Unfinished Business: NL East

[Phil The Thrill]

Braves: Backup outfielder who can handle center field. Someone like Dewayne Wise, Scott Hairston, or even Andruw Jones could work within the Braves' limited payroll flexibility. The Braves will also be seeking a taker for Kenshin Kawakami.

Marlins: Left-handed hitting bench bat. Catcher John Baker is one candidate. Free agency offers plenty of options - Laynce Nix, Jason Giambi, Joe Inglett, Mark Kotsay, Hank Blalock, Jeremy Hermida, Ryan Church, Casey Kotchman, Gabe Gross, and Jody Gerut, for example.

Mets: Starting pitcher, lefty reliever, fourth outfielder. The Mets will undoubtedly be bargain shopping, and it's not clear whether they'll manage to add Chris Young or Jeff Francis to the rotation. The market for lefty relievers still features useful, affordable names like Mark Hendrickson and Tim Byrdak.

Phillies: Taker for Joe Blanton. It seems the Phillies' main remaining goal is to unload Blanton's contract. They could add to the right field mix, but may stick with internal options.

Nationals: Starting pitcher, first baseman, reliever. The Nats remain in the mix for Carl Pavano and Derrek Lee. Failing those two, they could go in significantly cheaper directions. Casey Kotchman's name has been mentioned. Hard to say whether the Nationals are content with Chad Gaudin and Henry Rodriguez as the bullpen additions.

MLBTR

 

[Phil The Thrill]

For Blanton's contract and his numbers, I can't see anyone being interested.

 

[Metfan4life]

Mets are cooked

 

[cruzg24]

I think a lot of things have to go right for us to compete for a wild card. And it all starts with players actually being healthy, more specifically Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. If those 2 guys are healthy and playing up to their previous capabilities, then I can see us competing into September.

 

[The Edge]

I never understood why this article was wrote like the Braves are going to go get another center fielder. We hauled in about 3-4 AAAA Matt Diaz type players and any one of them will be in position to compete for the 4th outfield spot granted Nate McLouth's September was just a bright spot from last year and he did fall off a cliff after his trade to Atlanta.

Barring some short form of a miracle(such as Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman hitting .340 with 35 homers and standout pitching by Huddy and Lowe and Jair returning to form) there isn't a team in tihs division that will have a shot at Philly. Braves have a lot of talent but the Phillies have 2 lefties they can throw at Atlanta's mostly Left handed line up. The addition of Uggla greatly improved this team but i'm content on thinking Atlanta is done for the offseason unless we choose to find a super utility guy to replace Omar Infante.

I think a lot of things have to go right for us to compete for a wild card. And it all starts with players actually being healthy, more specifically Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. If those 2 guys are healthy and playing up to their previous capabilities, then I can see us competing into September.

Beltran is pretty much done with his knees and the way he looked. His power numbers could easily see a huge drop opp like Chipper Jones has had the past couple. As far as the Mets competing, trying to be realistic, at best I think they are a 75-78 win team. The organization is in a complete mess right now and will take Alderson a while to sort it out. I see them finishing bottom of the NL East with a much improved Nationals team, Marlins and Braves have a lot of up and coming talent and the Phillies. I mean I know me being a Braves fan we have a rivalry with each other but lets be real, there are 2 90 win teams in this division from last year that got a ton better in the offseason and your banking on Beltran being anything near what he was a few years ago, after knee issues. I mean you guys might fight to get to .500 but you guys realistically barring breakout years by a ton of people we've never heard of...its not happening.

 

[cruzg24]

We are definitely not ending up at the bottom of the NL East, the Marlins and Nationals didnt significantly improve as much as people think. We were there are the beginning of the year, I believe we were 2 games back of 1st in the NL East at the All-Star break, obviously losing Santana for half the year is going to be a big blow, but I think we've got some good prospects that I think are going to be a factor. Our problem last year wasnt pitching though, it was hitting and thats why I said that if Reyes and Beltran are good to go, I see us being very formidable.

 

[Metfan4life]

I think a lot of things have to go right for us to compete for a wild card. And it all starts with players actually being healthy, more specifically Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran. If those 2 guys are healthy and playing up to their previous capabilities, then I can see us competing into September.

That and the pitching staff. The Mets have to get Chris Young. He is a must to get. Santana is out till further notice. So far, the pitching staff is until Santana comes back : Niese, Dickey,Pelfrey,Capuano/Gee and Parnell ( if they decide to use him as a starter ). Either they sign Young or Sheets. The problem with this rotation is that you don't know what these pitchers will bring to the table. A lot of questions to be answered. Will Pelfrey rebound from the medicore year he had? Is Dickey going to have another good year? Same goes with Niese and is Capuano up to the challenge to pitch the whole season if one of the pitchers get hurt.The hitting as to come true and all of them have to stay healthy. That is a must.

We are definitely not ending up at the bottom of the NL East, the Marlins and Nationals didnt significantly improve as much as people think. We were there are the beginning of the year, I believe we were 2 games back of 1st in the NL East at the All-Star break, obviously losing Santana for half the year is going to be a big blow, but I think we've got some good prospects that I think are going to be a factor. Our problem last year wasnt pitching though, it was hitting and thats why I said that if Reyes and Beltran are good to go, I see us being very formidable.

I think this season is over for the Mets. It's a rebuilding process that is happening.