I have a lot of optimism for the Miami Marlins this upcoming season and excitement for some great giveaways as well! It's a good time to take a look at the NL East and see if maybe there's more reasons for optimism this upcoming season. There's three things that I'm seriously thinking about...
There are three issues that will affect the NL East in Miami Marlins favor.
3. HALF OF DIVISION RIVALS AREN'T A THREAT
There are five teams in the NL East: the Miami Marlins, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals and New York Mets. That means that The Fish have four other teams competing for the division. The latter two however are not trying to contend in 2024. That's a pretty big advantage. The NL Central for example will have every one of the teams there competing for that division.
Having two teams as basically just there means that The Fish only need to worry about Philly and Atlanta. Now the Mets are not going to be the new Oakland Athletics here, they're not tanking. They might even end up in playoff contention, though that doesn't seem too likely these days. They're certainly not trying to be terrible though, and with a couple breaks... who knows where they could end up. It's just not very likely.
We can be pretty sure that Washington won't be in playoff contention at all however. Philly and Atlanta aren't exactly easy to deal with, but at least not every team is likely to pose a serious challenge for The Fish.
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