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National League East By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 03/29/02
Manager: Bobby Valentine (seventh season) 2001 finish: 82-80, third  Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Larry Bowa (second season) 2001 finish: 86-76, second Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Bobby Cox (13th season) 2001 finish: 88-74, first Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Jeff Torborg (first season) 2001 finish: 76-86, fourth Schedule | Team directory
Manager: Frank Robinson (first season) 2001 finish: 68-94, fifth Schedule | Team directory
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While most of their brethren were toeing the bottom line, the Mets spent lavishly, acquiring superstars Alomar and Vaughn, speedster Cedeno, and slugger Burnitz, in his second incarnation as a Met. Vaughn missed all of last season with a torn triceps, but if he returns to form, he and Piazza instantly become one of the great middle-of-the-order tandems. With Alomar teaming with Ordonez, it will take an armed escort for a ground ball to get through the middle. But this team has a look of Gene Autry's Angels - plenty of marquee names, plenty of questions on the pitching staff.
It's a soap opera worthy of Yawkey Way; superstar Rolen is in the walk year of his contract after turning down a $140 million offer to re-sign with the Phils, and after taking his share of shots at team management, must coexist with the volatile Bowa, who hates the effect such a distraction could have on a potential division-winning club. Phillies are strong up the middle in Rollins and Anderson, but need Lieberthal to come back from knee problems. Adams vows to prove rumors of arm problems in LA were unfounded.
Sheffield may be the best hitter imported by the Braves since they moved to Atlanta; they can only hope he left all his extra baggage in LA, where he clashed with CEO Bob Daly in a very public display of superstar angst. The Braves, who scored fewer runs than any Braves team in a full season since 1992, needed to upgrade their offense, which is why they also signed Castilla, but it's the pitching that may finally be showing some signs of dropping a notch after being the gold standard in the majors for a decade. Maddux was roughed up this spring, Glavine is 36, and Smoltz has taken his iffy elbow to the bullpen. The Braves look vulnerable.
John Henry may have bailed out on the Marlins, but unlike his predecessor, Wayne Huizenga, the team's former owner left the Fish in good shape for the future, at least on the field. Henry couldn't convince new owner Jeffrey Loria, late of the Expos, to take back his customized bus in exchange for Beckett, widely viewed as the No. 1 prospect in the country. Beckett joins a staff already brimming with good young arms like Dempster, Penny, and Burnett. But whether Loria elects to dump such stars as Floyd remains to be seen. Torborg and his staff were imported from Montreal.
This is obviously not America's team, and judging by the empty Olympic Stadium, it's not Canada's team, either. This is an orphan adopted by Major League Baseball after plans to give the Expos a mercy killing were blocked by the players' union. GM Omar Minaya and Robinson will have the tough task of maintaining morale in what is certain to be a Death Valley setting; the Expos have no guarantee of existing beyond this season, and even if they survive are likely to move. Minaya will hear constant offers for his best players: Guerrero, Vazquez, Cabrera, and Vidro.