NL East

The New York Mets cleaned house at the top of the organization with the firing of Jerry Manuel and Omar Minaya at the end of the 2010 season.  Bringing in Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins were the proper first steps to take towards bringing the franchise back to respectability, but there are many holes to fill in the roster before the Mets can become contenders again.

With the 2011 season right around the corner, here are 10 moves that the Mets can make to take steps in the right direction.

Mets new general manager Sandy Alderson is well respected across Major League Baseball. He's supposed to be smart, and is known for building some good teams.

BY: ANTHONY BARATTA

December 14^th, 2010

“Start spreading the news….

 I’m leaving today….

I want to be a part of it….

In old….??Philadelphia??”

“The stars at night…

Are big and bright…

The Mets now have to contend with the quartet of pitching that is the Phillies. Not to mention a young Atlanta team that seeks revenge. Florida? We'll see. And then, there are the up and coming Nationals, with a hot new pitcher, albeit hurt, a catcher quickly gaining attention, and a multi million dollar Jason Werth deal. Not to mention Nyger Morgan, who brings his quirky optimism, but also isn't afraid to charge the mound. Count on them in the not-so-near future. So what do the Mets need to do to contend? Well...

After a year of trying, the Washington Nationals have finally succeeded in trading outfielder Josh Willingham. As of early this afternoon, the 32-year-old was officially an Oakland Athletic.

Coming East are pitcher Henry Rodriguez and center fielder Corey Brown.

We'll talk about Rodriguez another day. Let's focus on Brown for now.

Now that Cliff Lee has finally made his decision, spurning superior offers from both the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers, we can move on.

Lee has joined a starting rotation that already includes last season's Cy Young winner, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

The current National League Cy Young Award winner, former American League Cy Young Award winner and three-time 20-game winner. Two-time 20-game winner and a sixth-place finish in the 2010 National League Cy Young Award voting. 2008 National League Championship Series and 2008 World Series MVP. Add to that another former American League Cy Young Award winner with a 20-game win season under his belt, and you've assembled an impressive cast of starting pitchers (and a stocked trophy case.)

That's exactly what the Philadelphia Phillies have done.

He was one of the Nationals’ prized rookies. He didn’t come from a large school but was impressive enough to be selected early in the draft. By the age of 23, he was part of Washington’s rotation and though his statistics weren’t overly impressive, his overall performance was quite good.

Let me just start by saying that I do not want to be writing this article. 

In a desperate attempt to stay relevant, the Washington Nationals shocked the baseball world and handed out a colossal seven-year $126 million contract to Jayson Werth.

Certainly they are not the first overly ambitious team to overspend on a free agent, and they won’t be the last; but it does raise some interesting points.

Often times if a big-market team, with high expectations, fails to make the playoffs, the only possible move seems to be a free agent spending spree. Other times, irrelevant teams will make major moves in an effort to silence angry fans.