Where do I send the Get Well card?

Once upon a time, Scott Miller, I enjoyed your writing.  That was before the accident.  I mean, obviously you must have been in some horrific accident that caused serious head trauma for you to think the Atlanta Braves will finish above the New York Mets.  I respect that you have injury concerns about the Mets lineup.  I don't have the slightest bit of confidence that Moises Alou can play more than half a season.  But Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, and Luis Castillo will be fine, especially since Willie Randolph likes to spell his regulars more than normal managers.

But the effects of the brain injury must have started kicking in when you said you don't like the rotation after Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez.  I'm not even going to jump on the obvious yet and I'll start by mentioning Oliver Perez.  If your fourth starter has the stuff to win you 15 games, you are in very good shape.  And while I admit he is shaky at times and things its fun to walk a couple of guys an inning to make things interesting, he is as solid a number 4 guy you can have and I'd definitely take him over Jarrod Washburn, the 4 guy on what you claim is the deepest rotation in the majors.

So now Im going to go there...our number 2 pitcher.  John Maine is exactly that, our number 2 pitcher.  The guy was great last year and while he did slow down in the second half he still finished with a great season in his first full season in the major leagues.  And this spring he has been lights out.  Every other sports writer on the web seems to think that Maine has 20 win stuff and is going to be special.  And maybe you did to...before the unfortunate accident that caused you to lose all baseball sense.  Because if you're seriously telling me that you think that John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Tim Hudson, Mike Hampton and there yearly supply of Geritol is better than the foursome of Snatana, Pedro, Maine and Perez....well you better start sending out resumes for a new job.  Or at the very least file for disability.

You must be a Mets fan xpivot22x!

It's funny reading your comments because it doesnt matter if the Mets finish in second or third the Phillies are still gonna be on top of the division. 

But in all honesty the Mets should be VERY good this year, I just feel like injuries are going to hamper them all year and prevent them from making a serious championship run.  But I do agree with you that something is wrong with this article, becuase the Cubs WILL NOT be in the series...  keep counting Chicago!

Well, then I'll be first to say that I think the Braves are going to win the NL East. This is no dig on the Mets or the fans, but I think a lot of Mets and Phillies fans are underrating the Braves offense and pitching rotation. They are going to play solid defense also. I would also say the Mets do get the WC though, leaving the Phillies out to dry.

My predictions...

NL

Braves (E) -- Cubs (C) -- Dodgers (W) -- Mets/Brewers (WC)

good battle between the Mets and Brewers for the WC

AL

Yankees (E) -- Indians (C) -- Seattle (W) -- Tigers/Angels/BoSox (WC)

I put the Angels in there out of respect, but I think they fall out of it towards the end of the season, leaving the Tigers and BoSox battling.

How do you pick the Braves ahead of the Mets?  The Mets have perhaps the best 1-4 punch of starting pitching in Johan, Pedro, Maine, and Perez.  Johan is a solid ace who strikes out a lot of batters, has a low ERA, and has a nasty slider.  He may give up a lot of HR's, but pitching at Shea, a pitcher's park where many homers are not hit, on a better team than the Twins a year ago, I think a Cy-Young season is in store.  Maine is definitely the #2 pitcher ahead of Pedro b/c of his health, but having Pedro make at least 20 starts and remain mostly healthy at the 3, and Perez at the 4, who could drive you insane at times, but is a solid 4th starter, and if El Duque can stay healthy as the 5th starter (which we do not need in the playoffs; he can come out of the pen), the bullpen will not need to be used as much and can be effective like they were in 2006.  I think they will win the division, but they could fall to the the Wild Card, which is not bad b/c many WC teams have made the World Series and won.  Beltran will probably get healthy, Castillo had the same problem last year and played through it, and Delgado will have similar #'s to a year ago, but with that pitching and the elimination of the other question marks, I feel that we have a really strong team that can go all the way.

The Braves, meanwhile, have an old, depleted starting rotation.  Hampton has not pitched in 3 years, Smoltz is 41 years old and already having shoulder trouble, Glavine is 40 and had a rough finish to last season (take it from a Met fan) who used to master clutch games in Atlanta's dynasty period, but could not do the job last year.  He wore down in the stretch run last year and being 40+ years old and a year older, I can't see that not happening again; the same with Smoltz if he stays in the rotation w/o getting hurt.  Hudson will be good again, but he, along with the other pitchers, do not equal the value of the Mets 1-4 punch.  And Miller, do not talk about injuries w/o mentioning Atlanta.  Chipper usually makes at least 1-2 DL trips a year and he is the one of the most potent threats on offense.  Andruw Jones is gone, which is a big blow at the plate and in the field.  Teixeira is really good and will have a big year since it is a contract year and will be looking for big money and they have a pretty stong 'pen, but I think the Mets are just slightly ahead of them.  I think they could finish ahead of Philly and will be a tough Wild Card if they get in, but are not going to finish ahead of the Mets.

My picks:

NL: East: Mets West: D-Backs Central: Brewers Wild Card: Phillies

AL: East: Sox West: Angels Central: Twins Wild Card: Tigers