MLB 2017: National League East Rankings
By Jason Evans
We continue our MLB 2017 divisional rankings with a look at the National League East.
We finished our American League divisional rankings as a part of the MLB 2017 preview and today we are beginning with the National League, starting with what should be a very competitive division in the National League East.
The Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies are continuing their rebuilding processes. For the Braves, they are moving into a brand new ballpark and made some veteran additions to their rotation to give their stockpile of arms a little more time to develop. They played much better in the second half of last season and will have Matt Kemp and Dansby Swanson for the duration.
The Phillies have officially made the transition away from the Chase Utley/Ryan Howard core with both of them unsigned as of this posting. Like the Braves, the Phillies added some veteran pieces on one-year deals like Michael Saunders and Joaquin Benoit.
The Marlins have made some deals to upgrade their pitching, and may have new ownership in the near future.
That leads us to the two playoff teams in the Washington Nationals and New York Mets. The Mets are banking on better health for a team that was in the World Series two years ago. In looking at their team, only Curtis Granderson didn’t miss any time last year. It has to change, right?
The Nationals gave up the farm (literally) for Adam Eaton, which moved top prospect Trea Turner back to shortstop. Do they have enough?
So who’s the top dog in the division? Let’s take a look.