NL East

If you had to name the three players in Major League Baseball who have been associated with the term “contract extension” over the past three or four seasons, who would you name?

The first thing I will forever remember about Jason Heyward was his very first at bat as a major leaguer.

Facing a 2-0 count against a veteran pitcher in Carlos Zambrano, Heyward’s first swing connected with Zambrano’s fastball and flew into orbit, as did every Braves fan’s expectations for the 20-year-old rookie.

And the guy didn't disappoint.

Martin Prado was as valuable as anyone in baseball to his team in the first half of the season in 2010 playing second base.

His MVP-caliber season was derailed in the second half as injuries kept him out of the lineup for a stretch in August, as well as the playoffs, as the Atlanta Braves were knocked out in the first round by the eventual World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants.

Since 2006, second baseman Dan Uggla has hit 154 home runs. The only person to hit more over that time is Albert Pujols.

Now the Atlanta Braves are hoping for more of the same from the 30-year-old right-handed hitter.

Uggla and the Braves agreed officially today on a five-year, $62 million extension, which will keep the second baseman through the rest of his prime years as a major leaguer.

The Phillies are going into the 2011 season with sky-high expectations. Of course, they earned those expectations with a rotation of the god-like right arm of Roy Halladay, big free agent signing Cliff Lee, 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, and former 20-game winner Roy Oswalt. But, like an old cliche says, "Nobody is perfect." The Phillies have one big flaw, and that is right field.

Three of the Mets' best players from the 2010 season—R.A. Dickey, Mike Pelfrey and Angel Pagan—are eligible for arbitration, which began on Wednesday.

Players who have between three and six years of major league experience are eligible.

Dickey, Pelfrey and Pagan are all looking at significant pay raises from last season, and they all chose a great time to perform the way they did last season.

SATIRE— Take pity on Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson. He has to rebuild a team that is saddled with a core of high salary players who are low on talent and lower still on productivity.  

To make matters worse, the team’s fans have been promised much on-the-field greatness in recent years, but have received little in terms of success.   As a result, Mets followers are losing their patience and have begun turning to other activities, such as Yankee baseball and alternate side of the street parking.

Roberto Alomar was overpaid by the New York Mets for his year and a half of service towards the end of his career, but I was happy to see him get the recognition he deserved with a spot in the Hall of Fame.

His career will always be defined by a select few by the spitting incident, and for those of you who think that is enough to keep him out of Cooperstown, I feel sorry for you.

Some fans will never overlook this transgression, using it as the basis of every argument they ever make about his wrongful inclusion.

The first week in January is one of baseball's most exciting time periods.

Sure, the regular season has been in hibernation for a few months, and a World Series champion has been crowned. The Hot Stove is cooling down quickly, with most big name free agents having already been signed to lucrative deals.

Since the Washington Nationals signed Jayson Werth to a mega deal for $126 million over seven years in December, the Philadelphia Phllies lost Werth's ability to hit for power, which is a valuable asset to have in a player.  However, power is not necessarily what makes or breaks a team.  Many teams are very successful by playing small ball baseball or contact hitting.