As a Mets fan, I really do not like Barry Bonds. He took the 'roids, which is enoguh to be on my shit list. However, I will concede that he was one of the best players in the MLB, and he will most likely get into the Hall, asterisk or not.
Anyway, on to my pro-Mets rant. Considering how well the Mets did last year, I say that we will get into the playoffs again. If it hadn't been for Aaron Heilman...well, Shea was loud that night, I can tell you that. What with the offense that the Mets have, topping the NL East shouldn't be hard. Sure, one may argue that the Phillies now have a marginal semblance to a rotation, but who's going to make up their offense? Ryan Howard and Chase Utley CANNOT carry the team the whole way offensively. Of course, the Met probably (hopefully temporarily) have the worst rotation in the Majors, short of the Kansas City Royals (Mark Redman, FTW!).
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As for the other teams, players/positions I'd keep an eye on:
[#] Oakland A's = Rich Harden. If he can actually stay healthy, he could be ace material.
[#] San Francisco Giants = Matt Cain. He's a young pitcher with good stuff. Every team wants one of these.
[#] LA Angels of Anaheim = Gary Matthews, Jr. Let's see if that $50 million contract is a waste, as I think it will be.
[#] LA Dodgers = Nomar. He's one of the Holy Trinity. What more is there to say?
[#] San Diego Padres = Chris Young. We'll see if he can recreate his success from last year.
[#] Seattle Mariners = Felix Hernandez. Will he mature into the next Nolan Ryan as the writers say? Or will he be shot down like Brien Taylor?
[#] Colorado Rockies = Matt Holliday. One of the most underrated players in the game, he's a solid average and power hitter (Coors does help a bit, though).
[#] Arizona Diamondbacks = Stephen Drew. Will he become the next Derek Jeter? Or is he just as frail as J.D.?
[#] Texas Rangers = Mark Teixeira. He said he regained his power stroke after changing his swing midway through last year. I'd expect a 40+ homer season from him.
[#] Houston Astros = The entire team. They've lost Andy Pettite and probably Roger Clemens. They also traded away Willy Taveras. I sense problems.
[#] Kansas City Royals = Alex Gordon. Assuming he comes up this year, he can show how good he really is. Probably will be a bright spot in a typical bleak season for the Royals.
[#] St. Louis Cardinals = The pitching rotation. They lost Suppan and Weaver to free agency, and now must rely on Chris Carpenter and Mark Mulder's surgically repaired rotator cuff.
[#] Chicago Cubs = Alfonso Soriano. Can Fonzy master Chicago's center field? Will the Cubs actually break the Curse of the Billy Goat? Will "Sweet" Lou Piniella NOT get suspended from at least one game? Only time will tell.
[#] Chicago White Sox = Kenny Williams (GM). He spent 2 years hoarding Brandon McCarthy only to trade him to the Astros? Someone's job security is going down.
[#] Detroit Tigers = Gary Sheffield. He's the new part on a relatively unchanged team. Either he'll be the mean, critical Sheff that we know and love, or he'll be the nice, not-quite-as-critical Sheff that we'd like to know and love.
[#] Minnesota Twins = Joe Mauer. Ideally, if he progresses to the way he did in college, he should start developing power, even if it is only agains righty pitching.
[#] Milwaukee Brewers = Prince Fielder. Purple rain, purple rain. Can he carry the entire Brewers' offense to the playoffs? You wish.
[#] Cincinnati Reds = Ken Griffey, Jr. Please don't break your hand playing catch with the kids again, mr. Griffey. It's really hurting your Hall of Fame credibility.
[#] Cleveland Indians = Travis Hafner. I want to see a 6 grand slam season, damn it!
[#] Tampa Bay Devil Rays = Scott Kazmir. It's always comforting to see your ex-prospect break the strikeout record of the guy you received in the trade.
[#] Florida Marlins = Miguel Cabrera. He's gained quite a bit of weight and looks like he's developing a mean power and average stroke. I'd hate to see him on the free agent market.
[#] Atlanta Braves = Brian McCann. Amazingly, he's still available in a lot of fantasy baseball leagues right now. We'll see how that changes by the All-Star Break.
[#] Washington Nationals = Ryan Zimmerman. He's a very promising 3rd baseman, in an era with a lot of promising 3rd baseman.
[#] Baltimore Orioles = Brian Roberts. Run Forrest, Run!
[#] Pittsburgh Pirates = Adam LaRoche. Either he'll help Jason Bay out and become the next Manny-Big Papi tandem, or the ADD will throw him off. Either way, the Pirates are no closer to the playoffs.
[#] Philadelphia Phillies = Ryan Howard. I seriously hope all of his numbers are real. Then again, so do Congress and Bud Selig.
[#] New York Yankees = Philip Hughes. As much as I hate los Yanquis, I have to give them kudos for taking very good care of Phil Hughes. He'll be up in the pen at the least by the All-Star Break.
[#] New York Mets = David Wright. I love D-Wright. Plain and simple.
[#] Boston Red Sox = Daisuke Matsuzaka. He'll either be the biggest flop in history, or he could be a godsend. If things go right, the first pitch at the home opener at Fenway would be from Matsuzaka to Ichiro.
[#] Toronto Blue Jays = Alex Rios/Vernon Wells. Will Alex Rios recover from his intestinal issues to hit over .300 again? Aside from Rios, Vernon Wells can either keep going the way he has, or he may drop down a little, considering that huge contract extension he received.
Well, those are my predictions. Forgive me if I forgot any teams. Have fun reading them all!
