NL East

Philadelphia Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. made a small move today, signing Ronnie Belliard to a minor league contract.

Belliard, set to turn 36 on April 7th, was released by the rival New York Yankees this past Monday after showing up to spring training overweight and just hitting .136.

During today's 2-0 Atlanta Braves' win over the Washington Nationals, Fredi Gonzalez went with Jonny Venters in the eighth inning and Craig Kimbrel in the ninth for the save. 

Two opening days, two first at-bat home runs for Jason Heyward.

Last season, in what may have been the single biggest home run call of the year, Braves rookie phenom Jason Heyward went yard on his very first at-bat against Carlos Zambrano and the Chicago Cubs.

One year later, history and Heyward repeated themselves.

Heyward took a 2-1 pitch from Washington Nationals pitcher Livan Hernandez chest high and belted it over the right field fence, extending the Braves' lead to 2-0.

The beginning of the Philadelphia Phillies' most anticipated season to date starts tomorrow afternoon in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at Citizens Bank Park at 1:05 p.m. EDT when Roy Halladay starts for the Phillies against their former "ace" Brett Myers, who will be starting for the Houston Astros to begin a three-game series.

This season is undoubtedly one that all Phillies fans are looking forward to, and one that they hopefully will never forget for all the right reasons.

After receiving an MRI yesterday, it was determined that Brad Lidge's injury woes will continue: he has a strain in the back of his right shoulder rotator cuff. In other words, according to Courier Post Online, this is equivalent to a tear, and he could even be out until July.

You probably read the headline and thought, "Wow, this guy is some delusional Mets fan." Well, I'm not going to lie to you, that is 100 percent true. I am a proud Mets fan, and at times I can be delusional, seeing how it is basically impossible to be a Mets fan if you aren't at least somewhat messed up in the head. 

That being said, every April brings the beginning of a new season, a 0-0 record, and a ton of hope for fans of every team.

With spring training now in the books, it's time to look ahead to the 2011 baseball season for the New York Mets, which will be a pivotal year for the franchise—both on and off the field.

Remember that there are serious issues with ownership that will be looming over this team the entire season.

Unfortunately, that's only the beginning.

Chris Young has always been a tantalizing player with the capability to be a top tier pitcher, but he's never been able to prove his prowess over the long run. A plethora of injuries have allowed him to pitch no more than 180 innings in a single season during his major league career, and over the last three seasons, he has maxed out at 102 innings in 2008.

Young’s two best statistical seasons came in 2006 and 2007, his lone All-Star season, with the Padres:

Bad contracts are like bad haircuts—they're embarrassing, annoying and don't go away fast enough.

The Mets, like all teams, have certainly had their share of bad haircuts.

Checking out the history of bad deals the Mets have given out over the years and you come up with a wide range of names. Some guys were big-name players who just never lived up to their contract, while others were no-namers who collected a pay check and disappeared like a thief in the night.

There may not be a team in baseball with more passionate fans than the Philadelphia Phillies. For all of the years of losing through the early 1970's, late 1980's and early 1990's, they have seen many years of success as well.