NL 2K7 Power Rankings

What a year, huh? Quite a bit has changed. At this time in 2006, Cheddar was nothing more than a humble journalism student, Benazir Bhutto was safely living somewhere other than Pakistan, and the Mets were the odds-on favorites in the National League.

As I said, a lot's changed. Salt.

2008 is sure to bring a whole new bushel of changes, including plenty more before baseball even enters the sporting picture. Still, at this point, it wouldn't hurt to take a look back at the year that was, and address what happened to each of the entrants in the Senior Circuit. Remember, we're talking calendar year here, including the season and what's happened since.

In reverse order:

16. Florida Marlins

With a bullet. After years of failing to land a new stadium, 2007 saw the Fish ... maybe land a new stadium? Well, we'll believe it when we see it, but far more importantly, it's a case of too little, way too late. Florida traded away its prime mover and biggest star -- Miguel Cabrera and the D-Train, respectively -- for a mess of prospect pottage earlier in the fall, this after a season where their young pitching prospects either didn't make it to the mound (say hello to Josh Johnson's 15.2 IP) or sucked when they got there (Scott Olsen's fine 5.81 ERA). The local populace seemingly c0uldn't care less. The good news? The guy who helped put these guys in this situation just took over the Yankees. Now we're talking.

15. Pittsburgh Pirates

At least there's some light at the ... nope. No light. The Bucs' best player, Jason Bay, suffered through a horrid 2007 season (.247/.327/.418), while their top pitchers (Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny) appear to have plateaued at "crappy." New GM Neal Huntington appears markedly reasonable by all accounts, but you can't make lemonade out of this nonsense. Not even lemon drink. As a result, the finest park in the game continues to be the haunt of only diehards and blind folk.

14. San Francisco Giants

$126 million dollars bought the Giants a 4.53 ERA and a dismal hairdo. Barry Bonds, still the team's best player, brought nothing but joy to the team in his pursuit of the all-time home run record. He landed both the long-awaited mark and a long-awaited indictment, which kind of balances out. Hidden indicator of suffering -- Matt Cain, the club's best pitcher, finished the season with a 7-16 record. Even successfully fobbing off parasite Matt Morris onto Team No. 15 couldn't change the fact this is an old, ill-conceived team with no clear way forward. But hey, maybe the missing element was "hustle."

13. Houston Astros

Their favorite son and perennial Cy Young contender turned out to be a miserable, performance-enhancing cheat. No, the other one. At least it was all in the past ... until Houston went out an acquired Miggy Tejada two days before his name highlighted the Mitchell Report. This is media management straight out of the Katherine Harris School of Communications. Meanwhile, they've got an aging/awful team, and no pitching past Roy Oswalt. They're also slow as shit -- rookie outfielder Hunter Pence, one of the few bright spots in this neck of the woods, let the team with 11 stolen bases in his 3/4 of a season. GM Ed Wade seems determined to "scrappy" his way out of it. Best of luck, chump.

12. St. Louis Cardinals

Their first losing season since 1999, and it went bad early, as the defending champs' manager was busted for DUI in Match. A month later, the merely hypocritical turned tragic as the team lost Josh Hancock to a nasty late-night car crash. Pitcher-turned-position player Rick Ankiel looked to have restore the feel-good vibes to the season, until it came out he was on HGH before it was cool. In the meantime, LaRussa openly feuded with star 3B Scott Rolen, who looks just as done as CF Jim Edmonds, since gone to San Diego. Even Albert Pujols had a down year. This is likely to get uglier before it improves.

11. Los Angeles Dodgers

Led the league in attendance and nasty looks in the clubhouse. A roster bifurcated between the young and talented (Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, James Loney, Andy LaRoche) and the old and dickish (Jeff Kent, Nomar, Gonzo) bickered their way to the least satisfying 82-80 record in recent memory. Juan Pierre led the league in outs. Nice. Everyone's back for another go in '08, only with a Japanese addition (Kuroda) and another veteran outfielder (Andruw Jones) to muck things up. Just a bad scene.

10. Washington Nationals

Former Mets coach Manny Acta whipped these clowns into a frenzy, and a team expected to lose 100 games somehow improved its record despite missing its best hitter (Nick Johnson) for the whole year and ... well, not having any good pitchers. Dmitri Young channeled his inner Mo Vaughn and earned an All-Star bid, and journeymen like Tim Redding and Shawn Hill looked respectable enough. For next year, they've got a non-decrepit park to play in and some shiny new players to toss in there. Blastings ...

9. Cincinnati Reds

They're doing better, but in the "Up and at them" sense of the phrase. Brandon Phillips had the season we've waited a decade for, dope fiend Josh Hamilton seemed to turn his life around, and Griffey almost stayed healthy for the whole year. But still ... where is any of this going, you know?

8. Atlanta Braves

They'll fill Andruw's shoes with one of the other free agent CFs, and if Tommy the Spy isn't a difference-maker any more, he's still better the slop the Braves ran out there in'07. The trade for Tex was, as discussed in this space, a great pickup, and the team also dealt Renteria to the free-spending Tigers for a perfectly acceptable package of prospects. So, while they've got too many holes to be favorites or anything approaching it, they're doing what they need to do.

7. New York Mets

A little low, eh? Well, that's what happen when you have the worst collapse in the history of regular-season collapses, and follow it up by dealing away the future for a puffy-faced catcher and his bridge partner. The latest rumors have the Mets in the chase for Kyle Lohse, which might just kill me. This could change quickly, but I can't put them any higher at the moment.

6. Milwaukee Brewers

The breakout season that almost was, as Prince Fielder bashed the ball (50 HR) and his estranged dad, Ryan Braun won the Rookie of the Year award, and the team almost held off the hard-charging Cubs. The team can reasonably expect improvement from all of its starting pitchers, and most of its hitters as well. Potential to be scary-good, or at least good enough that everyone forgets the mild disappointment of the past season.

5. San Diego Padres

The mini-collapse of the century. Also, the best pitcher in the league. And now, the corpse of Mark Prior to play with. Just saying.

4. Philadelphia Phillies

The team to beat.

3. Chicago Cubs

So, it worked out just fine for Sweet Lou and Co., even if a World Series berth wasn't in the cards. Free agent signings Ted Lilly and Jason Marquis exceeded expectations, Carlos Zambrano eventually settled down into a manageable state of rage, and Alfonso Soriano looked worth the money. Piniella will have a new star (Kosuke Fukudome) to add to the mix in '08, and even it the system isn't going to produce any stars, the lineup is still going to be sick. All in all, a good time for the Cubbies' fans.

2. Arizona Diamondbacks

The team moved mathematic on rappers, then went out and added Dan Haren from the A's in a blockbuster trade for a bunch of surplus prospects. Their best player, who I find more overrated than the Mile High Club, is nevertheless a highly decent dude. Trouble for the foreseeable future.

1. Colorado Rockies

New Rocks. Until proven otherwise, it's still their universe.