NL East

BaseballAmerica.com recently released its top 10 prospect list for the Washington Nationals, and coming in at No. 3, is second baseman Danny Espinosa.

Aaron Fitt of Baseball America recently told masn.com’s Byron Kerr that, "Long Beach State is a shortstop factory with Troy Tulowitzki, Bobby Crosby and Evan Longoria played shortstop for a year when he was there. Espinosa is the next guy in that progression."

1. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

2. Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners

3. Adam Wainwright, St. Louis Cardinals

4. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies

5. Ubaldo Jimenez, Colorado Rockies

6. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

7. Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants

Heading into 2011, few Mets fans, myself included, are expecting much from the team.

With big strides made by division rivals Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals, the Mets haven't been able to keep up, at least not in terms of names.

Financial restrictions have kept the Mets' focus on low-risk/high-reward players, which have been able to find.

As we all wait for the Washington Nationals to announce the signing of first baseman Adam LaRoche to a two-year contract—what is taking so long, anyway? I thought it might be fun to take a peek into the team’s future to a time when LaRoche will have already come and gone.

Unless you live under a rock--and even maybe then--you have heard about the Phillies signing Cliff Lee to go along with Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels in a starting rotation that many consider the best of the decade.  This four-man rotation is the best in baseball by just about any stat category, but is it enough to win them the pennant?  The Phillies are projected to win the NL East easily, and to make a good run into the postseason, but is it a lock?  Not quite is the answer.  The Phillies have almost solved the puzzle for the 2011 season--and possibly beyond

It’s time to do a little Washington Nationals housecleaning today and cover a few things that I haven’t had time to cover in any great detail.

Well, that’s not true of course. I’ve covered all of this in great detail. But let’s cover it some more, shall we?

In articles like this, many websites will provide readers with the best overall prospects at any given position, but the intention here is to focus on those prospects that are likely to provide the greatest fantasy impact for the 2011 season; thus, while Oakland 1B prospect Chris Carter may have some long-term potential, he won’t be on my list because he is blocked—at least in the short-term—by Daric Barton.

Ditto for Yonder Alonso in Cincinnati.

Back in 2007, the Washington Nationals had a center fielder who had no power, couldn’t bunt and tried to hit left-handed pitching from both sides of the plate, neither with any success. For most of the season, his on-base percent was below .300 and yet then-manager Manny Acta publicly supported him and guaranteed that he would remain the team’s everyday center fielder.

I have a feeling that no matter what Adam LaRoche does as a Washington National—assuming the obvious happens and he signs with the team—there is going to be a fairly loud minority saying, “Yeah, but he’s no Adam Dunn.”

And they’ll be right, of course. Their same first name aside, they are two very different players. And yes, one of them will help his new team more than the other. And that player is Adam LaRoche.

Surprise!

In a year where we saw ‘Prevention and Recovery,' hirings and firings, and even some crazy top 10 plays, our New York Mets couldn’t put together a winning ball club and now our eyes are set on the promising future.

With a new regime in place that stands for almost everything opposite from the last boss, we take one last look at 2010 with the knowledge that our team will improve in 2011 and years to come. 

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