Jair Jurrjens

It appears as though the pitcher's era has begun.

There have been many surprises this season, and many teams have ended up with great pitching staffs.

It is very debatable which team actually has the best pitching staff.

In this article, I will give my opinion on the matter, and rank the top five staffs in the NL, along with a few honorable mentions.

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I have recently heard talk of the Braves considering making a trade before the non-waiver deadline on July 31st.

However, I do not think a trade would be helpful to the current situation the Braves are in.

Sure, it would be nice to have a center fielder who could hit, but there are drawbacks to this.

In this article, I will address these drawbacks, and discuss the five main reasons I believe a trade would do harm to the Braves.

One of the biggest questions surrounding the Atlanta Braves was the status of starter Jair Jurrjens.

After an impressive 2011 debut, Atlanta fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Although the young righty was absent for much of the Atlanta playoff run last season, he was seen as a crucial part of the Braves starting staff.

After looking at Braves starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens’ numbers prior the start of last season, many would have slated him as the team’s No. 2 starter, right below Tim Hudson, after two impressive campaigns in both 2008 and 2009.

With only 11 days until pitchers and catchers report to camp, many baseball fanatics are ready to start the season. The National League East has been a very interesting race the past four seasons. In 2007, the Mets blew a huge lead in the division to the Phillies. In 2008, it was yet again the Mets blowing a late season lead to the Phillies. The past two years, it has been all Phillies winning the division by five games in 2009, and six games in 2010. Here's how the division will unfold in 2011.

The Twins haven't won a World Series since the 1991 team beat the Bobby Cox led Braves. Ever since then it has been quite a rocky road for the team in the Twin Cities. In the playoffs, they have gone 6-21 since 2002 and 0-9 since 2004. Their most hated postseason opponents are clearly the New York Yankees, who have eliminated them the last two times the Twins have made the playoffs (2009 and 2010).

Entering his final year of salary arbitration, Jonathan Papelbon will likely cash in on a big pay day following the 2011 season. 

However, with a declining skill set and Daniel Bard as the closer of the future, there is next to no chance he signs a long term deal with the Boston Red Sox.

Papelbon is due to make roughly $11 million for the coming season.

The presence of Bard and the acquisition of Bobby Jenks makes the possibility that Papelbon does not finish the year with the Red Sox all the more likely.

Rumors rumors everywhere.  Where will Cliff Lee land?  The Yankees, duh.

It seems every off season that pitching is the biggest issue for those teams looking to make a big splash in free agency.

2010 was a moderate success for the Atlanta Braves. However, with retirement, free agency and trades, there's always the question of who will or will not be back playing for Atlanta in 2011.

We'll take a look at free agents, potential retirees and trade bait.

We expect that core players like Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, Brian McCann, Jason Heyward and Chipper Jones will be back because there's no logical reason why they wouldn't be.

Doesn't the photograph of A.J. Burnett say it all?

I think it does (Yankee fans, including myself are used to it). 

Therefore, sit back, relax and enjoy, as you read "AJ Burnett and MLB’s 10 Contending Pitchers Who Do Not Deserve a Playoff Start".

Let's play ball.

The playoffs are around the corner. 

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