National League loaded with contenders
Major League Baseball is split into the American League and National League, with 15 teams on either side. While the split seems to make the two leagues even, the talent level in 2016 for each says otherwise.
Despite the World Series champion residing in the AL, it is the NL with decidedly more talent and a much better group of teams. The Senior Circuit does have some complete dumpster fires in it unlike the American League, such as the San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies, but the proverbial cream of the crop is just so much better.
In the NL East, the Washington National and New York Mets are going to duel throughout the summer. Look at the starting rotations for each of these clubs. Washington is rolling deep with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Max Scherzer at the top, while New York boosts Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz. Both of these teams also have huge hitters in Bryce Harper, Yoenis Cespedes and others.
The NL Central gives us three teams that could walk away with the World Series this season. The Pittsburgh Pirates are sort of lost in the shuffle, but they have one of the most talented teams in the league. Gerrit Cole is tremendous and with Francisco Liriano and Jeff Locke alongside him in the starting rotation, the Pirates have some real pieces. Add in the hitting of Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco, and this team could win 95 games.
The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are also tremendous threats. St. Louis has a quality staff of Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha, which can be matched by Chicago’s Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and John Lackey. In the lineups, you see the talents of Yadier Molina, Matt Carpenter, Matt Holliday, Jason Heyward, Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and more. No two teams have more firepower across the board than these two Midwest rivals.
In the NL West, there remains plenty of talent on both the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants. The Diamondbacks have a great duo in the rotation with Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller with Paterick Corbin as a nice sleeper, while San Francisco has Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto following Madison Bumgarner.
Ultimately, there are going to be some very good teams left out of the National League playoffs come October. In the AL, there might not be one team that comes away with 90 wins, while the NL could have five or six reach that mark. The fights will be furious for all three divisions, and the Wild Card game is going to provide two excellent teams faced with one game for all the marbles.
Keep your eyes on the NL, that is where the action is.
