Best team in the NL is????

[knickfan23]

Good grief the National League stinks

The NL West is shot

The NL East has two teams (Philly, Florida) that may have a hard time cracking 90 wins

The NL Central has everyone around .500 (except STL and CIN) with no team capable of putting together any winning streak longer than 4 games and several teams playing under their capabilities (Houston, Chicago).

Lets not predict the future here in this thread. But as of this precise moment, who is the best team in the National League?

I have no answers.

[deranged2005]

Probably the Cubs or Astros.

AL has better teams, NL has better individuals. Almost all the league leaders for almost every major hitting and pitching category is from the NL. Kinda odd.

[ForceFive]

Originally posted by deranged2005
Probably the Cubs or Astros.

Agreed. And I think it will be the Cubs when all is said and done.

Prior is just coming back; it's like he is just coming out of spring training. Wood should be coming back soon. Sosa should also be back relatively soon.

Their bullpen is still a question, but I think as their starting pitching gets all the guns back and into form, the Cubs will be the team to beat in the NL.

[Yosef]

Whoever's staff is lights out at the end of the year will be the best team. Florida, Chicago, and Houston have potential to win it all.

[knickfan23]

As I mentioned earlier, this question is not about future performance. Simply put, the question was AS OF TODAY who is the best team the NL can bring to the table.

[RhodeyYankee2638]

Florida Marlins by far are the best team...... Lots and Lots of young, good pitching, great defense, great speed, a couple of good power guys (Lowell and Cabrera), hit for average..........

[WebsterMulligan]

Originally posted by RhodeyYankee2638
Florida Marlins by far are the best team...... Lots and Lots of young, good pitching, great defense, great speed, a couple of good power guys (Lowell and Cabrera), hit for average..........

I'll have to agree with that. They've got the horses. Cubs too.

[ConnYanksFan]

Florida. They're the most balanced team and have the experience of (unfortunately) winning a World Series. Chicago is the next best team. They're relatively balanced and their staff is better than Florida's when fully healthy (the key to them getting past the surprising Reds).

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Originally posted by ConnYanksFan
Florida. They're the most balanced team and have the experience of (unfortunately) winning a World Series. Chicago is the next best team. They're relatively balanced and their staff is better than Florida's when fully healthy (the key to them getting past the surprising Reds).

Agreed. Houston is a healthy Andy Pettitte away right now.

84 wins will take the NL west.

[Qlitch]

Cubs by far.

[VanHalen5150]

Originally posted by knickfan23
Good grief the National League stinks

I disagree. The NL just has more parody than the AL plus the NL has better pitching.

[deranged2005]

Originally posted by VanHalen5150
I disagree. The NL just has more parody than the AL plus the NL has better pitching.

And I think, better individual hitting. Bonds, Pujols, Rolen, Sean Casey having a big year, Bagwell, Kent, Piazza.

[BroadwayBomber55]

Championship caliber teams: Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins

Makin' a surge: L.A. Dodgers

Surprises in the mix: San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals

[ChewieTobbacca]

NL is probably the most parity in the big leagues in a long time (NL Central anyone)

And yeah I think overral the AL has better teams overall but the NL just has better pitchers and hitters individually

They've got hitters in Bonds, Pujols, Rolen, Casey, Dunn, Piazza, Bagwell, Kent, etc. and pitchers like Clemens, Johnson, Prior, Wood, Schmidt, and surprises too (Zambrano, Clement, and others)

But for most of those guys, the rest of their team sucks (On the Giants for example, Bonds & Schmidt are like it, the rest of the team is like AAA and AAAA level)

[Yosef]

Originally posted by VanHalen5150


I disagree. The NL just has more parody than the AL plus the NL has better pitching.

I don't if you're trying to say that this since there's parody, that the NL has better teams than the AL. I'd disagree with that.

I think the Yankees, Red Sox, A's, and Angels would be the best teams in the NL.

Heck, the A's are something like 17-0 all time against the NL Central in interleague play.

I do agree though, that the TB's and KC's of the world inflate the records of the top AL teams.

EDIT:

I basically mean the talent is more concentrated in a few teams in the AL, so they're better than all NL teams, IMO.

[jojos_2]

IMO, it's b/t the Astros and Cubs.

[Yosef]

Originally posted by Yosef


I don't if you're trying to say that this since there's parody, that the NL has better teams than the AL. I'd disagree with that.

I think the Yankees, Red Sox, A's, and Angels would be the best teams in the NL.

I basically mean the talent is more concentrated in a few teams in the AL, so they're better than all NL teams, IMO.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/column...ter&id=1822609

[SanFrANSKY]

None of them. Do you really see a team on the same level as the Braves were for the past 13 seasons?

Face it, not one team has stepped up to be a front-runner. Wait for the injuries to resolve themselves and then ask again.

[Mark19]

I think the Cards are neck and neck with the Marlins right about now