NL NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

The start of the new decade has been tumultuous for Major League Baseball. Starting with the Astros and the sign-stealing scandal that shook the sports world in early January. A couple of weeks afterwards, the Dodgers and the Red Sox orchestrated a huge blockbuster trade involving Mookie Betts. If the rest of the calendar year is just as exciting as the first two months of 2020, it will sure be an interesting regular season for America’s pastime. We have already gone over the new year’s resolution for the 15 squads of the American League, so let’s now tackle the other clubs from the National League!

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Washington Nationals: Try to avoid a World Series hangover. Since the start of the 1969 season, 26 teams completely missed the playoffs the following year after winning it all the previous year. Let’s hope the former Expos aren’t the 27^th team to be added on this infamous list.

Philadelphia Phillies: Fresh acquisitions, new skipper, more experience, same expectations for the seventh-highest payroll in the MLB. The City of Brotherly Love is desperately starving for a third championship, and it all starts with one man: Joe Girardi.

New York Mets: Build around the young guns. The Mets are in a great position as they enter the new decade. They have a good mix of young guys and experienced veterans. Despite all of that, their rotation should be solid enough to compete in the National League East, barring any significant injuries.

Miami Marlins: Continue the rebuilding process. The veterans they have dealt since the beginning of the 2017 season have netted them great prospects, as their farm system is currently ranked fourth in the league according to MLB.com. Even though the Marlins are still far away from contention, the fans are slowly but surely starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Atlanta Braves: Win the NL Pennant. The Braves blew a 2-1 lead in the NLDS last year. To make sure it doesn’t happen again, Alex Anthopoulos significantly improved the roster over the winter by adding, among others, Marcell Ozuna, Travis d’Arnaud, and Cole Hamels. No excuses are valid for the Braves!

Cincinnati Reds: Get back into the playoffs. The Reds really took advantage of a declining NL Central division over the hot stove season. The Cards, Cubs, Pirates, and Brewers all lost some significant pieces this past offseason while Cincy upgraded some key positions. They must take advantage of that small window of opportunity.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Try to forget about Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow. The Pirates got absolutely robbed in the Chris Archer trade, and there is no question that Pirates fans will continue to have numerous nightmares about the trade, as Meadows and Glasnow continue their quest to become superstars in The Show. Oh, and by the way, it’s time to wave goodbye to Starling Marte as well!

Milwaukee Brewers: Provide more protection in the lineup for Christian Yelich. The 2018 NL MVP had, stat-wise, a better campaign last year compared to his MVP campaign two years ago. Yet, he did all of that without having a true 3-hole hitter batting after him (Ryan Braun hit in the third spot for the majority of the year). Sophomore Keston Hirua should provide more protection for Yelich in the lineup this year.

St-Louis Cardinals: Make sure Jack Flaherty continues to progress. Honestly, I don’t think that the young flamethrower gets the recognition he truly deserves. He was such a stud in the second half of last season, going 7-2 with a microscopic 0.91 ERA. If he can put together a productive full season, the Red Birds will have one of the best young pitchers in the game in their rotation.

Chicago Cubs: Trade Kris Bryant over the summer. I know that this is going to be an unpopular take amongst the Cubs faithful, but I do believe it’s time to trade KB. The star 3^rd basemen will be a free agent in 2021, so if the Cubs do decide to pull the trigger on the former Rookie of Year, now it’s the time to do it since his trade value will never be higher coming off a strong 2019 campaign.

San Diego Padres: Finally end the playoff drought. 2006 was the last time the Padres made the postseason, when they lost the NLDS to what would go on to be the eventual champions, the St-Louis Cardinals. With a good blend of younger players and veterans, the Padres MUST make it back to the postseason in order to save A.J Preller’s job.

Colorado Rockies: Try to resurrect Kyle Freeland’s career. No one know what happened to Kyle Freeland in 2019. The southpaw was a Cy Young candidate in 2018 and then he hit a wall in 2019, going 3-11 with a horrifying 6.73 ERA while allowing 25 bombs. If Freeland can rediscover his 2018 form, Colorado will be in great shape to challenge for a wild-card birth, especially if Nolan Arenado stays in the Mile-High City. 

Los Angels Dodgers: Host and participate in the World Series Parade in November. The expectations are sky high for the Dodgers, as they should be, especially after adding David Price and Mookie Betts.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Sign Christian Walker to a long-term contract. The 29-year-old first basemen is coming off a great year at the plate, and will only continue to improve as he hit his prime. The former Oriole is under team control until 2024, when he’ll be 33 years old. The D-Backs could outsmart everybody by buying all three of his arbitration years plus two more years for a total of $35 million.

San Francisco Giants: Commit to a full rebuild. The start of the new decade is going to be interesting for the Giants, who currently have 108 million committed to Posey, Cueto, Samardzjia, Belt, Crawford, and Longoria. All past their prime veterans who don’t offer much in terms of on-field productivity.

That’s all folks! Carl Lemelin is back in office for the March 1 edition of the blog. Carl will interview Alexane Fournier, winner of the 2019 female player of the year award from Baseball Quebec.

In the meantime, let us know what you think some of the NL resolutions should be.