Which team do you think is our main competition and why? I discount the Braves and Nationals because the Braves will win the division and the Nationals will free fall in the 2nd half of the year just like they did in Montreal the last 2 years. It's hard for me to say who will get their act together and make a run. None of them teams in their present form scares me. Both the Cubs and Marlins are out of whack this year and I don't see either of them getting hot. The Phillies have big "chemistry" problems and I see them sinking. I guess that leaves the Mets, especially if Beltran gets hot and carries them on his back. Bottom line is, excluding moves before the trade deadline, I think the 'Stros are good enough to get the Wild Card. They need another bat or two to advance in the playoffs.
Stros win wild card, 1st Round: Stros take Atl to 7 games in the 1st round.--> win 2nd round: Stros take Stl. to 6 games, but just keep loosing close games due to lack of offense. --> loss Stl. vs. Bos. in WS. This time it goes 7 games and ---> Stl. wins Damn it hurts even thinking that is a possibility.
I also see the Mets as our only main contender for the wild card, the Braves going to win the east, the Nats will free fall and the Marlins are shipping one of their outfielders to the Yankees, i don't remember his name but its on mlb.com in the trade section. We'll be fine, i see the Astros do better against the Cards in the playoffs but i say this out of pure faith in my Astros.
Do not discount the Marlins. If they are healthy, they can get dangerous very quickly. The Mets won't be a threat come September. They just don't have the pitching. No one in the West is going to turn it around. The Phillies are the Phillies and won't be around for much longer. The Nats are going to be lucky to finish over .500. I think it will come down to the East 2nd place (either Braves or Marlins) and the Astros. Astros win it, of course
Atlanta has never been a threat to us in the Wild Card race. They win their division every year, and I suspect they will again this year. I think the Cubs and Mets are our competition.
Forgot to mention at the beginning, because I discount the Braves (they will win their division) and the Nationals/Expos (they are in their annual midseason freefall), I consider the Astros 1/2 game behind the Phillies in the the Wild Card, tied with the Mets. The Cubs are 1 1/2 games behind; the Marlines are 2 games behind. What scares me about the Mets & Cubs is they are most likely to spend and make deals that will improve their chances. Does anyone think the Phillies will get rid of Billy "The Mouth" Wagner? I have trouble taking them seriously for some reason, don't know why.
I think it's the mets...PUKE.... I see us winning the wild card though. ANyone notice the name of this thread? Wild Care Race
As someone else stated, I don't think the Mets have the pitching to really hang in there too long. Atlanta will win their division (PS. **** Atlanta), the Phillies will continue to underachieve and I think Florida is already thinking about getting rid of their excess, older talent. I don't see Washington bottoming out quite so dramatically as others here seem to. They are struggling now, true, but I think they will right the ship and finish as our biggest competitor for the WC...even though we ultimately win it.
I'll let you know after the trade deadline has passed. With no contender breaking away, whoever makes the best moves could easily take the willd card.
good point..but this time, the cupboards are mostly bare. i don't think we're gonna see the "big names" moving that we typically see during this time of year.
I voted the Nationals because they wanted to be the first Nationals to win the National. Once they go National, no one will stop them.
I have to go Cubs. The Astros face the Cubs 10 times and only have 5 left versus St Louis. With the East teams playing themselves a lot, the wild card is the Astros as long as they take care of business against Cubs and non wild card contenders.
