2008 MLB Previews: NL East
March 19, 2008 1 Comment
With
the Phillies and Mets being the only true competition in this division,
things will be interesting, because these two teams will not only be
competing for the division championship, but also the final playoff
spot in the NL. The winner obviously clinches their spot, but the loser
could be staying at home watching, as the Mets did last year. With this
rivalry becoming even stronger after the Phils won their first division
championship in 14 seasons, and the Mets collapse, partly in thanks to
three season sweeps by Philadelphia, this season will be an exciting
one at the top of the NL East.
With the loss of Andruw Jones, this team’s offense will struggle
greatly, despite his poor batting average. The loss of all those home
runs and RBI’s will hurt, but bringing back Tom Glavine to the pitching
rotation, along with a healthy Mike Hampton, John Smoltz, and Tim
Hudson, this team’s pitching might be able to make up for it. As usual,
this team is led by long time veteran Chipper Jones, along with Mark
Teixera and young star Jeff Franceour, this team still can go places,
but not too far this year and in top heavy NL East.
not going to lie, this team will not be good for a few years after
getting rid of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis so they could start
rebuilding this team behind shortstop Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez is this
team’s only hope of success this season, and if he can hit the ball as
well as he did last year (.332), then this team has their future in
great hands.
yeah yeah, they added Johan Santana, but they did not erase the past
with that move. The Mets had the worst collapse in MLB history to fall
out of the playoff race last season, and it will be tough for them to
forget about that this season. With the majority of their roster coming
back, and a healthy Pedro, the Phils do have to be worried about this
fantastic pitching staff, but I do not feel this team has enough
offensive weapons besides Beltron and Wright to win the division.
Expect them to compete with the Padres for the NL Wild Card.
winners of back to back MVP awards, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins,
while also being the reigning division champions, the Phillies have to
be excited for what this season may bring. A third Phillie, Chase
Utley, could become the third straight to win the MVP award. How
amazing would that be? But the Phils do need to be worried about the
Mets and their strong pitching staff. Too bad for the Mets the Phillies
have a healthy Ryan Howard, the reigning MVP, Jimmy Rollins, and
All-Star second basemen Chase Utley to deal with. I expect Philadelphia
to repeat as NL East Champions.
flat out suck. Nothing more to say. I feel bad for the nation’s capital
for having to have them play in D.C. 81 times a season. They could be
the most boring team in the MLB.
The mets could have a major after affect from there major collapse last year your right about that. But adding Santana gave the mets new life that could push them over the edge. Also you didn’t talk at all about the phils pitching staff. Will Myers be in bullpen? and how affective will Cole Hamels be this season? The phils also have to put some weight on 67 year old pitcher Jamie Moyer.