It's in the Air Part 4 NL East

The NL East looks like a 1.5 horse race this season...maybe more like 1.333.

1. Philadelphia Phillies
If you are looking for the equivalent to the Miami Heat for baseball look no further then the Philly. They have one of the most dominating rotation in quite a while. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton. Even their bullpen is good lead by Ryan Madson and JC Romero and Brad Lidge will come in to the close, that is if he even has too because this lineup will produce offense as well. Carlos Ruiz catching, Ryan Howard slugging and improving defensively at first, Chase Utley is a great second baseman, Jimmy Rollins is a premire shortstop now, Polcido Polanco is very good at third, Raul Ibanez is good in left, Shane Victarino is a highlight reel wating to happen and the only question mark really is Domonic Brown in right. This team is a clear early favorite team to win the World Series, I'll get to that another day.

2. Atlanta Braves
These guys is Philly's only real big competition for the NL East title. They have a pretty good rotation with Lowe, Hudson and Jurrjens throwing. The bullpen doesn't really have anyone to right off on, young Craig Kimbrel is closing he could be the next big closer he had 40 strikeouts last year with an ERA of 0.44 in only 21 games. Brian McCann is good behind the plate and can hit, Freddie Freeman is at first and he is a big question mark, Dan Uggla is good at second, Alex Gonzalez is a solid veteran presence at short, and Chipper Jones is supposed to return but don't be suprised to see Martin Prado holding it down in the hot corner, if Chipper can go Prado will be in left, Nate McClouth needs to bring his bat when he starts in centerfield .190 batting average last season wont cut it, and of course Atlanta has their future star Jason Heyward in right.

3. Washington Nationals
They look good, compared to past seasons that is, they wont compete with Atlanta or Philadelphia. Pitching is looking good questions about if Stephan Strasburg will return for opening day but he will be around, until then they will settle with Livan Hernandez as the number one, with veterans Jason Marquis and Tom Gorzelanny. Not much to talk about in the pen while Drew Storen will close for the Nats, last season he appeared in 54 games recording 10 holds and 52 strikeouts. Veteran Pudge is catching, Adam LaRoche is at first, young Danny Espinosa will be at second, Ian Desmond at short is a question, Ryan Zimmerman is back at third as the face of the franchise when Strasburg isn't around, resiliant Rick Ankiel is in left, speedy Nyjer Morgan is in center and Jason Werth is in right. This team is looking pretty good.

4. Florida Marlins
The Marlins have a really good number one in Josh Joshson with decent talent like Chris Volstad who went 12-9 last year behind him. Again not much of a bullpen with Leo Nunez at the closing spot he recorded 30 saves last year. John Buck is a decent catcher and hits pretty well with a batting average of .281 last year, Gaby Sanchez played in 151 games last year and will be starting at first he did put up 85 RBIs and batted .273 last year, Omar Infante is good at second base, Hanley Ramirez is back at short and is good (if he is actually trying), Wes Helms needs to improve his numbers at the plate but is still good at third, Logan Morrison appered in 62 games last year and will start in left after batting a good .283 last year, Chris Coghlan is in center, and Mike Stanton is in right. This team is young with talent they could give the Nats a run for third.

5. New York Metropolitans
The Mets, they have been a laughing stock for a couple years now. If they haven't been blowing late division leads they are have been chilling in the bottom of not only the division but the in the NL. They have zero pitching in the rotation they have Francisco Rodriguez closing but they will be lucky to even get to him in the first place. It is too bad they don't have very good pitching because they have some decent bats with David Wright at third, Jose Reyes at short, Carlos Beltran in center, Jason Bay in left can be pretty good at the plate, Angel Pagan in right batted .290 last year. Daniel Murphy is at second and who knows what he'll bring maybe he is decent, it's the same story at first with Ike Davis at first and Josh Thole behind the plate. We'll see what the Mets can do, maybe they will suprise.