MLB 2011 Previews and Predictions- NL East
Philadelphia posted the best record in the Major Leagues last season at 97-65 on its way to winning the NL East by six games. It was the Phillies fourth-straight NL East title but they failed to make it back to the World Series for the third straight year with a loss to San Francisco in the NLCS in six games. Atlanta actually led the East for a good portion of the summer but it had to settle for NL Wildcard with a record of 91-71. The Braves went on to lose to the Giants in four games in the NLDS.
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Florida finished just under .500 in third-place at 80-82 and New York was able to win nine more games than in 2009 with a record of 79-83. Washington brought up the rear in the East for the third straight year but it did manage to win 10 more games with a record of 69-93.
Here is a brief preview of all the teams in the NL East along with their odds to win the division as provided by BetUs.com.
Philadelphia took a page out of the Miami Heat’s playbook by acquiring pitcher Cliff Lee from Texas this offseason to form one of the most formidable starting rotations ever assembled. He joins last season’s NL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels to make the Phillies a prohibitive favorite to not only win the East but to win their second World Series in four years. They did lose Jayson Werth to free agency after he signed with Washington and have some injury concerns with Chase Utley and Placido Polanco, but barring some kind of catastrophic collapse, the Phillies should cruise to a fifth straight NL East title.
Atlanta Braves +425
The big change in Atlanta this season is not with its roster, but with the guy calling the shots in the dugout. Freddi Gonzalez takes over the reins after Bobby Cox decided to hang up the spikes after leading the Braves since 1985. They have pretty much the same roster as last season with the addition of Dan Uggla and Joe Mather. The key to the Braves keeping the Phillies somewhat in check will be duplicating their MLB-best 56-25 record at home.
Florida Marlins +850
The loss of Uggla to Atlanta pokes a huge hole in Florida’s offense, but it should remain competitive with very talented starting rotation led by Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco that was made even better with the acquisition of Javier Vazquez. The Marlins also went to great lengths to rebuild their bullpen which should keep them in the wildcard race well into September. If some young guns such as Hanley Ramirez and Mike Stanton overachieve, Florida could be the surprise team in the East this season.
New York Mets +1600
New York enters this season with a new manager, and rebuilt front-office, and possibly new ownership, as well as more questions than answers. The Mets are still loaded down with some overpriced talent that will probably need to be jettisoned just to keep the team financially afloat. They still have most of the pitching staff intact from last year’s group that had a team ERA of 3.57, but they also have the better part of a lineup that was one of the worst hitting clubs in the league in 2010.
Washington Nationals +2800
Washington is hoping to come out ahead after losing Adam Dunn but picking up Werth and Adam LaRoche. The real problem for the Nationals is a starting rotation that is lacking a true ace. Last season’s rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg will need the better part of this season to recover from Tommy John surgery and their brightest young prospect left on the roster, John Lannan remains an unproven commodity. If everything comes together for this team it could pass the Mets to get out of the East’s basement, but that is about how far it goes.
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