NL East

Before signing with the New York Mets, R.A. Dickey was treading water at the Major League level, finding little success in Texas, Minnesota or Seattle with his knuckleball. 

The New York Mets are close to dealing reigning National League Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays, according to CBS Sportsline's Jon Heyman, who broke the news on Twitter early Saturday morning:

It appears the New York Mets have wasted no time in killing any goodwill with the fans by signing David Wright long term. With the trade of NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey potentially looming (per ESPN), we are once again reminded that the Mets have a talent for making the worst out of a good situation.

The Atlanta Braves have made a bit of a splash this winter by signing B.J. Upton and then dealing Tommy Hanson to the Angels for hard-throwing Jordan Walden. However, according to Internet rumors, the Braves haven't finished making changes to their roster.

The Philadelphia Phillies still need a corner outfielder and Alfonso Soriano is not the answer.

By all accounts, New York Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is one of the nicest guys around. That combined with his sick knuckleball and incredible life story account for why he's such a fan favorite.

But now is not the time for Dickey to be Mr. Nice Guy. Now is the time for him to bare his teeth and stomp his feet, and he needs to do these things where his employers can see him. 

The 2012 Philadelphia Phillies had their worst record (37-50) at the All-Star break since the 1997 Phillies. What many fans don't realize is that without Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence and Joe Blanton, the Phillies were able to finish the season with a record of 44-31, which correlates to a .586 winning percentage.

As young and talented as the Washington Nationals are, there's probably not a single trade the Phillies can make to give them a chance to win the NL East in 2013.

Compared to Placido Polanco, anything has to be an upgrade for the Philadelphia Phillies at third base, but we're not sure Michael Young would even rank as that.

Chipper Jones has played his last game for the Atlanta Braves, but there's no doubt his career finale went about as badly as possible.

A stand-up player like Jones deserved the perfect send-off, but as we all know, that doesn't always happen.

The tone of this article would've taken on a whole new meaning had one of the umpires at the Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals game been injured because of the controversial infield fly rule. Look, I get that the call was an emotional one for Braves fans. But if something flying out of the stands had seriously injured one of the umps, America's Favorite Pastime would have suffered another black eye.