Team Preview: New York Mets

Key Additions: Curtis Granderson, Bartolo Colon, Chris Young

Key Losses: Johan Santana, David Aardsma

The Mets had another year of sub-.500 ball last season. This is something that Met fans have been becoming accustom to. Something they aren’t used to is having a front office making smart moves. Surprisingly of late they have made some very good front office moves. If they continue with this trend they can be contenders in the next few years.

They traded Carlos Beltran a few years ago for Zack Wheeler and last offseason they were able to pick up another front line starter in Noah Syndergaard and catcher of the future Travis d’Arnaud for R.A. Dickey. Along with those trades they have also built a decent farm system with solid draft picks.

As far as this season goes without Matt Harvey it will still be a rebuilding year but with an upgraded offense they wont be as bad. I would say they have a shot to play very close to .500 baseball and could be ready to compete next season with a decent showing in next seasons free agency.

Predicted Finish: 4^th NL East

Team Preview: Toronto Blue Jays

Key Additions: Dioner Navarro, Erik Kratz

Key Losses: Josh Johnson, J.P. Arencibia, Brad Lincoln

Well when your key additions are two catchers that don’t bring much to the table offensively you can probably say your team didn’t have a great offseason. The Blue Jays loaded up with talent last season and then proceeded to disappoint everyone when they didn’t live up to the hype. This year should be a little different though. They still have a solid team and should be able to do well IF, and that’s a big if, they can all stay healthy.

            The Jays play in a tough division but can put out a great everyday lineup. Even with losing some power at the catcher spot they still have Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion to drive in speedster Jose Reyes. The Jays will really be counting on Joey Bats to rebound with a healthy year.

            The Jays were linked to Ubaldo Jimenez and Ervin Santana all offseason. Jimenez has recently signed to division rival Baltimore and Santana has yet to sign but it doesn’t seem like the Jays will be his landing spot. Even with not signing a pitcher they still have a good rotation.

            As I said before the Jays whole season depends on health and players abilities to have solid come back seasons. I just don’t think they can stay healthy and I think they play in too good of a division to compete.

Predicted Finish: 5^th AL East

Team Preview: Miami Marlins

     MLB Network has just started what they call 30 Clubs in 30 Days. They go around to each spring training complex and give a run down of the ball club. Today will mark the start of our 30 Clubs in 30 Days. We will alternate between American League and National League teams each day. In our articles we will highlight key additions/losses, give examples of what could make the team a playoff contender, and give our predicted finish. We are going to start in the National League east with the Miami Marlins.


 Key Additions: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Rafael Furcal, Garret Jones, Carlos Marmol

 Key Losses: Logan Morrison, Justin Ruggiano, Chris Coghlan


     After a huge spending spree and a very disappointing season in 2012 the Miami Marlins front office go rid of every high priced player they owned in the 2013 offseason. This did not make superstar Giancarlo Stanton happy. The Marlins goal this year should be either trying to sign Stanton long term or trade him at the deadline. They can use all the help they can get to reload their farm system. They should also try and take a page out of their in-state rivals book and attempt to sign Jose Fernandez to a long term deal. He was the only bright spot for the 100 loss team last season. Fernandez won the NL Rookie of the Year award and finished in third in Cy Young voting.

     There is some good news for Marlin fans, the team really has nowhere else to go but up. They should be better this year having a healthy Stanton and adding Saltalamacchia to the lineup. They are still years away and a bunch of good front office moves away from contending but the beauty of baseball is anything can happen.



 Predicted Finish: 5th in the NL East