30 Teams, 30 Questions: Pt. 4

We trek over to the National League starting today with one simple question I have for each team.

Sidebar: Sometimes it’s hard to narrow it down to just one question. Many teams have at least a handful of issues/situations to address. Every once in a while, you ask a question and three more evolve from your brain. Anyway…

Looking at the National League East, many have already conceded the division to the Philadelphia Phillies. Gotta play the games. It’s been said numerous times that baseball is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ll see which team in this division has the endurance.

Atlanta: How will the new management go over?

After what seemed like a century of rule under Bobby Cox, the Braves now lean on former Cox assistant Fredi Gonzalez. While thing in Florida didn’t exactly go as he had hoped, Gonzalez will return the job (and place) that may be better suited for him. He didn’t have to adjust a lot to how this organization works. He knows some of the players before even getting there. He knows the buttons.

But the “new guys” will have to adjust to Gonzalez and it might have to work the other way as well. Change is never easy, but the Braves were in “Cox mode” for so long, you wonder if even the veterans will be able to adapt to Gonzalez. If the Braves wish to contend in this division, they better.

Florida: Will sophomore slumps prevail over Gaby Sanchez and Mike Stanton?

They are two of the Marlins better players. Some may say two of the top three or four. Last season the combo struck for 41 HR, 144 RBI with splits of .267/.335/.470. Pretty doggone impressive if you ask me. But I would say if a sophomore slump does rear its ugly head, it would be more to Stanton than Sanchez. No, I don’t have a crystal ball of a half page logarithm in which I can base that.

What I do have is fact. A fact that Sanchez has more games under his belt. That’s really all I have to go on with that. But doesn’t it make sense?

New York Mets: Will the financial worries trickle into the locker room?

As far as players contracts are concerned, there are no worries. They’ll receive their paychecks. What has been so disheartening isn’t the reported billion dollars the Irving Picard is seeking, it’s the fact that just last season MLB provided the Mets $25 million last November. Then, the lawsuit Picard slapped on the Wilpons and others for that billion bucks.

Was it me or were the Mets unusually quiet this offseason? We typically hear the Mets being bantered as a front runner for a least one high profile free agent. Not this time around. That could have also been due to the number of bad contracts the Mets are perceived to already have on its payroll.

Nevertheless, scoping perspective players (and minority owners) will be a bit more under the microscope. Well, maybe not the search for a minority owner.

Philadelphia: Who’s in right?

Believe it or not, the Phillies do have an issue or two. Right field is one. What makes this question even a bit more alerting are the recent reports that former Phils right fielder Jayson Werth stated he felt the Phils could have kept him and still pursue Cliff Lee.

But Werth declined arbitration, went the route of free agency and landed a monster seal with the Washington Nationals. That left the Phillies with Ben Francisco and Dominic Brown as “replacements” for Werth. Francisco was part of the Cliff Lee deal with Cleveland. Francisco has played in spots for the Phillies over the last year and a half and played pretty good. The only issue could be of his 275 games of MLB experience, only 75 have been as a right fielder. The Bank can be a tough place on right fielders. Just ask Jay Bruce.

Brown struggled in winter ball, but that didn’t keep Baseball America from naming him the #4 overall prospect for 2011. It’s the first time he has any extended struggles to date. The ceiling is extremely high on this kid and so could be the pressure if he were to win the position battle. Brown is considered a five-tool player. The one tool that may need the most work is the one between the ears.

Washington: What can a Nats fan realistically expect in 2011?

Realistically? Not much. It will most likely resemble 2010 without all the excitement generated by Stephen Strasburg.

Adam Dunn is now in Chicago. Josh Willingham is now in Oakland. Enter the aforementioned Werth and Andy LaRoche. A little better with Werth, not so much with LaRoche although he still packs some pop.

One thing that I will keep my eye on in regards to the Nats will be catcher Wilson Ramos whom the Nationals acquired in the Matt Capps deal with the Minnesota Twins. There are two reasons to do so. A recent report on MLB.com by Bill Ladson suggests the Nats may be willing to deal a catcher with the depth at the position they have organizationally (it’s the last tidbit in the piece). This would allow the Nationals to pursue more pitching.

The other: Ramos could be the next starting catcher for Washington.

With spring training now in full swing, so are we. Only two divisions to go…