Baseball Chatter  Jed Jacobsohn/Getty ImagesWho's in the race,
who's out and who will win the coveted playoff spots in the
National League? See below. (And please click HERE for my
American League predictions.) NL East  Who's In? New York Mets
They don't always make it look easy but this is still the best
team in the NL. Its grip on that title is tenuous though,
depending greatly on the health of Moises Alou and Carlos
Beltran, the nerves of rookie outfielder Lastings Milledge, the
fortysomething right arm of Orlando Hernandez and the long-
awaited comeback of Pedro Martinez. As much as everybody loves
Paul Lo Duca, this is a better team when Ramon Castro gets at-
bats.  Atlanta Braves, 3.5 GB Bobby Cox can still platoon with
the best of them. Look at his left-field combo of Willie Harris
(125 OPS+) and Matt Diaz (129 OPS+). With Mark Teixeira and
Octavio Dotel on board, now Cox just has to worry about getting
Andruw Jones to perform and getting something out of his fifth
starter.  Philadelphia Phillies, 4.0 GB