The Nationals' acquisitions of Doug Fister, Nate McLouth and Jerry Blevins may be enough to make them the NL East favorites for 2014, MASNsports.com's Dan Kolko opines. Kolko feels the Marlins and Mets are still rebuilding, the Phillies lack depth and the Braves have been weakened by the losses of Brian McCann and Tim Hudson, opening the door for Washington reclaim the NL East crown after their disappointing 2013 campaign.
Here's some more from around the division…
- The Marlins are still looking for a veteran reliever to add experience to their bullpen, MLB.com's Joe Frisaro writes.
- Ruben Amaro Jr. sees a lot of risk in the free agent pitching market, the Phillies GM told reporters (including Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com). "With the way the market is set up right now, I’m not real comfortable with going the extra mile for some of the guys that are still out there still that may improve us a little bit, but in the long run may be detrimental to us," he said. Amaro's statement likely includes top pitchers such as Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Ervin Santana.
- The Braves and Indians have interest in Wilson Betemit, CSNBaltimore.com's Rich Dubroff reports (Twitter link). The Marlins were also linked to Betemit earlier this week but their signing of Casey McGehee probably ended that interest.
MLBTR's Zach Links contributed to this post