The National League East has been dominated for many years by the Atlanta Braves, who won 14 consecutive division titles from 1991 to 2005. The New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies have since been more competitive, winning the division in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins hope their offseason acquisitions and youth give them a decent season.
A down-to-the-wire division a season ago had the Mets blow a seven-game lead on the Phillies in the last weeks of the season to propel the Phillies into the postseason for the first time since 1993. This year should be just as exciting.
New York Mets
The Mets are my pick of the 2008 season to bounce back and win the NL East in 2008 simply because the addition of pitcher Johan Santana makes their pitching rotation one of the best in the league. Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, will be the ace of the Mets’ pitching staff, which welcomes back injured pitcher Pedro Martinez.
The Mets did trade away inconsistent outfielder Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals in exchange for outfielder Ryan Church and catcher Brian Schneider. Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran will get on base and drive in runs for a Mets team that looks to have great year and just may be the best team in the NL.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies look to defend their division title and get back to the playoffs after being swept by the Colorado Rockies last season. Cole Hamels will anchor a young pitching staff outside of old-timer Jamie Moyer.
The Phillies did acquire former Astros closer Brad Lidge in the offseason in a deal that includes outfielder and UH product Michael Bourn. The Phillies also added to their already high-powered offense third basemen Pedro Feliz, outfielder Geoff Jenkins, shortstop Eric Bruntlett and utility man So Taguchi.
Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and NL MVP Jimmy Rollins will lead a Phillies team in a hunt for a wildcard spot and maybe even the division if the Mets don’t play up to their expectations again this season.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves aren’t the same team that won 14 consecutive division titles, but they did bring back a familiar face in veteran pitcher Tom Glavine. The loss of outfielder Andruw Jones and shortstop Edgar Renteria will hurt a team that seems to be getting older.
The addition of young prospect pitcher Jair Jurrjens from the Tigers for Renteria will help the team because Jurrjens will learn a lot from veteran pitchers John Smoltz and Glavine. Smoltz and the pitching rotation may also see the return of Mike Hampton from injury and hope pitcher Tim Hudson can have another great year.
Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann anchoring the lineup give the Braves a good shot to compete for a wildcard spot in a balanced division.
Washington Nationals
The Nationals are glad that some of the news on Capitol Hill these days may be about their baseball team instead of Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee.
The Nationals acquired catcher Paul Lo Duca from the Mets this offseason. They also have power to hit and score runs led by slugger Ryan Zimmerman, Dmitri Young, Wily Mo Pena and Nick Johnson.
John Patterson leads a bad rotation that recently signed veteran Odalis Perez to a non-guaranteed deal. The additions of veterans Johnny Estrada, Willie Harris, Aaron Boone and Rob Mackowiak will provide leadership for a young baseball team. Top prospect centerfielder Elijah Dukes will be exciting to watch on a team with basically no pitching to take them to the postseason.
Florida Marlins
The city of Miami still has a baseball team, and yes, they are the Florida Marlins, who have won two World Series titles since 1997. The Marlins, who have the worst attendance in all of baseball, will play spoiler in this division until they get enough good players to make a run at a third World Series.
Shortstop Hanley Ramirez will anchor an offensively challenged team as he hit .332 a season ago with 29 home runs. The Marlins did lose two star players to the Detroit Tigers in pitcher Dontrelle Willis and third basemen Miguel Cabrera.
Andrew Miller and Anibal Sanchez should be good pitchers for the Marlins along with the addition of pitcher Mark Hendrickson. The good news for Marlins fans this season is that a new ballpark deal may be finalized, but as for the baseball, it doesn’t look good in 2008.
