NL East Capsule: A Preview...

Philadelphia Phillies (92-70): Until last month, I was going with the Mets to win the National League East, but their lack of moves, especially on the pitching front, has moved Philadelphia to the top of the division. This offseason, the Phillies made moves to ensure they do not regress.

The Phillies offense is as good as any in baseball, and with Ryan Howard who hit 58 and Chase Utley who busted out in a big way will lead the starting lineup everyday. Add Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Wes Helms to the fold, the Phillies have a solid lineup from top to bottom and more importantly, firepower and protection for Howard and Utley.

With Ryan’s big bat, he changes the course of a game with his amazing power and ability to hit to all field; therefore, in turn will cause the other players in the lineup to help out the big man. There will time where he or Utley might have to carry the team, but you’ve got two legends possibly in the making.

The starting pitching has been improved with addition of Freddy Garcia who was solid with the White Sox along with Adam Eaton, and he joins an already solid rotation with Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer, and young ace possibly in the making, Cole Hamels.

The bullpen may not be as strong as the starting corps, but they are decent.

In the end, the lack of additions by the Mets serves as the Phillies’ gain.

New York Mets (89-73): Like I mentioned, the Mets perhaps may cost themselves the division by not making the necessary pitching movies to get ahead. Right now, the Mets have two forty-somethings, Orlando Hernandez and Tom Glavine and while they may solid starters, well they are in middle age; therefore, it may be short-sighted to depend on guys such as Glavine and Hernandez to man the pitching rotation.

In addition, ace Pedro Martinez was injured during the season in 2006 and will be out at least until the mid-point of 2007; thus, a big loss for the Mets.

Much of the Mets rotation will depend on young John Maine, who’s a capable starter, but still a little rough and Oliver Perez who is trying to bounce back. The Mets also have starters in Triple-A who can possibly fill the void, but right now, the starting rotation is shaky.

Everything must go right with the rotation in order to compete.

The bullpen should be solid with Billy Wagner and others such Duaner Sanchez along with Aaron Heilman.

The batting order is simply scary with uber stars such as David Wright and Jose Reyes who both had breakout seasons and became stars in the baseball stratosphere along with big veteran bats Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and new addition, Moises Alou.

Much like the Yankees and Red Sox, the Mets powerful lineup will pound on mediocre pitching and should produce a ton of runs which in turn will offset bad outings.

In the end though, I see the Mets in second place and possibly getting in via the wild card, but they will have tough competition, especially from the Padres and Dodgers.

Atlanta Braves (83-79): Well, the Braves will be much better than last year, but they won’t win the National League East. Simply put, the Braves bats may not be able to compete with the Phillies or Braves. Longtime incumbents Chipper and Andruw Jones returns, and Andruw may have a big year due to his contract ending, but that won’t be enough.

Jeff Franceour is a good player with solid numbers, but his plate discipline does not leave much to be desired, and it hurts the team at times. In addition, the team traded Adam LaRoche in the offseason for wonder-kid Mike Gonzalez.

The pitching rotation should be solid with long time pitcher John Smoltz, and the team will depend on Tim Hudson to bounce back, Mike Hampton to come back from injury and see if their young starters can make an impact. Overall, the Braves still have too many questions with their pitching rotation to make a dent in the standingd.

The bullpen is strong with new addition Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez and Bob Wickman, but that will not be enough to help the Braves.


Florida Marlins (80-82): Well, the Florida Marlins did something that I thought I’d never expect – win and contend. Under the tutelage of Joe Girardi, young kids and minor leaguers made an impact and surprised the heck out everyone with only a $15 million dollar payroll.

As much as I’d expect the Marlins to finish over .500 and contend, this may not be the year. The players will be a year older, and “D-Train” Dontrelle Wilis and Miguel Cabrerd return, but it won’t be enough.

Willis will lead the pitching corps, and Cabrera will do another bang up job with the bat.

The team has oodles of talent and superstar potential with Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and Josh Willingham, they may still be too raw to go to toe with the Braves, Mets and Phillies. I’d give this young team another year of seasoning, and then they’ll break out.

The starting pitching is strong and primed for the future with young guns such as Scott Olsen, but Anibal Sanchez and Josh Johnson are hurting and that may throw a wrench into their plans of the Marlins. If Johnson and Sanchez can be healthy, then the Marlins can move up.

The bullpen is an unknown, but the Marlins will be exciting to watch. They’ll be over over .500 in 2008.

Washington Nationals (75-87): I do not see the Washington Nationals battling for the New York Mets for the worst record of all time.

However, the team is in shambles and look like they are starting from scratch; therefore, 2007 may be a season to pave the way for the future and to put the wheels in motion to move into their new ballpark.

In light of it all, the future looks bright for the team under the watch of Stan Kasten who built the Atlanta Braves into a powerhouse in the National League. The Nationals may be bad, but it may not be for long as they are trying to rebuild a moribund farm system & hopefully foster talent.

The starting rotation is basically an open rotation for guys who are hungry and looking to reclaim their career. Such names as Tim Redding, Jerome Williams and others look to earn jobs and make an impact for a team along with a fresh start.

As of now, the only guy with a starting pitching job is John Patterson.

The bullpen is in much better shape with the return of Luis Ayala and Chad Cordero (who might be traded if the price is right), and should remain fairly solid and big a source of help to the starting rotation.

The offense does not have much pop and is hindered somewhat by the injury of Nick Johnson, but they have a young core with star-in-the-making Ryan Zimmerman, Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez in the fold, so all is not lost in 2007. The loss of Alfonso Soriano will hurt the Nationals this season; however, not trading him at the trade deadline hurt the team in the short run.

Fans are resigned that the Nationals will probably wind up in last place in the National League East; however, no one expected the Marlins to be great in 2006 either.