Sunday, March 30, 2008

Padres to finish third again?


The Padres finished third in the NL West last season, but it really wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

They finished one game behind first-place Arizona and came within a hand of (not) touching home plate vs. Colorado to determine the National League’s final playoff team.

This season?

Don’t be surprised if the Padres finished third again; yet do be surprised if they come within one game of first place.

This is a team with three strong starting pitchers (Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Greg Maddux) and a solid bullpen. But from there, the team has more question marks than Hillary Clinton’s memory of events from when she was First Lady.

The outfield has more holes than a golf course; the bench is average. The infield is solid, the catching is adequate; but the power is missing. Here’s a look at predicted 2008 standings:

NL West
Arizona
Los Angeles
San Diego
Colorado
San Francisco

NL Central
Chicago
Milwaukee
Houston
St. Louis
Cincinnati
Pittsburgh

NL East
Philadelphia
Atlanta
New York
Washington
Florida

AL West
California
Seattle
Oakland
Texas

AL Central
Detroit
Cleveland
Minnesota
Chicago
Kansas City

AL East
Boston
New York
Toronto
Tampa Bay
Baltimore

NL Wildcard: Los Angeles

AL Wildcard: New York

World Series: California over Arizona

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is this? You think the Angels will win the World Series. They may win a weak division but that's it. They still have Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, the Yankees, etc. to beat.
No way!

Anonymous said...

I am a little surprised you picked the cubbies and the phillies. It will be fun to see how your predictions pan out.