2014 NL East preview – Brad Beneke

Atlanta has the deepest rotation in the NL East and is the most likely team to be able to deal with an injury. The team has found a way to get younger and better at almost every position than they were just a few years ago. They have locked up their core players, and they have a track record of winning. You cannot have enough pitching, but the Braves have more than most, and great pitching almost always beats anything else.

Washington has supreme talent and two of the best young players in the game in pitcher Stephen Strasburg and outfielder Bryce Harper.  They have a lot of depth in the rotation and the lineup is very solid.  The bullpen might actually be better than Atlanta’s if it’s healthy, but health is always a concern with this team.  Strasburg, Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman have all had health issues. IF they can stay healthy they could run away with it. But they have a brand new manager and a team with a history of injuries. And they are in Washington D.C., where turmoil, gridlock, and mind numbingly bad decisions are the norm everywhere from the political arena to the Red Skins… I cannot put my money on these guys no matter how tempting.

The Mets have reemerged from near death with the Bernie Madoff scam and the ownership’s incessant need to try and compete for tabloid coverage instead of consistent baseball.  If stud youngster Matt Harvey was healthy going into the year and the Mets had better management I’d say they could hit .500 this season, but this team has a history of bad decisions and bad luck, so I can’t trust them to be average. It’s up to them to prove me wrong.

The Phillies have gotten old, and they’ve done it in a hurry.  Ryan Howard isn’t one-third the player he was four years ago and Jimmy Rollins isn’t going to get younger anytime soon. This team lacks youth, it lacks depth and, after Roy Halladay retired and the team didn’t go after any real pitching this off-season, I see this team as an eBay auction waiting to happen. The real questions aren’t how bad this team is, but where do all of their veterans end up by the trade deadline? If you’re lucky you will get one of them at a clearance price, but even if the team fleeces it’s trade partners 2014 is a wash.

Miami has a lot of young talent, but Jeffery Loria is a loser, and a bum. He is a disgrace to baseball, to sports, to Miami, and to his mom and dad.  A team can only go as far as it’s lead, and I smell a backed up toilet… oh wait… it’s Jeff promising his fans a contender.

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