With the Mets right now, thats the only way to go. But, speculation is what it is, an interesting exercise in futility. Also that is supposedly Sandy's plan ... be patient, etc. Patience is not always a virtue here.

Nationals I will give you but I don't really see how the Braves improved that much if at all this off season they lost Chipper Bourn and Prado, BJ Upton isn't that good and Justin Upton had a bad year last year and has yet to show in 6 seasons that he can hit anywhere outside of Chase field.

Is it lonely up there on that pedestal of blissful ignorance, or does that thought just help you sleep better at night?

But he's not wrong. If you're actually looking at facts, the Braves are indeed likely worse off with the combination of Johnson/Francisco, Upton, and Upton instead of Chipper, Prado, and Bourn. That's not to say they won't still be good; just maybe not any better.

What about the Marlins last year. They were supposed to be world beaters. You never know what could happen in this crazy game called baseball. LETS GO METSS!!!!

"This is a Braves and Nationals division"



http://the305.com/2012/02/29/miami-marlins-cover-the-latest-issue-of-sports-illustrated/

Marlins supposed to be MUCH improved in 2012 w/ offseason acquisitions. Finished LAST. AGAIN.



http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/story/2012-04-02/NL-east-preview/53961000/1

2012 NLE supposed to finish:

1) Phillies
2) Braves
3) Marlins
4) Nationals
5) Mets

Actually finished:

1) Nationals
2) Braves
3) Phillies
4) Mets
5) Marlins



So much for pre-season predictions.

Games have to be played in the real world. Not on paper.

Sorry, but anyone who didn't see the Nationals rising last year, especially after the Gonzalez trade, was a fool.

With the pitching talent they have, it was no surprise to me at all, that they did so well last year.

Pitching is what won the title for the Nationals last year, plain and simple. They had the lowest era and WHIP in the league. There team hitting stats didn't lead the league at all. It was pitching, they were even better than the World Champs in that category.

I did look at the A's and saw great pitching (specifically relief)

I and many others on this board put much more stock into the Nationals then that link you provided. Not to toot my own horn, but I was only wrong about the Phils. And of course the Marlins really were an enigma.

Look the bottom line is it makes perfect sense to expect another Mets 4th place finish for the next 2 years even 3. This is the logic of trading away Dickey anyway.

I think that with the elimination of Bay, Torres, Thole and Nickeas we have unloaded nothing in the way of good offense. And I think that with younger players competing for the playing time the team will be more exciting to watch then last year. Grittier and more driven.

The Nats were highly pitcher driven and everyone knows how that can go with ups and downs but especially with injuries.

The Braves haven't gotten any better they just swapped players that were dependable for more flash and more Ks

The phils have a younger outfield but the rest of the team including the pitchers are getting older and last year they were showing some cracks.

Like always Baseball is unpredictable and we will have to see what happens on the field over the course of 162 games.

Also note that the Braves in their starting 8 have 6 players that had more Ks then your "whiffboy" did. So how will they ever drive in runs if everyone strikes out. Those 6 added up to 871 Ks last year.

that was pointed out the other day after the trade.... lotta wifffffffffffffffs lol +1

Maybe they'll beat each other up and then we can take over.

Then there were plenty of other "fools." Including Baseball Prospectus.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=16245

2012 NLE predicition:

1) Phillies
2) Braves
3) Marlins
4) Nationals
5) Mets



Sporting News 2012 pre-season prediction:

http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2012-03-30/mlb-2012-predictions-playoffs-world-series-angels-reds

1) Phillies
2) Braves
3) Marlins
4) Nationals
5) Mets




Only 15 out of 50 baseball writers at ESPN picked the Nationals to get to the playoffs.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/preview12/story/_/page/12expertpicks/espn-expert-team-predictions-2012-baseball-season

14 of those 15 predicted Nationals would be a Wild Card team. Only ONE writer predicted the Nationals to win the division -- Adam Rubin!

27 writers picked Phillies to win NLE.

11 writers picked Barves to win NLE.

11 writers picked Marlins to win NLE.





Washington Post pre-season prediction didn't even have Nationals in the playoffs. Had Phils winning NLE and Marlins & D-backs as WC teams.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/major-league-baseball-2012-dave-sheinins-predictions/2012/04/02/gIQA5lyzrS_story.html






CBS Sports had 7 out of 8 writers pick Phillies to win the division.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/eye-on-baseball/18271059/2012-mlb-cbssportscom-expert-predictions

Only ONE writer out of 8 pick Nationals to win NLE -- Heyman!





Maybe you can search around & find 1 or 2 others that correctly predicted Nats winning NLE but vast majority of "experts" didn't. Most had Philles w/ their good rotation winning NLE. Or "improved" Marlins.

See my last post to brianinwi.

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=547862.24&nav=messages&webtag=ml-mets


Vast majority of baseball pundits picked Phillies to win NLE. Lot of others picked "improved" Marlins.




MetObserver's got it right -- With Bay, Torres & Thole gone Mets will get better. Young players will compete for a job. Team will be better than last yr. Maybe not playoff caliber yet but exciting to watch. And outside chance Mets are WC.

Logic of trading Dickey was to improve the team not just for 2013 but many yrs to come. Dickey's already 38. Maybe he pitches well for another 3 yrs? d'Arnaud is highest rated catching prospect in baseball & Syndergaard's very highly rated pitching prospect. Makes sense for Mets who aren't ready to go for it all now (very little organizational depth). Mets STILL 4th place below .500 w/ Cy Young winner that won 20 gms. Another 1-3 yrs Mets will be ready to make a real run. If Dickey's still pitching lights out through 2015 season Mets can sign him for 1 or 2 yrs as FA.