In the playoffs, anybody can get hot at the right time, and not necessarily the best team....look at the 2006 Cardinals. The playoffs are a crapshoot.
Being good over a 162 game season is a different story. As far as making the playoffs, there's no way The Phillies, with that line-up and a starting rotation that has the potential to be one of the best in history, are not making the playoffs. Also, sorry Boid, The Phillies are one of the few teams in the NL that could regularly compete in the A.L. The Toronto Blue Jays, a perennial 4th place team in the A.L. East, could make a serious run at the N.L. Central or N. L West crown.
Boston should make the playoffs, and in any other division, it's an almost guarantee. In the A.L. East, there's some tough competition.
Boid, watch an A.L. game, something you've claimed you've never done. Then imagine facing the Yankees line-up 18 times a year. There's no Nick Punto's, David Eckstein's, or pitchers in that line-up.