Rank the divisions

[dominik]

After I made a few weeks ago the most improved division poll I now ask for a ranking of the strongest divisions per league. then in the end of the year we can see who is right.

My ranks:

AL

1. AL east- easy choice. three of the best teams in baseball and the blue jays are not too shabby either. they might contend in a weaker division.
2. AL west- improved a lot but still not as good
3. AL central- pathetic division, maybe the worst in all of baseball. detroit is very good but then...

NL

1. NL east- that one is easy. three playoff candidates and the nats have improved a lot too. the mets will be last place but they are not a terrible last place team
2. that one is tough. last year I would have said the NL central is easily better than the NL west but the two best teams lost their best players. and the astros and cubs are just pathetic. thus I will go with the NL west although the NL west is quite weak itself. SF is a good team when healthy but colorado and SD is not good. LA is soso and arizona improved which is why I give the NL west the second place
3. NL central. last year I would have said they are the best division in the NL but they not only lost fielder and pujols but the reds also regressed again. and chicago will only get worse before they get better under epsteins leadership which will require a full rebuild.

[Imgran]

AL East -- Three elite teams.
AL West -- improved a great deal. Two legit playoff contenders, the Mariners are on the upswing
NL East -- I'd rate this division higher if I could give the Mets any credit. It's a two team division. The enigma that is the Atlanta Braves could be an X factor.
AL Central -- Better than it looks. The Tigers look good in the offseason, but also keep an eye on the Royals, they graduated a LOT of prospects last year.
NL West -- I don't hate the NL West, but I don't see anyone out there worth taking seriously unless the Giants get it together.
NL Central -- self-explanatory I suppose. The best team in that division lost its best player and it was never that strong as a division in the last few years.

[Bothrops Atrox]

I think the Reds got better and I definitely think that Wainwright +Beltran + having that pen all year >>> the loss of a declining 1B. Plus, Freese and Craig missed a combined 7 months last year. A healthy Cards team will be better too. the Pirates are improving, and the Brewers may not be much worse with improving at 3B and SS.

Now I would still say the NLC is one of the worst divisions, but I do not think it will be worse than it usually is.

[Blackout]

NL Central
NL West
AL Central
AL East
NL East
AL West

[KevinWI]

I think the Reds got better and I definitely think that Wainwright +Beltran + having that pen all year >>> the loss of a declining 1B. Plus, Freese and Craig missed a combined 7 months last year. A healthy Cards team will be better too. the Pirates are improving, and the Brewers may not be much worse with improving at 3B and SS.

Now I would still say the NLC is one of the worst divisions, but I do not think it will be worse than it usually is.

I agree. NL Central will not be that much worst than usual. Reds will be way better and I don't think the Cards + Brewers will be as bad as everybody thinks with the loss of Pujols and Fielder.

Regarding the Brewers, all six pitchers who made starts for the Crew are returning, including Grenike, Marcum and Gallardo. Plus, Randy Wolf, who had one of the best seasons of his career last year. Brewers bullpen, Axford and K-Rod are both coming back. Braun will be around for the first 50 games as we all know, and who knows what the Brewers will get out of Norichika Aoki and Nyjer Morgan. All in all, probably a long shot to win the division, but people who are saying the Brewers will go right to the basement without Fielder are being dramatic, come on now. You do know the Cubs and Astros are in the division, right?

So, got a bit off topic there. But my point is that I don't think the NL Central is as bad as people think. It still has some stinkers in the lower half, but don't expect the Brewers and Cardinals to be struggling to win 70 games this year without Prince + Albert.

[Bothrops Atrox]

I agree. NL Central will not be that much worst than usual. Reds will be way better and I don't think the Cards + Brewers will be as bad as everybody thinks with the loss of Pujols and Fielder.

Regarding the Brewers, all six pitchers who made starts for the Crew are returning, including Grenike, Marcum and Gallardo. Plus, Randy Wolf, who had one of the best seasons of his career last year. Brewers bullpen, Axford and K-Rod are both coming back. Braun will be around for the first 50 games as we all know, and who knows what the Brewers will get out of Norichika Aoki and Nyjer Morgan. All in all, probably a long shot to win the division, but people who are saying the Brewers will go right to the basement without Fielder are being dramatic, come on now. You do know the Cubs and Astros are in the division, right?

So, got a bit off topic there. But my point is that I don't think the NL Central is as bad as people think. It still has some stinkers in the lower half, but don't expect the Brewers and Cardinals to be struggling to win 70 games this year without Prince + Albert.

I think the Cards will be around 92-93 wins and the Brewers around 88-89 or so. I think the Reds will win around 86. Of course some of those wins are due to the cupcakes in the bottom.

[dominik]

Update after May:

NL

as expected the NL east is clearly the strongest division in the NL with all teams being above .500 right now. the other two divisions are not great I would say the west is even weaker than central. brewers are a dissapointment although they were expected to be weakened after fielder is gone I did not think it was that much.

AL

here again the east leads as expected with all teams at .500 or higher. the jays have improved as expected but the real surprise are the Os. I knew they had some talent with the bat but pitching is surprisingly good too.

the central division is quite weak with only 2 teams above .500 as expected but it was not expected that detroit is not one of them (they will come in the second half and win the divison though I think). chi sox are better than I thought.

really a dissapointment is the west. texas rakes as expected and oakland is bad as expected but the Angels have been the biggest dissapointment of the year. seattle is a little weaker than I thought too although they were not expected to do a lot to begin with.

[RaysFan_98]

AL East
AL West
NL East
AL Central
NL West
NL Central