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As expected the Nationals are in first place in early June.

What?!?



That's right, the Nationals, the team that most didn't expect to win 70 games this year are leading baseball's most competitve division.

Standings as of June 5th:

Team             W	 L	 PCT	 GB	
Washington	31	26	.544	 -	
Atlanta	        30	26	.536	0.5	
Philadelphia	30	27	.526	1.0	
Florida	        28	26	.519	1.5	
NY Mets	        29	27	.518	1.5

Here's everybody's favorite chart! (ok, so it's still probably just me)





Clear as mud, huh?

The Phillies and Nats are surging, the Braves and Marlins are fading, and the Mets continue to hover around .500.



In this installment of the NL East update we'll look at the draft. First each of the team's top 3 rounds of the draft over the past 3 years, and then see who the teams might be interested in as indicated by the Sickels Community Mock Draft (hereafter refered to as SCMD).



Atlanta Braves
Overall Record: 30-26
Run Differential: +42
Record in last period: 6-7

2004
Rnd 	Player 	        Pos 	School 	
2 	Eric Campbell 	3b 	Gibson Southern HS, Owensville, Ind. 	
3 	J.C. Holt 	2b 	Louisiana State U. 

2003
1S 	Luis Atilano 	rhp 	Gabriela Mistral HS, San Juan, P.R. 	
1S 	J Saltalamcch 	c 	Royal Palm Beach HS, West Palm Beach, Fla. 	
2 	Jo Jo Reyes 	lhp 	Riverside Poly HS, Riverside, Calif. 	
2 	Paul Bacot 	rhp 	Lakeside HS, Atlanta 	
3 	Jacob Stevens 	lhp 	Cape Coral (Fla.) HS 	
3 	Matt Harrison 	lhp 	South Granville HS, Stem, N.C. 	

2002
1       Jeff Francoeur  of      Parkview HS, Lilburn, Ga.
1       Dan Meyer       lhp     James Madison U. 
2       Brian McCann    c       Duluth (Ga.) HS.
2 	Tyler Greene	ss	St. Thomas Aquinas HS, Plantation, Fla.
3	Charlie Morton	rhp	Joel Barlow HS, Redding, Conn.

This year the Braves pick at #27. In the SCMD the Braves chose Cliff Pennington, the SS from Texas A&M.



Florida Marlins
Overall Record: 28-26
Run Differential: +24
Record in last period: 4-10

2004
Rnd 	Player 	        Pos 	School 	
1 	T Tankersley 	lhp 	U. of Alabama 	
2 	Jason Vargas 	lhp 	Long Beach St. 	
3 	Greg Burns 	of 	Walnut HS, West Covina, Calif. 

2003
1 	Jeff Allison 	rhp 	Veterans Memorial HS, Peabody, Mass. 	
2 	Logan Kensing 	rhp 	Texas A&M U. 	TX 	 
3 	Jonathan Fulton ss 	George Washington HS, Danville, Va. 

2002
1	Jeremy Hermida	of	Wheeler HS, Marietta, Ga.
2	Robert Andino	ss	Southridge HS, Miami.
3	Trv. Hutchinson rhp	U. of California.

The Marlins will be a busy team as they have extra picks from Benitez and Pavano signing with other teams. They'll have #16, 22, and 29. In the SCMD the Marlins ended up with: Cesar Carrillo, RHP from Miami, Michael Bowden, RHP from Waubonsie Valley HS and Taylor Teagarden, C from Texas, as chosen by Bauxite Marc.



New York Mets
Overall Record: 29-27
Run Differential: +17
Record in last period: 6-6

2004
Rnd 	Player 	        Pos 	School
1  	Philip Humber  	rhp  	Rice U.  	
2 	Matt Durkin 	rhp 	San Jose State U. 	
3 	Gaby Hernandez 	rhp 	Belen Jesuit HS, Miami 	

2003
1 	L Milledge 	of 	Lakewood Ranch HS, Palmetto, Fla. 	

2002
1	Scott Kazmir	lhp	Cypress Falls HS, Houston

The Mets pick at #9 in the draft. The name most associated with New York is St John's University closer Craig Hansen. In the SCMD the Mets took Cameron Maybin who slipped down the draft board.



Philadelphia Phillies
Overall Record: 30-27 
Run Differential: -2
Record in last period: 9-3

2004
Rnd 	Player 	        Pos 	School
1  	Greg Golson  	of  	John Connally HS, Austin  	
2 	Jason Jaramillo c 	Oklahoma State U. 	
3 	J.A. Happ 	lhp 	Northwestern U. 	

2003
3 	Tim Moss 	2b 	U. of Texas

2002
1	Cole Hamels	lhp	Rancho Bernardo HS, San Diego.
2	Zach Segovia	rhp	Forney (Texas) HS.
3	Kiel Fisher	3b-of	Riverside Poly (Calif.) HS.

The Phillies do not have a first round pick as they lost it when they signed Jon Leiber.



Washington Nationals
Overall Record: 31-26
Run Differential: -10
Record in last period: 7-6

2004
Rnd 	Player 	        Pos 	School
1  	Bill Bray  	lhp  	College of William & Mary
2 	Erick San Pedro c 	U. of Miami
3 	Ian Desmond 	ss 	Sarasota (Fla.) HS

2003
1 	Chad Cordero 	rhp 	Cal State Fullerton 	
2 	Jerry Owens 	of 	The Masters (Calif.) College 	
3 	Kory Casto 	of 	U. of Portland 

2002
1	Clint Everts	rhp	Cypress Falls HS, Houston
2	Darrell Rasner	rhp	U. of Nevada
3	Larry Broadway	1b	Duke U.

Washington picks #4 overall. The Nationals have been said to be targeting Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Zimmerman, and Ryan Zimmerman, the third baseman from Virginia. In the SCMD the Nats chose Jeff Clement, the catcher from USC.

NL East: Draft Review & Preview | 8 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mike Green - Monday, June 06 2005 @ 01:53 PM EDT (#118745) #
Curiously, the Nats are on top of the division despite scoring fewer than they have allowed. Their Pythagorean record of 27-31 would have placed them last.
Pistol - Monday, June 06 2005 @ 02:24 PM EDT (#118749) #
Also note that the records above do not include last night's Met game.

The Braves are a +42 RD, 52 runs better than the Nats, yet they're slightly behind. Funny how that works out. I keep wanting to write the Nats off, but every two weeks they're still in the thick of it.
Mike Green - Monday, June 06 2005 @ 02:38 PM EDT (#118751) #
It won't be too much longer, Pistol. The Giants were grossly outperforming their Pythagorean for a while, but they've fallen to earth. The Nats' bullpen is pretty good, but I really doubt that they'll beat their Pythagorean by too much.

Still, you'd have to say that I, like many others, underrated their Nats. They might not be great, but they're not likely to be awful either.
Mick Doherty - Monday, June 06 2005 @ 11:26 PM EDT (#118791) #
Boy, Chad Cordero came fast, huh?

I didn't realize he was such a recent draftee.
Pistol - Monday, June 06 2005 @ 11:49 PM EDT (#118795) #
Yeah, Cordero started a bit of a trend with relievers hitting the majors quick (I think the same year as Ryan Wagner). Now it's fairly common for someone each year to make it quick. Huston Street is the latest, and most people think Craig Hansen could be drafted tomorrow and make it to the majors this year in the right situation.

With first round picks being around a 50/50 shots on average if you know a reliver can help soon it makes sense to take one.
Mick Doherty - Tuesday, June 07 2005 @ 12:09 AM EDT (#118798) #
Anybody know what the Phillies' connection is that has all the Texoma players going to them in the first three rounds?
Pistol - Tuesday, June 07 2005 @ 08:44 AM EDT (#118817) #
Last night I was reading Sickels' first round review from the 2002 draft and what I had forgotten was that Cordero was considered to be a third round pick at the time, but was only taken (or assumed to be taken) because he was a signability pick.
Thomas - Tuesday, June 07 2005 @ 09:46 AM EDT (#118824) #
Yep Pistol, that's correct. I think many criticised Washington for the selection, including Sickels. Or at least they criticised the ownership structure that made them take a "third-round talent" in the first round.
NL East: Draft Review & Preview | 8 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.