NL East

Source: mlb.com

RAYS 3, PHILLIES 2
at Port Charlotte, Fla.
Thursday, March 12

*From Protect the Plate

Despite having the league's lowest payroll, the Florida Marlins were competitive last year, falling just 5.5 games short of the wild card. They seem to overhaul their roster before every year, and 2009 is no different. With young stars, impressive rookies, and a new focus on defense, the Marlins hope to get the most out of the least once again.

FANTASY FAVORITE

The following is an elaborate spin-off of an essentially live blog entry I wrote in August as the New York Mets bullpen blew a lead for Johan Santana for the sixth time in the 2008 season.

As the season draws closer and closer, let's take a look at some milestones that will likely be reached by some of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Let's start with Ryan Howard.

Howard will enter the 2009 season with 177 career home runs, which is good for 11th place on the list of all-time franchise leaders. With three home runs Howard will tie Willie Jones for 10th on the list. Jones played with the Phillies from 1947 to 1959.

The Mets made a huge sacrifice in sending 16 players to the World Baseball Classic this year, but they have all served their countries well so far, even though Jose Reyes and Fernando Tatis are returning to camp after the Dominican Republic was eliminated last night.

David Wright was the first Met to accept an invitation to play for Team USA in the WBC after A-Rod decided to play for the Dominican Republic, but we all know what happened there, so no further discussion is needed.

Today, we move from Washington to the top, where we take a look at the World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, our next team in 30 clubs in 30 days.

The Phillies once again ousted the Mets to win the NL East, going 92-70 on the year, while putting up an impressive 17-8 September record, with an even more impressive 11-3 postseason record that included the Phillies first World Series title since 1980, and only the second championship in their history.

I have not made it a secret that I am no fan of the World Baseball Classic. I don't like the general idea that players who have major league contracts and commitments are missing Spring Training in order to play around the world in March.

That being said, the WBC is good for one thing. It is good for minor leaguers and free agents hoping to spark interest from other major league teams looking to fill out their major and minor league rosters this month.

In fact, the WBC has been really good to one man in particular: Pedro Martinez.

With the Phillies getting a day off today today will serve as an opportunity to get a little caught up around here. I didn't post anything yesterday as I was getting caught up on some real life errands around the home, but today will be a chance to do some work on the site.

The Phillies dropped their game yesterday against the Cincinatti Reds by a score of 8-4 but the game had some good things happen for the Phillies. For starters, pun intended, Cole Hamels had his second start of the spring.

I now realize how spoiled we've been.

A-Rod helped sportsblogs coast through February.

Yesterday, A-Rod let me down.

With a pseudo-Mets team missing 16 players, there's not much to say. Sure, I could make some crap up along the lines of:

"'Kielty Should Platoon"
Or the ever-popular "Santana Elbow OK!" posts that you see everywhere.

Maybe some random Mike Pelfrey speculation would float your boat?

Nope, I'm hoping the real Mets come back soon, and that brings me back to A-Rod.

PLAYER NAME said he is willing to "play anywhere on the field" for the Dominican.

PLAYER said he didn't think BASEBALL TEAM FROM NEW YORK would mind if he played a foreign position for a dopey nobody-cares international tournament.

"I told (Felipe Alou) if he puts me in another position, I'm going to play it, because I'm here to represent my country..." the DR.

Guess who?

Nope, not A-Rod because if A-Rod said it we'd be lynching him for being stupid enough to play out of position for this WBC silliness.