Spring Training Begins; Pt. 2: NL; Season Opener April 1

Atlanta Braves: This team is scary when everyone except Atlanta Braves fans knew that Freddie Freeman was really good, but he wasn’t at MVP level, last year, he won the MVP. They got Marcell Ozuna back, Charlie Morton – I think it will be really interesting to see how he does, Abraham Almonte, who may not get a starting role, and Jake Lamb, just to add an immense amount of offense. This team is such a fundamentally sound team that there aren’t any needs, which amounts to any people they lost in the offseason isn’t too big. I think they’re still going to be a really good team, but Wild Card, around mid to low 80 wins though.

Miami Marlins: The fans of this team are on edge, they made the playoffs but they’re like the Knicks this year, they don’t have a really good player, but they played/playing really well, so it’s all very shaky. They got Adam Duvall, a solid bat, but he’s past his prime, and they focused on their bullpen this year, which, if you look at playoff teams, there’s one common denominator, a good bullpen. They got Anthony Bass, Adam Cimber, and John Curtiss and they’re all scarily good. But, what’s the most “Marlins” thing they did this year? Let go of a lot of bullpen pitchers, so that didn’t work out too well, Ryne Stanek, Jose Urena and Nick Vincent, and more, so, if there could be another move during the season, then that’s a really good move to propel them towards the playoffs. I think they’ll be 5^th in their division without the move, with the move, 3^rd, or 4^th, and that’s a whole lot of difference.  I think they’ll win 70 games.

Philadelphia Phillies: This is a roster with talent, a lot of untapped potential, but with those players not breaking out, and then this team is going to be hovering around 3 or 4 in their division, and maybe even embark on a slow decline. They resigned JT Realmuto and Didi Gregorious, who they needed to resign, they got Archie Bradley, who I’ve always been a fan of, just his consistency was great and Chase Anderson, as a hybrid pitcher. And they only lost David Phelps and Jake Arrieta, both players that aren’t amazing and they didn’t need them. I am such a fan of this roster and the only hole I can find in this roster is a third outfielder. I think they’ll be 3^rd or 4^th, the reason I put three teams at 3^rd or 4^th is because this division is so volatile and so good.

New York Mets: Now, finally, the Mets made that move, yes, that one, the one we’ve all been waiting for, and now, they need to capitalize on this, don’t just raise Mets fans’ expectations, but actually raise them for a reason. Steve Cohen, the new owner, and Sandy Alderson back with the Amazins, they went crazy in the offseason, and Mets fans couldn't ask for a better one. With Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco, James McCann, Trevor May, Joey Lucchesi, Taijuan Walker, Albert Almora Jr., and Jonathan Villar all added to the roster, the Mets can now put the pedal to the metal and establish themselves early. Let me tell you a little about that, in Fantasy Basketball, if I don’t get a good start, I lost 9 times out of 10. We lost our two best middle infield prospects, Amed Rosario and Andres Giminez, Michael Wacha and Wilson Ramos, if you don’t say we didn’t get better, then get glasses. I think we’re first in our division by at least 8 games.

Washington Nationals: This roster is very young, but it lost talent, if you look at it, this team has potential, seen, and untapped. They got Brad Hand, a great arm out of the bullpen, Josh Bell, who needs to pop off this year, or else, some bad psyche will set in and he’ll turn into Eric Thames, no offense to Eric Thames. They also got a big, inconsistent, powerful bat in Kyle Scwarber and Jon Lester, to probably finish off his career in Washington, but he’s still good, though. They lost Sean Dolittle, but don’t fret, that’s Hand’s role on the team, Adam Eaton, Kurt Suzuki, and Eric Thames were all older and they all left the team. This offseason is amazing. But, if this team doesn’t bring at least one more hitter on this team, that has some power, then this team can flirt with the playoffs. But right now, I see this team around 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th. These five teams make up the hardest division in the MLB, no question.

Chicago Cubs: This team is amazing, I know they might see that they might be on a decline, but no, no, no, do not rebuild, don’t trade Kris Bryant, he’s literally one of the best third basemen in the league, and, unless it involves mostly prospects, and a benchwarmer in the MLB, then I’ll take it, but we like JD Davis, he’s coming into his own and we’ll keep the prospects. Their team didn’t haul in too many players, supporting the “don’t rebuild” strategy, but they did lose some players, like Kyle Schwarber, a big bat, Albert Almora Jr., a great fielder and just a guy that you don’t appreciate him until he’s gone and Jose Martinez, who’s a great all-around player. This team will be second in their division because they lost more players than they got. Around 80 wins for them, second or first in their division.

St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals finally took that step, the one that made them good finally, but a few moves are needed. They got Nolan Arenado, a guy who has good speed, and will supply you with 35 homers and a player to take your mind off third base, because he’ll sweep up everything. They lost Kolten Wong and John Brebbia, a win in the offseason for them. They got better, but they need defense, not pitching, but good fielders, pitching wouldn’t be too bad either. I think they’ll be 1^st, 3^rd or 4^th in their division; they’ll either flop or be great.

Cincinnati Reds: The Reds are a team that’s young, but no one really knows what they’re going to do, except Baseball America. But, they’re not all young, they have some aging players, for the young players, and everyone on the team can perform. They got Jeff Hoffman, who’s not too great as a reliever, Sean Doolittle, who can’t falter, and Noe Ramirez, who’s average-ish. They lost Trevor Bauer, Raisel Iglesias, Anthony Desclafani, and Archie Bradley, they lost the core of their general pitching, they had a horrible offseason, not improving on any position, just filling in positions. They’re getting fourth or fifth in the division.

Milwaukee Brewers: This team is really good, but again, they’re in a really good division, so they can’t show themselves. Something that strikes me immediately is the infielders, they need to get some more infielders now, like a go-to guy, someone who’s really good. The Brewers received Kolten Wong, and a bunch of others, like Luke Maile, a catcher, who’s never really been good, but they’re expecting a 7 HR season, 58 RBIs, and a .240/.250 average, they’re not expecting anything big from their players, except their bullpen, Christian Yelich, and Keston Hiura. Those are the only players that are really good and expected to be good on this team. I don’t like it, I like players, young or old, that are all expected to produce (no need to be a dynasty, like the Dodgers, but just 15 HRs and 80 RBIs are good). They lost Alex Claudio and Corey Knebel, both good relievers. This team is getting either 4^th in their division or 3^rd.

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates kicked off their rebuild, and so far, it’s going great, they got rid of the good players, and are bringing up the young. They don’t have a strong rotation and they don’t have really good hitters. They got Tyler Anderson as a back-end (or front end with how bad the rotation is) rotation guy. That’s it. Not eventful, but definitely rebuild-ish. They lost Chris Archer, Josh Bell, Joe Musgrove, Jameson Taillon, and Derek Holland. Nice rebuild, but don’t overdo it, your 17 total fans are going to be slowly declining because of how bad your team is going to be this year. I predict last in their division, by a landslide.

Los Angeles Dodgers: The best team in baseball just got better. Wild. Their main concern is deciding who plays second base, not if anyone’s going to hit 20 HRs, nope, who’s going to play second. The Dodgers can’t get much better. They got Trevor Bauer, Blake Treinen, and Corey Knebel, this team is going to be amazing. Now, they could decide whether to make Knebel the closer, Treinen the closer, or stick with the shaky Jensen. They lost Joc Pederson, Kike Hernandez, and Pedro Baez, the Dodgers’ roster is so good, it doesn’t matter, let them lose Pederson, let them lose Kike, they’ll still be amazing. I predict top of their division at about 100 wins.

San Diego Padres: Yes, yes, Fernando Tatis Jr. is amazing, he’s really good. He deserves the contract… in three years. Let him get settled, let the Padres get settled with Tatis. During the offseason, they got Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Jurickson Profar. This rotation just got a lot better, sadly, they don’t have Joey Lucchesi. They lost Kirby Yates, a huge hit to their bullpen, and two of their best prospects, Francisco Mejia and Luis Patino. That’s not all, also, Jason Castro, Zach Davies, Luis Perdomo, Trevor Rosenthal and Mitch Moreland. This Padres team rebuilt so perfectly, but they need a second baseman and center fielder. Then this team has a 90% chance to beat out the Dodgers for the division. Right now, they’re second in their division, at around 90 wins in my opinion.

San Francisco Giants: This is a team that has no future what so ever, their minor leagues are bad and their team right now is bad. They got Tommy La Stella (fun fact: he actually went to my middle school), Alex Wood, and a bunch of other bullpen players that aren’t going to have a big role on the team, what scares me is that the guy upstairs (no, not God, a little lower, and in the stadium) isn’t even trying to make this team better. They lost Tyler Anderson, Drew Smyly, Justin Smoak, and Shaun Anderson. Wow, nice job, guys, last in your division.

Colorado Rockies: This team is again, debating within themselves whether to rebuild to push towards the playoffs. They got Austin Gomber and Robert Stephenson, not too flashy, not too great. They lost Nolan Arenado, Daniel Murphy (retired) and David Dahl, you can’t make this stuff up. Yeah, they’re going full rebuild mode now, fourth in their division, because the Giants take “being bad” to a different level.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Now this is a team with an interesting roster, but I just bad management has taken over this team. They got Asdrubal Cabrera, Joakim Soria, and Tyler Clippard, nothing too great, just old players to fill in some positions. Same with the losses, not that bad, only Junio Guerra (who was extremely shaky), Mike Leake, whose career is over after this year, and Hector Rondon, who they should’ve kept, that guy’s good. I think they’ll be third in their division, high 70 wins. 

As they're saying at every baseball diamond: Play ball!