NL East Preview

Here we go, I know I said I was going to put this up last night, but I got off of work late and had a test to study for. But as a reminder here's what I'm planning on doing.

4/1 - NL East, West, and AL East

4/2 - AL West

4/3 - NL Central and Brewers preview

4/4 - AL Central and Twins preview

4/5 - Predictions

NL EAST

1. New York Mets (89-73, 2nd NL East):

Death, taxes, and the Mets choking every year in September. That's what my generation has gotten used to. The Mets have been underperforming since they lost the World Series in 2000. Now, the Mets have some good players, but a lot of them seem like enigmas. Probably the biggest one is SS Jose Reyes. If Reyes comes to play, the Mets usually win. If Reyes doesn't the Mets usually lose, but Reyes was not the main problem last year. It was the bullpen. Take this into consideration. Johan Santana had 8 leads blown last season. If the bullpen hangs on to 4-5 of them, they win the division and if they hold just one, they get into the playoffs. The Mets did a great job at bolstering their pen by adding Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz to the back end. If the Mets starters can go 6-7 innings, leads won't escape this team anymore. The Mets rotation is a bit of a concern past Santana, but we'll see if it will matter.

2. Philadelphia Phillies (92-70, Won World Series)

The defending world champions have a lot to worry about these days. The health of Cole Hamels elbow. It's been said that this isn't serious, but anything with a pitchers elbow has to proceed with caution. (Hamels won't start the opener Sunday against Atlanta.) Then there's the health of Chase Utley's hip. Utley played through it all last season, but had to have surgery. He was expected to be out until June, but now it looks like he might be ready to go. You have to be concerned that the injury might linger a bit so how will that effect his production? Ryan Howard is the other enigma. Howard constantly bashes 40-50 home runs a year, but his average is a problem. If he hits with runners in scoring postition, nobody's going to get on him. However, if that number takes a dive, the Phillies could be in trouble. Of course, if all three of these concerns turn out to be me worrying way too much the Phillies could win the division.

3. Florida Marlins (84-77, 3rd in NL East)

Yes, that is Florida's record from last season. Remember that the Marlins were in it for most of the year until they ran out of gas in August. They have a pair of great and exciting players in outfielders Hanley Ramierez and Cameron Maybin but their pitching is going to be outstanding. Ricky Nolasco will be the ace of this team and the Marlins also have Chris Volstad and Annibal Sanchez. Their pitching could be the key for the Marlins and the team has the potential to go deep into October with a little luck.

4. Atlanta Braves (72-90, 4th in NL East)

The Braves are in full fledged rebuilding mode. This was apparent when John Smoltz left for Boston. Now the Braves have to use their farm system to replenish the most successful team in the last two decades. Jordan Schaffer will be the starting center fielder for the Braves and he's a top 100 prospect. IF Yunel Escobar should continue to get better and 1B Casey Kotchman was a solid pickup in the Mark Texiera trade last year. The Braves still have a ways to go however as their pitching old and needs a youth infusion. Tom Glavine and Derek Lowe seem to be the anchors for the team, but I just don't see a way that they're going to close games. The Braves won't do anything this year, but with a couple years of solid drafting they should improve.

5. Washington Nationals (59-102, 5th in NL East)

The Nationals are continuing the tradition of the Montreal Expos by finishing in last place every year that doesn't end in a strike. I don't see any hope for this team to be perfectly honest. They signed Adam Dunn which gives them a power bat in the middle of the lineup, but they have no pitching. I mean NO PITCHING. P Jordan Zimmermann is a solid prospect and could develop into a dominating number one starter but there's just no hope right now for the team. They do have the first pick coming up in the entry draft, but in baseball it takes about 2-3 years for your first round pick to develop. It's going to be a while before we see the Nationals in the spotlight.