NL East

Here we sit in the first week of 2010, and the Atlanta Braves still, seemingly, have a hole to fill in the outfield.

With a starting group currently composed of Cabrera-McLouth-Diaz (the Braves will probably end up taking the Hanson route with Heyward), you can kind of see why.

With that in mind, though, you have to think that the Braves aren't going to be looking to break the bank (sorry, no Matt Holliday ) since they could go to war with that group and be okay.

After the markets best slugger was plucked off the table when the New York Mets signed Jason Bay to a five year contract, teams are now going to have to dive into the second tier of bats, (excluding Matt Holliday, whom I fully expect to re-up long term with the Cardinals), to fill their needs.

The best remaining bat on the market (excluding Russell Branyan, whom I expect to re-sign with the Seattle Mariners), appears to be former Atlanta first baseman Adam LaRoche.

Is He on the Block—Or Not?

There is a rumor going around that Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs ace, is headed out of the Windy City via a trade.

May I add that my ambiguously worded article regarding the Mets' offseason intentions may have added some legs to that rumor.

The facts are—there are no facts. Which is why if you re-read my piece you will see that the trade of Zambrano to the Mets for Luis Castillo is "a possibility," not a solid lead.

It hasn't been a great off-season for Atlanta. Simple as that.

The divisional opponents have gotten stronger. Atlanta has gotten weaker. Sure, we can debate whether Atlanta has made the right moves, but none of it adds up to a stronger team.

Next year, there will be no Vazquez, LaRoche, Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano or Kelly Johnson. There will be Melky Cabrera, Troy Glaus and Billy Wagner. Add all that up and I'd prefer to have those former players, not the latter group.

On Tuesday, the New York Mets agreed to a four-year contract with free agent outfielder Jason Bay. According to reports, the deal will pay Bay roughly $66 million.

The pact has drawn mixed reactions. Supporters cite Bay's righthanded power, patience and even surprising speed: he has 66 stolen bases in 80 career attempts and has posted at least two triples in every full season of his Major League career.

It looks like Queens was more appealing than Beirut after all for Jason Bay.