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Mike Maroth's left knee is still keeping him out of game action. The left-hander who is hoping to earn a spot in Toronto's rotation has torn cartilage and manager Cito Gaston said the injury still bothers the veteran during fielding drills. Maroth will need surgery to fix the knee but is trying to pitch through it as he tries to return to the big leagues after missing most of the past two seasons with various injuries.

Former first overall pick Matt Bush impressed during a bullpen session. A converted shortstop, Bush was acquired from San Diego early in February.

New York Mets ace Johan Santana was scratched from a second straight start due to elbow stiffness, the team announced. Santana, 29, said he felt "a little stiff" while throwing a bullpen session on Wednesday and was subsequently scratched from his exhibition start yesterday against Italy's World Baseball Classic team.

Cleveland Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore announced on Friday he will miss the upcoming World Baseball Classic because of a sore left groin. Sizemore, who was expected to share centre field duties with Detroit's Curtis Granderson for Team USA, has been nursing the injury for the last week.

Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada will play for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic, the team announced yesterday. Tejada changed his mind after being assured by manager Felipe Alou that he will play shortstop, third base and possibly serve as a designated hitter. The 34-year-old Tejada had removed himself from the roster after being asked to play first base. Tejada did not want to embarrass himself, or his country, by playing an unfamiliar position. It has been tough offseason for Tejada, who apologized earlier this month after pleading guilty to lying to Congress about a teammate's use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The Philadelphia Phillies yesterday released disappointing right-hander Adam Eaton. Eaton signed a three-year contract worth US$24.5-million with the Phillies prior to the 2006 season, but failed miserably during his tenure with the club. Eaton, 31, went 4-8 with a 5.80 ERA and a .310 opponents' batting average in 21 games for the Phillies in last season. "Based on where we are with our pitching staff and the fact that we feel comfortable with our depth, we wanted to give Adam every opportunity to pitch with another club, rather than wait until later in the spring when it gets more difficult," Phillies general manger Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series, the New York Mets, once again, missed the playoffs by one mere game and the Florida Marlins, put up quite an unexpected run for the division crown.

I am predicting no different for this division this year, if anything changes about this division it will be the number of teams competing for the number 1 spot.  I'm predicting that this division will put up quite a show this year and everybody will be more than pleased to see it. So, on to my predictions.

Note: Throughout my, MLB Prediction series, I have beefed up a lot of records.  That doesn't mean that they're wrong, because I stand strongly by them.  They may just have to be adjusted a little bit to be more realistic, in terms of,  "For every win their's a loss".  That's true and I should've thought of that before I started this series, I am still extremely proud of myself on how good this series came out and I hope all of you enjoyed it just as much as I did.

1. New York Mets: 93-69

I stand by this prediction the most, out of every other prediction I made in the past week. I stand by it the most, because as all of you may know this is the team, I know just as well, if not better than anyone on this site. I live and breath this team, my door has pictures of all the big, current Mets players and some dried paint drops from Shea Stadium.  Enough talking about my fanhood.

The Mets finished with 89 wins last season and they vastly improved this offseason.  They went out and addressed their main issue, which was the bullpen. Last year, the bullpen blew around 36 saves. Now with our new, all-star relievers, Francisco Rodriguez and JJ Putz, the Mets bullpen looks scarier than ever.

Other than the Mets' bullpen they pretty much, look the same as they did at season's end. The Mets' core still consists of their homegrown stars, David Wright and Jose Reyes. Another big part of the core is the two Carlos', Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado. Let's not forget a certain pitcher that goes by the name of, Johan Santana.

All those guys will lead this team back to the playoffs, along with guys like, Ryan Church, Luis Castillo, Brian Schneider, Dan Murphy, Fernando Tatis, Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, Oliver Perez and the rest of the team.

The Mets' pitching rotation is looking great, but the fifth starter spot is still undecided. The Mets have, Tim Redding, Jon Niese, Freddy Garcia and Livan Hernandez all fighting for the fifth starter spot in spring training. 

I'm fine with any of those guys in the New York Mets' fifth starting spot, because they all have great talent and could display some huge numbers in '09. The Mets' lineup is shaping to be one of the strongest in the league once again.  The whole team showed in spring training ready to go, especially Luis Castillo.

Castillo showed up 17 pounds lighter and determined to get back his name as one of the best second basemen in the league. Castillo is a big key to the Mets' season, if he's the old Luis the Mets are really in business, but if he shows as the Luis of last year, the Mets are going to have to do something about him.

I'm predicting a lot from the Mets this year and won't be surprised to see them break the 90 win or mark or even the 95 win mark.  This is a superb team who is going to seriously contend to bring back a ring to Queens.

2. Philadelphia Phillies: 89-73

The defending World Series Champions are due for another great year, along with their amazing team. The Phillies have a great team that is highlighted by all-stars, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Brad Lidge and Cole Hamels. The Phillies have one of the best lineup in the whole MLB and a batter friendly park, which helps the Phillies' big bats a lot.

The Phillies only weak spot isn't really weak, but it''s not amazing like the rest of the team, it's their pitching rotation. Their ace is Cole Hamels and then after that everything's just above average.

The Phillies bullpen is also one of the strongest in the league, but is going to be missing a key player in, JC Romero, who got suspended by the league. The Phillies bullpen will miss Romero a lot.

The biggest question for the Phillies is, "Will Chase Utley be ready for Opening Day?".  some sources say yea and some say no.  That's something that we'll have to wait and see what happens on Opening Day.  If Utley can't play it's going to be a huge loss for the first couple weeks or month.

The Phillies have a very similar team to what they had last year, the only major difference is that Raul Ibanez is in left field and not, Pat Burrell. Burrell, went to the Tampa Bay Rays, who lost to the Phillies in the World Series. This Phils team is going to put up a great run and just might defend their championship.

3. Atlanta Braves: 84-78

The Braves had one of their worst years in a long time, last year and went out this offseason determined to regain their status as the best team in the National League.  They went out and got some big pitchers.  Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami all signed with Atlanta.  The Braves' pitching rotation is looking much stronger than it did in the past couple of years.

The Braves have the exact same lineup and bullpen as they did last year, so they won't go on to win the World Series, but they will have a pretty successful year if all of their players play up to their potential.

4. Florida Marlins: 83-79

Last year, the young Marlins team put up a great run for the division title, but came up short at the end of the season. The Marlins didn't have a good offseason, all they really did was lose players. They lost, Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham to the Nationals and Mike Jacobs to the Royals.

This Marlins team still has one of the best infields, but isn't strong enough to contend with this very strong division. The good news for the Marlins is that they have a lot of great young talent and that will show in the next couple of years when they start contending seriously in this division again.

5. Washington Nationals: 75-87

The Nationals improved their team quite a bit this offseason, but that doesn't mean that they are good all of a sudden. The Nationals aren't going to surprise anybody and finish with a record slightly over 500. What they will do is, not lose 102 games and have the worst record in the majors.

The Nationals whole team is average, with a couple good players here and bad players there, a little more bad players. The Nats' will be improving in the next couple of years if their management handles the team right. As of now, the management is doing a good job and should build on this team little by little, it never hurts to get early draft picks and good prospects.

Four months after leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a World Series Championship, Cole Hamels may have achieved himself into superstar stature with sports fans and the media all across the country.

From David Letterman to SI’s front cover, to a new condo that over looks Citizen’s Bank Park and the entire City of Brotherly Love, there is no question that his “celeb” status is on the rise. And you have to agree he has earned it!

Colbert Michael Hamels (his real name) has proven himself as a big game pitcher, performing nothing short of stellar not only during the World Series, but also taking control of the road, driving the “Fightin Phils” to the big dance.

Hamels went 4-0 during last season’s championship run and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 World Series and National League Championship Series, helping the team accomplish its first championship since 1980.

On January 18th, 2009 Hamels agreed with the Phillies on a 3-year contract that will net the starter more than $20 million; a move that each and every Phillies fan hoped and anticipated.

As a native of San Diego, he attended Meadowbrook Middle School and Rancho Bernardo High School where during his junior year he fractured his arm while making a play. Even though the San Diego Padres were actively scouting Hamels, the injury deterred the organization from interest in the lefty. Hamels continued to battle injuries through his high school and Minor careers.

In 2002, Hamels entered the draft and was picked in the 1st round by the Phillies. His Minor League career was plague with injuries, but somehow he managed to keep active and advance to higher levels until he was finally called up to the Phillies in May of 2006 for a game against the Cincinatti Reds.

In his MLB debut, he pitched five scoreless innings in which he allowed only one hit, striking out seven batters and walking five. His debut was scored as a no-decision when reliever Ryan Madson gave up a 2-run lead. Not a bad start.

So where does the condo come in? With more money and fame, more personal luxuries become plenty. Cole Hamels and his wife recently purchased a magnificent penthouse apartment in Two Liberty Place, Philadelphua,  that is nothing short of magnificent. Take a tour and see for yourself, courtesy of the Inquirer.

From humongous glass windows to gorgeous hardwood floors, to a view that could be considered one of the greatest visuals of the entire city, you could say that Hamels and his beautiful wife Heidi Strobel have it made.

Strobel is also no stranger to the spotlight. After placing fifth on the sixth season of the reality TV show Survivor, herself and companion Jenna Morasca appeared together in the August 2003 issue of Playboy magazine. Ask Cole about it when you get the chance!

Despite all of the luxuries, Hamels has been said to be focused on the 2009 season more than ever, arriving in Clearwater FL., a few days ago. A few sources close to Hamels said that the new proclaimed superstar seems to be very focused on topping his numbers from last year hoping for another trip to the World Series.

On the first day of spring training, when asked who the Opening Day starter would be, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel responded:

“Yeah, you might as well go ahead and pencil him in.  I don’t think there’s any sense in me playing games. Go ahead, pencil him in.”

As a pitcher who’s “stuff” is just down right nasty, Hamels has been said to engage in offseason workouts that have lasted more than six hours per day. His dedication to the team and leadership is none like any other.

As a Phillies fan I saw Cole’s career begin in Philadelphia, and I along with millions of Phillies fans, hope to see #35 on the mound for many years to come!

Maybe even one day, he will invite me over to his condo to check our his view of the city over a few cheese steaks. Who knows! One thing I do know is that the Phillies will be in great shape with the talent and leadership of Cole Hamels kicking off their starting rotation.

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