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2015 NL East Division Odds / MLB Handicapping Season Predictions

Futures Odds to Win the NL East

2014 was a cake walk in the NL East for the Washington Nationals who won their division by the widest margin of any division in baseball at 17 games up on their closest competitors.

MLB Lines & Matchup Insight

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Odds to Win the NL East

Washington Nationals -400
Miami Marlins +600
New York Mets +600
Atlanta Braves +2500
Philadelphia Phillies +5000

Not much should change this year as the Nats looked poised to take another NL East title, but the rest of the division could see a significant shakeup and perhaps see a wild card team come out of what was the weakest division in baseball a year ago.

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1:Washington Nationals: 

Top to bottom this is the best team in the division and could be the best team in baseball this year if they can stay healthy. 100 wins is not out of the question for the Nats who boast one of, if not the best pitching rotation in the MLB. The addition of former Tigers Max Scherzer and Doug Fister bolsters a rotation that already includes Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez…yea, good luck, everyone else.

2. Miami Marlins: 

The Marlins make what could be viewed as a big jump to second after finishing fourth in the division a year ago. That fourth place finish can be deceiving though as the division as a whole was bad save for the Nats. At 77-85, the Marlins finished just two games back of the second place Atlanta Braves.

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The pitching staff doesn’t wow you, but with MVP candidate Giancarlo Stanton finally getting some support on offense this team will knock the ball around and will be able to keep themselves in games.

3. Atlanta Braves: 

It’s the end of an era for a team that always seemed to find a way to get to the post season. The Braves didn’t make any offseason moves that will help them keep pace with Nationals and will likely be mired around the .500 mark or below for much of the 2015 season. Craig Kimbrel is still one of the best closers in the game but there’s only so much he can do in the ninth inning if his team is behind more often than they are ahead.

4: New York Mets: 

It was tempting to have the Mets finishing third in this division due to the return of Matt Harvey to the starting rotation. Harvey is a stud and will get wins for this team by himself. Zack Wheeler looks like a decent number two in the rotation but the drop off after him is steep with Bartolo Colon who is about 163 years old and a wildly inconsistent Jonathan Niese. David Wright needs to stay healthy for this team to have any measure of success.

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5: Philadelphia Phillies: 

This pitching staff would be amazing if it was six years ago. As it stands though, the Phillies sport an aging group with the likes of Cliff Lee and Aaron Harang (both 36) and Cole Hamels (31). Chad Billingsly at 30 years of age is the youngest starter in the rotation and a 34 year old Jonathan Papelbon will anchor the bullpen. The Phillies have a ton of money tied up with rapidly declining Ryan Howard (35) and Chase Utley (36). The Phillies are in a transition phase and don’t look like they’ll be a contender this year.

2015 NL East Standings Prediction:

1: Washington Nationals (99 – 63)
2: Miami Marlins ( 88 – 74)
3: Atlanta Braves (80- 82)
4: NY Mets ( 77 – 85)
5: Philadelphia Phillies ( 69 – 93)

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By Matt Durnan

A (self-proclaimed) fantasy sports guru since 2004 and a journalist since 2007. He has been offering unsolicited sports gambling advice to his circle of friends for years and has now put himself at the mercy of online readers everywhere. "It's not whether you win or lose, it's how much fun you have"... His hockey coach told him that when he was 7. His team lost every game that year.