McTaggart posted an interview with Berkman as part of the Opening Day coverage, and we see some interesting things:
On the competition in the NL Central:
I think obviously based on our performance last year and we return a lot of the same personnel -- we didn't make a huge splash in the offseason adding any huge names -- but I do think that first of all, we're a better team than we played last year. I think part of the perception of our team is based on a faulty representation of the season last year, and if we can just play up to our capabilities and if guys perform like they've performed in the past and we're able to avoid significant injury, I think we'll be competitive. Really in our division, there's no reason we can't win the division...
...I really think there's five of the six teams in the division that could win the division. I really think that St. Louis and Chicago and Milwaukee, us or the Reds could win the thing. It's a tough division. It's a much tougher division than people give it credit for.
I only focused on this part, and it's a good long interview, so read the whole thing. I don't know if it's the Opening Day itch, or what, but this could be a year that the Astros surprise a lot of people. And by "a lot of people," I, of course, mean "everybody."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
