The National League East is a very interesting division. It's a division that was dominated by the Atlanta Braves for so long in the regular season, but teams like the Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies have walked away with World Series titles.

 

The New York Mets have been the team that's probably made the biggest splashes. They've bought some players in efforts to win the division, but have constantly come up short. Players like Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, Johan Santana, and Luis Castillo have not delivered the goods. Home grown talent like David Wright has watched his offensive production slip in the Mets' new home stadium.

 

This year, the Mets tried their hand at another big off-season acquisition. This time, they signed Jason Bay away from the Boston Red Sox to help bolster their, sometimes, anemic offense. Don't look for it to work. The Mets just aren't good enough or deep enough to upstage the Phillies. They'll win about 85-games, but that won't be enough.

 

The Florida Marlins are the big unknown, as always. Arms such as Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco are returning with another year's experience behind their young arms. Nolasco and Chris Volstad need to work on keeping the ball down in the strike zone to improve on the 52 homeruns that they combined to give up.

 

The big question on this team is the Marlins' offense. Hanley Ramirez is the real deal and Chris Coghlan has been a great addition. Dan Uggla is a playing that the Marlins have reportedly shopped around but his low average and high strike out total made it difficult for the club to move him. Cody Ross, Jorge Cantu and Emilio Bonifacio are the keys in 2010. If they can continue to produce, look for the Marlins to put pressure on the teams at the top of the division.

 

The Washington Nationals signed Chien-Ming Wang last week. If they had signed him three-years ago, that would have been a great acquisition, but today no one knows. When the best story is a player you just drafted in 2009, you are a bad team. Don't look for any surprises in D.C.

 

The Atlanta Braves are a team to look out for in 2010. It's not all about Chipper Jones in Hotlanta anymore. Players like Brian McCann and Yunel Escobar have given the Braves a jolt offensively. Troy Glaus and Melky Cabrera could add some stability while rookie Jason Heyward looks to impress in Spring Training.

 

The Braves could have extra motivation with this being Bobby Cox's final year, but it takes more than emotion to win in baseball. Pitching helps and they need Tim Hudson and Jair Jurrjens to stay healthy to contend. The Atlanta Braves will put themselves in position to make a run to return to post-season play, but the bullpen will be the difference in a 83-win season and an 89-win season.

 

The Philadelphia Phillies are the class of the National League, still. They will win the East and win it by a good margin. They are better from one to eight in the line-up than everyone else in the division, and their starting rotation is as good as anybody's with the addition of Roy Halladay.

 

Cole Hamels celebrated a very successful 2008 post-season, too much, and he struggled in 2009. Their are lessons for a 25-year old to learn and Hamels learned his. There's no doubt he got back to what made him a number one starter in the off-season. Look for him to return to that form and if he does, the Phillies could run away with the National League.

 

The one weakness for the Phillies is the bullpen. If the struggles of '09 continue, this team could have some slumps. The pen could be the difference in a 95-win team and a 100-win team. Either way, their problems will not cost the team a shot at the National League Championship.

 

Rob Long