2008 Predictions

Matt Wease at Prototrade gives his predictions on how the NL and AL will shape up and here is what he had to say about the National League East:

NL East- this is the true toughest division in baseball. it is one of the few with any real depth to it. the phillies have the best infield in baseball (howard, utley, rollins, feliz) while the mets have the best rotation (santana, martinez, perez, maine, hernandez). atlanta, despite glavine's return, doesn't have the same offense it had in his first tour there. washington is getting better, as is florida. looks for the mets to take this one with philly biting at their heels. atlanta will finish third followed by washington and then florida.

Reactions From Braves And Phillies Fans

At The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they ask this question:

The Mets have already finished ahead of the Braves in the NL East the last two seasons, and picking up a dominant lefthander for the top of the pitching rotation would only make them stronger. Are you concerned that the Braves, despite picking up future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine in the offseason, will have enough pitching to compete with the Mets?

Better yet, will the Braves’ offense be able to contend with a rotation that could include Santana and Pedro Martinez as the top two starters?

J. Weitzel at Beerleaguer puts up the following insight for the Phillies:

The sounds of our "small splashes" never sounded so small. This is a tidalwave, causing a flood that will submerge the rest of the National League East for six or seven years. Baseball's best pitcher belongs to the Mets, set to anchor the rotation for years to come while canceling out our best hitters head-to-head.

Introducing the winner, and new champion, of the 2008 off-season, and possibly much, more more: Johan Santana and the New York Mets, who've stuck it right up the Phillies' butts.

Glavine Goes Back Home

At MLB Trade Rumors they write about Tom Glavine's return to the Braves:

It's now official: the Braves have signed Tom Glavine to a one-year, $8MM deal. There doesn't appear to be any kind of second-year option. The Braves initially came in at $6.5MM. MLB.com's Mark Bowman says the Nationals and Phillies were in on him, but never really had a shot at making a deal.

After a 2007 lacking in rotation depth, the Braves have a slew of candidates to start. Even without counting on Mike Hampton for anything, they are in good shape. Pitching depth can unravel quickly, but things look good as of November 19th, 2007.

Braves Meet With Glavine

At The Morning Call they write about the Atlanta Braves and they met with Tom Glavine and his agent:

The Atlanta Braves would like to bring back Tom Glavine after a five-year absence.

New general manager Frank Wren spoke with the two-time Cy Young Award winner and his agent, Gregg Clifton. Wren said he will call again next week, after teams can start making offers to free agents.

Glavine spent his first 16 major league seasons with Atlanta, then pitched for the New York Mets for five years.

Bye Bye John, Hello Glavine?

Braves' long-time GM, John Schuerholz, stepped down this morning from his duties, moving up, ironically, to become President of the team. As you may remember, one of the reasons Tom Glavine did not resign with the Braves' before last season was do to the publication, in Schuerholz's book, of the details of Glavine's unsuccessful contract negotiations with the Braves prior to Glavine joining the Mets. Assistant GM Frank Wren moves up to take Schuerholz's place, and this might mean that they will target both Glavine and their own free agent, Andruw Jones, both of whom would not have been in a Braves uni if Schuerholz still ran the show. Although he is president, Wren will be responsible for all player signings and transactions, with input from Schuerholz, of course. However, with Schuerholz stepping into a new position, might Bobby Cox be a year away from doing the same? Will they remain interested in signing Texiera when his contract runs out after this season? Whatever happens, an entire new wrinkle was just introduced into this off-season. Who needs a television drama to follow when we have the off-season?

And Now we Are Forced To Root For The Braves

Adam Rubin at Surfing The Mets writes about the up coming series between the Braves and the Phillies:

With the Mets unable to take care of their own business, the Shea faithful finds itself in the awkward position of saying, "Go Braves!" the next few days.

Lucky for the Mets, Tim Hudson is scheduled to start tomorrow's game in Philadelphia, with John Smoltz getting Thursday's series finale. You can check out the probable pitchers here.

As David O'Brien in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes, Hudson and Smoltz are a combined 30-16 with a 3.15 ERA. The other eight Braves to start are 27-38, 5.55 ERA.

What if Glavine Was a Brave This Year?

from MetsLifer.com

Remember when Tom Glavine wanted to be a Brave again, but they basically gave him the cold shoulder? Oh yeah that was last December.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes an interesting article about how Glavine has changed the dynamic of the NL East by remaining with the Mets.

Now I still believe that the Mets would be a contender without Glavine because Omar would have went out and gotten another arm, but there's no doubt that Glavine's 23 quality starts have made a serious impact on the success of the Mets.

Don't you just love it when you get to stick it to the Braves?

Click here for the full article.

The Braves Blew It

Joel Sherman at the New York Post writes about Tom Glavine and how the Braves blew their chance to bring him back:

Remove Glavine's 13 wins and 23 quality starts (tied for third in the NL with Atlanta's Tim Hudson, one behind Atlanta's John Smoltz) and move them to the Braves, and Atlanta probably wins the division.

In that scenario, the Mets' 2006 NL East title takes on the tinge of fluke. Instead, with the Braves at Shea as a witness, the Mets were surging to a second straight division title for the first time in their history. Meanwhile, even with last night's 13-5 rout of the Mets, Atlanta was on the verge of a second straight empty October.

"We might very well be in completely different positions" if Glavine were in that slot rather than with the Mets, Omar Minaya said.

Thank You Note from a Mets Fan to the Boston Red Sox

Dear Boston Red Sox,

Let me start by saying how thankful I am to your franchise. You have given me so many great memories that I feel like I should be an honorary Red Sox fan in some way.

Where do I start? I guess it's obvious. Thanks so much for Bill Buckner. My childhood was filled with joy thanks to your first baseman. I can remember reinacting that Game 6 play in my backyard on many a summer day while imitating Bob Murphy's "Get's By Buckner! Get's By Bucker!" It was the culminating moment of my childhood baseball memories. It can never be replaced and I owe you for that.

Also, you have caused some wonderful angst within Yankee nation. And as a Mets Lifer there's really no way of measuring how much that is worth. Coming back from being down 3-0 to beat the Yankees in 2004. Priceless.

You gave us Pedro, the ultimate villain in Roger Clemens, and now thanks to Big Papi ever walk off home run must culminate with the helmet toss before reaching home plate.

And yet you continue to give.

This year you have beaten the Braves for us on multiple occasions while the Mets have tried to find a way out of this slump. The Red Sox have allowed us to maintain our position in first place of the NL East of which we are grateful.

You can expect a lovely basket from 1-800-FLOWERS to arrive at Fenway Park later this week to show you just how thankful I am (I hope you like petunias!). Keep up the excellent work and I look forward to a potential meeting in October.

Sincerely,
A Very Thankful Mets Lifer