MLB Picks: NL East

NL East
1. Philadelphia Phillies
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Florida Marlins
4. New York Mets
5. Washington Nationals

As big of fans of Atlanta as TPD is, we don't see them being able to beat out the stable of aces the Phillies have on their roster.  Halladay, Lee, Hamels, and Oswalt are too good to be consistently beat, making them a long-term threat in the playoffs as well.  With that said, their offense is still shaky especially with the loss of Utley, and that bullpen isn't as solid as they'd like either.  Atlanta's starting staff is no slouch either, with Lowe, Hudson, and Hanson.  They'll be competitive all year long and with the solid start Chipper Jones has had, he brings an extra bat to a pretty decent lineup.

Florida always seems to be frisky, and this year again is no exception.  Mike Stanton is thought to be the real deal, and this season will be a good test.  Combined with Chris Coghlan, Gaby Sanchez, and Hanley Ramirez, this is a young Marlins team that will give the top teams a run for their money.  The Mets are almost to the point where they really don't matter.  Gone are the days of 2001 when Piazza and the crew led the Mets to the series, and now you rarely hear anything but disappointment out of Citi Field.  The team is highlighted by Bay, Beltran, Wright and Reyes, but rarely are all of them able to put it together at the same time.  And unfortunately, with Washington, they lost their big ticket name in Stephen Strasburg, who is currently on the 60 day DL but not really likely to see much time this year.  You know things are rough when Livan Hernandez is leading your rotation, but the Nats are young and are looking to just get better with each game.