – The young D’Backs surprised many by winning the division last year. They added some pitching with Haren and if Randy Johnson is healthy this team will be tough to score on. However, I don’t like their bullpen as much and their lineup leaves much to desired. I think they lose out to LA in the end.

3. San Diego Padres – A nice team but one with some holes. Pitching rotation and bullpen are solid. However, like most years this team will not score enough. Gonzalez is the only hitter in the lineup that you fear. They will be in it until the end but like last year will come up short.

4. Colorado Rockies – This prediction could come back to haunt me as I could easily see a scenario where they win the division. However, in reality they got on a hot streak at the end to squeak in to the playoffs. If you look at their season up to that point they were a little over a .500 team. I like this team but, I just believe things even out this year and they come down to earth in a very tough division.

5. San Francisco Giants – A mess. The front of their rotation has some nice young arms in Lowrey and Lincecum. Zito can’t be as bad as he was last year either. However, when you have Bengie Molina hitting fourth you are in some serious trouble.