MLB Predictions: National League

NL East
1. Phillies
2. Braves
3. Marlns
4. Mets
5. Nationals

• The Phillies remain not only the best team in the east, but the best team in the NL. Winning the division will be no problem with returning stars Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino, and Raul Ibanez. Big years are not necessary from Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz and Pacido Polanco, as the other hitters will do a fine job picking up any slack. Newly acquired Roy Halladay will have a monster year, so whatever the bullpen situation is with Brad Lidge and company won't matter too much.
• The Braves will be back in second, behind a good starting staff and good enough bullpen. Their lineup isn't the best, but will get the job done. Jason Hayward OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• The Marlins have 2 things going for them: Good young starters and Hanley Ramirez. Ricky Nolasco, Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad are good young arms, who will do a good enough job to get wins. Ramirez is very good, but the rest of their offense isn't much of a factor. Sure, Dan Uggla and Jorge Cantu have pop, but they're both horrible at defense and strike out a ton.
• The Mets are going to have another terrible season. I'm talking sub-.500. Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Daniel Murphy, and Kelvim Escabar are all ALREADY hurt. Jason Bay gives them new power, but he will do horrible in Citi Field and hit around .250 with 27 homers and 92 RBI. David Wright needs to become a #2 hitter as he doesn't have the power for Citi. Also that starting rotation is god awful. Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz are still free agents.....
• The Nationals are much better this year, but still not too great. They can honestly capitalize on the Mets struggles, and 4th is a possibility.

NL Central
1. Cardinals
2. Brewers
3. Cubs
4. Reds
5. Astros
6. Pirates

• The Cardinals look to repeat the division crown, led by sluggers Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. With a 1-2 punch of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, who their other starters are doesn't really matter. Plus, closer Ryan Franklin is pretty good at the back end of the pen.
• The Brewers are largely improved, and should come in second this year. 3-4 hitters Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder will have monster seasons again, making up for the lack of other offense. The pitching staff isn't too bad, with a rotation of Randy Wolf, Doug Davis, (real) Dave Bush, Manny Parra, and their ace, Yovani Gallardo. With a closer like Trevor Hoffman, the Brew Crew is pretty set.
• The Cubs have the second or third best team in the NL on paper, but alas...they are the Cubs and will never win again. With a line up that includes sluggers Alfonso Soriano, Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez and scrappy hitters Ryan Theriot, Mike Fontenot, Kosuke Fukudome, and Geovany Soto, they should be set to score runs. But last year, Ramirez was hurt, Lee did great, and Soriano sucked. Carlos Zambrano is yet to have that amazing year he was set to have, and their number 2 starter is Ryan Dempster. Also, closer Carlos Marmol has never done well, and no reason why that should change.
• The Reds, Astros, and Pirates are 100% irrelevant, so I'm not wasting my time

NL West
1. Dodgers
2. Rockies
3. Giants
4. Diamond Backs
5. Padres

• The Dodgers had a pretty bad off season, but their young starts Andre Etheir, James Loney, Matt Kemp, Jonathan Broxton, Chad Billingsley, and Clayton Kershaw are just going to be even better this year. You can add Russell Martin to that list if he didn't suck now. Manny Ramirez can still hit, so don't forget about him out there too.
• The Rockies surprised everyone last year, and have a great chance to come in first again this year. I'm not sold on pitchers Jorge De La Rosa and Ubaldo Jimenez, but both pitched very well last year and can repeat that success. The Rockies lineup is underrated aside from short stop Troy Tulowitzki, with good players in Brad Hawpe and Carlos Gonzalez. Like Manny, Todd Helton can still hit pretty well, so don't count him out to contribute to the success.
• The Giants have a great pitching staff with Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez. Brian Wilson is solid out of the pen, which the team needs. This is because Barry Zito is one of the worst pitchers in the game and it makes me so happy to see him fail. Who would have thought Tim Hudson would ever be better than Mark Mulder and Zito combined. The Giants also have offense. Well, their offense is named Pablo Sandoval. The other 7 guys are either over the hill or just not good anyway.
• The Diamondbacks could be contenders, but not without a healthy ace in Brandon Webb. With Dan Haren and Edwin Jackson, the D-Backs have a great rotation to go along with a horrible offense. Justin Upton is pretty good, but no one else really is.
• The Padres are Adrian Gonzalez and Heath Bell. No one else is worth mentioning, not even to criticize.

Playoffs:

• Phillies over Rockies in 4
• Cardinals over Dodgers in 4
• Phillies over Dodgers in 5
• Phillies-Yankees repeat (no prediction there)

Awards:

• MVP: Albert Pujols (2nd and 3rd picks: Prince Fielder and Andre Ethier)
• Cy Young: Roy Halladay (2nd and 3rd picks: Dan Haren and Tim Lincecum)