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 Record: 92-70                                                                          Record: 90-72

The St. Louis Cardinals took control of the NL Central in the second half of the season and ride that momentum into the playoffs.  The Cardinals took off with the acquisition of SP Brandon Webb, who went 13-3 after the trade.  The pitching staff overall finished in the middle of the pack, but this series will see former National SP John Lannan faceoff against his old team.  The strength of the Cardinals staff is their bullpen, led by NL saves leader Rafael Soriano.  The Cardinals do boast a powerful and balanced offense, led by NL batting champ 1B Albert Pujols.  Along with Pujols, the Cardinals feature a young nucleus of players such as: CF Colby Rasmus, 3B Brett Wallace, SS Gordon Beckahm and C Blake Murphy.  If the young kids perform as well in the postseason as they have during the regular season, the Cardinals could be a team to watch this postseason.

The Washington Nationals are in the playoffs, a sentence that probably surprises several observers around the league.  However, there is nothing surprising about the Nationals, who have been one of the most consistent teams all season long.  Led by rookie ace SP Stephen Strasburg, the Nationals pitching is much improved and Strasburg give the team an ability to win anytime he pitches.  The Nationals offense has been solid as well, with 3B Ryan Zimmerman and OF Adam Dunn plenty of power and the rest of the lineup contains the ability to score in bunches.  The offense isn't as adept at hitting for average though, so the team must continue to hit for power if they hope to advance to the Championship Series, a task that is made tougher by an injury to Zimmerman which will most likely keep him out for the entire series.

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Record: 98-64                                                               Record: 86-76

The New York Mets begin their title defense in a familiar position, top record in the National League.  The Mets pitching has been dominant all season long, with three 16-game winners on their staff and Oliver Perez finishing with a team-high 20 wins.  Ace Johan Santana leads the staff and de facto ace Mike Pelfrey rounds out the top 3 which may be the best in all of baseball.  The offense tailed off a bit this season, but the dominant pitching is enough to get by on most nights.  The offense isn't poor though, with 3B David Wright and LF Matt Holliday anchoring the lineup and speedy SS Jose Reyes setting the table for the power bats.

The San Diego Padres enter the playoffs, after a big turnaround from last year's finish.  Their reward for winning their division this season is a Division Series matchup with the defending champion Mets.  The Padres are a young team and have young players in all of the key positions, which makes this team one to watch in the upcoming years.  However, the Padres think they can advance this season and could present a problem, if SP Wade Davis and SP David Price and handle the playoff intensity.  The key for the Padres will be how they perform away from the spacious confines of Petco Park, but they did split their season series with the Mets (3-3), so they have shown the ability to play with the vaunted Mets.

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      Record: 101-61                                                                           Record: 82-81

The Tampa Bay Rays took hold of the vaunted AL East early and never looked back in compiling a 100-win season.  The Rays are an incredibly balanced team and look to close the deal this postseason, after taking the New York Mets to a full 7 games in last year's World Series.  All the key players from that team are back and this postseason SP Jake Peavy is ready and able to pitch.  The other big piece of the San Diego trade, 1B Adrian Gonzalez, leads a consistent and balanced offense that also includes 3B Evan Longoria, 2B Willy Aybar, and power from either of their DHs Pat Burrell or Gabe Gross.  The Rays offense led the AL in home runs this season, which helps a solid pitching staff that ranked third in the AL over the course of the season.

After narrowly missing the playoffs last year, the Cleveland Indians got in this year in the 163rd game of their regular season.  The Indians have gotten this far more on grit and determination, but the Indians shouldn't be dismissed out of hand because they were able to beat the Rays 3 of the 7 matchups this season.  SP Daisuke Matsuzaka, obtained in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, leads the pitching staff and will need to perform in order for the Indians to be competitive.  Unfortunately, Matsuzaka pitched the 163rd game of the regular season, so his availability may be limited.  The offense, led by superstar CF Grady Sizemore, isn't flashy, but the Indians did finish 3rd in the AL in runs scored and 4th in home runs.