In this post, we'll be taking a look at the NL East division, or "4 Aces Stack The Deck."
NL EAST:
Atlanta Braves - Ahh, my hometown team. Well, close enough. 2010 saw a slight revival in the Braves, in that they finally reached the postseason again after a 5-year playoff drought, but it also reminded us why it's been so long after 14 straight division titles: the Atlanta crew always chokes when the season's on the line. Losing veteran third baseman Chipper Jones halfway through the season sure didn't help (especially since this was supposed to be his last season...he's now attempting a comeback for one more year), and Brooks Conrad's timely errors in the LDS against the Giants all but erased the memories of his 2 walk-off pinch-hit grand slams in the regular season. Rookie phenom Jason Heyward wowed fans and rivals alike, hitting a home run in his first career at-bat and providing much needed offensive and defensive power, but he just missed Rookie of the Year to San Fran's Buster Posey. Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson and Tommy Hanson held the rotation together, but Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami did their best to tear it apart. 2010 wasn't terribly kind to the 91-win club, especially because the loss in the LDS meant that legendary manager Bobby Cox was finally retiring (who will be replaced by fired Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez), but 2011 looks bright: they traded utility infielder Omar Infante to the Marlins for Dan Uggla, a young second baseman who is a personal favorite here at The Baseball Freak, who is sure to further revitalize this club. Once they find a closer to replace Billy Wagner, who also retired, the Braves could sure give a certain other team in this division a run for their money.
Florida Marlins - With their name changing to the Miami Marlins in 2012 looming over them, the Fish are hoping to bring one more title to their Florida name before that. Much easier said than done. After winning 2 World Series in their first decade of existence, the club hasn't done much since, and 2010 wasn't very different: full of minor mishaps that create major gaps between them and 1st place. The season started interestingly for them, as Jorge Cantu started off the season with a hitting streak of around 13 or 14 games (the actual length escapes me here). Hanley Ramirez had a pretty good year statistically: he hit .300 with 21 homers and 32 stolen bases, but had a nasty run-in with then-manager Fredi Gonzalez, who accused him of lightly jogging for a ball he should have been racing to catch; Gonzalez promptly benched Ramirez for the rest of the game. Pitcher Chris Volstad and first baseman Gaby Sanchez taught Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan why you don't grab a Marlin by the nose when he took slight offense to a pitch thrown behind him. All these disagreements certainly didn't agree with the Marlins' standings, so they fired Gonzalez and promoted coach Edwin Rodriguez, signed free agent catcher John Buck to add a little more power to the lineup, and signed Javier Vazquez to aid hurlers Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson. Will 2011 see these Fish heading for calm October waters, or will they be swimming upstream again?
New York Mets - For a team with such an illustrious history in a shorter time than other non-expansion teams, New York's lesser team has been good lately, but not great, and 2011 was no deviation from the current norm. There was worry about Carlos Beltran's return from injury, seeing as he spent the first 2 months on the DL and performed poorly afterward (.255 with 7 homers in sporadic play from June-October); Jose Reyes made sure to play well so the rumors could heat up regarding his impending free agency after this upcoming season; Angel Pagan turned an unassisted triple play and hit an inside-the-park home run in one game, then preceded to do nothing of importance for the rest of the season; closer Francisco Rodriguez beat his girlfriend's father; and ace Johan Santana went 11-9 before season-ending surgery that still has many questioning when he'll be returning. Aside from hiring Terry Collins to replace Jerry Manuel as manager and Sandy Alderson as general manager (as well as a nasty little lawsuit involving money lost in Bernie Madoff's massive embezzlement), the offseason has been quiet in Queens. And, if Santana's inability to throw a ball again and Reyes taking time to make himself look more attractive to other teams leading to Jason Bay and David Wright having to pick up the offensive slack, it's looking like it will be another solemn October in New York.
Philadelphia Phillies - Don't worry, I'm going to talk about 2010 for the Phils before I say anything about next year. Coming off their second World Series appearance in as many years, the Phils fell behind Atlanta for a good portion of the season (which wasn't helped by Jimmy Rollins spending large chunks of April, May, June and September on the DL, as well as Chase Utley doing the same for all of July and half of August), but they were bolstered by Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, who made up for their teammates' long disappearances. The offseason acquisition of Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays was far and away their best move this past winter: in his first season, he threw a perfect game (not to mention the second postseason no-hitter of all time), won over 20 games, and won his second Cy Young award. Even though previous number 1 starter Cole Hamels had a moderately mediocre year (12-11, albeit with a 3.06 ERA, as well as 211 strikeouts that can argue against that), midseason acquisition Roy Oswalt came in with his 6-12 record and went 7-1 for Philadelphia the rest of the regular season. Even though they swept the Reds in the LDS, they fell to the eventual champion Giants in 6 games in the LCS. As far as their offseason...hmm, did anything big happen for them? I don't remember hearing about anything regarding them signing one of the most dominant pitchers in the game...I guess we'll just have to wait until the season starts to see if the rotation is still the same, or if a certain Yankee killer (players and fans alike) has joined the staff.
Washington Nationals - Last in the division, last alphabetically, and always first in the draft. 2010 was supposed to be the Second Coming in the nation's capital, with expectations running high for a certain pitcher/savior blazing his way through the minors. Yes, the most important part of the Nationals' season was quick in coming, and just as quick in going: phenom Stephen Strasburg (AKA His Holiness, Baseball's Jesus, etc.) burst onto the scene, went 5-3 (while striking out 14 in his debut, good for second all-time in strikeouts in the first career game), then had Tommy John surgery, benching him until at least this upcoming September. Then, all eyes turned to what can only be called the Third Coming: Bryce Harper, 17 year old catcher/outfielder/deity, who will most likely race into the big leagues before coming to a crashing halt like the Holy One before him. Oh yeah, and Adam Dunn hit .260/38/103. Whatever. Nyjer Morgan's embarrassing displays of ignorance aside, 2010 was otherwise uneventful for the Nats as they slid into further obscurity. Then, it happened: they swooped in and signed ex-Phillies outfielder Jayson Werth to a 7-year, $126 million deal that they're hoping (with the combination of Christ Harper out there with him, and a healed Jesus H. Strasburg on the mound) will help shoot them into the top of the division. Lord knows they'll need some heavenly help after losing Dunn, but with these additions, they just might get it.
Projected 2011 NL East Standings:
Philadelphia Phillies - stay the same
Atlanta Braves - stay the same
Washington Nationals - move 2 spots up
Florida Marlins - move 1 spot down
New York Mets - move 1 spot down
Next, we'll take a look at the NL Central.
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