The Phillies went 5 of 6 against two first placed teams in their last two series, they also don't even have Thome or Wagner.

 

The Marlins will always be contending, that's not pathetic.

Yeah, winning 5 of 6 makes you awesome....

 

 

And I never said the Marlins contending is pathetic either.

People seem to forget that even though the Marlins lost some guys, they got some guys too.

 

Beckett and Willis for the whole season + AJ for most of the season is better than Mark Redman.

 

Hee Seop Choi could very well be better than Lee in a few years. Right now, stat wise, he's better. And his defense is great sine he came here.

 

I think everyone would rather have Cabrera the hitter over Encarnacion the hitter. As a right fielder, Enc is no doubt better.

 

We'll have Conine for the whole season over a stupid Banks/Hollandsworth platoon.

 

We have Benitez over Looper and Fox was replacing Urbina until he went down. But Perisho has looked good and hopefully Phelps can go 6 strong innings in his start.

 

The only real decrease is the catcher position. Marlins are still as good, if not better than last years team.

I see Magglio, maybe you didn't watch Baseball in the beginning of the season but THe Phillies started an absolute abismal season and have turned it around.

 

They have one of the best staffs and Offense has kicked it up, to not acknowledge that is ignorant and The Marlins deserve even more credit for what they have done against The Phils.

 

oh and if you want to question me, look at THe Phils record in May...

 

It sucks, I know.

 

The Marlins beat THe PHils down so they earn just as much credit.

The Mets can definitely contend. People are yet to see Phillips and Cameron start hitting.

Cameron actually hits? woah thats something I did not know

 

 

 

----

 

but .... I like the mets, they are defenatly the wildcard of the division this year because they have solid offensive team, good defense and an underated pitching staff... ohh and dont forget a great bullpen (weathers, strickland, roach, franco, and Looper)

 

now onto the Braves, you guys say that they lost too much talent and tahts why they wont content. and yes I agree but how can they get their offense started if Furcal has missed more games than games he has started... and he is still not 100%

 

If we lost Pierre to a good period of time we would be doomed, now imagine having to lose Pierre and Castillo which is the equivalent of their Furcal & Giles

 

and people actually wonder why they havent been scoring runs... braves will make a push as usual but I dont think that it will be a strong push, they have a better chance fighting it out with the Mets

 

 

the west sucks and the only thing I have to say about the central is .......

 

 

 

 

GO REDS!!!

I'm only discounting the Expos in the NL East. I believe anything can happen with the Phillies and MArlins being the favorites at this point.

 

The Phillies are playing the best baseball right now (not only on the division, but in the entire NL). However, I believe the Marlins are capable of playing much better and that's why I'm hopeful on us winning the division.

 

SorianoFan,

There is no way that the Metz are a player or two from taking the division. Those are major words. They will content, but no one is taking this division easily.

if the mets get a top of the line pitcher than they are up there.

 

another position player wont hurt but they can get away without one... so yeah I agree with Soriano, i dont knwo if it would put them over the top but certainly in contention

12. (Tie) Braden Looper, Mets (4). He'd be No. 1 on my list. The Marlins didn't think he could pitch the ninth inning, so they went and got Armando Benitez. Trading places has worked for everyone. Lopper's 7-for-8 in save opportunities, three walks, and an 0.76 ERA in New York.

 

From a Gammons Article.

 

Way to go Loop. :thumbup

12. (Tie) Braden Looper, Mets (4). He'd be No. 1 on my list. The Marlins didn't think he could pitch the ninth inning, so they went and got Armando Benitez. Trading places has worked for everyone. Lopper's 7-for-8 in save opportunities, three walks, and an 0.76 ERA in New York.

 

From a Gammons Article.

 

Way to go Loop. :thumbup

Looper can't pitch in the 9th.

The Mets can definitely contend. People are yet to see Phillips and Cameron start hitting. The mets have solid defense and the ability to improve.

Cameron has not really hit for 2 years. all of those years' away statistics are good, if not great.

Mets are one big midseason trade from actually being able to take their division. A Schmiit or Johnson could do it, and maybe getting robin ventura to fill in for ty wiggington at third.

Yeah, but tell me one team that wouldn't exponentially improve if they added Schmidt and Johnson, plus a capable backup and veteran hitter like Ventura?

 

Plus, the Mets just don't have enough to get any of those guys except for Ventura, and he's not going to win them the division...

Yeah, but tell me one team that wouldn't exponentially improve if they added Schmidt and Johnson, plus a capable backup and veteran hitter like Ventura?

The mets have a good farm and a lot of money. Most teams don't have the money, the mets have both. This makes them frontrunners in big trades, more than the yankees or boston, because they have some prospects worth trading a a bank account to fall back on.

Plus, the Mets just don't have enough to get any of those guys except for Ventura, and he's not going to win them the division...

Pure ignorance, we have 2 of the best prospects in baseball in David Wright and Scott Kazmir. Either one of those players could easily bring us one of the players mentioned. Then there are other great prospects like Matt Peterson, Lastings Milledge, Bob Keppel, Ian Bladegroen, and Yusmeiro Petit. Our farm system is among the best in baseball. Then add in that we could take on around 20 mil in salary if need be and we become a major player at the trade deadline.

 

Actually, I think some of you guys have more optimism than most Mets fans. The way this team has gelled and hung together through the injuries to Floyd, Reyes, and Leiter is inspiring and when we get everyone back healthy we will be a major wild card. Let's face it, neither the Marlins or Phillies are very impressive right now. This is the prefect chance for the Mets to make their move.

This is how the NL has been operating for years. Since the strike 12 of NL's 16 clubs have made the playoffs, and all but the Brewers since 1990. The league has generally been a more competitive league because it hasn't been dominated by large revenue teams (compare the Yankees and Red Sox to the Reds and Cardinals) and the impact that the 21st-25th man on the bench has in NL.

 

Actually I think this year's NL is better than last year's. The Central and West absolutly stunk last year, the Cubs won the Central and were only a few games over 500. The difference this year is that the NL lacks that one great team (read: the Braves) but there's nothing wrong with five good teams and three or four more solid ones.

not exactly, all the talent wetn to the red sox and yankees.

And how is that different from year's passed?

come on, it wasn't this bad

Debatable.....and when it wasn't the Red Sox it was the Orioles.

I still disagree, quite simply, the AL East is by far the biggest powerhouse it has ever been...and the yanks and sox are underperforming :blink:

Yeah well just because the AL has all the powerhouses doesn't mean they always win the World Series :thumbup

The Red Sox and Yankees alone could field a team that would beat the pants off the rest of the AL" all stars. How that's good I don't know.

Then again everyone talks about the good old days of baseball when the Yankees won nearly every World Series.

I don't believe that the AL has that big of a hitch on the NL right now. The AL looks all powerful because they are putting up alot of stats. However, when you dig a little deeper you find that the of the playoff caliber teams this year, 4 of the top 6 pitching staffs reside in the NL (Florida, Philly, Chicago, and Houston; opposed only by Boston and New York in the AL). We all know what wins in October.

Yeah well just because the AL has all the powerhouses doesn't mean they always win the World Series :thumbup

We just do most of the time.

I don't believe that the AL has that big of a hitch on the NL right now. The AL looks all powerful because they are putting up alot of stats. However, when you dig a little deeper you find that the of the playoff caliber teams this year, 4 of the top 6 pitching staffs reside in the NL (Florida, Philly, Chicago, and Houston; opposed only by Boston and New York in the AL). We all know what wins in October.

Judging from how bad the yankees were at scoring runs in 2003, I would say it take pitching and offense. What a coincidence, it is the same during the regular season.

However, when you dig a little deeper you find that the of the playoff caliber teams this year, 4 of the top 6 pitching staffs reside in the NL (Florida, Philly, Chicago, and Houston; opposed only by Boston and New York in the AL). We all know what wins in October.

Can you say DH? ERAs of pitching staffs in the AL are higher because their pitchers have to face the DH while NL picthers get to face the pitcher. You can't directly compare ERAs across the AL and the NL. You put the NL teams facing a DH, their ERAs will increase as well (I think the general increase in ERA is about .50). The fact that Boston and New York are right there with the top NL teams speaks volumes about their pitching staffs. In the World Series, things are evened out because either both teams use the DH (at the AL Park) or have the pitcher bat (at the NL Park).

Plus, the Mets just don't have enough to get any of those guys except for Ventura, and he's not going to win them the division...

Pure ignorance, we have 2 of the best prospects in baseball in David Wright and Scott Kazmir. Either one of those players could easily bring us one of the players mentioned. Then there are other great prospects like Matt Peterson, Lastings Milledge, Bob Keppel, Ian Bladegroen, and Yusmeiro Petit. Our farm system is among the best in baseball. Then add in that we could take on around 20 mil in salary if need be and we become a major player at the trade deadline.

 

Actually, I think some of you guys have more optimism than most Mets fans. The way this team has gelled and hung together through the injuries to Floyd, Reyes, and Leiter is inspiring and when we get everyone back healthy we will be a major wild card. Let's face it, neither the Marlins or Phillies are very impressive right now. This is the prefect chance for the Mets to make their move. Pure ignorance?

 

Excuse me, I'm well aware of both of those players, but there's a difference between having someone, and being willing to trade them.

 

The Mets could have gotten Soriano for Kazmir, but Wilpon said he will not trade Kazmir (or any of his other blue-chip prospects) as a "quick fix."

 

Any team could package it's top 2 prospects and come away with a big piece at the deadline, but unless you're willing to deal them, nothing happens.

 

Look, it's not as if the team says "wow, you have a great pitching prospect and a great hitting corner infielder, here, take my pitcher for a mid-level pitching prospect, wow, I'm just astounded." Kazmir is their future, he's not going anywhere, neither is Wright, hell, Wright's a few weeks away from being called up with Wiggington's struggles...