NL East Preview

The Mets hope K-Rod and J.J. Putz solidify their bullpen, while the Phillies look to repeat as champs.

1) New York Mets - They'll be able to rake, that's for sure. Reyes, Delgado, Beltran, and Wright give the Mets enough offense to win games. The starting pitching behind Santana, with Pelfrey, Maine, and Perez is formidible. Sounds good so far. Yet this team still managed to choke their playoff hopes away last fall.

This season brings new hope, with a new, revamped bullpen to save the Mets World Series aspirations. Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz will make up one of the better 8th-9th inning combinations in the league. If they can close the door on offenses late, the Mets should be able to eek out the NL West.

2) Philadelphia Phillies - Losing a right-handed power hitter in Pat Burrell hurts, but Raul Ibanez still brings 20+ homerun pop to the middle of that lineup. This offense is probably the best in the division. Rollins and Victorino bring lots of speed, while Howard, Utley, and Ibanez can all hit the longball.

The big question with this team is the starting rotation. I'm sure many of the Philly faithful are keeping a close eye on Cole Hamels bum elbow. If he goes down, the Phillies' season goes down with it. Joe Blanton is a middle of the rotation pitcher, Brett Myers has never lived up to his potential, and Jamie Moyer could very easily regress to the 2007 version of Jamie Moyer. The bullpen does remain quite strong, but they need the starters to hand them a lead to protect.

3) Atlanta Braves - Jair Jurrjens will lead another strong Braves' rotation into the 2009 campaign. With Kenshin Kawakami, Derek Lowe, and Javier Vazquez behind him, the Braves should have the starters to be in every game this year. In the bullpen, Soriano looks good and will probably usurp Gonzalez of his closer role at some point this season. The rest of the pen is fairly good, and Atlanta fans shouldn't have too many late inning fits this year.

It's the offense that might be frustrating. Team elder Chipper Jones still provides most of the offensive firepower. The freeswinging Jeff Francoeur needs to regain his rookie homerun stroke to give the team some additional power.

4) Florida Marlins - This team could easily finish as high as second if all the cards fall right. Hanley Ramirez might be the best player in baseball. Uggla and Cantu can both hit 25+ homeruns, and Maybin is one of the brightest young prospects in the game.

The key is the starting rotation. Chris Volstad looked good last year, Josh Johnson is primed for a big comeback year, Ricky Nolasco was great last season, and Andrew Miller has huge upside. With Anibal Sanchez filling in as the 5th starter, the Marlins on paper have a pretty solid rotation. If these young guns pitch to their ability, Florida will compete for a wildcard, and maybe even the division this year.

5) Washington Nationals - Just a bad baseball team. The two Zimmerman's should give Nats fans something to cheer about this summer, but another 100+ loss season seems likely.