And your point is

As promised, here are my National League baseball picks for the upcoming 2004 season:

NL East
Atlanta Braves: Mark my words, the Braves will not win the division for the 13th straight year. Yes, Atlanta will still be a good team, but they lost too much from last year’s club to win the division. Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Greg Maddux are all gone. For the first time in years, the Braves will depend on several unproven players to get the job done.
The Florida Marlins were a great story last year, but times have changed and we are now in 2004. This team lost Ivan Rodriguez, Braden Looper, Derrick Lee and Ugueth Urbina. After losing all of them, there is no way the fish can repeat as champs this year.
Montreal Expos: Just two years ago the Expos were thinking playoffs, now Montreal fans are thinking 2005. After losing the Expos’ (Vladimir Guerrero), to free agency last year, things are on the down swing. Their rotation is shaky and they are missing a power bat in the middle of their lineup.
New York Mets: After the past two seasons, things in New York couldn’t get much worse. But after last year’s trading spree, the Mets were left with some good young players and the room to sign a player or two. Look for the Mets to catch fire in the summer as Mike Cameron will hit over .300 for the first time in his life. Jose Reyes is a star in the making.
The Philadelphia Phillies are going to be a good team this year, but like last year, will fall apart. Larry Bowa will get fired after the Phillies fail to make the playoffs.
1. Mets, 2. Braves, 3. Marlins, 4. Phillies, 5. Expos. The Mets will win the division, as Mike Piazza and Tom Glavine will have career years. Glavine will win at least 16 games this season. Kaz Matsui will hit .290 with 15 homers in his first season as a Met and in the majors.

NL Central
The Chicago Cubs will win the division behind pitching, pitching and more pitching. Yes, the Cubs did add offense by trading for Derrick Lee, but the Cubs are still about pitching. Anyone who saw the playoffs last year saw the beginning of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood. The rest of the Cubs’ rotation is just as good. Slammin’ Sammy Sosa will be able to play a season free of cork as the Cubs take first place.
Pittsburgh Pirates: This team always plays hard, but never has a good enough squad to contend past June. Management will not allow this team to grow because of a limit on spending. Once July rolls around, look for the Pirates to become interested in trading some of their overachieving players.
Milwaukee Brewers: The good news for the Brew Crew was that in trading Richie Sexson, Milwaukee got six players in return. The bad news is the Brewers are still the Brewers. This team will have trouble scoring runs and Ed Yost carries a pitching staff that is inexperienced.
Houston Astros: Yes, Houston did add Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, but Houston lost someone much more important: Billy Wagner. Trading Wagner away will be a mistake if the Astros want to win the division, or possibly the World Series.
St. Louis Cardinals: It always seems to not matter what other teams do around them; the Cardinals always find a way to win. Albert Pujols is the best hitter in baseball and is just 24-years-old. Look for the Cardinals to contend again in 2004.
1. Cubs, 2. Astros, 3. Cardinals, 4. Brewers, 5. Pirates.

NL West
The Arizona Diamondbacks lost both Curt Schilling and six players to pick up Richie Sexson. This team will struggle as Randy Johnson is now 40 and not getting any younger. Luis Gonzalez is getting old, and this team lacks a pitching staff after Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, as a team, lacks a power hitter to protect Shawn Green. Yes, the Dodgers do have a good starting rotation, and a man with the name of Eric Gagne in the bullpen; however, if you can’t score, your pitching staff really isn’t that important.
San Francisco Giants: Barry Bonds is good … really good, but the Giants are still looking for that extra man to get them back into the World Series. Their rotation is also good, but watch out for their bullpen because Robb Nen is injured, and no one else can step up to finish games. Tim Worrell is gone, and Nen is not going to be ready for opening day.
San Diego Padres: This team has the chance to be very good. After consulting Mookie, all this team needs is one or two of their young starters to have a break out year. If that happens, this team could make the playoffs. There is a solid core here, and players seem to enjoy playing with each other.
Colorado Rockies: This team can hit but not pitch. Every year this happens and people don’t understand why. It is because Colorado can’t build around pitching (thin air).
1. Giants, 2. Padres, 3. Dodgers, 4. Diamondbacks, 5. Rockies.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 26 2004. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry