Where will the Washington Nationals finish this season?
342919
Unfortunetly, they will finish just ahead of the Marlins = 2nd to last in the NL East.  Once they get an actual owner, I think you will see things get better for the Nats...being a DC resident, at least I hope so.
1048163
Well, after a 13 year domination of the NL East I think it's safe to say they've established their dominance. In all sports, champions come and go whether it's due to free agency, retirement or management changes. Parity is huge part of baseball anymore, as it should be. I'm a Yankee fan and we're struggling this year too, but fear not my tomahawk weilding fan....it's a long season and anything can happen.
446893
I think the Brewers are contenders for the Wild Card and I wish them well.  Huge Braves fan here and I totally admire Ned Yost.  I don't think they will ever overcome the mighty Cards but I do think they can pull of the Wild Card.
424478
No the won't make the playoffs this year, but they are much improved.  They won't finish last, hopefully the Cubs will do that, lol!  I am a White Sox fan, so I hate the Cubs!
1091
although it's no guarantee, it looks like the mets have a great shot at winning the nl east in 2006.\n\nthe 2005 standings:\n\natlanta: 90-72\nphilly: 88-74\nmets: 83-79\nflorida: 83-79\nwash: 81-81\n\nnow, washington performed well above what was expected of them, as they gave up 30 more runs than they scored. florida has traded all of their talent for prospects. therefore, those 2 teams are likely not going to win the division.\n\natlanta lost their leadoff batter and sparkplug rafael furcal and replaced him with edgar renteria, who was great two years ago but does not provide the same offensive or defensive weapons that furcal does. atlanta also got a monster year out of andruw jones, who likely will not repeat that performance. also, the braves lost their closer, kyle farnsworth, to the yankees and will likely go with chris reitsma, who was good but not great last year in limited duty. however, the young players on the braves roster such as jeff francoeur, adam laroche, and ryan langerhans should develop further. also, a full season of former mvp chipper jones would be helpful. that leaves the braves with a good chance to win 90 games again. \n\nthe phillies traded jim thome to the white sox for aaron rowand, which improves their team even though i feel they should have gotten more for thome. with a shot at first base for a full season, ryan howard should put up some incredible numbers. chase utley, their 2nd baseman, should also leap to stardom this year. however, the phillies other big star, bobby abreu, wants to be traded, and that most likely means that the phils will not get full value for him. lastly, they lost their elite closer, billy wagner, to the mets. tom gordon, though he's old, should be a serviceable replacement, but will not be as lights-out as wagner. unless brett myers becomes consistent and shows he can be an ace, the phillies pitching staff is comprised basically of a #2 starter, 3 #3 starters and a #4. many teams would be happy with that pitching staff, but it doesn't win the division for you.\n\nthat leaves the mets. the mets record last year was worse than it should have been, as they scored many more runs than they gave up. trading for carlos delgado to replace the worst 1b positional output in the majors will be a big boost. signing wagner to close instead of the shaky braden looper will help a lot as well, as looper blew 8 of 36 save chances. add in the continued development of david wright, who exploded at the end of last season, and jose reyes, as well as a bounceback year for center fielder carlos beltran, and the mets look very good up and down. paul lo duca should provide similar numbers to last year's fading mike piazza, but should also stay healthy, as the mets backup, ramon castro, is solid and should play every fourth game or so. the mike cameron-xavier nady trade made a lot of people say "huh?", but it's actually good for the mets, as victor diaz has proven himself worthy of a shot to play in right field every day. if jae seo gets a chance to start for the full season and performs like he did at the end of last season, he will be a solid #2 pitcher. problems could include the aging of tom glavine and steve trachsel, the inconsistency of kris benson, and the lack of bullpen depth. i'm not convinced that uber-GM omar minaya won't get his team more help in the bullpen, with rumors abound that the mets wish to sign danys baez, the devil rays all-star closer, to set up for wagner.\n\nall in all, this mets team could win 100 games and take the nl east easily.
52923
Although the NL West remains the weakest division in baseball, I highly doubt Arizona's chances of making the playoffs this year, espeically since only 4 teams from each league can advance to the postseason.\n\nThe Giants look like they are in prime position to win that division, unless the Padres continue to get better.
1140587
I'm a huge Mets fan. This is there year baby! And the Braves are in last. Stinks for them.
289798
They should finish in first place this year. But that will depend on the pitching staff. They have a great ace in Pedro but the rest of the rotation could be kinda shakey espically Zambrano. They have upgraded their bullpen by getting Billy Wagner who is a top notch closer but they have to be able to get the ball into his hands. Their lineup has the potential to put up alot of runs and they have 4 players who have a good chance of hitting 30 hr ( Floyd, Beltran, Delgado, Wright) They also have the ability to steal bases with reyes and beltran But for them to be able to steal those bases Reyes will have to get on base more by taking more walks. They upgraded in the catcher department with Lo duca who is a huge defensive upgrade over piazza he wont provide as much power in the lineup but he has a good bat. They will need to bolster up the second base position sometime during the season as Kaz Matsui dosent have what it takes to be an everyday player in the major leauges and they right field platoon of Diaz and Nady should be adequate and they both also provide some pop in the lineup. Overall the Mets 8 position players have the talent on paper to put up tons of runs which should allow the pitching staff to get the ball into the hands of billy wagner. The Marlins have sold off the bulk of their talent and will likley be a non factor this season. The Phillies have a decent team this year but i dont think they will be able to keep up with the mets. and the braves are gonna be tough again they have a good mix of veterans and young players but the loss of furcal does hurt them. This is the best chance the mets have had to take the division in a long time but than again the games are played on the field so we will see what happens
992683
Mets are the best team in the national league, so i feel like they will win the NL, but I don't think anybody will be able to beat either the White Sox or the Tigers, those 2 teams are excellent all around.  Mets could shock them i suppose, but i would still favor the white sox or tigers over them.
268732
Without a doubt!!\n\nMichigan State is finished.
13467
The Phillies will likely be worse as they have severely downgraded at closer and traded pitcher Padilla away. Their offense will take a hit as Rowand will be worse than Michaels/Lofton, although he has a better glove. Also, Bell/Nunez and Lieberthal/Fasano will fall even further below being average producers for their position. The Mets will be much improved, and the Braves will probably drop 5 games in the standings
79060
This is OUR year. WE will dethrone the Braves. GO METS!!!
346367
The Indians will do awesome.  Think about who they have batting.  Sizemore, a great leadoff hitter.  Pronk, who will probably lead the league in homers and RBIs.  VMart, hands down the best catcher in the league.  And a few others who are showing their potential at the right time (Casey Blake, Ronnie Belliard, etc.).  Even Eduardo Perez (a former Tampa Bay-er) is getting into the act.\n\nTheir pitching staff, while not stellar, has enough to make it deep into the playoffs.  CC and Jake are good.  Jason Johnson has been good so far, and Wickman hasn't shown signs of faltering as their closer.  I think they are in a tough division though (who would have said this two years ago) but they should be able to overcome the Twins and either be a wild card team or AL Central winners.
934471
I guess you can say it this way, "I hope the N.Y Mets had a good time, because they are not going to win that division for a while."       I think the Braves are going to have an incredible season next year - like they have had in the past.  \n           \n          Why have the Braves been so good, for so long?  Well that would be the Bullpen.  The problem last year for Atlanta was that they didn't have a bullpen.  Their lineup and offense last year, and even their defense was almost unmatched - but without a bullpen to finish games, very few games are going to result with a W (win).\n\n           What is fun about the Braves is they take young players and raise and train them into outstanding athletes.  It isn't the Yankees, who can afford to buy an All-Star team every year.\n           \n           I could go on and on about the talent on the Braves team, like Chipper Jones, Jeff Francouer, Andrew Jones, Marcus Giles, Adam Laroche, Brian McCann, etc..., but the thing is, we have so much potential in the Bullpen - the Braves had a lot of key injuries last year that obviously made a difference.\n\n           So, what do I think of all this?  Well, it is simple, the Braves are going to definetly make the playoffs.  But this is where the next problem is, they have struggled in the playoffs.  I think it is all going to change this year.  Once they get the Bullpen figured out (and they will this year), there is no stopping the Atlanta Braves!
110462
NO WAY. sorry. but the braves are still in their division and as long as it stays that way they won't win a pennant and it'll be too tough this year for them to get the wildcard i think.
78422
Well in response to the guy bringing up the Yankees....They are in the AL and have nothing to do with the Mets making the playoffs. Secondly, you have to remember that chemistry plays a big deal in winning baseball games. Just because you have Carlos Delgado, and Billy Wagner doesn't mean they'll stay healthy either. I think that Mets have a great chance to make it as at least a wildcard, but until they lose the division, you have to go with Atlanta. Best of luck to the Mets though.
412867
The Braves will win again.  They seem to pull off miracles with minor league players every year. Look at last year, how many players got called up from Richmond and finished out the season?