Fishing the NL East: Atlanta Braves Early Favorites?

Oct 3, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves girls listen to God Bless America during the seventh inning stretch of game one of the National League divisional series playoff baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Last Saturday I tried to gauge the pulse of the NL East and see who the fans of this website thought would win the NL East in 2014. Not surprisingly, the defending NL East Champs, the Atlanta Braves, won the poll in a landslide.

Surprisingly though, the Marlins finished second with 59 votes. I highly doubt most of those votes were serious, as the Marlins have a much better chance at the basement than the top of the division.

Here are the results of the poll:

Today, let’s see who the Marlin Maniac community feels like will finish as the runner-up to the Atlanta  Braves:

Now let’s take a look at the latest news around the National League East:

Atlanta Braves

Tanaka Time At The Ted? | Tomahawk Take

Masahiro Tanaka became every GM’s unopened present when the Rakuten Golden Eagles posted him. Will the Braves open their box and if they do will they find Tanaka or a lump of coal?

Atlanta Braves: Guess That Number! | Tomahawk Take

Numbers are baseball. No getting around that fact – whether it be a player, fan, media or coach, everyone looks at the numbers. It’s not only an enjoyable way to look at the game but it’s also a way a player is judged. A player’s stats will determine his career in the MLB.

The Atlanta Braves And Insane Corporate Welfare | Forbes

The Atlanta Braves are planning to move their stadium to the suburbs. The Braves blackmailed, threatened, and coerced the backboneless polititicians in Cobb County, Ga., to pay for the stadium. You might think that Cobb County is run by conservative small government leaders who disdain picking winners and losers in the marketplace.

Washington Nationals

DC MAYOR TO NATIONALS: BUILD YOUR OWN $300 MILLION ROOF | Breitbart

In late November media reports surfaced that Washington Nationals majority owner Ted Lerner met with Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray over the summer and made an outlandish pitch. Lerner asked the District of Columbia, which financed and owns the $611 million state-of-the-art Nationals Park that opened in 2008, to spend an additional $300 million on the facility to provide it with a retractable roof.

Ian Desmond: 2nd or 5th? | District on Deck

As I like to keep up with what other Nats fans are saying about the team I came across a Bleacher Report article about the batting order. Everyone has their own opinion and that is something that makes sports so great. You don’t have to be in the locker room to have an opinion of the team on the field.

Washington Nationals Wish List | District on Deck

The holiday season is among us and we are just that much closer to baseball being back into our lives. So today I come to you with a wish list for the Washington Nationals for 2014.

Philadelphia Phillies

Report: Phillies Will “Take A Flyer” Masahiro Tanaka; Not Expected To Seriously Pursue Him | Section 215

Thursday, Joel Sherman of the New York Post listed the Phillies as the fourth most likely team to compete for Japanese phenom
Masahiro Tanaka. The Phillies would be competing with, among others, the New York Yankees, who are the favorite to land Tanaka.

A Phillies Christmas Wish List | That Balls Outta Here

Hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas! In the spirit of giving, I teamed up with TBOH staff writers Alex Chemereteff and Emily Gruver and we came up with some gift ideas for a few members of the Phillies organization. Hopefully, when they went downstairs this morning, here’s what they found under the tree:

Phillies Potential Offseason Target: Ervin Santana | That Balls Outta Here

Santana wasn’t very highly regarded entering the 2013 season. He was coming off a 2012 campaign that saw him record a 5.16 ERA and -1.3 fWAR. The Angels basically traded him to Kansas City just to be rid of his salary. It turned out to be an excellent trade for the Royals, as Santana had a strong season. He improved his already precise control, and limited the number of home runs he allowed, resulting in an ERA that was almost two entire runs better than the year before.

New York Mets

Prospect Price High For Ike Davis | Grading on the Curve

Zach Wheeler for two months of a 34 year old Carlos Beltran, Noah Syndergaard and Travis D’Arnaud for a 38 year old R.A. Dickey, Mets GM Sandy Alderson drives a hard bargain prospect wise. All told, he netted three eventual top 20 prospects for a pair of free agency bound players well on the wrong side of thirty, and this has given him the boldness – and the leverage – to ask for a lofty price as he struggling first baseman, Ike Davis.

Is The Mets Bullpen Actually In Bad Shape? | Rising Apple

While the Mets continue to ponder whether or not they’ll upgrade shortstop before the 2014 season begins, there’s a growing sentiment that the bullpen situation may be worse than the shortstop one.

Mets Speaking With Baltimore & Others Regarding Ike Davis | Rising Apple

According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets are having dialogue with Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore about first baseman Ike Davis.