NL East

WASHINGTON NATIONALS 

Last Year: 69-93, 5th in NL East  

Manager: Jim Riggelman 

PROJECTED LINEUP 

C - Ivan Rodriguez (R) 

1B - Adam LaRoche (L)

2B - Danny Espinosa (S) 

3B - Ryan Zimmerman (R) 

SS - Ian Desmond (R)

LF/CF - Roger Bernadina (L)/Nyjer Morgan (L)/Rick Ankiel (L)/Mike Morse (R)

RF - Jayson Werth (R) 

Dear Mr. Wren,

I had a toy when I was a kid, perhaps you had one just like it. It was an octagon-shaped toy with various different shaped holes on it that you would put plastic blocks into to help you learn shapes.

Looking back on it now, this toy was a lot like building a successful ball club. You have all these pieces available to you, but each hole would only accept one block so you have to make the right decisions.

Opening Day is less than a week away.

Pretty soon, the Philadelphia Phillies will be on their way back to frigid PA and will start April 1st their quest for a fifth straight NL East Title.

Phillies fans are hoping for even more...perhaps a second World Series title in four years.

The Phillies, even though they are favorites to win the division, have some pretty big concerns heading into the season.

Injuries, age and recent play have put some question marks around the Phillies team.

Despite a tough, injury-plagued spring training, today’s Philadelphia Phillies are about to break camp surrounded by the type of lofty expectations that are attached to very few ballclubs.

Yes, injuries to Chase Utley and Brad Lidge have scaled down some of the unchecked optimism about the regular season (okay, they won’t win 115 or so games), but they are still the odds-on choice to advance to the World Series for the third time in the last four years.

Opening day is only seven days away, which means it's time to ponder and predict what the Philadelphia Phillies will accomplish in the 2011 baseball season. They go into this season with one of the best pitching rotations in baseball history and are the presumptive favorites to represent the National League in the World Series.

From Ryan Howard's potential bombs over the left field fence at Citizens Bank park to Raul Ibanez's crucial role with the absence of Jason Werth, we look at these 10 bold predictions for the 2011 Phillies baseball season.

The 2011 Opening Day lineup is out, and it's a little surprising.

1. Martin Prado (R/LF)

2. Nate McLouth (L/CF)

3. Chipper Jones (B/3B)

4. Brian McCann (L/C)

5. Dan Uggla (R/2B)

6. Jason Heyward (L/RF)

7. Alex Gonzalez (R/SS)

8. Freddie Freeman (L/1B)

Though the Mets recently released Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez, the organization still is marred with financial difficulties and a string of poor seasons on the field.

While there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel with a new manager and general manager, things aren’t expected to turn around quickly in Flushing.

Mets fans tend to be an impatient group, so the ones who do show up to Citi Field this year will have a short leash when players don’t perform.

What happened?

When spring training started, Mike Minor was almost guaranteed a spot on the Braves' roster.

However, today it was decided that Brandon Beachy would take that position, not Minor.

I find it interesting that he was not given the job, even though he has been lights out during spring training. I gathered the impression that because of his performance so far and the fact that he would be the only southpaw in the rotation he would be granted the job.

Winter is finally over, and with it one of the most turbulent offseasons in the history of the New York Mets.

Usually, New York baseball during the months of December, January and February are dominated by the Yankees uncanny ability to sign every single All-Star free agent possible. Instead it was a quiet and disappointing off-season for the Bombers, as Cliff Lee instead opted to head back to Philadelphia.

As for the Flushing Bumbers, the Mets have been in the news just about every day.

Brandon Beachy has reportedly won the fifth spot in the Atlanta Braves rotation for the 2011 season.  

Braves general manager Frank Wren made the announcement Thursday.  

There has been a lot of talk this preseason about who would fill the missing fifth starter slot. Many people thought Mike Minor was the front runner to be picked.