What's the odds on the Giants having the worst overall record in baseball come the end of the regular season? I think they might just about be favourites...

Think the Rangers might turn out to be pretty bad too....

Yeah, I think if the Giant's SP is all fully fit they have a chance of going over the Nats, but the Giants offence is so weak I really think the Nats are way ahead on that score. Really, there's not much behind Lincecum and Cain atm until Zito gets his finger out of his ass, and the Giants relief is pretty dreadful too.

I agree that Texas might have a shot of piling up a few wins vs the A's (who might be down there in the sub-.400 teams) and the Mariners, but I think they might finish with a worse record than the Nats and even perhaps the Giants. I don't see where their hitting is coming from this year, minus Teixeira (always thought Young was an almost empty .300 hitter), and having your rotation anchored by Kevin Millwood is not looking like a smart move.

Can't be anything other than happy with the Cardinals' start this year though I guess there's a chance of us contending in the NLC after all....

I think the Cardinals can finish over .500 and compete in the NLC, although I'd concede that Milwaukee and Chicago would probably be the joint favourites; I think both those teams are due big years so it'll be tough to stay in contention until September.

The big differences between this year and last year that most of the "expert" commentators seem to miss is that
a) our outfield, and hitting in general, is a lot better and more balanced (though losing Eckstein for Izturis at SS was a bit of a blow); Ankiel is a massive upgrade over Edwards in CF, Barton and Schumaker (esp. Barton, who I think has potential to be a .300, 20/20-type guy with 500+ ABs, which he won't get) are good options as on-base guys, and Ludwick and Duncan fit and firing gives two strong power options. Adam Kennedy hit dreadfully at 2B last year, but seems to have got over some of his problems, and I think Troy Glaus is a fairly big offensive upgrade over Scott Rolen, who I suspect may be basically finished having watched his swing deteriorate over the last 2 years. How we swung that 1-for-1 trade when Rolen had fallen out with La Russa and had an untenable situation in the clubhouse is beyond me, I think the Jays got robbed there. Also, if there are any outfield injuries, we have one of the top 2 outfield prospects in all of baseball to come up from AAA in the middle of the year, Colby Rasmus.
The main problem last year was that teams knew they could just pitch around Pujols when guys were on base (hence less than 100 RBIs on a 35 HR season, or whatever it was) as there was no-one really to clear up. Now the heart of the lineup from 1-6 could be like Barton/Schumaker, Duncan, Pujols, Ankiel, Glaus, Kennedy/Ludwick/whoever, which is much more protected and has upside on 130-140HRs.
b) our starting pitching, whilst still fairly sucky, has a lot more options. The big problem last year was that when garbage like Kip Wells and Mike Maroth were getting absolutely lit up, there wasn't really any way we could replace them, as we were so stretched by injuries. Wainwright, Looper and Wellemayer/Thompson/Pineiro all did OK most of the time, but then you knew that the rest of the rotation was going to have at least two guys with 5.00+ ERAs who were getting roasted every week. This year, we may not have any more star pitchers (though Lohse looks like a big upgrade so far) but we have more depth. Once Mark Mulder is back in late May, we have something like 8 guys with significant MLB starting experience, and Matt Clement and Chris Carpenter still to probably come back later in the year. If we're in contention in August, and we're lucky with injuries and rehabbing pitchers (which I grant is quite unlikely, judging on recent years) our rotation could well be Carpenter, Wainwright, Mulder, Lohse, and then one out of Wellemeyer/Looper/Clement/Pineiro, with the option of bumping some good arms into the bullpen or trading to improve our middle infield. I think we're in a much better place than last year on the pitching front.

I grant you it's probably all going to be for nothing if the Brewers of Cubs go close to .600 for the year, as I'd be surprised if we're much more than a 90-win team even if everything goes according to plan, but stranger things have happened.