Feature Presentation

AL: East | Central | West
NL: East | Central (4/18) | West (4/20)

NL East

Note: placed in predicted order of finish

Atlanta Braves

   The Good: Rafael Furcal drove his drunk behind to Dodgertown to play shortstop and legendary pitching coach Leo Mazzone flocked north for Baltimore, yet the Braves are still the favorites to win the NL East. Those departures do sting a tad, but the pain is softened with the returning cast of last season when Atlanta went 90-72. The front-line starters are as good as anybody in baseball. The un-hittable changeup/splitter throwing Tim Hudson and the proven veteran John Smoltz are good for a combined 35+ wins guaranteed. It seemed like the club had a plethora of rookies who batted .300 and were either on Baseball Tonight's Web Gems or in some or sort of highlight every single night. Andruw Jones remains one of the games best all-around center fielders and Chipper Jones and his high socks one of the best 3rd baseman. Adding veteran shortstop Edgar Renteria doesn't hurt the cause.
   The Bad: Other than the constant rocking back and forth, Mazzone brought a lot to the table. Baltimore's gain, Atlanta's loss ... when stuck in a jam, the Braves will have to turn to new pitching coach Roger McDowell. While their rookies had a collective impressive 1st year, they need to keep it up in their sophomore seasons. Much like with the Washington Nationals (see below), other than the first two starters in the rotation, the Braves will need someone to step up and pick up quality starts that turn into wins.
   The Skinny: Obviously the good outweighs the bad for me to be predicting the Braves to finish first. It's not your traditional all-around solid, balanced pitching and offensive attack, but they'll eek out enough to get the job done. Utility player Wilson Betemit is a name you'll be hearing a lot by season's end. When it comes down to it, their quest for a 15th straight division crown will be a bumpy ride, but let's face it Furcal's not driving, so the Braves should be okay.

New York Mets

   The Good: General Manager Omar Minaya. He's as aggressive as they come and has a stockpile of talent. Adding Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca to a line-up that already has Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Cliff Floyd automatically puts them in contention. And adding Billy Wagner to a bullpen that already has, well nobody, will sure improve their postseason chances. Although Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez are a combined 74 years of age, they still get the job done.
   The Bad: The bullpen. As an outsider, the last thing I thought the Mets would do is add a cancer of arm in Jorge Julio, but they did. And they paid a price. Not only is he not capable of holding on to leads, he was traded for Kris Benson - who is average at best but still gathered some wins and some rest for the bullpen - and his gorgeous wife Anna. Wow she's hot. Back to baseball though, the Mets just don't have the balanaced attack the Braves do.
   The Skinny: I like their chances in making it to the postseason, mostly behind their offense and Martinez/Glavine. Watch out for rookie starting pitcher Brian Bannister to have a big year.

Washington Nationals

   The Good: The feel good story of 2005 returns for it's sophomore season. The Nationals line-up and bench got better. Alfonso Soriano, one of the games best hitting second basemen, reluctantly accepted a move to left field - where he is actually doing a good job playing out there. He'll get his fair amount of strike outs in, but he can crush the ball at the swing of his heavy bat and if he gets on base for a single and double he's a threat to steal a base. Nick Johnson, Jose Guillen and Jose Vidro - if healthy - should complement him and put up enough run support for stud pitchers Livan Hernandez and John Patterson. Livo and Patty were the 1-2 punch of the rotation last year and will definitely have a great sequel season. Look for young studs closer Chad Cordero and 3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman to help out the club (again)!
   The Bad: There is a lot. For starters, outside of Hernandez and Patterson, the Nationals starting pitching is weak, very weak. While it seems Tony Armas, Jr. is throwing pretty well early on, Ramon Ortiz and a pitcher to be named later haven't provided productive innings. RFK should benefit Ortiz in the long run, but should is the key word. Part of the reason the rotation is so bad is in part to the Nats not being able to go after a big name free agent pitcher this offseason (thanks to no owner ... thanks to Bud Selig). And while RFK is a spacious ballpark, the Nats hitters - who are not big home-run hitters - complained a lot about the fences being out too far. The funny thing is as much as they b!tch, the make-up of the team is a doubles and gaps hitting team.
   The Skinny: The Nats love to play in one-run ball games. Most of the time it wasn't the result they liked though. Twenty-four in their final 84 games the Nationals lost by one stinking run. So that's the formula to beat them. The Nats won't sneak up on anybody this year, but are still a fun club to watch and are on the right path. With a new owner expected to be named soon, a new ballpark to be built in the near future and a growing fan base that is excited to have a team in town, good things are happening in Nationals town. Just don't expect anything better than a third place finish.

Philadelphia Phillies

   The Good: The hyped 1st base prospect Ryan Howard finally gets a whole year at the MLB level. The guy will make as many All-Star squads as he eats cheeseburgers. Surrounding him: Bobby Abreu always starts the year hot, Pat Burrell is good for 20+ homers, shortstop Jimmy Rollins knows how to get on base and second baseman Chase Utley is a flat out stud. Starter Jon Lieber is reliable and Ryan Franklin is due for a breakout year.
   The Bad: Tom "Flash" Gordon is a nice addition, but that doesn't subtract the fact that the Phils bullpen is still garbage. The starting rotation has holes and so does their line-up. Yeah, Philly placed 2nd in the NL in runs scored (807) but thats 110% credited to they get the luxury of playing in hitter's best friend Citizen's Bank Park. That and the fact that they dominated the NL East during the month of August including a 7-1 win @ Washington, a 12-5 victory over Florida, a 12-4 win at home vs Atlanta and a 16-6 rout over the Mets.
   The Skinny: Franklin needs to keep the ball down in the Phils small ballpark and whenever the Phillies do have the lead, they need to hope their bullpen can keep it that way. It seems that every year the Phillies are dubbed as playoff contenders. And it seems that at the end of every year, their fans are scratching their heads - or booing and yelling at their team during home games - at how they faltered. Their is promise for the Phillies to make a serious run in the near future, but I think this is another October spent at home.

Florida Marlins

   The Good: Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera are still around. The Marlins cleaned house this offseason committing to the future, after being competitive year in and year out for so long. Guys like outfielder Jeremy Hermida, 1st baseman Mike Jacobs and catcher Josh Willingham are finally getting the chances to play at the major league level.
   The Bad: Josh Beckett, Carlos Delgado and Juan Pierre are all gone and at age 24, Cabrera is the oldest infielder? Things just don't look good for the boys in black. The rotation, the bullpen, the outfield, the infield ... just all inexperienced parts scattered all over the place. In a division as good as the NL East, it doesn't bode well for the 16,000 Marlins fans.
   The Skinny: If pitchers Scott Olsen and Jason Vargas can have dominant performances on the bump, then maybe a finish out of the NL East cellar is possible. The team is just too young, too overmatched to be taken as contenders.

You can reach Doug McKinney @ dmckinney@featurepresentationonline.com.