NL East

“Gary Sheffield had no demands for the Mets and did not specifically discuss his number of at bats with us.” -- Omar Minaya (April 3, 2009)

And if you believe that, I have beachfront property in Montana for all of you.

It's easy to argue that the National League East has the most pitching depth of any division in baseball.

From two of the best individual pitchers in the game residing in Philly and New York to Atlanta's deep group, the East features a variety of staff designs and clearly outclasses the rest of MLB.

The real question is: Which of the five teams in the division is the best?

I will go in-depth to determine that which I believe to be the best.

Good: New York Mets

Grades

Now, I think it’s time to put some of these projections into play across the entire National League East, to give a better feel for just what the Phillies may—or may not—be up against in the NL’s toughest division this year.

To keep things consolidated, I’ll be using PECOTA Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) projections, as provided by Baseball Prospectus.

Starting Rotation

1. New York Mets

Pitching: Their rotation is very average and top heavy. Johan Santana is as dominating as ever, having one of the most underrated seasons of any starting pitcher, but after that the drop off is sever.

Mike Pelfrey and John Maine are both young pitchers who project to be middle-of-the-rotation guys with heavy fastballs. Oliver Perez provides a good left-handed change of pace and Livan Hernandez is a good innings eater for the back of the rotation.

(I wrote this last Sunday, and sat on it because everyone was in Citi mode, and I like to hang onto "generic" pieces for when there is nothing going on. I'm releasing it now because Murray Chass just wrote a hatchet piece on Bobby Valentine, and I know how the blogosphere works...)