The NL

[noonanberg]

While the WC is again a chase of Devil Ray clones that are lucky to be in such a awful league, the NL is still an exciting league right now. The Wild Card race is eight teams deep. The NL West is a half decent race although L.A. is slowly pulling away. Cincy is making a run at St. Louis. And the Mets are still cruising. While the A.L. looks upon the NL as a joke, I think L.A. and N.Y. are legitimate threats. The Dodgers had their struggles, but now they are finding their groove. They have a good lineup, they have a pretty good rotation especially with the new addition of Maddux who threw a gem last night. They have pretty good depth with their deadline additions. They're not too overpowering, but can win. The Mets are obviously a good team as well, although we made them look otherwise. They have a few good sluggers, good speed, a solid rotation (a little weak in the back end, but most teams' rotations are) and while not lights out like the old days, Wagner is still a good closer. Obviously October is a while away and who only knows who actually will be in the World Series, but I think that the AL (and its fans) is foolish if they think the NL would just be a walkover.

[jacksonianmarch]

Trebeck: And for $600, the answer is.......the NL

Buzzz.

Trebeck: Yes, jacksonianmarch.

Jacksonianmarch: What is the AL's triple A affiliate?

[yeszir]

It may not be a walkover (the sox proved on their last road trip that walkovers don't exist) but the NL is still vastly inferior to the AL right now.

[MC Hammer]

Why is everyone jumping on the Dodgers bandwagon? It's like each week everyone forgets what happened the week before. Baseball is a streaky game ... a few weeks ago the dodgers blew ... now they're playing good ... they'll blow again soon enough.

 

I think adding Maddux helps but it hardly makes them a contender. Whatever team comes out of the NL West is getting swept out in the first round.

[ORS]

But they didn't just add Maddux. The got a healthy 3B in Betemit, a productive MIF in Lugo, and brought up Billingsly. The face of the team has changed significantly, and it looks like they got the right mix. The Mets will get the WC winner provided it doesn't come out of the East (unlikely), and I don't see the winner of the central sweeping this team.