NL South
The former
Charlotte franchise was in decline for a few seasons before an owner was finally willing to put time into fixing some deficiencies last season, and now the team is a division winner and on the rise. They have no bad contracts and a low payroll.
LF Lloyd leads the offense while
SP Cora anchors the pitching staff. They'll have the 20th pick in the draft.
The former
Kansas City Franchise had a steady owner for 8 seasons. They are projected to have a medium-high payroll but are led by perennial MVP candidate
1B Gerut,
SS Yashian, and
P Campos. They will pick 9th in the first round this year.
NL West
The former
Cheyenne Franchise has slipped in recent years but still has a medium payroll with some decent players. They also play in a weak division--they lost a tie-breaker for first place despite finishing 10 games under .500 last season, so you'll have a chance to compete right away regardless. There are no bad contracts on this roster, and they are led by
RF Lee, the young
SP Palmeiro, and
LF Hines. In addition, the team has a nice OBP machine in the minors in
1B Sojo, and recent first round picks
RF Buck, and
SS Wagner. They'll pick 13th this year.
The former
Scottsdale Franchise also plays in the weak NL West and had one owner for 15 consecutive seasons despite never finishing over .500 in that time. There should be a lot of payroll flexibility here as there are seven arbitration eligible players and a low ML payroll.
SP Bradley anchors the pitching staff and the young star
IF North provides the pop in the lineup. Last year's first round pick
RF Rijo brings some promise to the future, and so does this talented trio of SPs:
SP Connolly,
SP Mercado, and
SP Chang, They will have the 5th overall pick in the first round of the draft.