Chase Utley

So Battle of the Blogs Fantasy Baseball League had its draft last night. My team, Double G Sports , had the sixth pick in the first round—and each round after that was done in a snake format.

Every year as a Phillies fan, I’ve grown accustomed to saying “wait until next year.”

Next year we’ll pick up a big-name player in free agency. We’ll overtake the Braves or Mets in the division race. We’ll get a couple of good breaks, stay healthy all season, and win it all.

Guess what?

It happened.

A few weeks back, respected columnist Joe Posnanski took his shot at projecting the 2010 Major League Baseball season. 

He called his projection system perfect, because it was flawed, pointless, and will quickly be forgotten about. 

Hey, that could all be true. 

For now, at least, we'll remember. And we'll talk about one pertinent subject in Posnanski's article. 

No disagreements with Posnanski on his projection that the Phillies will win 96 games; that may even be a little generous. 

This will begin my 2010 MLB preview. I intend to touch every team in the major leagues in installments by division. The lineups I provide will be what I predict will be the most productive for each team for the MAJORITY of the season (e.g., Jason Heyward will be listed as the Braves RF even though he may not begin the season as the starter).

I will also provide the stereotypical letter grade to each team's lineup, rotation, bullpen, and bench. Though it is trite, I think all baseball fans can identify with the letter grade system.

In this two part series, I will rank the top players in the National League East. The rankings were made through the analysis of statistics such as batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and on base plus slugging percentage.

Several other factors were also taken into consideration such as age, injury, and defensive ability.

There are some situations where the players are so closely ranked, it is nearly impossible to decide between.

At the age of 37, Raul Ibañez put up some of the best numbers of his career, hitting .272, with 34 home runs, and 93 RBI.  

At the age of 30, Jayson Werth put up some of the best numbers of his career, hitting .268, with 36 home runs, and 99 RBI.

This article originally appeared on PhillyFanComplex.com .

My earliest memories of Phillies baseball were of muggy, rain-delayed July games at Veterans Stadium, with the season already a lost cause, and where the few thousand (drunk) fans in attendance huddled in the dark concrete concourses of the Vet.

Pitchers and catchers reporting tomorrow down in Orlando (or "Dark Star" as Dave O'Brien of the AJC has so cleverly coined it)  has a welcoming ring to it.

Every trade, every signing, every prospect, and every rumor has been dissected and bantered about throughout this hot stove season to the point where the only thing really left to do is the most important of all: play ball.

The Philadelphia Phillies have been fantastic over the last two years, repeating as National League Champs and winning the World Series in 2008.

The main reason why they have done so well isn’t because of their pitching. It’s because of their three core players in Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard.

All four of them have been key parts of the Phillies success since they joined the team.

Now that the first decade of the 21st century is coming to an end, it's a good time to look back at the great players of the decade.

Many players have graced the diamond this decade, but only 14 will make the cut for the all-decade team.

*Designated Hitter isn’t actually the position DH. It’s just an extra hitter.

Catcher: Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins