NL East

Stephen Strasburg.  Aroldis Champan.  Meet Mark Prior.

Although Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds fans may not want to hear it, the fate of hard-throwing prospects is all to familiar.

In Will Carroll’s book, Saving the Pitcher, he talks about the struggles and frequent arm troubles that seem to so often hinder the careers of today’s most promising stars.

I was at the Mets game on Monday and sat for the first time in the left field reserved seats.  It was the bottom of the eighth and the Mets were down 3-1;  there had to be only about 4,000 people left in the entire stadium at this point because of the unbearable cold. 

It was no less than Tom Seaver—”Tom Terrific”—who went to extraordinary lengths to protect his right arm, which he astutely realized was nothing more than his livelihood.

Seaver, while traveling as a player, wouldn’t carry any of his luggage with his right appendage. In fact, he tried mightily to do nothing with his right arm other than hurl baseballs at 90+ mph toward enemy hitters.

As the minor league season comes to a close, it’s time to start looking at each organization and determine who is the team’s Fantasy Baseball Minor League Player of the Year.

First, the criteria:

Jerry Manuel gets criticized for many of the Mets' issues on and off the field. Fans get on him for his in-game decisions, which at times is deserved. But what I ask here is that the Mets give Jerry Manuel the opportunity he is owed to manage the team in 2011.

Since its opening in 1997, Turner Field, home to the first place Atlanta Braves, has seemed like hell to the New York Mets, with Bobby Cox playing the role of the devil. Even when the Mets have fielded competitive teams, they still have struggled in Atlanta.

In 116 contests over the course of 14 seasons, the Mets have won only 38 games while dropping 78 in the new "Home of the Braves."

Everyone likes a good ole-fashioned baseball brawl.

Fighting in baseball dates back to the '30s, when Bill Dickey broke Carl Reynolds’ jaw after Reynolds collided with Dickey at home plate.

Jeff Francoeur certainly has his free-swinging ways.

When speedy Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan charged the mound at Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad on Wednesday night, he did it to defend himself.

Nyjer had been plunked on the back earlier in the game, most likely on purpose for separating catcher Brett Hayes' left shoulder, which tells you the Marlins weren't too happy with Morgan. 

The Florida Marlins and the Washington Nationals engaged in a pretty ugly melee on Wednesday night, and the more I read about the events as they transpired the more I am beginning to think that something isn't right.