NL East

Here’s the scoop: Cole Hamels left Clearwater, FL tonight for the Philadelphia area to have his left elbow examined tomorrow by team doctor Michael Ciccotti.

General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. said Hamels complained about “a little bit of a persistent soreness” in his elbow. “We thought it was important at this time for Dr. Ciccotti to check it out,” Amaro said.

The New York Mets' offense was noticeably anemic today in their spring training game against the Atlanta Braves. In their defense, most of the offensive stars are either playing in the World Baseball Classic or did not make the trip to Orlando.

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In round 22, I drafted Jeff Francoeur.

Some laughed. Some questioned the call. However, as Francoeur sits in spring training with a .333 BA and a .389 OBP in 30 ABs.

I call my decision genius.

After batting just .239 in 2008, many consider Francoeur a star gone bad.

The fact is that he is a special guy. 

Francoeur has talent. He can hit. He can throw. He can track down fly balls. He has great ability. The problem is translating that into the game.

And now, starting in center field, for your Atlanta Braves...

Who will that be opening day?  I don't know.

Spring training is coming to a close very quickly.  We knew going into spring that center field would be a tough battle between Josh Anderson, Gregor Blanco, and prospect Jordan Schafer.

Anyone that follows the Braves farm system knows the name Jordan Schafer.

It seems that all the management will say is, "We want to be responsible and let him mature at Triple-A before bringing him to the big club."

Below is a preview of the Philadelphia Phillies' 2009 bullpen.  The pitchers are listed in the order in which they appear on the Phillies' official depth chart.

Brad Lidge 

It seems like everyone is making their picks for who wins the AL East. I'm going to take it one step further and look at both the AL and NL East, arguably baseball's best divisions.

Lets start in the National League. The East is a powerful division. Will the defending World Champion Phillies again take the top spot? Will the Mets suffer another late-season collapse? Can the Marlins overtake them both? Will the Nats actually look good this year?

Barring major injuries and some fluky miracle season, here are my picks for the NL East.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Shea Stadium. Let's welcome Bob Murphy to the microphone (Tim McCarver is up in the TV booth) to introduce the Irish Mets—a list of Mets who have at least Irish-sounding names. Feel free to hit comments to add suggestions, nitpick heritage, or bitch. Bob, take it away... (no, I'm not going to attempt to write in Murph-cadence).

According to John C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel, the Florida Marlins have cut 24-year-old left handed pitcher Zach Kroenke, who they drafted in this offseason’s rule 5 draft, and returned him to the Yankees.

Let's walk through the 2009 New York Mets and give everyone the best case scenario.

1B—Carlos Delgado

In what will likely be his final year as a Met, the super-motivated Delgado will choose not to play bad in April and produce a 40 home run, 120 RBI year. They’re off to a great start.

2B—Luis Castillo

Castillo's going to hit .334 and steal 62 bases like he did in 2000 as a 24-year-old.

SS—Jose Reyes