Tomahawk Choppers

March Madness has officially arrived and within the coming days this blog will most certainly tackle this topic. However, currently, with a few days off for the tourney (the Sweet 16 begins Thursday), Spring is just around the corner and Opening Day less than two weeks away. You can smell the sweet scent of white cowhide flying through the air, vaguely smothered by the stench of the rolling beads of sweat by the massive 300 lb guy sitting next to you who thought it would be a good idea to take his shirt of in the middle of the bleachers on a +100 degree summer's day at the ballpark. Side note, no, I'm not talking about either one of my roommates. Steroids sales are booming this time of year, and Bennifer II just received their Red Sox season tickets in the mail. All this makes me giddy for baseball season, and because of tingling feeling, I wanted to write a preview about a team in the NL East. I couldn't choose which team to write about (lie) so I decided to randomly pick (lie) the team with the best record so far this spring, because as anyone who follows baseball as closely as I do knows that whichever teams finishes spring training with the best record in the spring wins their division during the regular season at least 99.9% of the time (lie). And wouldn't you know it, the team with the best record of NL East teams throughout the Spring so far just happens to be the Atlanta Braves (fact).

The NL East has all the makings of being one of the closest and least predictable races in the majors this year. With four of the five teams all having a legitimate shot of taking the division, it could come down to the finals weeks and days of the season. The Braves, Marlins, Mets and Phillies all have the talent to be crowned division champs, yet all have question marks that can only be answered as the season rolls along. The Nationals are terrible.

Last year, for the first time since 1991, the Atlanta Braves did not take home the NL East division championship. It was a sad, yet humorous season for Braves fans across the country. Sad because it was really surreal not being included in the postseason after 14 straight division titles (excluding the '94 strike year), but humorous at the same time listening to Met fans talk shit after winning the division for the first time in 18 years (we get it, you won one, great, it was bound to happen, the laws of probability made it that way). Much in the way of the make up of the teams within the division remains the same. Their weren't any real major free agent signings or trades and one could argue probably the most improved team during the off season is the Braves. But will that be enough to get them back to the top looking down as the have been used to in the past.

The main question mark with the Braves last year was their bullpen, having blown a league leading 29 saves last year. John Schuerholz, one of the most efficient, yet underrated front office leaders in all of the four major sports quickly changed that, signing Rafael Soriano and trading sweet swinging first basemen Adam LaRoche for Pirates closer Mike Gonzalez (who converted all 24 of his save opportunities with Pittsburgh last year). However, so far during Spring Training, Soriano, who has had arm troubles in the past, still seems to be struggling with injuries and apparently Gonzalez can't hit the broad side of a barn door. It's early, but it could be possible Mikey is already feeling the pressure of having to throw a pitch with something actually on the line. Bob Wickman, who was acquired in August last year will remain the teams closer, with Gonzalez the set-up man and the hard throwing Soriano a sixth and/or seventh inning guy. With these two off season pick ups, the Braves, who had the worst bullpen in the majors last year, could arguably have the best, at least in the NL East in 2007.

During the 14 straight division championship streak, Atlanta had always prided itself on starting pitching, the last couple years have been exceptions. John Smoltz, an absolute workhorse, remains the teams only solid starter. Tim Hudson hasn't been himself the past couple of years, but vows he has trained harder this off season and is bound for a strong year. Chuck James, a young left hander, with a surprising 11-4 record last year after being brought up from the minors rounds out the top three starters. Mike Hampton was supposed to come back from Tommy John surgery after sitting out the entire 2006 season. But apparently this guy could get hurt in a foam padded insane asylum and tore his oblique muscle during batting practice and is out until May. That leaves young starters Kyle Davies and Lance Cormier, along with recently signed veteran (and 2006 All-Star Royals pitcher) Mark Redman fighting it out for the final two spots in the rotation. The starting pitching (outside of Smoltz) seems to be the biggest question with the 2007 Braves.

The Atlanta line-up is poised to have a solid year. The same question remains as last year ever since Rafeal Furcal signed with the Dodgers. Who will lead-off and get on base for the RBI guys (C. Jones, A. Jones and Francouer)? Marcus Giles (a sorry excuse for a lead-off man left to join his brother in San Diego for the Padres, isn't that cute), so it looks like young second basemen Kelly Johnson will take a crack at it. The rest of the projected starting line-up will probably look something like this:

2B Kelly Johnson
SS Edgar Renteria (obviously more comfortable in a smaller market, NL team)
3B Chipper "I named my son Shea because I own that stadium" Jones (who needs to stay healthy but is already in mid-season form by spraining his ankle the other day)
CF Andruw Jones (in a contract year, poised for another monster season)
RF Jeff Francouer (one of the best young hitters in the league)
C Brian McCann (breakout season last year, great lefty swing for a catcher, will bat around .300)
1B Scott Thorman (has some pretty big shoes to fill after the LaRoche trade)
LF Ryan "Rachel Leigh" Langerhans (still fighting out the starting spot with Craig Wilson and Matt Diaz)
Pitcher Spot

The key for this years Atlanta Braves squad will be staying healthy (Chipper and Mike Hampton), solid pitching (Hudson coming back strong and quality bullpen outings), and a couple surprises here and there. If these things can happen, this team has a real shot at reclaiming their division crown.

A few comments on the rest of the NL East:

The Mets again have the strongest line-up in the division, these guys can mash and will need to because the average age of their starting pitchers is around one of my favorite sexual positions (figure it out).

The Phillies have the most solid all around team and finished off strong last year. If they can get decent starting pitching, possibly acquire one more middle relief pitcher mid way through the season and/or one more corner inf/of bat, they could be very dangerous. Plus their manager is on the hot seat, which can be a good thing with a sense of urgency, or a bad thing if they start off slow and gets canned at the all-star break.

The Marlins are very young and I personally feel overachieved last year. They have a great core of young pitchers and solid young hitters including one of the best in the game in Miguel Cabrera. They are very talented but might take a step back and come back down to earth after last season.

The Nationals are terrible. But Ryan Zimmerman will be a player, keep your eye on him.

This race will be much closer than last years and that being said, predictions for the season:

1. Phillies (Just feel like it's their time)
2. Mets (They can rake, but would you want your grandpa pitching for your favorite team? Didn't think so.)
3. Braves (Not enough fire power or starting pitching)
4. Marlins (Too young)
74. Nationals (will probably lose 100 games, kill yourselves)

Couple other side notes for today:

• Shouldn't have split those 10's Mr. Jones (will this crazy SOB even see the field for the Phins?): http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2804677
• The kid is here through 2009: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2804691
• KOBE!
• My final four bracket: Florida, UCLA, UNC, Texas A&M.