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2011 MLB: National League Free Agency Tracker

James Hayes weighs in with a recap/review of the the BIG offseason moves in Major League Baseball for the 2010/2011 season for the National League (NL) teams…

2011 Major League Baseball Free Agent Look/Breakdown

Check in with Capperspicks.com all MLB Betting season for the best baseball betting and gambling tips all season long. Here we go with a recap/review of the the BIG offseason moves in Major League Baseball for the 2011 season.

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NL EAST

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta’s most significant off-season piece to be locked in was slugger Dan Uggla. Legend 3B Chipper Jones is near the end of the line; the Braves desperately needed someone reliable to drive in runs. Uggla is their man. The pitching staff is solid, including the bullpen, which may have acquired a boost with Scott Linebrink and George Sherrill. If those two can meet or exceed expectations, they will join with players like Johnny Venters and Craig Kimbrel to form a fantastic ‘pen.  Gone are veterans Billy Wagner, Takashi Saito and the big, creaky Troy Glaus.

Florida Marlins

When the Marlins chartered a boat and dropped their lines in the water, they caught C John Buck from Toronto, who is coming off a career year, and strikeout fiend P Javier Vazquez. Florida also plugged some leaks in the boat with bullpen pitchers like Edward Mujica, Ryan Webb and Randy Choate. With some dynamic young fisherman on board like OF Mike Stanton and 1B Gaby Sanchez (oh… and some guy named Hanley Ramirez) Florida could be reeling in some trophy fish this season.

New York Mets

One of the most profound improvements this team could make would be to see a return to form of OF Jason Bay, a perennial Silver Slugger-type player who had a really stinky 2010 campaign. This franchise is in a bit of a mess financially; it needs to unload albatrosses like Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo. Until then, P Chris Young, the lanky former Padre, was the best the Mets could get.

Philadelphia Phillies

There’s only one name we need to talk about in regards to the Phils’ off-season: Cliff Lee. He’s back in the City of Brotherly Love after the Yankees and the incumbent Texas Rangers threw everything they had at Lee to entice him. It’s true that Philly lost OF slugger Jayson Werth to a division rival, but this rotation is so ridiculous (Roy Halladay, Lee, Roy Oswalt, Cole Hamels, any grandma off the street… I mean, the Cookie Monster… I mean, Joe Blanton) that it might be academic at this point.

Washington Nationals

The Nats were the lucky ducks to woo Werth away from the Phillies. There was no way Werth was going to turn down a seven-year, $126 million deal. Center fielder Rick Ankiel also makes his way over from KC; he had a brutal 2010 (.232 avg, 21 RBI) but gets on base and is still oddly intriguing. Super-slugger Adam Dunn left for the White Sox, but the addition of Adam LaRoche to fill his spot gives DC a better defensive player and they hope that mega-rich Werth can fill some of the offensive void left by Dunn.

NL CENTRAL

Chicago Cubs

There’s no skirting around it: the Cubbies grabbed some big names this winter. Power-laden (but strikeout prone) Carlos Pena moves to Chi-town, as well as former Tampa Bay teammate, P Matt Garza. On the Rays, Garza sometimes got overshadowed by James Shields, Jeff Niemann and Tampa’s other homegrown talent, but he was one of the steadier players in the Rays’ rotation. He’ll be a nice addition for the North Siders. Chicago also brings back reliever Kerry Wood for another go-around in blue pinstripes.

Cincinnati Reds

The biggest news for the Reds this off-season wasn’t the players they brought in, but the in-house talent they locked down with contract extensions. Cincy handed out $151 million worth of re-ups to OF Jay Bruce, pitchers Johnny Cueto and Bronson Arroyo and Canadian 1B Joey Votto. The Reds did nab a couple supplementary parts, to keep what they hope is the Big Red Machine, Version 2.0 functional, most notably World Series MVP SS Edgar Renteria.

Houston Astros

Houston, we have a problem: You haven’t done anything to get better. True, the ‘Stros locked up overachieving hurler Wandy Rodriguez, but Houston is looking for a new identity and probably don’t have the talent to run with the division big boys for 162 games in 2011. When the most impressive free agents brought in are utilityman Bill Hall and P Ryan Rowland-Smith (1-10 record last season with a 6.75 ERA) it makes your average Houstonian want to run out… and buy an Andre Johnson jersey.

Milwaukee Brewers

With starting pitchers Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum and reliever Takashi Saito, the Brew Crew made some very tangible improvement in a troubled area. When you also consider home run-likely vegetarian Prince Fielder and OFs Ryan Braun (one of the steadiest superstars in the MLB) and Corey Hart, the window is open for Milwaukee to win now. Yet with Fielder and others likely to test free agency sooner rather than later, the Brewers – under new manager Ron Roenicke – have to make hay while the sun shines.

Pittsburgh Pirates

No, Pirates fans, you’re not getting back a 1992 version of Barry Bonds. That’s about the only thing I could say that would turn things around in a jiffy, isn’t it? With Pittsburgh’s puny payroll, the Pirates are never looking to land the biggest fish, but they made a nice mini-splash with longtime Blue Jay 1B Lyle Overbay. Former Brave Matt Diaz also has potential. And Garrett Atkins – though brutal lately – at one time was a stud player with the Colorado Rockies. You’re forced to look on the bright side when you’re a baseball fan on the Allegheny River.

St. Louis Cardinals

The sum total of the Cardinals’ off-season efforts can be evaluated with the status of franchise 1B Albert Pujols. He currently does not have a contract with the team and has set the deadline for negotiations for Spring Training. If St. Lou doesn’t have something in place by then, Prince Albert will test the free agency market. The Cards did bring back former Houston bopper Lance Berkman to his home division and with Matt Holliday and the unreal pitching duo of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, the Red Birds can always hang in the division race. We’ll see if the front office can get it done with the one man who is almost certainly the best all-around hitter of the last decade. Sports Betting at Sportsbook.com

NL WEST

Arizona Diamondbacks

The bottom-feeding D-backs were trying a formula that simply wasn’t working last season: they could hit the long ball with anyone, but struck out early, often – damn near all the time. Consequently, they let the player than most typifies that image – 3B Mark Reynolds – flee to Baltimore. The D-backs did grab set-up man J.J. Putz from the White Sox and they hope he can fill the closer’s void; ’Zona hasn’t had a true closer since Jose Valverde left in 2007. Arizona also grabbed Xavier Nady from the Chicago Cubs, and hope he can improve on his .256 average of last season. This team is working on rebuilding its image, now it has to simply rebuild wholesale.

Colorado Rockies

Sometimes, it’s the moves you don’t make that speak the loudest: Colorado’s most profound ‘splash’ was retaining No .2 starting pitcher Jorge de la Rosa. The Rockies are evidently pleased with the foundation they have in place, built around ace Ubaldo Jimenez, OF Carlos Gonzalez and SS Troy Tulowitzki.  Age and a wonky back make it look like 1B Todd Helton is near the end of the line, so the Rockies acquired Ty Wigginton as an insurance policy for the gimpy Helton. Helton could still hit over .300 and get on base at a 40% clip if healthy, but that may be a big ‘if.’ Still, Colorado’s bedrock foundation is excellent.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Rookie skipper Don Mattingly has some work to do. The Dodgers still have some great stars, but some of them (Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier) hit a wall last season, closer Jonathan Broxton had a crappy second half of the 2010 season and lovable C Russell Martin is now a New York Yankee. The Dodgers did grab beefy Juan Uribe from rival San Francisco to provide some offense, but the eccentric Manny Ramirez is also gone from Hollywood, so there are some holes to fill. L.A. also nabbed C Dioner Navarro, who will pair with Rod Barajas to make up for Martin’s departure. Most of the Dodgers’ gravest worries aren’t free agent-related, but internal.

San Diego Padres

The Friars surprised everyone last year, winning 90 games and nearly making the playoffs. There’s no glossing over the fact that San Diego lost cornerstone Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox, but the Pads also acquired a few players who will make an impact. Second-baseman Orlando Hudson, OF Cameron Maybin, SS Jason Bartlett and P Aaron Harang will all see significant spotlight in SoCal. The Friars did get 1B prospect Anthony Rizzo from Boston in the Gonzalez deal, who might not be ready right away but has some nice upside. Regardless, losing a three-time All-Star hurts.

San Francisco Giants

The reigning World Series champs focused on re-signing the players that got the Giants to the Promised Land in 2010. True, veteran SS Edgar Renteria  and 2B Juan Uribe are gone, but SF acquired Miguel Tejada to fill one of those spots. The Giants also inked underrated 1B Aubrey Huff, crazy Pat ‘the Bat’ Burrell and have their excellent young rotation locked in for another couple seasons. Fat 3B Pablo Sandoval has apparently lost 20 lbs and is focused to return to 2009 form (.300+ hitter, 20+ HR and 90 RBI). Along with the continued emergence of C Buster Posey, San Fran has probably retained enough pieces to stay thick in the division mix.

James has been naming every player on the EA Sports NCAA video game rosters for half a decade now, he’s finally putting his knowledge to better use writing for us here at CappersPicks.com. As always you’re comments are welcome below…Give Us Your Take!

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By James Hayes

James has been naming every player on the EA Sports video game rosters for half a decade now, he’s finally putting his knowledge to better use writing for us here at CappersPicks.com. Your comments are welcome below…Give Us Your Take!