NL East 2013 Predictions

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Washington Nationals (104-58)

The Nationals will be the team to beat in the Majors once again this season.  Having patched up some cracks and strengthening their late game bullpen, the many leads they're going to have will be hard to give up and losses will be rare.

Atlanta Braves (96-66)

The Braves added a lot of power this offseason, but consistency will still be an issue for both the offense (Uggla, McCann) and pitching (Maholm, Teheran).  Atlanta will keep it together though, and if they were in any other division, they would more than likely take home a pennant.  The Braves will go into the wildcard playoff looking to advance further than they did last year, and they probably will.

Philadelphia Phillies (89-73)

The moves made by the Phillies this season didn't address all of the issues they had and there are still a lot of question marks in the line-up and rotation.  Philadelphia is always a worthy contender though, and they may just be able to lock down that second wildcard spot to play against Atlanta.  Only time will tell.

New York Mets (74-88)

Depending on what the Mets do with the rest of this offseason, it looks like 2013 is going to be more of the same.  The loss of R.A. Dickey will be hard to overcome, and if the starting rotation can collectively stand up to make up for the 20 win hole that Dickey left, then I might be low-balling them with this estimate.  I doubt it, though.

Miami Marlins (bad)

Cue the Benny Hill theme music, and let's bookend the NL East with another number >100, only this time in the "L" column.  It's going to be ugly down in Miami and not just that monstrosity in the outfield.  The Fish are thoroughly gutted this season, and they could very well contend for the worst record in the National League.