1. Cubs — I’m not as in love with the offense as I think other people are, but Soriano, D. Lee, and Aramis are enough to keep them going. Their starting pitching is their strong point and quite deep, with Hill and Marquis giving them the edge on most 4s and 5s in the league. The Kerry Wood experiment can work for a few months and then it’ll be time for Marmol to take over. He should be ready. I think this team has holes (notably up the middle: C, 2B, SS, CF), but they’re strong enough to take the division. If I could give them one thing, I’d give em … a new manager.
2. Brewers — Their offense is simply badass and is the best in the division. It might even be good enough to make up for the way they kick the ball around the yard on defense. There aren’t many stats to measure how bad they were in the field, but I’ll tell you — they were pretty terrible. Their staff is solid, and I really like the additions they made to the pen with Gagne, Riske, and Torres. And finally, at long last, it will be the year of Rickie Weeks! If I could give them one thing, I’d give em … a rover, lord knows they could use the extra defender.
3. Reds — I like what they did this off-season… and it has NOTHING to do with the hiring of Dusty Baker. Their glaring weakness recently has been their pen, and they addressed it by signing Cordero and adding Affeldt. Those two additions give me more confidence in their chances of improving. I’m not wild about Cueto and Volquez in the rotation and figure they’ll be out of it before long. The offense is more than solid, and this will be the year Edwin Encarnacion emerges. If I could give them one thing, I’d give em … a larger ballpark to boost the confidence of their pitchers.
4. Astros — Their offense is somewhat daunting when you consider the heart of the order; Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee are sluggers, while Hunter Pence might be on his way. Miguel Tejada and Ty Wigginton can pull their weight, and they no longer have three automatic outs 7-9 in Adam Everett, Brad Ausmus, and the pitcher. They have a solid ace in Roy Oswalt, but the dropoff after that 2-5 is bigger than the Grand Canyon. I like their off-season moves, but the pitching is just too weak. If I could give them one thing, I’d give em … a number two starter.
5. Cardinals — They probably have the most complete and deepest rotation in the league … if you could count the DL. Unfortunately the stats pitchers rack up in the training room won’t help them. Albert Pujols and Adam Wainright are about the only good things they have going for them. Pity the manager who has to deal with that bullpen mess. I can’t envision this team doing much — they’re weak offensively and they don’t have a good staff. If I could give them one thing, I’d give em … Dr. Frank Jobe.
6. Pirates — They have some bright spots, most notably on their pitching staff, but when you have to search as hard as I am to find the positives, it’s not looking good. Their rotation is better than some of the other teams in the division, with Snell and Gorzelanny starring at the top. Their pen could be worse, and Bay, LaRoche, and Nady are decent sticks, but there isn’t enough their. Worst part is, there probably isn’t more than one guy on the team who wants to be there. If I could give them one thing, I’d give em … blindfolds. For the fans.
