Preseason Roundup Part2: NL East

NL EAST

Predictions

by staff writer  David Herrmann

The NL East was a pretty active division once again this off-season. For once though the team making the moves was the Florida Marlins errrr Miami Marlins. As they head into their brand new stadium the Marlins face a thing that they haven’t had before, money. The Marlins owner opened his pocket book and signed Heath Bell, Jose Reyes and Mark Buherle this off-season. The Phillies spent lavish on a closer by the name of Papelbon after the Red Sox balked at his contract. The Washington Nationals tried to sign Prince Fielder to no avail, however, they traded the farm for Gio Gonzalez and signed Edwin Jackson to bolster a pretty decent rotation. The Braves pretty much stood pat and will put pretty much the same squad as last years on the field. Finally the Mets, what is to say is they cut their payroll the most of any team in the history of baseball. If that is not enough to cringe about their off-season I don’t know what will.

                                                             courtesy of cbssports.com     

Philadelphia Phillies

Well they say pitching wins divisions and this is never more evident than the Phillies. This team has a 1, 2, 3 of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. When you have three of the top 10 pitchers you are doing pretty good. Plus, they have Joe Blanton, Kyle Kendrick and Vance Worley to fill out the remaining spots. The Phillies signed Jonathan Papelbon to a big contract that they are regretting now since they acted too quickly. However, this team’s troubles are going to lie within the offense. Can they keep a major league squad on the field at all times? With a banged up Chase Utley and Ryan Howard this team will be spending more time on the DL then the Twins of last year. Plus Placido Polanco is always an injury risk. Regardless, the Phillies still have a healthy Jimmy Rollins, Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino leading the way. These guys will once again take claim to the division title but not nearly as easy as it has been previously.

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                                                                 courtesy of   bocaratonetribune.com
                        TOOK THEIR TALENTS TO SOUTH BEACH

Florida Marlins.

This team is good. How good? I would say possibly the leader of this division. They will have some struggles and we don’t exactly know yet how this new ballpark will play out. But, with a healthy Josh Johnson as the ace, Mark Buherle and Anibal Sanchez as a 2 and 3 and Carlos Zambrano as a #4 who should be re-juvenated in Miami under new head coach Ozzie Guillen, this team is destined to have some solid win potential. It doesn’t help that Heath Bell is the closer either. The Fish have a starting line up that includes Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Giancarlo Stanton, Emilio Bonifacio and Logan Morrison. This team has speed and they will run because Ozzie loves that. Do I see this team winning the division yes, but a lot of injury risk with JJ, Reyes, Sanchez, Hanley and Stanton make me iffy to pick them as the true choice in the division.

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                                           courtesy of blogs.ajc.com 
                                                                           

Atlanta Braves.

The other epic collapse team from last year returns much of the same rotation. However, quickly after the season ended the Braves traded Derek Lowe to the Indians. The team has some major injury risks in their pitching rotation with that of Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson. The always-steady Tim Hudson will continue his steady self. Look for Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy and Julio Teheran to make some contributions. Their bullpen is money again with Kimbrel and Venters. Their rotation is good, McCann, Uggla should provide decent power with Michael Bourn quietly turning into a super star. The big question mark for the Braves is that of Jason Heyward. Will his shoulder continue to zap his power? Will Chipper Jones start to finally fade into the abyss? These are major questions the Braves will need to deal with this year.

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                                 picture courtesy of  unathletic.com      NOT WERTH'LESS.

Washington Nationals.

I like this team, actually I take it back, I LOVE THIS TEAM. The Nationals have such a glut of talent with Strasburg, Jackson, Gonzalez, Lannan and Zimmerman as a starting rotation you can be sure this team will be competitive. Plus having Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Brad Lidge in the bullpen doesn’t hurt either. The offense is rounding out nicely as well. Wilson Ramos at catcher is sure to continue getting better making the Twins cry knowing what they should have had to fix the Mauer issue. The infield consists of LaRoche, Espinosa, Desmond and Zimmerman. The key factor here is health on the hands of Ryan Zimmerman. He is looking healthy and should be. The outfield consists of Roger Bernadina, Jayson Werth and Michael Morse. This team has another guy quietly coming up, o what the heck, the “chosen one” Bryce Harper should be up  pounding around balls come June. Look for an exciting year from the Nats.

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                               picture courtesy of picturesdepot.com   I USED TO BE GOOD.
NY Mets

Is it sad that I don’t care about even talking about this team? Essentially the only bright spot is Johan Santana might be able to pitch effectively this year. Yet, they still owe him barrels of cash. David Wright and Ike Davis are both injured already. They traded Angel Pagan and got rid of Jose Reyes.

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