UCB Week, Day 3: NL East Picks

We've hit the American League and the Western Division of the National.  Now time to hit the other coast and look at the NL East.  As always, blogs will be linked here as they post, such as CardinalsGM, Redbird Ramblings and The Redbird Blog.  CardinalNationGlobe gets caught up on all three days in one big post.

1. New York

Forget about last year's collapse.  That's pretty easy to do when you bring in probably the best pitcher on the planet.  Even if they only get half a year out of Pedro Martinez, he and Johan Santana at the top of the rotation will be devastating.  John Maine is developing nicely as well, so the rotation shouldn't be much of an issue and neither will closer Billy Wagner.

The offense is pretty solid as well.  Jose Reyes gives the speed dimension to the lineup and David Wright brings most of the thunder.  Carlos Delgado is on the downside of his career, but he can still put a charge into the ball.  And Carlos Beltran leads the outfield, which is a little weaker than you might like.  Put it all together, and this year New York should be able to hold off any charges.

2. Philadelphia

There's still plenty to like about the defending division champs.  Anytime you can run out a lineup with Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, you should be able to score some runs.  If the second-half resurgence of Pat Burrell is for real and Shane Victorino can continue to develop, this could be the best offense in the league.

The pitching staff is a little shakier.  Brett Myers moves back into the rotation, and being that he spent most of his career there, it shouldn't be much of a change for him.  Cole Hamels is a dominant force, but after that you get into a lot of ifs and maybes.  That extends to the closer role as well, as Brad Lidge (well known to Cardinal fans) moves in from Houston.  We'll see how the Philly fans react to a string of blown saves, if he has them.




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3. Atlanta

The days of the Braves dominating their division are past, but it is still within the realm of possibility that they could win it again this year.  For one thing, they'll have Mark Teixeira for the full season, and he really came alive in Atlanta last year.  40 home runs are not impossible.  Then you have Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Jeff Francouer and promising youngster Yunel Escobar.  Scoring runs shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The pitching staff, while not up to the early 90s level, isn't terrible, assuming Tim Hudson stays close to his career norms and John Smoltz doesn't start showing his age.  Plus, if (HUGE IF) Mike Hampton is actually healthy for a while and effective, that'd be a big boost.  The bullpen is a bit unsettled, but Rafael Soriano has been solid in the past.

4. Washington

It's definitely a have and have not division, with the top three being very much above the bottom two.  That said, a new stadium should help bring some new optimism to the team in our nation's capital.

It'll be interesting to see how the move out of cavernous RFK Stadium helps out the hitters.  You'd expect people like Ryan Zimmerman and maybe even Austin Kearns to get a little boost.  If Nick Johnson can be healthy and some of Jim Bowden's obsessions with outfielders (Lastings Milledge, Wily Mo Pena, Elijah Dukes) pan out, it could be a fun summer on the scoreboard.

Of course, the downside of the move will be on the pitching staff.  A lot of no-names on the staff this year, led by John Patterson, who had all of seven starts last year.  The scoreboard likely will get a workout on both sides this year.

5. Florida

After sending off two of their few starts in the same package this winter, there's not a lot of optimism in Marlins camp.  Sure, they look like they've finally got a stadium on the way, but that's years from now.  Right now, it's time to see if they can grow the next World Championship team.

They still have Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla.  After that, well......

Board Member 1: I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.
Charlie Donovan: Most of these guys never had a prime.
Board Member 2: This guy here is dead.
Rachel Phelps: Cross him off then.

That kinda goes for the pitching staff, too.  We'll see if Andrew Miller is ready and if Anibal Sanchez can come back from surgery.  Other than that, well, could be a long year down in Florida.