Looking at the NL East 2019.

Heyward

Heyward

<B>Voted Worst Poster <br>'13, '14, '15 (Co-Winner
With Braves clinching, looking ahead to 2019.

- Marlins, up and coming team, but not there yet. Some good young pitching, not much to say about them.

- Mets are in a precarious situation. Thor, DeGrom, Wheeler is probably the best 1-2-3 in the NL, Matz is a solid 4. Their lineup next year should be better with Alonso, McNeil, Rosario, Frazier, and an outfield of Cespedes, Nimmo, and Conforto. They honestly scare me more than Philly does. If they improve their pen, that's a solid team.

- Nats even if they lose Harper have a solid team. Zimmerman, Kendrick, Turner, Rendon and Soto, Eaton, Robles is a solid outfield. They need to improve their bullpen/rotation but they should have some money to spend if Harper dips. Not sure how much they'll spend if Harper leaves.

- Phillies, not sure what they do. They obviously have a ton of money to spend but players gotta commit first. Biggest concern with them is other than Sixto whose probably untouchable, they dont have much to trade if someone gets available in a trade. For someone whose into analytics as much as Kapler is, it amazes me they dont value defense as much. Their rotation 1-5 is pretty solid with Nola, Arrieta, Velazquez, Elfin and Pivetta, but i could see them replacing one of them and moving one of them in the pen or getting rid of the latter 3.

Will certainly be a much harder road to the NL East title next year for the Braves but with a full year of Acuna, Camargo full-time 3B, full year of Gausman, and a much better bullpen from the start, it should even out. Biggest holes for the Braves imo is probably one veteran BP arm, a bench bat, starting C, and starting OF. I dont think we have as much to spend as some think, dont see us in on Machado or Harper.
 
I'm the most worried about the Phillies and the Mets. I think the Nationals are going to take a significant step back with some aging players and no Harper. Although the Soto, Turner, Robles trio could be pretty darn good. Miami is going to be trash again.

The Phillies scare me because of all the money they have. I think they are going to get either Machado or Harper. They need to move Santana for sure to put Hoskins at 1st. They'll probably try to grab another good offensive piece on top of Harper/Machado that can play decent defense. They will still have enough left over to shore up the rotation and bullpen with big signings as well. I could see them going after guys like Kimbrel and Corbin. They are going to be much better next year and we need to have a solid offseason in order to stay ahead of them.

The Mets are scary because their core is so strong when its healthy. That rotation has an insane amount of upside. Its just a matter of keeping them healthy and productive. If that happens, they need to improve their offense and bullpen a good bit, but I think they are probably capable of that. They need to go out and get a good bat or two plus a couple of high leverage bullpen arms.

With the right additions, I still think we will enter next year as the favorites in the division, but we have got to do enough to keep pace.
 
BeanieAntics said:
I'm the most worried about the Phillies and the Mets. I think the Nationals are going to take a significant step back with some aging players and no Harper. Although the Soto, Turner, Robles trio could be pretty darn good. Miami is going to be trash again.

The Phillies scare me because of all the money they have. I think they are going to get either Machado or Harper. They need to move Santana for sure to put Hoskins at 1st. They'll probably try to grab another good offensive piece on top of Harper/Machado that can play decent defense. They will still have enough left over to shore up the rotation and bullpen with big signings as well. I could see them going after guys like Kimbrel and Corbin. They are going to be much better next year and we need to have a solid offseason in order to stay ahead of them.

The Mets are scary because their core is so strong when its healthy. That rotation has an insane amount of upside. Its just a matter of keeping them healthy and productive. If that happens, they need to improve their offense and bullpen a good bit, but I think they are probably capable of that. They need to go out and get a good bat or two plus a couple of high leverage bullpen arms.

With the right additions, I still think we will enter next year as the favorites in the division, but we have got to do enough to keep pace.
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I'm not sure Philly gets all of Harper/Machado, Corbin AND Kimbrel even though they have a lot of money. But Philly's checkbook is their greatest strength,i agree overall though.

Also, regarding Harper, why would he sign with Philly if say the Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers all threw a lot of money at him who are CLEARLY superior teams to Philly is.
 
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Will be interesting to see if the Braves continue to benefit from being in the worst division in the league and second worst overall. Probably six teams from the AL would have won this division this year.
 
NinersSBChamps said:
Will be interesting to see if the Braves continue to benefit from being in the worst division in the league and second worst overall. Probably six teams from the AL would have won this division this year.
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I dont think it's the worst division.

Mets should be alot better next year if they dont blow it up, Nats even without Harper should be solid depending what they use their money on, and Philly has a ton of money to spend this winter. It wont be easy next year, but the Braves should still be favored to win it with the farm they have, the resources they can use in trades, and having some money to spend as well.
 
I dont think next year will be a race. More like a beating. Marlins are down and descending. Mets gonna Mut. Phillies are still mediocre. Nats wont find a bullpen in 1 offseason.
 
Heyward said:
I dont think it's the worst division.

Mets should be alot better next year if they dont blow it up, Nats even without Harper should be solid depending what they use their money on, and Philly has a ton of money to spend this winter. It wont be easy next year, but the Braves should still be favored to win it with the farm they have, the resources they can use in trades, and having some money to spend as well.
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I meant that this year, right now the division is terrible. Nobody can say what it looks like April of next year though.
 
cajunrevenge said:
I dont think next year will be a race. More like a beating. Marlins are down and descending. Mets gonna Mut. Phillies are still mediocre. Nats wont find a bullpen in 1 offseason.
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If Philly misses on big free agents, Nats lose Harper and dont sign anyone of importance, and the Mets have injury issues again then yeah the Braves could run away with it.

My dream offseason is Kimbrel, and trading for Realmuto/Simmons, not sure how realistic that is though.
 
Heyward said:
I'm not sure Philly gets all of Harper/Machado, Corbin AND Kimbrel even though they have a lot of money. But Philly's checkbook is their greatest strength,i agree overall though.

Also, regarding Harper, why would he sign with Philly if say the Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers all threw a lot of money at him who are CLEARLY superior teams to Philly is.
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Players have to actually decide to sign in Philly first. Money is huge, but it doesn't mean they're favorites to definitely land someone.

I'm thinking Harper or Machado likely lands in Philly but I see Corbin to NY and Kimbrel to either stay put or come back to Atlanta.
 
UNCBlue012 said:
Players have to actually decide to sign in Philly first. Money is huge, but it doesn't mean they're favorites to definitely land someone.

I'm thinking Harper or Machado likely lands in Philly but I see Corbin to NY and Kimbrel to either stay put or come back to Atlanta.
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There's alot of blurbs about Machado to NYY, or maybe he stays in LA if they make another WS run, they have a ton of money obviously.

Philly does have money but as you said, players gotta sign there first. If Philly misses on Harper and Machado, they're in trouble, because they dont have the farm to trade for an impact guy unless they move Sixto which i doubt. There's obviously other guys out there, but those are the two big fish.

I'm thinking Machado to LAD or NYY and Harper to NYY if they miss on Machado, or Harper to the Cubs.
 
The Nats are a lot better than 10 games worse than the Braves, and will be serious contenders in 2019.

I'm fairly confident the Phillies will continue to mismanage their way to mediocrity with stupid contracts and poor analytics, effectively pissing away their huge resource advantage over the Braves.

The Mets are just a healthy rotation away from also being contenders...though they seem to have serious systemic issues within their medical department.
 
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The Nats and Phillies will both be tough to beat next season. Both teams have very good teams now, with a good core, and a lot of money coming off the books. Even if Washington doesn't re-sign Harper, that's a lot of money to reallocate elsewhere.
 
Mets, Phillies and Nats all have cases for being contenders next season.

Braves pitching much too shaky to run away with anything as things stand.
 
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