NL East
Braves - 93-69
Phillies - 92-68
Marlins - 80-82
Mets - 78-84
Nationals - 64-98
This is a bit of a reach, but the Braves have a really, really solid lineup and a deep rotation. Perspective: the Braves’ SS, C, and 2B would make for a better middle of the order than what the Giants are about to throw out there. The Phillies are still a really good team, but they’ve never recovered from losing the grit of Aaron Rowand. Well, except for that whole championship thing.
NL Central
Cardinals - 90-72
Brewers - 84-78
Reds - 80-82
Pirates - 77-85
Astros 76-86
Cubs 74-88
I don’t like any of these teams, really. The Cardinals win by default, with random castoffs doing something unexpected. They’ll sign, like, Pat Rapp, and he’ll go 8-2 in the second half. The Cubs have a couple of good hitters, but they’re injury prone, and the rest of the lineup is pretty Giantsy. I don’t get why the Reds are the popular sleeper pick, either, as they were just as terrible offensively as the Giants last year, but they didn’t sign stars like Aubrey Huff or Mark DeRosa.
NL West
Giants - 108-54
Padres - 102-60
Rockies - 90-72
Dodgers - 77-85
Diamondbacks - 72-90
See, all you have to do is take their winning percentage from the Cactus League and extrapolate it over a full season. I don’t see any problem with this methodology.
Fine. Be that way.
Rockies - 94-68
Giants - 83-79
Dodgers - 81-81
Diamondbacks - 77-85
Padres - 73-89
I hate to admit it, but I think the Rockies aren’t that far away from the Phillies and Braves as the best teams in the league. The Dodgers will miss Randy Wolf and Orlando Hudson, and the non-Broxton bullpen won’t be as fluky good. Also, Matt Kemp will be arrested for mopery. The Giants are better than the nattering nabobs here think, but they’re not as good as the perennial optimists think. If DeRosa were at second, Bowker in left, Posey catching, and Uribe at short, I’d be far, far more optimistic about the team. I’m just glad Eugenio Velez didn’t hit .400 this spring.
NLDS - Braves over Cardinals, Rockies over Phillies
NLCS - Braves over Rockies
World Series - Rays over Braves
MVP - Hanley Ramirez
CY - Tim M.F. Lincecum
Rookie of the Year - Pedro Alvarez
Again, filling out an expected record for every team is for weenies, so copy and paste this template if you want to share your incorrect picks with us:
NL East:
NL Central:
NL West:
Wild Card:
World Series:
NLDS:
NLCS:
MVP:
CY:
Rookie of the Year: