NL East

Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay has been one of the majors' best pitchers in the past decade. Unfortunately, his 2012 season mirrored the Phils' '12 campaign as the team dropped from 102 wins in 2011 to 81 last year. Halladay struggled with an 11-8 record and an ERA of 4.49 (his 11 wins were the fewest since he had eight in 2004; his ERA was the second worst of his career).

As the calendar turns to March, we are approaching the one-year anniversary of a pretty monumental day in the history of American professional sports.

At the conclusion of the 2011 season, the Washington Nationals boasted one of the top farm systems in the game. Since then, however, they’ve traded away a majority of their highly regarded prospects for big league talent—which paid immediate dividends.

Remember last month when the possibility existed that the Philadelphia Phillies could use a double-platoon for their corner outfield spots, rather than naming a starter at each position heading into spring training?

When the Miami Marlins sent Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio and over $100 million in salaries to the Toronto Blue Jays in November, that would have been a good time for team owner Jeffrey Loria to speak up.

Headed into the 2012 season, nobody expected the Phillies to be anything less than a playoff contender, let alone struggle mightily as they did.

By the all-star break, the team’s postseason aspirations had faded, and a few weeks later they began clearing house by moving both Hunter Pence and Shane Victorino at the trade deadline.

The New York Mets are less than two weeks into spring training 2013, but it isn't too early to tell which players are set to outperform others down in Port St. Lucie.

Over the next month, Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson will have to make decisions on tough roster moves and position battles. The manager and the general manager will need to find a blend of experienced veterans who can mesh well with the variety of prospects the Mets have at their disposal.

Straight up front, please save your "it's only one game!" remonstrations. Of course it's only one game, and of course it's only the preseason.

Know how you know that preseason results are meaningless? The Philadelphia Eagles went 4-0 in the preseason in 2012. And you know how that turned out.

So, yeah, right, it's ridiculous to take anything away from a preseason game in February (even one against the terrible Houston Astros) where Jimmy Rollins sat and Cole Hamels left after two strong innings. You're right.

When the Atlanta Braves traded Martin Prado the Arizona Diamondbacks, most thought the Braves got a good deal in return.

After all, the Braves received Justin Upton and Chris Johnson in a deal that saw the Braves give up a bunch of prospects in addition to Prado.

However, with the loss of Prado, there is one question on many people's mind—who becomes the new super utility guy for the Braves?

The Washington Nationals and Gio Gonzalez could not have received any better news the day before Grapefruit League play began, as Gio Gonzalez addressed the media with fantastic results.