After a couple of slacking weeks (working 60 hour weeks does not count towards this site), it is time for me to pick up on the NL again. I will go through each team in the order I expect them to finish in their division. Just don’t take these rankings to Vegas.

NL East

New York Mets

Yeah, less than 100 words into my 2008 column and I am mentioning Johan Santana. The Mets’ acquisition of Santana is without parallel; seldom do players of this caliber get traded for so little. I am naturally a believer in the Mets ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but I am leaning towards believing in them this year,

Philadelphia Phillies

Brad Lidge injured? Lidge not living up to expectations of returning to his top rated form? Doesn’t seem like much of a jump to me. The Phillies, like the Mets, have one of the best infields in baseball. It would not seem like a big surprise to see a big jump in Geoff Jenkins’ power in their ballpark, which could be just the kind of thing they need to make the jump to winning the division.

Atlanta Braves

The Boys are back in town. John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton. Unfortunately, most of the position players are based on building for the long-term, not winning one more time before the starting rotation joins the AARP. Third place is my prediction despite having Mark Teixeira.

Washington Nationals

I still have some feelings for the team since they used to be the Expos. Anyone who saw my team using the OOTP simulation from a couple of years ago, would question whether I am more competent at building a team than Jim Bowden. But man, how hard do you have to try to get this many mediocre players on a team? A couple of good points: Nick Johnson isn’t injured yet, and had a career year the last time he played (2006). Also, fantasy-wise, no one on their team is going to be expensive. And a few of them are pretty intriguing.

Florida Marlins

The Marlins blew it up again. They have an exciting core of players, which should be enough to make the hometown fans happy, but probably will not be enough to draw them into the stadium. Do not be surprised to see Cameron Maybin NOT being the regular center fielder this year. He should eventually be good, but expect Alfredo Amezaga or Alejandro De Aza to get a lot of chances.

NL Central

Chicago Cubs

The division is the Cubs to lose, and with Lou at their head, I wouldn’t put it past them. It is too early to write off Kerry Wood as their closer, but things are not looking good. Carlos Marmol will probably end up with the job, though I would prefer to see Bob Howry get it. Felix Pie seems to have the edge over Sam Fuld in center currently. Neither should be expected to provide much in the way of power. Brian Roberts to the Cubs for shiny pennies? The rumor still persists.

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers can be expected to hit this year, for sure. Their pitching staff seems to have potential to be pretty good. But past results from most of them, make it far from a sure thing. After seeing Eric Gagne on the Red Sox last year, having him as the closer is kind of scary. Also, count me as someone who thinks Ryan Braun is going to be generally overvalued this year. 29 walks last year, in particular, scares me.

Houston Astros

Is it time to start the free J.R. Towles chant? Humberto Quintero blocking him? No way. It is okay to keep Brad Ausmus around, as he should lose at bats as the year progresses, but still could be valuable to the team. Offensively, the Astros are among the elite of the NL, especially if you believe like I do that Miguel Tejada is not done, Kaz Matsui will repeat as an offensive sparkplug, and Ty Wigginton will actually slightly improve over last year. Beyond Roy Oswalt in the rotation, things could go pretty badly, but there certainly is enough talent there to be able to hold the other team to five runs or so, which could be enough to at least to make the playoffs.

Cincinnati Reds

My love for the Reds has cooled over the years, but I look at this team and try to be optimistic. I don’t see Dusty Baker coaxing more than third place in the division this year. They do have a big group of up and coming players that should be major contributors in 2009 and beyond. Like most of the division, starting pitching could be a major issue. Since I haven’t weighed in on the Francisco Cordero signing, I will throw in my two cents. Why pay big money for a closer when you are not realistically in the playoffs? I suppose it could be looked at as investment for 2009 and beyond, but there could be other closers, just as good available at that point.

St Louis Cardinals

They finished three games under .500 last season. It would be surprising to see them able to do any better this year. The moves they have made do not really seem like improvements. They may not make the team worse, but they are no better either. It goes without saying, that if this is finally the year that Albert Pujols succumbs to injury, they could even be horrible. On the other hand Chris Duncan, Rick Ankiel, and Ryan Ludwick might just go out and hit like 120 home runs.

Pittsburgh Pirates

It is too early to claim the Pirates can see a light at the end of the tunnel after years of disappointment. But perhaps they can at least tell that they are in a tunnel and not infinite darkness. Jason Bay is due for a big bounce back season, but they could be looking up at 70 wins again.

NL West

Arizona Diamondbacks

Dustin Nippert’s chances of making the rotation took a significant hit today when he picked up his second loss of Spring Training after allowing two hits, two walks, and three earned runs in two innings. At this point, Nippert is looking like a long reliever with occasional spot starts, or a Triple-A starter, with no value in either role.

Colorado Rockies

While currently without a spot in the rotation, Mark Redman is making a strong case for one. In two outings, Redman has pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks, and striking out five. Redman could end up beating out Franklin Morales here, as Morales could likely use more seasoning.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Could Nomar Garciaparra be getting some time in at shortstop this season? It is looking like that is a possibility, as the Dodgers are envisioning him as a super-utility player. It can only help his value, as he is no longer starter material at this point in his career, at least not with the Dodgers.

San Diego Padres

Is there reason to worry about Trevor Hoffman? His first outing was, well, less than positive, as he allowed four hits and two runs and retired just two before he was yanked. Sure, he struggled last spring too, but he had not been hurt at the end of the previous season heading in to camp.

San Francisco Giants

Is Omar Vizquel done? Out with surgery for four-to-six weeks, Vizquel is saying that it will likely be on the high end of time coming back, rather than the low end. When the player is saying, “do not expect me back anytime soon,” that is never a good thing.