In my quest to blog on all things baseball, I wanted to take a look at how the Nationals rate against the other teams in the highly competitive NL East at the catcher and infield positions. Though some rate the AL East the toughest division in baseball, I disagree. I think the NL East is number one.

The AL East has heavyweights Boston and New York, but the other teams in the division just haven’t measured up the past 10 years and, the Baltimore club’s mini-run in 1996 and 1997 aside, have not competed well. The NL East, on the other hand, has the Mets, a mega-market team about to get a new stadium, the Phillies, a playoff or near playoff team each of the past three seasons, the Marlins, the only team besides the Yankees and Red Sox to win two world series the past decade, the Braves, just two years removed from a 14-year run of division titles, and the Nationals, the poor orphans in Montreal, but now, hopefully, a rebuilding club with a new stadium. Tonight, the Marlins got approval for a new stadium on the Orange Bowl site, so they will soon (2011) have better revenues to go with their top-notch scouting department and farm system. Overall, top to bottom, the NL East blows the AL East away.

Now, to the point of this post. The Nationals have been the least successful NL East team the past decade. So, how do they look against their division rivals by comparison? Let’s take a look — I rank the player(s) 1-5 by past performance and my opinion on their future.

Catcher –  1 -McCann (Atl), 2- LoDuca/Estrada/Flores (Was) 3 – Schneider (NY) 4 – Coste/Ruiz (Phi) 5 – Rubelo/Traenor (Fla)

Comments: A clear #1 – McCann is the top catcher by far in the division. I think Florida’s pair is the weakest. The others are essentially tied in my book. Washington and Philly’s pair hit better, Schneider fields and handles pitchers better. The only reason I rank the Nats #2 is that I really like Flores and think he will be the team’s starting catcher by August. The two oldsters they have now will throw out less than 15% of base stealers. With Patterson pitching, a walk to anyone with decent speed will be just like a triple. Flores will change that one day.

First Base: 1 – Howard (Phi) 2 – Texiera (Atl) 3 – Young/Johnson (Was) 4 – Delgado (NY) 5 – Jacobs (Fla)

Comments: The top 2 are better than the rest. Howard is not as far ahead of Texiera as some think. He hits better, as his $10M arbitration win shows, but he fields much worse and strikes out much more often. I rank the Nats pair third because Delgado is old, Jacobs still learning. The Nats could slip if Young regresses and Johnson doesn’t come back from injury, but…if he returns to 2006 form at bat and 2005 form in the field, the Nationals will be much better off than whatever the best Young can give them.

Second Base: 1 – Utley (Phi) 2- Johnson (Atl) 3- Castillo (NY) 4 – Uggla (Fla) 5 – Lopez/Belliard (Was)

Comments: Utley way in front of this pack. I like Johnson over Castillo because he has more power, even though Castillo has a sweet glove. Uggla puts up some HR’s, but the rest of his game is suspect. Unless Lopez returns to 2005 form, the Nats trail the pack here – in fact, even if he does, he’s still barely above Uggla and still doesn’t field like Castillo. Middle infield is the Nats weakest link in the majors and minors.

Shortstop: 1 – Reyes (NY) 2 – Rollins (Phi) 3- Ramirez (Fla) 4- Escobar (Atl) 5 – Guzman (Was)

Comments: #1 to #3 are very close. Reyes has the best all-around game, but some attitude troubles surfaced last year when the Mets melted down. Rollins’ numbers are a little shy of Reyes and Ramirez, but his leadership is better. Ramirez is a star, but has some glove issues to work on. The Braves’ Escobar could join this group of stars soon. Great potental. Guzman, even at his best and healthiest (or Lopez) can’t measure up to this group. See second base comment.

Third Base: 1 – Wright (NY) 2 – Zimmerman (Was) 3- Jones (Atl) 4 – Feliz/Dobbs (Phi) 5 – McPherson, et. al (Fla)

Comments: Wright is just incredibly good. Zim might get there, but hasn’t shown it yet. He needs some better hitting around him and has to stop making the easy errors. I rate him above Jones based on his potential and Jones’ advancing age. If you just look at past track records, you have to put Jones #2, except for the glove work. The Phillies might have a nice platoon and these guys don’t have to carry the offense. Florida, unless McPherson blossoms, has a mess at third.

So, the Nats are #2, sort of, at catcher, #3 at first, assuming health, #5 at 2B and SS, #2 as 3B, if Zim lives up to his potential. Just looking at these five positions, it looks like another 4th place finish. We’ll see. If you add up the points (1 for first, etc.) the Phils, Mets, Braves all tie with 12, the Nats have 17, the Marlins 22. So, if infield is all that matters, we’ll have a tight race among NY, Phi and Atl, with Was in 4th and Fla last.

Next — A look at the NL East’s outfield. How do the Nats new group fare?