Polaroid
I need a tittle
- Since
- Jan 21, 2010
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- 2,890
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Washington Nationals
When you are a generally a lock to finish bottom of your division and your offseason signings include Adam Kennedy, Jason Marquis and Ivan Rodriguez then history is probably going to repeat itself. Although they do have some good young players and an ownership willing to open their check book, in all reality they are years away from contending in the NL East. With this in mind, they really should keep Stephen Strasburg in the minors for an extended period to avoid the clock starting on his career in the majors to ensure that he'll still be around and still be affordable by the time the Nationals become competitive.
New York Mets
The Mets had an impressive year as they managed to transform a $145 million payroll into a 92 loss season. That's even more impressive when the Arizona Diamondbacks hit 92 losses last season with half the payroll. In reality, the Mets had their fair share of bad luck last season which saw their players, including eight former All Stars, spend 1480 days on the disabled list which was a MLB high. Also it saw David Wright hit a respectable .307 but totally lose his power as his home run count fell from 33 in 2008 to a career low of 10 in 2009. Although they shouldn't be as bad in 2010, this isn't the year when they are going to be challenging for the division. Jason Bay is no doubt an upgrade on the offensive side but an unchanged rotation is questionable outside of Johan Santana.
Florida Marlins
Again the Marlins put the rest of baseball to shame as they finished 2nd in the NL East with a payroll of less than $35 million and 2010 will see a huge surge well, up to $45 million anyway. And a team containing 2009 Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan as well as All Stars Josh Johnson, Hanley Ramirez, and Dan Uggla is always going to be a contender. After coming to an agreement with MLB and the Player's Union to increase their payroll to match the money it sees from revenue sharing, they tied up Johnson to a 4 year $39 million deal. The NL East should be worried with $35 million, they can do better than teams spending three or four times more, just imagine how good they could be if they start spending more money.
Atlanta Braves
From 1991 to 2005, the Braves won fourteen consecutive divisional titles which was and still remains a record for the major leagues and in Bobby Cox's last season it appears that he is leaving behind a team that has the potential to be dominant for years to come. Probably not in 2010 but sooner rather than later. If you've not been paying attention to Spring Training, you might not have heard of Jason Heyward but you will do soon enough. Generally considered the top prospect in baseball, the 14th pick of the 2007 Draft is still only 20 but has already been named as the starting right fielder this season. When you add catcher Brian McCann (starting his sixth season despite being 26), the 23 year old pitcher Tommy Hanson having a 11-4 2.89 ERA last season and 27 year old shortstop Yunel Escobar coming off a breakout year both on offense and defense you've got a side that oozes youth and quality. Sprinkle in a few veterans like Tim Hudson, Chipper Jones and Billy Wagner and you've got one heck of a team. If they don't manage to fully close the gap on the Phillies in 2010, it's only a matter of time.
Philadelphia Phillies
With three division titles, two NL Pennants and one World Series the past three seasons have been kind to the Phillies and they are heavy favorites for the NL East and NL Pennant in 2010 and they're not going to suddenly implode in 2011 either. After swapping Cliff Lee for Roy Halladay they are an even better team and they have Halladay's services, along with Chase Utley, until 2013 as well as Cole Hamels and Ryan Howard until 2011. However they have two major problems first is that they have the second oldest team in baseball, nor far behind the Astros, and the only core player on their team under 27 is Cole Hamels. The bigger problem is that after the trades for Halladay, Lee and Joe Blanton in the past 18 months, the farm system is bare. After Domonic Brown at #15 in Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects, the only other Philly in the list comes as a lowly #93. As long as their core stay healthy, the chances are high for a Phillies title and pennant but for 2011 and beyond, the Braves are younger and better.
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