NL East

I could have sworn everyone was expecting Cliff Lee to go to the team that offered him the most money.  He was supposed to become the second highest-paid Yankee and the third most-overpaid Yankee.

Zack Greinke was supposed to be the consolation prize for the team that lost out on Cliff Lee. He was supposed to mesh well and find comfort with the young base in Texas.

The Yankees and Rangers were not longshots to meet again in October 2011.

But the road to October just got a bit rocky for these two teams.

As the baseball offseason continues, New York Mets fans become increasingly frustrated. They've watched every other team in the NL East make improvements. The Phillies added Cliff Lee, the Braves traded for Dan Uggla, the Nationals added Jayson Werth and the Marlins added good pieces in trades with Atlanta and Boston.

What have the Mets done so far?

They added a bullpen piece (D.J. Carrasco) and a backup catcher (Ronny Paulino).

This past year presented Atlanta Braves fans with plenty of moments to relish.

This was the first time the Braves had reached the playoffs since 2005 and was the final season for venerable manager Bobby Cox.

But, I'm staying away from those topics for this slideshow.

Instead, I'm focusing on singular moments over the course of the calendar year that Braves fans will be talking about for years to come rather than events that involved a culmination of years/months of dedicated work to draw their fanfare.

Consider this piece more of a memoir than anything else.  My childhood with the Phillies was always adventurous but often ugly.  The Phillies were constantly a losing team and never broke the bank to go out and sign any big-name free agents.  At the time, we knew they weren't the New York Yankees, nor were we asking them to be.  We just wanted to know that they had a desire to someday win.

Many Mets fans are expecting this to be a long season. However, there is one way that Mets management can make the year a lot more interesting: Hire former Montana Tech football coach Bob Green.

Yes, Bob Green has no experience coaching baseball. However, he would be perfectly fine as a bench coach.

Most readers have no idea as to why this suggestion would even make sense. I direct you to the video below.

Big name free agents are flying off the market at a rapid pace.  Almost every big name free agent has agreed to terms with a team.

The free agent class of 2010 was very top heavy.  It lacked depth, especially in the pitchers market.  After Cliff Lee signed with Philadelphia, that made Carl Pavano the new top free agent pitcher.

So we all have read that Johan Santana won’t be with us the first half of the season. This is a tough pill to swallow for New York Mets fans and to be completely blunt about it, I’m tired of the pessimism surrounding the New York Mets for this upcoming 2011 season from media and fans alike.

The world is not over! The season hasn’t even begun yet! It’s only December!

In today's age of professional sports, it's not too often that you find superstar-caliber players that truly value winning championships over the biggest, most lucrative contract one can get his hands on when testing the free agent waters.

Every pro athlete in every sport claims that their No. 1 goal is to win a championship. They claim that it's what they come to the ball park every day for, why they practice, why they play the game, however in most cases, it's not really why they're in the game.

OK, so this title is a bit corny, but it certainly rings true as the Mets approach the half-way point of the offseason. Spring training is a little over a months and a half away, and it appears the Mets still have much to do to gear up for the season.

Chien-Mang Wang is a National again this year.  To many it may be surprising that he even was a National last year considering he never pitched an inning.  Wang must have made strides rehabbing last year though because he was offered and accepted a $1 million contract (with $5 million in incentives) from the Nationals.