2011 MLB Preview: NL East
By Tim Ryan
4. Washington Nationals (2010 record: 69-93, 5th place) — In the door this season along with Jayson Werth and his _ year, $___ million deal (it’s been written so often anyone can fill in the blanks) comes Adam LaRoche and his 172 strikeouts, though he will kick Chris Carpenter’s ass, former Pirates horse Tom Gorzelanny, Rick Ankiel’s toe tag, and fullback Todd Coffey. Gone are Miguel Batista, Adam Dunn, and Josh Willingham. Shortstop Ian Desmond has the potential to be exciting, let’s just hope he uses one of those blow-up gloves to improve on the 34 errors he committed in 2010. Guaranteed to be exciting? Nyjer Morgan. Love this shit-stirrer. If nothing else, he has the ability to make insignificant games fascinating. Not to be forgotten, of course, is Stephen Strasburg, who draws as many eyeballs as Kim Kardashian’s life-altering ass. He’s recovering from Tommy John surgery but he’ll be back late in the $ea$on to electrify D.C. for a brief stint before another lousy Nationals season comes to a close. Prediciton: 72 wins
5. New York Mets (2010 record: 79-83, 4th place) — Whenever the New York Mets are mentioned, you generally get the sense that this is a franchise that’s been mired in a string of terrible seasons for decades. It’s likely due in part to the media attention, but it mostly just feels that way because of the horrifying manner in which the 2007 (88 wins) and 2008 seasons (89 wins) ended. They’ve really only been a complete trainwreck for the last two years. Sadly, they will be terrible again this year, but a more positive outlook for their fans would be to consider 2011 a season of cleansing. Omar Minaya and his lifetime stock of excuses has been replaced with Sandy Alderson, and they recently rid themselves of the hated Luis Castillo and the immensely hated Oliver Perez. From a public relations standpoint, the release of Perez specifically is a major victory, as it signifies to their fanbase the new regime has a semblance of a clue and at the same time eliminates an embarrassing shower of homefield boos on opening day. Major cash constraints still kept them from signing any notable free agents over the winter, and it gets no better within. The fact that we’re already receiving daily updates from Adam Rubin on Carlos Beltran’s jacuzzi visits and how close to 100 percent he deems himself makes it difficult to blame Mets fans for feeling like they’re trapped in Groundhog Day with Ned Ryerson. One intriguing storyline will be Jose Reyes, who’s in the final year of his contract. It’ll be interesting to see what Alderson decides to do there. Aside from dangling that carrot, expect things to be about as lively as a rat funeral at Fisher & Sons. Prediction: 71 wins, allowing the Nats to ride them for a change
The official song for this division is Europe’s “The Final Countdown” in honor of the Mets current ownership.
[Photos via Getty]