Mets 4 Life is back! Today's Recap..

Hey guys, I'm sorry for the long layoff, but I'm back doing this blogging thing again..

Here we go..Today, the Mets played the Nationals @ Shea Stadium. The Mets beat the Nats by a score of 6-0. Here is a rundown of how the individual players fared in todays game..

• Jose Reyes, in his return from a 3 game absence, went 4-5 and was a homer short of the cycle.

• David Wright hit two doubles and a homer and ended the game batting 3-4 with 5 RBI's.

• Carlos Beltran was 1-4 with an RBI single to score David Wright from second.

• Angel Pagan continued to hit today with a single, he went 1-3.

• All the other players on the Mets combined to go 0-12 for the game.. so it's safe to say that the middle of the order picked up the slack today, which I am very pleased about.

Overall, today was a very good day for the Mets (and my fantasy team). Pelfrey looked good and is now 2-0 (1.50 ERA) to start the season. But lets not forget that Duaner Sanchez came back and looked strong, pitching a scoreless 9th.

Tomorrow, the Mets continue their series against the Nationals, with John Maine facing Matt Chico, starting at 7:10 pm.


Also, I'm again looking for RELIABLE writers who can post atleast 4 times a week. Contact me if interested!

NL East Predictions...

So what will the divisions final standings look like heading into October of 2008?

The Mets will win the division, we have the best pitching and best defense. And our offense is deadly when they are running on all cylinders.

The Phillies offense is great but, you have to be able to score more runs than your pitchers allow.. I dont know how they’re going to do that. Their pitching staff is horrible behind Kendrick, and Hamels..

I think the Braves are our biggest competition. They have a fairly good Pitching staff and they will get back some key pieces to their bullpen by mid-season. Lets also not overlook Chipper, Texiera, McCann, and Francouer… they can mash.

Mets win division..

NYM (98-64)
ATL (92-70) 6.0 GB
PHL (88-74) 10.0 GB
WSH (78-84) 20.0 GB
FLA (69-93) 29.0 GB

Your Thoughts?

Alou injured.. for the 10,000th time..

According to an article for MLB.com, the Mets starting LF -- Moises Alou -- will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a sports hernia. This is a pretty big blow to the Mets' lineup considering the guy mashed lefties at a .360 pace and hit an overall of .341. Alou has also missed time for the past 5 seasons due to injury. Including last year in which he only played in 89 games due to a strained right quad.

The two biggest question marks for the Mets are now..Who will replace Alou while he is out with injury and who will be the fifth starter?

These questions remain to be answered, but we will find out within the next 27 days... My best quess would have to be Endy Chavez replacing Alou or Angel Pagan, who has been mashing the ball during the first week or two of the spring.

Race for the 5th starter...

Candidate #1: Orlando Hernandez

Candidate #2: Mike Pelfrey

Race for the starting LF job:

• Endy Chavez
• Angel Pagan
• Fernando Martinez?
• Marlon Anderson

Whats your best guess?

Weekly Injury Report

As of right now, the Mets are hurting, literally. Lets take a look at who is injured..

• Our starting 1B Carlos Delgado, is on the mend after taking a trip back to New York City to get his hip examined. He should be back playing within the next 7-10 days.

• Carlos Beltran, Damion Easley, Luis Castillo, Endy Chavez, Jose Valentin and Ben Johnson have not played in a game yet.

• Ruben Gotay sprained his ankle while on his way to scoring the winning run in yesterdays game. He is scheduled for a CT scan tomorrow.

• Ryan Church was also injured in yesterdays exhibition game against the Dodgers. He and Marlon Anderson collided while chasing a pop fly in shallow RF. Both Anderson and Church are expected to be ready to play within the week.

... the Mets expect most of these players to be ready on opening day. Lets just hope that injury's dont define what is to come from the Mets in the summer of 08.

3/3/08 Final: Mets 3 Braves 2

From Metsblog.com...

"The Mets beat the Braves, 3-2, on a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th inning in Grapefruit League action from Port St. Lucie this afternoon. Teenage shortstop Ruben Tejada plated the final run with a double to the gap that scored a hustling Michel Abreu on a close play at home plate.

Mike Pelfrey started the game for the Mets, throwing three scoreless innings and allowing two hits without walking or striking out any batters. Billy Wagner allowed one earned run in one inning relieving Pelfrey. Nelson Figueroa followed with two shutout frames. Jason Vargas threw a scoreless seventh, Carlos Muniz allowed an unearned run in the eighth, Ricardo Rincon struck out two in a scoreless ninth, then Ivan Maldonado earned the win with a scoreless inning of his own.

Ramon Castro led the Mets offense with two hits, including a rare stand-up triple, and an RBI."

The Mets record now stands at 3-3 on the spring and there is only 26 days until Opening Day.

Pedro Alvarez Out Indefinitely

Most of you probably don't know who Pedro Alvarez is.. Well, I'm here to inform you and inform you I will.

Pedro Alvarez is noted as one of the best prospects coming into the 2008 MLB Draft. He attends Vanderbilt, is a junior and is a 3B. Alvarez is regarded as the best college hitter since Mark Texiera. His stats the past few years have been off the charts and he should be at the major league level in about 3-4 years.

Why did I post this about him? Well, he was ranked as the best prospect in the NCAA by Project prospect. He recently broke his hand, and as a result of losing time to injury, he could fall in the draft.

Just think, the Mets have two first round draft picks, 18th and 22nd. If he fell to #18, I would be STOKED! If we were to draft such a talent, he would obviously have to change positions because David Wright will man 3B for the next 15 years. Lets just hope this super-prospect is demanding a ton of money and will fall to #18 in the draft!

Baseball Prospectus thinks Mets are the best..

This year, the Mets have been predicted to finish the 2008 season with a record of 96-66, by the web site www.baseballprospectus.com. And even better; the Braves are predicted to finish 2nd…10 games behind us (with the Phillies a distant 3rd at 12 back!)

So according to BP, the division standings will look like this after 162 games..

1st place: New York Mets 96-66
2nd place: Atlanta Braves 86-76
3rd place: Philledelphia Phillies 84-78

Hopefully BP is right, I'd love to see another blowout of the division, just like in 2006... but this time, we're gonna go deep into the playoffs, just ask Fred Wilpon..

Rollins makes some more predictions..

At SI.com, they write about the recent comments of Carlos Beltran. When asked about Carlos Beltrans comments, Jimmy Rollins had this to say...

"Has anyone ever heard of plagiarism?" Said Rollins, "Sequels are never good,".. Thats a lie, I usually like the sequel better than the original, and the same can be said for this situation.

In the article Rollins also said that he thinks that the Phillies are the best team in the National League East and in the National League. He's wrong. They might have the best offense, but pitching is the key, and our rotation and bullpen are worlds better than theirs. The Braves even have better starting pitching than the Phillies too.

This just goes to show you that Rollins has not been notified that the Mets traded for the best pitcher in the game - Johan Santana.

Reyes "No more Handshakes"

In an article for Newsday, David Lennon writes that Jose Reyes will be much more serious this season. Reyes, as quoted by Lennon…

“No more handshakes. People kept saying we got teams fired up when we did those handshakes, so now I want to focus more on baseball. Nobody said anything to me, but it’s because of what happened last year. That’s why I’m taking this year more seriously. In 2006, everybody loved [the handshakes], but now it’s different. I’m going to enjoy the game, but I’m not going to do the handshakes with the guys. I don’t want people to talk about that. I just want to play baseball. I want to take care of business on the field.”

Thats crazy.. That is his whole image. Why do other teams get pissy about someone celebrating? I'm going to miss his fun-loving handshakes and dances, but as long as he is helping this team win it doesn't really matter.. right?

Beltran fires back..

Last spring in training camp, the Phillies shortstop - Jimmy Rollins - said something that pissed off most Mets fans. He said the Phillies were the team to beat in 2007. The worst part about it is, he was right. The Philadelphia Phillies won the division and went on to the post season, only to be swept. This year, its the Mets who are the team to beat. Who says? Carlos Beltran says.

When Carlos Beltran was asked about the division, he had this to say:

“With (Santana), I have no doubt we’re going to win our division. I have no doubt about that…So, this year, tell Jimmy Rollins we are the team to beat.”

Now tell me, who expected Carlos Beltran to say something like this? Not me. Usually, Carlos Beltran never talks with the media... that was Paul Lo Duca's job last year. It looks like Beltran is finally showing some leadership, and voicing his opinion. Now if only he could back it up like Jimmy Rollins did.

Lets take a look at the stats for Rollins and Beltran for the '06 and '07 seasons.
Rollins:
AVG-Runs-HR-3B-Hits-RBI-SB-OBP-SLG
2006: .277 127 25 9 191 83 36 .334 .478
2007: .296 139 30 20 212 94 41 .344 .531

Beltran:
AVG-Runs-HR-3B-Hits-RBI-SB-OBP-SLG
2006: .275 127 41 1 140 116 18 .388 .594
2007: .276 93 33 3 153 112 23 .353 .525

Now if Carlos Beltran had the same increase in numbers as Jimmy Rollins had his season stats for 2008 would look like this...

2008: .295 105 38 14 174 123 28 .363 .578

Now if Beltran had the same exact increase in numbers as Rollins, that is what his stats would look like at the end of this season. That would be an amazing season for Beltran, 38 homers and 123 RBI? This probably won't happen but maybe and hopefully, Beltran can back up his words and deliver another division championship and another World Series Championship back to Shea for the last time.

ESPN: Keith Law on the Santana trade

Anyone else going to get their Santana jersey on Monday? I am. =D

ESPN: Santana reaction

Enjoy!

The Deed is done, Johan Signs with Mets

According to Mets.com, Johan Santana agreed to a deal with the Mets. The contract is worth approx $137 million over 6 years. Annual Salary= $22,916,667. This contract makes Santana by far the highest paid pitcher in baseball history.

The salary of Johan Santana didn't even matter to me, all I wanted was him to be wearing a uniform with orange and blue on opening day... I got what I wanted. Johan Santana now anchors the best pitching rotation in the National League. Santana has an .800 winning percentage in 24 starts against National League teams. Lets take a look at the Mets 2008 Rotation:

1. Johan Santana
2. Pedro Martinez
3. Oliver Perez
4. John Maine
5. Orlando Hernandez or Mike Pelfrey

Our rotation is only rivaled by that of the Atlanta Braves... and I think ours is still better than theirs. By the way, Harold Reynolds predicted in the video on Mets.com that Johan Santana will pitch the first no-hitter in Mets history. Man I'm excited for the season to get rolling.

Mets vs. The Rest: 3B Edition

Many of you may not know that I have started a "Mets vs. The Rest" series of articles. This series of articles will be an in depth analysis of the National League East division. I will score each team kind of like the MVP voting system..

5 points for first place
4 points for second place
3 points for third place
2 points for fourth place
1 point for last place

Today, we will do 3B... Remember that the 2007 season statistics are listed.. not the projected 2008 statistics.

Starting Third Baseman...

Mets: David Wright .325 AVG 30 HR 107 RBI
Braves: Larry Jones .337 AVG 29 HR 102 RBI
Phillies: Greg Dobbs .272 AVG 10 HR 55 RBI
Nationals: Ryan Zimmerman .266 AVG 24 HR 91 RBI
Marlins: Jorge Cantu .252 AVG 1 HR 13 RBI

I dont know what these rankings would look like if Miguel Cabrera was not traded to Detroit... but he was so I don't have to worry about that. We all know that David Wright is the class of the league, no doubt about it and Fantasy Owners would LOVE to have Wright on their team. David puts up numbers year in and year out thats why he is number one on this list. Not to mention that he won a Gold Glove last year. Larry (Chipper) Jones is a HOF player. If not for his injury risk, he could still be a perennial MVP candidate. Ryan Zimmerman had a little bit of a "sophomore slump" in 2007, but don't think that he'll be an average MLB player, because he will be as good, if not better than our very own David Wright. Greg Dobbs of the Phillies is a very solid bench player, but I'm not too sure how he can perform everyday. From what I can gather, he will be in a platoon with Wes Helms. This is because Dobbs hits significantly better against right handed pitchers and vice versa with Helms. Jorge Cantu can be a solid player, but he needs to prove it, and he will get plenty of chances, but he's just not to flattering right now. The order goes like this... Wright, Jones, Zimmerman, Dobbs, Cantu.

Reserve Third Baseman...

Mets: Ruben Gotay .295 AVG 4 HR 24 RBI
Braves: Omar Infante .271 AVG 2 HR 17 RBI
Phillies: Wes Helms .246 AVG 5 HR 49 RBI
Nationals: Aaron Boone .286 AVG 5 HR 28 RBI
Marlins: Jose Castillo .244 AVG o HR 24 RBI

From first glance it looked like there was very solid depth at the reserve 3B position. I was right, there is... but most of these players hit better against either left handed pitchers or right handed pitchers, so they would have to be platoon players if they ever got the chance to play regularly. Last season, Aaron Boone had somewhat of a comeback year. His AVG shot up, and he walked at a more frequent pace. Look for him to provide the Nationals a spark off of the bench. Ruben Gotay is a versitle player who can play 2B, 3B, SS, and a little 1B. This makes him very valuable to the Mets. The thing is, he just cant hit from the right side of the plate. The same goes for Omar Infante, hes very versitle, and he can hit. Its a tie between him and Gotay. Wes Helms had a good season in 2006, but 2007 was just not his year. He stunk. He will be platooning with Greg Dobbs for the Starting spot, but look for him to have continue success against left handed pitchers. Jose Castillo wanted out of Pittsburgh, and he got it. Hes not in a much better place though, because he wound up in Miami. He will battle for the starting spot with Jorge Cantu. Just as Cantu, Castillo has a lot to prove. The order goes like this... Boone, Gotay, Infante, Helms, Castillo.

The Final Tally is...

Mets: 9
Nationals: 8
Braves: 8
Phillies: 4
Marlins: 2

The Marlins and Phillies are really in need of a 3B. They have super-prospect, Matt Dominguez, but he won't be up for a few more years. The Nationals and Mets are both set at the 3B position for years to come... and you have to wonder how good these guys are gonna become. Larry is getting old, but he can still rake.... Man I really need to watch some baseball...

Sosa interested in Mets

I know it seems like the Mets have alot of outfielders and they don't need anymore, but according to Eli over at MLB Rumors had this to say in his latest post...

Shea Hello Sammy?: One agent who asked to remain anonymous believes that Sammy Sosa would take a minor league deal from the Mets if it was offered. I haven't heard if the Mets were interested, but I am sure they would dish out a contract to Sosa if he was willing to take a pay cut.

Sosa can still hit home runs and drive in runs, there is no doubt about that... but I just can't see where the Mets can find a place for him unless he is willing to take a pay cut, and play in the minors for a while until there is a need at the MLB level... and according to Eli, only Sosa has expressed interest in the Mets. So far the Mets have not shown interest in Sosa, but our ears and eyes should be listing and looking for more details soon.


.....I wonder why Eli's sources are ALWAYS anonymous....

Lets trade for Albert Pujols

The headline is exactly what I meant to say.. Lets trade for Albert Pujols. Why, you ask. Well, he is only the best player in the league and the Cardinals are going nowhere. Last year, Albert's statistics dropped significantly from his 2006 season, but he is still one of the most feared players in the game.

2006- .331 AVG 49 HR 137 RBI
2007- .327 AVG 32 HR 103 RBI

That decrease in production is most likely due to the fact that he had absolutely no protection in the middle of that Cardinals line-up. Imagine what he would do in a lineup with Reyes, Wright, and Beltran. The question is, just how much will it take to acquire such a player as Pujols? Well, we might have to dismantle our entire farm system, send them a MLB starter, and maybe even a few MLB relivers. This is what I think a fair trade would look like..

METS GET:

1B Albert Pujols
SP Anthony Reyes

CARDINALS GET:

OF Fernando Martinez
OF Carlos Gomez
SP Deolis Guerra
SP Oliver Perez
SP Kevin Mulvey
MR Joe Smith
One other minor league player of their choice.

I think that would be a fair deal.. maybe we can get a lower level prospect out of them. We could also then trade 1B Carlos Delgado for a starter or a prospect or two...

Some of you may be saying to yourself that we don't have the money to pay so much money to so many superstar players.. well, Pedro, El-Duque, Delgado, and Perez will all be free-agents next year, and if we did not trade Oliver Perez, I think he and Pedro would be the only bets to come back. Also, Pujols is reasonably paid 16 million per season for the next 4 seasons.

If I wasn't living in fairyland and this deal could be made.. our lineup would look like this..

Reyes
Castillo
Beltran
Pujols
Wright
Alou
Church
Schneider
Pitchers Spot

Thats satisfying, but our rotation would be full of question marks...

Pedro
Maine
El-Duque
Pelfrey
Humber or Mulvey

That is a very young rotation. If this trade were to happen, Omar and Co. would need to try to sign a veteran, ala Bartolo Colon or Jason Jennings to round out this rotation and give it some kind of stability.




Thanks for Voting and remember that this is just an idea of mine. I doubt that this would ever even be talked about between Omar Minaya and the Cardinals GM. This is just me being bored and waiting for spring training to start. Please discuss your opinions in the comments section of this post.

Mets vs. The Rest: 2B Edition

Many of you may not know that i have started a "Mets vs. The Rest" series of articles. This series of articles will be an in depth analysis of the NL East division. I will score each team kind of like the MVP voting system..

5 points for first place
4 points for second place
3 points for third place
2 points for fourth place
1 point for last place

Today, we will do 2B... Remember that the 2007 season statistics are listed.. not the projected 2008 statistics.

Starting Second Baseman...

Mets: Luis Castillo .301 AVG 1 HR 38 RBI 19 SB
Braves: Kelly Johnson .276 AFG 16 HR 68 RBI
Phillies: Chase Utley .332 AVG 22 HR 103 RBI
Nationals: Ronnie Belliard .290 AVG 11 HR 58 RBI
Marlins: Dan Uggla .245 AVG 31 HR 88 RBI

Obviously, Chase Utley is the cream of the crop when it comes to Second Baseman... but the rest of the NL East has pretty good players at the position too. Most notably Luis Castillo and Dan Uggla. Both players are productive in their own different ways.. Castillo is a table-setter and Uggla is a middle-of-the-order hitter. Kelly Johnson is a solid player but won't ever be a real legitimate threat. Belliard was a surprise last year, as he was not expected to produce at the level that he did. The order goes like this.. Chase Utley, Dan Uggla, Luis Castillo, Kelly Johnson, and Ronnie Belliard.

Mets: Damion Easley .280 AVG 10 HR 26 RBI
Braves: Omar Infante .271 AVG 2 HR 17 RBI
Phillies: Eric Bruntlett .246 AVG 0 HR 14 RBI
Nationals: Felipe Lopez .245 AVG 9 HR 50 RBI
Marlins: Jose Castillo .244 0 HR 24 RBI

This group of players is pretty even but Damion Easley looks like the leader of the pack. Omar Infante is a solid option off of the bench. Bruntlett is an ok option but he is just that. Jose Castillo and Felipe Lopez are former starters, but it seems that they both have lost a step and they have something to prove during this upcoming season. The order goes as this.. Easley, Infante, Lopez, Castillo, Bruntlett.

The Final Tally is...

Mets: 8
Phillies: 6
Braves: 6
Marlins: 6
Nationals: 4

In Reality, the Phillies are well ahead of the pack with Chase Utley at the helm. Luis Castillo is an average player but I think he is in decline. Dan Uggla might move to 3B but we'll see.

Santana rumors still swirling

Since yesterday, the Santana talks have been heating up and multiple reports have the details...

Gotham Baseball’s Mark Healy talked to one of his “MLB guys,” who seems to feel the Mets will get Johan Santana “no matter what they have to do.” Healy seems confident in his source.

The New York Post is reporting that the 5 for 1 deal is too hefty a price for the Mets. Sources tell the Post the Mets have turned down the deal. The deal breaker appears to be outfield prospect Fernando Martinez. If the Post is correct, this brings us right back to square one regarding the Santana rumors.

Links from MLB Fleece Factor...

Omar and Co. are smart to turn down the 5-1 deal. As i have stated before, they should try to retain Deolis Guerra and Fernando Martinez. Everyone else is fair game. If the Mets keep holding out, the Twins will eventually reduce their demands and we will be able to get a deal done.

Matt Cerrone at MetsBlog has all the details....

Part 1--Santana in driver seat
Part 2--More seeing Mets and Johan Santana

I'm getting the feeling that the Mets will eventually have Johan Santana on their roster. Weather they acquire him via trade or via free-agency, we will probably have the best pitcher in baseball ahead of our rotation. Here are the reasons why I think Santana will be a Met.

• Santana wants to be on the Mets... According to Matt Cerrone and other reports.

• The Twins want to get more than just 2 draft picks for him.

• We have the money to pay Johan what he "deserves."

• The Twins want to have Johan Santana in the National League, so they do not have to face him multiple times per year.

Hopefully I'm not wrong but its just my gut feeling. The only way I can see this deal falling through is if the Yankees or Red Sox upgrade their offer, which I dont see happening.

Mets vs. The Rest: 1B Edition

Many of you may not know that i have started a "Mets vs. The Rest" series of articles. This series of articles will be an in depth analysis of the NL East division. I will score each team kind of like the MVP voting system..

5 points for first place
4 points for second place
3 points for third place
2 points for fourth place
1 point for last place

Today, we will do 1B... Remember that the 2007 season statistics are listed.. not the projected 2008 statistics.

Starting First Baseman...

Mets: Carlos Delgado .258 AVG 24 HR 87 RBI
Braves: Mark Textiera .306 AVG 30 HR 105 RBI
Phillies: Ryan Howard .268 AVG 47 HR 136 RBI
Nationals: Dimitri Young .320 AVG 13 HR 74 RBI
Marlins: Mike Jacobs .265 AVG 17 HR 54 RBI

Wow. There are some good starting 1B in the NL East. Ryan Howard has to be ranked first here. No doubt about it he is one of the most powerful hitters that i have ever seen. Mark Textiera is the complete package with power, fielding, and average but he got trumped by Howard. Delgado had an awful first half of 2007 but his second half numbers could be a sign of whats to come for 2008. He comes in at 3rd place. Following him, is the NL Comeback Player of the year.. Dimitri Young. Last year, he was phenomenal, but this year will be different. Nick Johnson is coming back from surgery and he might take this starting slot. Mike Jacobs rounds out the pack due to his injury bug, and lack of producing against lefties. In most other divisions, he would be in the middle of the pack but the NL East is just stacked with first baseman. The final tally goes like this Howard, Textiera, Delgado, Young, Jacobs

Backup First Baseman...

Mets: Damion Easley .280 AVG 10 HR 26 RBI
Braves: Scott Thorman .216 AVG 11 HR 36 RBI
Phillies: Greg Dobbs .272 AVG 10 HR 55 RBI
Nationals: Nick Johnson .000 AVG 0 HR 0 RBI
Marlins: Jorge Cantu .252 AVG 1 HR 13 RBI

The Phillies dont really have good depth in the anywhere else in the infield, but at 1B they do. Greg Dobbs mashed last year in a limited role. He may be the starting 1B, but if not he is surely a pinch hitting threat and a great backup. I can still remember that Grand Slam that he hit against the Mets.. it made me almost break my hand on the wall.... Damion Easley is the super-utility guy for the Mets and I have a feeling that he and Marlon Anderson will be getting some playing time at 1B for the Mets when Carlos Delgado goes down with an injury or sits vs. a tough lefty. Scott Thorman was a serviceable starter in April but after that, he was very bad... but he can be a solid bat off the bench and a good backup against right handed pitchers. Nick Johnson will solidify himself as a middle of the order hitter as soon as he gets back to playing regularly. Johnson won't be the backup for long because he will take Dimitri Young's starting spot as soon as he is healthy. Jorge Cantu was once an All-Star caliber player with the Rays. Those days have since passed and he is now a backup with the Marlins. He might get alot of playing time with the Marlins but don't expect him to produce like its 2005. The order goes like this.. Dobbs, Johnson, Thorman, Easley, Cantu.

The Final Tally is

Phillies: 10
Braves: 7
Nationals: 6
Mets: 5
Marlins: 3

I do not think that the Mets have it worse off than the Nationals at 1B, but if Carlos Delgado proves to be a force again, it will really strengthen our lineup and establish us as one of the top runs producing teams in the league. The Phillies took this one hands down, but the 1B position definitely has a lot of depth in the NL East.

Mets vs. The Rest Rotation Edition

As we all know, the Phillies won the NL East Division last year... blah blah blah. Well now Mr Jimmy Rollins is right, they are the team to beat and thats what the Mets intend to do. Lets see how the Mets Starters look against the rest of the rotations in the NL East (2007 season stats are shown.) I will score each team kind of like the MVP voting system..

5 points for first place
4 points for second place
3 points for third place
2 points for fourth place
1 point for last place

#1 SP
Mets: Pedro Martinez 3-1 2.57 ERA
Braves: John Smoltz 14-8 3.11 ERA
Phillies: Cole Hamels 15-5 3.39 ERA
Nationals: Shawn Hill 4-5 3.42 ERA
Marlins: Scott Olsen 10-15 5.81 ERA

Three out of the five teams in the NL East have very god aces, the Nationals and Marlins being let out. In my opinion, John Smoltz has the advantage out of this group with Hamels coming in second, Pedro in third, Shawn Hill in fourth and Olsen rounding out the pack.

#2 SP
Mets: John Maine 15-10 3.91 ERA
Braves: Tim Hudson 16-10 3.33 ERA
Phillies: Brett Myers 5-7 4.33 ERA
Nationals: John Patterson 1-5 7.47 ERA
Marlins: Sergio Mitre 5-8 4.65 ERA

If it were the first half of last season, John Maine would get the nod over Tim Hudson, but Maine didn't perform quite as well down the stretch. Brett Myers was ok in the bullpen last year but he is a #3 on a good staff. Patterson was just horrid last season maybe he can rebound..and Mitre isn't much so the order goes like this.. Hudson, Maine, Myers, Mitre, Patterson

#3 SP
Mets: Oliver Perez 15-10 3.56 ERA
Braves: Tom Glavine 13-8 4.45 ERA
Phillies: Kyle Kendrick 10-4 3.87 ERA
Nationals: Jason Bergmann 6-6 4.45 ERA
Marlins: Andrew Miller 5-5 5.63 ERA

Once again the Braves are in the top two with Tom Glavine as their #3. In the beginning of last season he was our ACE so he has to get the nod here only because he is more proven than Perez and Kendrick. Andrew Miller is a future star and Bergmann is not much to write home about. The Order goes like this.. Glavine, Perez, Kendrick, Miller, Bergmann

#4 SP
Mets: Orlando Hernandez 9-5 3.72 ERA
Braves: Chuck James 11-10 4.24 ERA
Phillies: Jamie Moyer 14-12 5.01 ERA
Nationals: John Lannan 2-2 4.15 ERA
Marlins: Rick VandenHurk 4-6 6.83 ERA

I can't believe that Jamie Moyer actualy got 14 wins last season.. but thats besides the point. Orlando Hernandez is the better of the five but he needs to stay healthy and he might not even be in the starting rotation if the Mets acquire Johan Santana. John Lannan had some good starts during the strech last season and VandenHurk is nothing more than a future long reliver or #5. The order is Hernandez, James, Lannan, Moyer, and VandenHurk.

#5 SP
Mets: Mike Pelfrey 3-8 5.57 ERA
Braves: Mike Hampton 0-0 0.00 ERA
Phillies: Adam Eaton 10-10 6.29 ERA
Nationals: Matt Chico 7-9 4.63 ERA
Marlins: Ricky Nolasco 1-2 5.48 ERA


I really want to put Mike Pelfrey #1 because of his potential, but the experience of Hampton is halting me.. but he is coming off a major surgey and has not pitched in the big leagues since 05'. Matt Chico did a solid job for Manny Acta, and Nolasco is way better than hes numbers can perceive. Adam Eaton is just terrible and $21 million over 3 years is looking pretty bad... maybe he can bounce back. The order goes like this... Pelfrey, Chico, Hampton, Eaton, Nolasco. I put Eaton in front of Nolasco because Eaton is primed for a comeback but i could be wrong here.

Top Reserve
Mets: Phillip Humber 0-0 7.71 ERA
Braves: Jair Jurrjens 3-1 4.70 ERA
Phillies: J.D. Durbin 6-5 6.06 ERA
Nationals: Tyler Clippard 3-1 6.33 ERA
Marlins: Josh Johnson (recovering from injury) 0-0 0.00 ERA

This one was pretty tough. The Braves and Phillies both have solid depth at the SP Position, but the Braves come out on top. Jurrjens is loaded with potential to ba a #3 or #4 and to have him s your top reserve is and advantage. The Durbins, Chad and J. D., are solid back up options. Humber is primed for a better season because last year was his first full year back from Tommy John Surgery.. Josh Johnson would be the #1 on the Marlins rotation if he was healthy but he isn't and we all know what Tyler Clippard can do.. he pitched against us when he was with the Yankees. He could crack the rotation out of Spring Training. The order goes like this.. Jurrjens, Clippard, Durbin, Johnson, and Humber. Johnson is put there simply becuase he has the potential to come back at 100% and be thier Ace.

So the total point score goes like this...

Braves: 27
Mets: 22
Phillies: 17
Nationals: 16
Marlins: 9

So based on this assumption, the Braves have the best starting pitching in the NL East with the Mets in second, Phillies third, Nationals a close 4th, and the Marlins in dead last. Do you agree with these rankings?