NL East

2011 is going to be an interesting year for the New York Mets. They definitely have talent in the lineup and potential on the mound, but who knows what's going to happen with this team. They seem to build us up every year only to let us down. But, unlike a lot of people that I'm seeing on this site, I'm going to keep having faith in this team. The grades in this article are not based on the players' 2010 seasons, but on the players themselves looking forward to 2011. Here's a look at the 2011 roster.

Earlier his offseason, I wrote that the New York Mets bullpen was a bigger question mark than the starting rotation.

The reason being that the Mets lost two huge bullpen arms in Pedro Feliciano and Hisanori Takahashi, but only one starting rotation piece in Johan Santana.

Johan Santana announced today that he may not pitch at all during the 2011 baseball season.

Santana was once one of the most sought-after pitchers in the entire Major Leagues and signed with the New York Mets as one of the most highly regarded players in all of baseball.

Drawing huge contract offers and loads of media praise, Santana looked destined to become one of the best left-handed pitchers of all time.

“If.”

A noun or conjunction: an uncertain possibility, a supposition, in case that, granting or supposing that.

The word “if” will hold much significance for the 2011 New York Mets.

Let’s start with the positives.

If Chris Young returns to his mid-2000's form and if R.A. Dickey pitches similarly to last year, the Mets will not be severely affected by the loss of Johan Santana.

It is official. Football season is over, the groundhog did not see his shadow, the snowy weather has been ushered out with warmer temperatures and spring training camps are opening.

All of this can mean only one thing: Baseball season is almost here.

With the beginning of baseball season comes the start of fantasy baseball drafts. Last year, I joined a fantasy baseball league called Strat-O-Matic Baseball (for the Richmond Strat-O-Matic Baseball League...find out more on www.rsbl.org).

Finally! Spring training has begun! 

Baseball is just around the corner, and that means that players will be preparing and warming up for the regular season.

Most players for the Braves have already reported, and today they fielded balls and had batting practice. 

Now spring training is not the most accurate way of seeing if a player is ready or not, but it certainly foreshadows their performance in the regular season. So I will look over how today went for everyone.

It was 60 degrees in DC Monday, and on Tuesday Washington Nationals pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training.

It’s official: Baseball’s back.

Earlier in the offseason, rumors arose that the Philadelphia Phillies would sign free agent starting pitcher John Maine.

At age 29, Maine was non-tendered by the New York Mets after spending the last four seasons there; however, he pitched in only 24 games in the last two seasons due to shoulder surgeries and issues resulting from them.

The NL East teams include the Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and the Washington Nationals. 

All of these teams have had their fair share of prospects come through the systems, become big time prospects, and then become stars at the major league level. The division was led in 2010 by guys like Jason Heyward, Stephen Strasburg, and Mike Stanton.

This year's group has a little less fire power in it, but that doesn't mean that there isn't any talent on it's way.

Albert Pujols' contract negotiations with the St. Louis Cardinals have recently been put on hold until this offseason.  Pujols and the Cardinals had all offseason to work out a new contract and Pujols set a deadline for today and they have failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension.