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MLB 2008 Predictions Part 5 of 7 - NL Central By John Mugatu - Posted on February 26th, 2008 Tagged: mlb • National League Central • Predictions • Season Preview Here we go with my first entry of the day, it's the terrible NL Central! It's really a crime that one of these six teams automatically makes the playoffs every year, especially since the playoffs are such a crapshoot, this crappy division winner could even win the whole thing (like St. Louis is 2006 - they finished just 83-78 and actually had a 2-9 slide in late September before winning 2 of their last 3 to win the division - horrible). Anyway, this division is so depressing to write about I have to come back later with my NL West predicitions. 1. Chicago Cubs Prediction: 86-76 Key Additions: Kosuke Fukudome, Jon Lieber Key Losses: Cliff Floyd, Jacque Jones, Jason Kendall, Craig Monroe, Mark Prior Projected Lineup: LF Soriano, SS Theriot, 1B Lee, 3B Ramirez, RF Fukudome, C Soto, 2B DeRosa, CF Pie Projected Rotation & Closer: Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Lieber, Marquis/Dempster & Marmol/Howry Analysis: Fukudome Mania takes over! Is that the dirtiest Japanese name ever or what? It sounds like something Wayne & Garth would have made up. But if Fukudome can impact the Cubbies lineup like Hideki Matsui did when he debuted for the Yankees, then look out. Because the middle of that order is downright scary if teams can’t pitch around Lee & Ramirez anymore. And the Cubs have a great rotation (Zambrano, Lilly & Hill are a great 1-2-3). They FINALLY decided to get Dempster the Dumpster out of the closer role (Howry or Marmol, with one setting up the other, will be much better). And in the spirit of omens – it’s been 100 years since they last won the World Series. They have to at least make the playoffs, right? Also, the last year that there was a total lunar eclipse, the Sox broke their “curse.” Well, we just had one here in 2008, so why not? 2. Milwaukee Brewers Prediction: 85-77 Key Additions: Mike Cameron, Eric Gagne, David Riske, Jason Kendall Key Losses: Geoff Jenkins, Kevin Mench, Johnny Estrada, Francisco Cordero Projected Lineup: 2B Weeks, RF Hart, LF Braun, 1B Fielder, CF Cameron, SS Hardy, 3B Hall, C Kendall Projected Rotation & Closer: Sheets, Bush, Suppan, Gallardo, Capuano & Gagne Analysis: I actually think the Brew Crew looks better on paper than the Cubbies, just couldn’t go over the mythological 100-year curse possibly coming to an end. They’ve done a great job developing players and brought in the best available free agents. Mike Cameron was a huge signing – he’s a veteran presence and he’s been on winning teams before, plus he will upgrade the Brewers outfield defense ten-fold. In fact, between him, Braun & Hart, the Brewers have one of the best overall outfield groups in the entire major leagues. And yes, Ryan Braun is being moved to the outfield because he played 3rd base about as good as Roger Dorn, but he should be fine in the outfield based on his natural athleticism (much like how Alfonso Soriano has transitioned very well to the outfield). Bill Hall will try his 3rd position in 3 years (SS in 2006, CF in 2007, 3B in 2008) as the Brewers continue to try to find a place to stick him because of his powerful bat (although they’d like to see his average to stop dropping year to year). The Brewers need to get a bounce back year from Chris Capuano (just terrible last year) and Dave Bush and that should shore up what could be a very solid rotation (per usual, health is a concern). And while the Gagne signing was universally panned, and Gagne was just gawd-awful for the Sox, I think he can thrive in the no-pressure environment of Milwaukee, much like how he did in Texas. But in the end, this is still the Brewers, and they’ll find a way to lose out on the division to the Cubs. 3. Houston Astros Prediction: 79-83 Key Additions: Miguel Tejada, Jose Valverde, Michael Bourn, Kazuo Matsui Key Losses: Luke Scott, Mike Lamb, Craig Biggio, Brad Lidge, Chad Qualls Projected Lineup: CF Bourn, 2B Matsui, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, RF Pence, 3B Wigginton, C Towles/Ausmus Projected Rotation & Closer: Oswalt, Rodriguez, Williams, Backe, Paulino & Valverde Analysis: I’ll admit when I saw that lineup on paper, I was actually impressed with the offensive firepower that the Astros have. Bourn & Matsui should set the table nicely for Berkman, Lee, Tejada, Pence & Wigginton. Of course, it will be interesting to see how Tejada performs this year in the wake of being named in the Mitchell Report and not having any “B-12” shots. Valverde should be able to replace Lidge, but Valverde is two years removed from having control problems and losing his job as Arizona’s closer, before regaining that role last year. So while recently he is a better option than Lidge, he may not bring the stability to the closer role that they are hoping for. But the big problem the Astros are going to have is that their rotation consists of Roy Oswalt and blah. The rest of the starters aren’t that good and need to step up for them to compete. Personally, I think the Astros’ owner’s claim of “we’re going to win the World Series” upon arriving at Spring Training should be filed under B, for “Bat-shit crazy.” 4. Cincinnati Reds Prediction: 75-87 Key Additions: Francisco Cordero, Jeremy Affeldt, Edinson Volquez, Dusty Baker (manager) Key Losses: Josh Hamilton, Eric Milton Projected Lineup: CF Freel/Bruce, 2B Phillips, RF Griffey, LF Dunn, 3B Encarnacion, SS Gonzalez, 1B Votto/Hatteberg, C Ross Projected Rotation & Closer: Harang, Arroyo, Bailey, Belisle, Volquez/Affeldt & Cordero Analysis: Kudos to the Reds for addressing their pitching situation and adding some quality guys. They also have two of the most talked about rookies in Bruce & Votto, yet both may not win starting jobs over incumbents Freel & Hatteberg (respectively). Dusty Baker returns to managing and he has a tendency to go with veterans, so Bruce & Votto could both end up starting in AAA to make sure they are getting their at-bats (although it shouldn’t be long until Griffey gets hurt, good news for Bruce getting to the Show). The Reds made some noise last year when they played a bit over their heads, and they might do that again, and even though they look decent on paper, I can’t take these terrible NL Central teams serious and have to predict disastrous results for them, because they aren’t going to win more games than the lose. Between the Reds and the Bengals, it sucks being a Cincinnati sports fan. 5. St. Louis Cardinals Prediction: 70-92 Key Additions: Troy Glaus, Matt Clement Key Losses: Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, David Eckstein, Troy Percival Projected Lineup: SS Izturis, LF Duncan, 1B Pujols, 3B Glaus, CF Ankiel, RF Ludwick, C Molina, 2B Kennedy Projected Rotation & Closer: Wainwright, Looper, Pineiro, Reyes, Mulder/Clement (if either is ready), plus Carpenter due to return mid-season & Isringhausen Analysis: How the mighty have fallen. Since Pujols busted onto the scene until 2006, the Cards were perennial National League favorites. Now they represent a shell of what they were. Glaus might be the best power hitter to ever hit cleanup for Pujols, but is anyone going to be shocked when he ends up on the DL at some point this year? They’ll start the season with up to 3 starters on the shelf, which never a good way to kick off a season. Unless Pujols puts up a “Barry in 2001” season, I cannot see this team doing much damage, due to the lack of starting pitching, the subpar bullpen, the aging closer and the non-productive bottom of the order. And they’re a boring team to discuss, so let’s just move on. 6. Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction: 68-94 Key Additions: None Key Losses: None Projected Lineup: CF McLouth, SS Wilson, 2B Sanchez, 1B LaRoche, LF Bay, RF Nady, 3B Batista, C Doumit/Paulino Projected Rotation & Closer: Snell, Gorzelanny, Maholm, Duke, Morris & Capps Analysis: Speaking of boring, it’s the Pittsburgh Pirates – the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. I’m not a MLB GM, but I know that if my team goes 68-94 and I make ZERO changes, I’m crazy to expect anything but another crappy 68-94 season. But that’s what GM Neal Huntington did. ZERO key changes (although he did bring in ball-thief Doug Mientkiewicz & bird-flipper Byung-Hyun Kim). A manager change cannot add 20 wins to your record. An entire team full of players cannot improve that much in one off-season. The freaking Pirates website advertises “Buy 8 Games, Get 2 Free,” which is just a foreign concept to many baseball fans around the nation. What a crappy franchise. American League 2008 2008 - AL East Predictions 2008 - AL Central Predictions 2008 - AL West Predictions National League 2008 2008 - NL East Predictions 2008 - NL Central Predictions 2008 - NL West Predictions 2008 Playoffs 2008 MLB Playoff Predictions John Mugatu's blog • 5 comments • Read more

Here we go with my first entry of the day, it's the terrible NL Central! It's really a crime that one of these six teams automatically makes the playoffs every year, especially since the playoffs are such a crapshoot, this crappy division winner could even win the whole thing (like St. Louis is 2006 - they finished just 83-78 and actually had a 2-9 slide in late September before winning 2 of their last 3 to win the division - horrible). Anyway, this division is so depressing to write about I have to come back later with my NL West predicitions.

1. Chicago Cubs

Prediction: 86-76
Key Additions: Kosuke Fukudome, Jon Lieber
Key Losses: Cliff Floyd, Jacque Jones, Jason Kendall, Craig Monroe, Mark Prior
Projected Lineup: LF Soriano, SS Theriot, 1B Lee, 3B Ramirez, RF Fukudome, C Soto, 2B DeRosa, CF Pie
Projected Rotation & Closer: Zambrano, Lilly, Hill, Lieber, Marquis/Dempster & Marmol/Howry
Analysis: Fukudome Mania takes over! Is that the dirtiest Japanese name ever or what? It sounds like something Wayne & Garth would have made up. But if Fukudome can impact the Cubbies lineup like Hideki Matsui did when he debuted for the Yankees, then look out. Because the middle of that order is downright scary if teams can’t pitch around Lee & Ramirez anymore. And the Cubs have a great rotation (Zambrano, Lilly & Hill are a great 1-2-3). They FINALLY decided to get Dempster the Dumpster out of the closer role (Howry or Marmol, with one setting up the other, will be much better). And in the spirit of omens – it’s been 100 years since they last won the World Series. They have to at least make the playoffs, right? Also, the last year that there was a total lunar eclipse, the Sox broke their “curse.” Well, we just had one here in 2008, so why not?

2. Milwaukee Brewers

Prediction: 85-77
Key Additions: Mike Cameron, Eric Gagne, David Riske, Jason Kendall
Key Losses: Geoff Jenkins, Kevin Mench, Johnny Estrada, Francisco Cordero
Projected Lineup: 2B Weeks, RF Hart, LF Braun, 1B Fielder, CF Cameron, SS Hardy, 3B Hall, C Kendall
Projected Rotation & Closer: Sheets, Bush, Suppan, Gallardo, Capuano & Gagne
Analysis: I actually think the Brew Crew looks better on paper than the Cubbies, just couldn’t go over the mythological 100-year curse possibly coming to an end. They’ve done a great job developing players and brought in the best available free agents. Mike Cameron was a huge signing – he’s a veteran presence and he’s been on winning teams before, plus he will upgrade the Brewers outfield defense ten-fold. In fact, between him, Braun & Hart, the Brewers have one of the best overall outfield groups in the entire major leagues. And yes, Ryan Braun is being moved to the outfield because he played 3rd base about as good as Roger Dorn, but he should be fine in the outfield based on his natural athleticism (much like how Alfonso Soriano has transitioned very well to the outfield). Bill Hall will try his 3rd position in 3 years (SS in 2006, CF in 2007, 3B in 2008) as the Brewers continue to try to find a place to stick him because of his powerful bat (although they’d like to see his average to stop dropping year to year). The Brewers need to get a bounce back year from Chris Capuano (just terrible last year) and Dave Bush and that should shore up what could be a very solid rotation (per usual, health is a concern). And while the Gagne signing was universally panned, and Gagne was just gawd-awful for the Sox, I think he can thrive in the no-pressure environment of Milwaukee, much like how he did in Texas. But in the end, this is still the Brewers, and they’ll find a way to lose out on the division to the Cubs.

3. Houston Astros

Prediction: 79-83
Key Additions: Miguel Tejada, Jose Valverde, Michael Bourn, Kazuo Matsui
Key Losses: Luke Scott, Mike Lamb, Craig Biggio, Brad Lidge, Chad Qualls
Projected Lineup: CF Bourn, 2B Matsui, 1B Berkman, LF Lee, SS Tejada, RF Pence, 3B Wigginton, C Towles/Ausmus
Projected Rotation & Closer: Oswalt, Rodriguez, Williams, Backe, Paulino & Valverde
Analysis: I’ll admit when I saw that lineup on paper, I was actually impressed with the offensive firepower that the Astros have. Bourn & Matsui should set the table nicely for Berkman, Lee, Tejada, Pence & Wigginton. Of course, it will be interesting to see how Tejada performs this year in the wake of being named in the Mitchell Report and not having any “B-12” shots. Valverde should be able to replace Lidge, but Valverde is two years removed from having control problems and losing his job as Arizona’s closer, before regaining that role last year. So while recently he is a better option than Lidge, he may not bring the stability to the closer role that they are hoping for. But the big problem the Astros are going to have is that their rotation consists of Roy Oswalt and blah. The rest of the starters aren’t that good and need to step up for them to compete. Personally, I think the Astros’ owner’s claim of “we’re going to win the World Series” upon arriving at Spring Training should be filed under B, for “Bat-shit crazy.”

4. Cincinnati Reds

Prediction: 75-87
Key Additions: Francisco Cordero, Jeremy Affeldt, Edinson Volquez, Dusty Baker (manager)
Key Losses: Josh Hamilton, Eric Milton
Projected Lineup: CF Freel/Bruce, 2B Phillips, RF Griffey, LF Dunn, 3B Encarnacion, SS Gonzalez, 1B Votto/Hatteberg, C Ross
Projected Rotation & Closer: Harang, Arroyo, Bailey, Belisle, Volquez/Affeldt & Cordero
Analysis: Kudos to the Reds for addressing their pitching situation and adding some quality guys. They also have two of the most talked about rookies in Bruce & Votto, yet both may not win starting jobs over incumbents Freel & Hatteberg (respectively). Dusty Baker returns to managing and he has a tendency to go with veterans, so Bruce & Votto could both end up starting in AAA to make sure they are getting their at-bats (although it shouldn’t be long until Griffey gets hurt, good news for Bruce getting to the Show). The Reds made some noise last year when they played a bit over their heads, and they might do that again, and even though they look decent on paper, I can’t take these terrible NL Central teams serious and have to predict disastrous results for them, because they aren’t going to win more games than the lose. Between the Reds and the Bengals, it sucks being a Cincinnati sports fan.

5. St. Louis Cardinals

Prediction: 70-92
Key Additions: Troy Glaus, Matt Clement
Key Losses: Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, David Eckstein, Troy Percival
Projected Lineup: SS Izturis, LF Duncan, 1B Pujols, 3B Glaus, CF Ankiel, RF Ludwick, C Molina, 2B Kennedy
Projected Rotation & Closer: Wainwright, Looper, Pineiro, Reyes, Mulder/Clement (if either is ready), plus Carpenter due to return mid-season & Isringhausen
Analysis: How the mighty have fallen. Since Pujols busted onto the scene until 2006, the Cards were perennial National League favorites. Now they represent a shell of what they were. Glaus might be the best power hitter to ever hit cleanup for Pujols, but is anyone going to be shocked when he ends up on the DL at some point this year? They’ll start the season with up to 3 starters on the shelf, which never a good way to kick off a season. Unless Pujols puts up a “Barry in 2001” season, I cannot see this team doing much damage, due to the lack of starting pitching, the subpar bullpen, the aging closer and the non-productive bottom of the order. And they’re a boring team to discuss, so let’s just move on.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates

Prediction: 68-94
Key Additions: None
Key Losses: None
Projected Lineup: CF McLouth, SS Wilson, 2B Sanchez, 1B LaRoche, LF Bay, RF Nady, 3B Batista, C Doumit/Paulino
Projected Rotation & Closer: Snell, Gorzelanny, Maholm, Duke, Morris & Capps
Analysis: Speaking of boring, it’s the Pittsburgh Pirates – the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. I’m not a MLB GM, but I know that if my team goes 68-94 and I make ZERO changes, I’m crazy to expect anything but another crappy 68-94 season. But that’s what GM Neal Huntington did. ZERO key changes (although he did bring in ball-thief Doug Mientkiewicz & bird-flipper Byung-Hyun Kim). A manager change cannot add 20 wins to your record. An entire team full of players cannot improve that much in one off-season. The freaking Pirates website advertises “Buy 8 Games, Get 2 Free,” which is just a foreign concept to many baseball fans around the nation. What a crappy franchise.