How will the NL East Fare in 2011?

Now that Cliff Lee has officially rejoined the Philadelphia Phillies, what does this mean for the rest of the teams in the National League East? It doesn't look good for the rest of them.  Having to face the Phillies at least 18 times with a pitching staff that now has four of the best pitchers in the majors is sure to deflate the fantasy value of any player in that division who isn't a member of the Phillies.  But then again the offense for the Phillies isn't quite the juggernaut that it has been the past few years either with the departure of Jayson Werth to the Washington Nationals, along with the diminishing values of nearly every other player on the diamond as nearly all of them are on the wrong side of 30 and/or coming off of nagging injuries.  

Overall, this division has two of the best clubs in the National League in Philadelphia and Atlanta, but also two of the worst with Florida and Washington and the masters of mediocrity with the New York Mets.  Expect deflated numbers for nearly everyone in the division on the offensive side of the diamond in 2011, as this is shaping up to be a pitcher's division.

2011 Absurdly Early Team Statistical Projections:

Team	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG
Philadelphia Phillies	740	140	710	100	0.255
Atlanta Braves	720	145	700	60	0.255
Florida Marlins	680	140	620	100	0.245
Washington Nationals	650	130	620	115	0.25
New York Mets	650	130	600	110	0.25

pwnage Rankings: Designated Hitter

Other Rankings: 1B  2B  SS  3B  OF  C

Not a lot to see here. This position is what it is, aging and/or plodding sluggers. For fantasy purposes these players aren't really useful unless you need help in RBI or HR because most don't offer any benefit for any of the other statistics and even for those stats there are only a few that offer above average numbers in those stats.

On to the short list:

Player	Team	nT Rank
Guerrero, Vladimir	TEX	24
Thome, Jim	MIN	39
Scott, Luke	BAL	46
Ortiz, David	BOS	52
Sweeney, Mike	PHI	124
Matsui, Hideki	ANA	140
Cust, Jack	OAK	169
Hafner, Travis	CLE	209
Johnson, Dan	TB	255
Lind, Adam	TOR	293
Fox, Jake	BAL	383
Aybar, Willy	TB	393
Chavez, Eric	OAK	448
Johnson, Nick	NYY	451

The requirements for being ranked are a minimum of 50 plate appearances during the 2010 season.

Note: This ranking system is a work in progress and is subject to change prior to the 2011 season draft projections. Teams and stats are  accurate as of 12/1/10. 

pwnage Rankings: Catcher

 Other Rankings: 1B  2B  SS  3B  OF  DH


Catcher is by far the worst offensive position with only six players ranking in the top 100 and two of these players weren't even starters. There is little hope in fantasy for catchers unless your team has one of the top five.  There really aren't any outliers here.


On to the n00b Tuber rankings:

Player	Team	nT Rank		Player	Team	nT Rank
Posey, Buster	SF	60		Thole, Josh	NYM	359
Martinez, Victor	DET	71		Iannetta, Chris	COL	360
Castro, Ramon	CHW	74		Tatum, Craig	BAL	379
Buck, John	FLA	89		Molina, Jose	TOR	381
Mauer, Joe	MIN	97		Pena, Brayan	KC	387
Olivo, Miguel	TOR	98		Ellis, A.J.	LA	395
McCann, Brian	ATL	112		Avila, Alex	DET	399
Soto, Geovany	CHC	116		Marson, Lou	CLE	403
Hanigan, Ryan	CIN	178		Miller, Corky	CIN	407
Santana, Carlos	CLE	188		Ramos, Wilson	WAS	411
Posada, Jorge	NYY	204		Teagarden, Taylor	TEX	413
Barajas, Rod	LA	211		Molina, Bengie	TEX	420
Ruiz, Carlos	PHI	213		Powell, Landon	OAK	422
Ross, David	ATL	217		Ramirez, Max	TEX	425
Varitek, Jason	BOS	225		Treanor, Matt	TEX	427
Hernandez, Ramon	CIN	230		Laird, Gerald	DET	430
Jaso, John	TB	232		Towles, J.R.	HOU	431
Torrealba, Yorvit	SD	237		Mathis, Jeff	ANA	433
Montero, Miguel	ARI	248		Hester, John	ARI	435
Pierzynski, A.J.	CHW	266		Shoppach, Kelly	TB	442
Hundley, Nick	SD	278		Bard, Josh	SEA	447
Suzuki, Kurt	OAK	279		Gimenez, Chris	CLE	449
Molina, Yadier	STL	282		Blanco, Henry	NYM	455
Wilson, Bobby	ANA	302		Quintero, Humberto	HOU	458
Doumit, Ryan	PIT	315		LaRue, Jason	STL	460
Whiteside, Eli	SF	320		Hayes, Brett	FLA	461
Martin, Russell	LA	323		Johnson, Rob	SEA	463
Rodriguez, Ivan	WAS	328		Nieves, Wil	WAS	465
Kendall, Jason	KC	339		Hill, Koyie	CHC	466
Zaun, Gregg	MIL	343		Butera, Drew	MIN	471
Snyder, Chris	PIT	344		Redmond, Mike	CLE	472
Cervelli, Francisco	NYY	345		Castro, Jason	HOU	473
Kottaras, George	MIL	348		Baker, John	FLA	477
Paulino, Ronny	FLA	350		Moore, Adam	SEA	484
LuCroy, Jonathan	MIL	351		Ausmus, Brad	LA	485
Schneider, Brian	PHI	352		Navarro, Dioner	TB	490
Davis, Brad	FLA	356		Cash, Kevin	TEX	495
Wieters, Matt	BAL	358		Jaramillo, Jason	PIT	496

The requirements for being ranked are a minimum of 50 plate appearances during the 2010 season.

Note: This ranking system is a work in progress and is subject to change prior to the 2011 season draft projections. Teams and stats are  accurate as of 12/1/10.