NL (Mini) Preview.

I am embarassed to be doing my NL preview this late but oh well. SInc ethe seaon is three weeks old I will do an abbreviated preview given that the NL still stinks. Honestly, the DBack's would be looking at a third place finish in the AL West and I have them going to the World Series.

NL East

1. Philadelphia Phillies (92-70)

The heart of their order returns intact as does there starting pitching. No reason they won't repeat.

2. New York Mets (89-73)

Sure they picked up Johan Santana but this team will rely too much on guys that are just old like Moises ALou, Carlos Delgado and Pedro Martinez.

3. Atlanta Braves (86-76)

Old pitching and a lousy bullpen. And their offense will struggle to score runs.

4. Wahington Nationals (70-92)

They have some talented young guys in Lastings Milledge, Ryan Zimmerman and Elijah Dukes but they are a few years away from contending with their lousy rotation.

5. Florida Marlins (68-94)

Jeffrey Loria should be taken out in the street and horsewhipped for destroying two teams. This team is just awful and when they start to be good again he will sell off the parts again.

NL Central - The worst division in baseball by a country mile.

1. Chiago Cubs (88-74)

A good heart of the order and decent starting pitching is enough to win this division regardless of how effective Kerry Wood is in the closer role.

2. Milwaukee Brewers (86-76)

Their lineup is fun to watch but their starting rotation is pretty thin past Ben Sheets. And Eric Gagne closing? Eric Gagne? Jesus.

3. Cincinnati Reds (83-79)

The Reds are the team most likely to come out of nowhere and win a division this year. They play in a bandbox and will score a lot of runs and if their young starters develop quicker than expected they will win a lot of games and win the Central.

4. Houston Astros (76-86)

An old lineup with lousy pitching outside of Roy Oswalt who may get traded byt the all-star break.

5. St. Louis Cardinals (73-89)

Their rotation would be average in Triple A so they have no chance. I would think Albert Pujols will pack it in by mid-summer and get the elbow surgery he needs.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates (70-92)

At what point can you declare a team officially dead? There is no excuse for them being so bad for so long in what has been a bad division for years.

NL West

1. Arizona Diamondbacks (94-68)

This is a damn fun team to watch. I like teams with a lot of speed and gap power and they are suited to their park perfectly. Adding Dan Haren as the number 2 starter was huge for them and will help in the playoffs. I'm not sure Brandon Lyon is suited to be the closer but in the NL a bullpen by committee will work just fine.

2. Colorado Rockies (92-70)

Last year's World Series run was no fluke. Troy Tulowitzki is the second coming of Cal Ripken Jr. (minus the games played streak), matt Holliday s consistently great and even an aging Todd Helton should hit .315 again. They lack depth in the rotation past Jeff Francis but they will score enough runs to grab the Wild Card.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers (87-75)

I'm not exactly clear if there was a reason to bring in Joe Torre other than his name. I don't think Torre will be able to develop the young guys this team has the way better managers could. As is stands they are one bad 20 game stretch away from Andrew Jones, Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra being enormous pains in the ass. They have a strong top three with Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, and Chad Billingsley but I just don't see them being great.

4. San Diego Padres (75-87)

Sit back and enjoy Greg Maddux pass Roger Clemens on the all-time win list this year Padre fans because that will be the best thing to happen to your team this year. Jim Edmonds and Brian Giles might have scared people 5 years ago but not anymore. And Trevor Hoffman isn't getting any younger.

5. San Francisco Giants (64-98)

Dave Roberts, Omar Vizquel, Ray Durham, Rich Aurilia? Why in the hell are these guys still around? This team is going to be awful so they might as well try to trade some of these guys and get something, anything in return and play some young guys. And will Barry Zito continue to slip? Remarkably yes. He may not win 10 games on this club.

Wild Card

D'Backs over Cubs
Rockies over Phils

NLCS

D'Backs over Rockies

World Series

Tigers over D'Backs

NL MVP - Matt Holliday
NL Cy Young - Brandon Webb