Jun 30, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper (34), center fielder Denard Span (2) and right fielder Jayson Werth (28) celebrate in the outfield after the game against the Colorado Rockies at Nationals Park. Washington Nationals defeated Colorado Rockies 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
In case you’ve missed it, the District on Deck staff has been going through the NL East, position by position, to see just how each of the five teams stack up against each other. So far, we’ve covered second base, first base, and shortstop. Today, we’ll be focusing on the outfield units.
There’s been plenty of movement going on in the NL East during the offseason, particularly from the southeast contingent of the division. The Atlanta Braves traded three of their outfielders – Justin Upton, Jason Heyward, and Evan Gattis – before turning around and adding free agents Jonny Gomes and Nick Markakis.
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They weren’t the only teams making moves. The Mets also made their biggest addition of the offseason to date by adding former Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer, who made sure that everyone knew he wasn’t about to just hand over the division to the Nats with the signing of Max Scherzer.
Other teams, on the other hand, have decided to stay pat. The Phillies look as if they’ll keep the status quo from 2014. The Marlins will have their All-Star outfield back together with the return of superstar Giancarlo Stanton from his face injury.
The Washington Nationals has made a few changes themselves. They’ll be playing without Ryan Zimmerman in the outfield, and Werth and Harper will be swapping places. They also may be relying more on their young players, like Michael Taylor.
With all of that going on, it’s sure to be an exciting year across NL East outfields. But just how does the division stack up in terms of talent going into the season?
Here’s our look at the top five:
Next: Number Five?