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National League Pennant Futures

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Baseball’s regular season officially begins this Sunday when the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies will be looking to win back to back World Series.  It won’t be easy to do since the National League has come up super competitive.

Gamblers need only look at the BetUS Sportsbook to realize that a number of teams could win the Pennant.

Let’s take a look at a few of those teams:

MLB:  National League Pennant Futures

  1. St. Louis Cardinals +1200 - - I know.  I sound crazy believing that the St. Louis Cardinals are going to win the N.L. Pennant in 2009 but I’m taking a big stand because I believe that this team has improved considerably from 2008.  Albert Pujols is easily the best player in baseball right now.  No other player has managed at least a .300 batting average, 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and 99 runs scored in each of his first 8 seasons.  With Pujols swinging the bat, and guys like Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick, who had 37 home runs last year, protecting him, the Cardinals are set with their batting line-up.  When it comes to pitching, often times St. Louis looked like a team using smoke and mirrors to get out of innings in 2008.  That should change this year with Chris Carpenter back and healthy.  All of the signs point to St. Louis becoming a contender for the N.L. crown.  At 12 to 1, they’re my top pick.
  1. Chicago Cubs +300 - - The yearly implosion happened in the first round of the playoffs when the Cubs couldn’t beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.  How crazy was that?  On paper the Cubs still have one of the strongest pitching rotations in baseball with Carlos Zambrano, Rich Harden and Ryan Dempster all capable of winning between 10 to 20 games.  Harden and Dempster finished 2008 with an ERA less than 3.00 and Zambrano can be dangerous with his bat.  Alfonso Sioriano should come close to the .295 batting average of 2008 and the 27 dingers he launched into the stands.  Derrek Lee and Milton Bradley should both put up plenty of runs.  The Cubs are strong.
  1. New York Mets +350 - - Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey and John Maine make a solid starting line-up but the real test will come when new closer Francisco Rodriguez takes the mound.  Some gamblers believe that the reason the Angels didn’t fight hard to keep Rodriguez’s services this off-season is because they burned him out in 2008.  K-Rod was sensational in 2008 when notching 62 saves, 77 strike outs and an ERA of 2.24.  Of course, the Angels played in a division against Oakland, Texas and Seattle.  The defending champion Phillies and Atlanta Braves are going to be much tougher.  The Mets will put up runs but K-Rod has to fulfill expectations.
  1. Philadelphia Phillies  +650 - - Cole Hamels, the Phillies’ ace, won’t be ready for opening day.  That shouldn’t be an issue.  In fact the only issue regarding Philadelphia is whether or not they will suffer the after effects of a World Series victory.  Philadelphia is a solid team across the board with a good pitching staff and a fantastic batting line-up anchored by future hall-of-famer Ryan Howard.  It’s almost impossible to repeat in the free agency age of baseball, but the Phillies have a lot of pride and Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Hamels and Chase Utley would like nothing more than to stick it to the rival New York Mets again.
  1. Arizona Diamondbacks +900 - - The D’Backs have an outsider’s shot of winning the N.L. Pennant.  What has to happen is that one of their batters has to become Albert Pujols.  I know.  It probably won’t happen because the most home runs a single player hit for the D’Backs in 2008 was Mark Reynolds.  Reynolds put up 28 dingers.  His batting average in 2008 was .238.  Those aren’t the kind of stats you want from your best power guy.  Anyhow, without someone stepping up the D’Back probably won’t leapfrog the four teams ahead of them on this list.  This is true even though they added Jon Garland, who was decent enough for a 14 and 8 record last season, to an already fantastic pitching staff made up of Brandon Webb, Dan Haren and Doug Davis.  Webb and Haren are legitimate shut down guys.  Davis can be brilliant on occasion.  Too bad Arizona probably doesn’t score enough runs.
  1. Los Angeles Dodgers +700 - - The Dodgers have the opposite issue from the D’Backs.  L.A. can hit all day with Matt Kemp, .290 average and 18 homers, Andre Eithier, .305 average and 20 homers, James Loney, .289 average and 90 RBIs, Rafael Furcal, .357 average, and Manny Ramirez, .332 average 37 homers and 121 RBIs, in the batting line-up.  The problem is with their pitching staff.  Ace Chad Billingsley appeared to come on last season, but a 3.14 ERA and a 16-10 record isn’t going to cut it.  Then there’s Hiroki Kuroda who, like many Japanese pitchers, might have a down season after being brilliant at times in 2008.  Finally, the third guy in the rotation is Clayton Kershaw.  Most sports internet sites still haven’t put up a photo of Kershaw.  So, how serious are people really taking him?