Phillies' first goal is to win the division and it didn't get easier

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Rob Thomson was manager of the National League team at the 2023 All-Star Game in Seattle, a residual perk of the Phillies making it to the World Series the previous year. One of the players on the roster was Juan Soto, who was already friendly with hitting coach Kevin Long from their time together with the Nationals.

"I've gotten to know him a little bit," the Phillies' skipper said in February. "I think he's a really good guy."

While Soto was trying to decide which team to sign with, though, Thomson didn't use that inside connection to try to steer this year's biggest free-agent prize away from the division rival Mets. "I didn't have his number, unfortunately," he said with a laugh.

The Phillies won the National League East last year, but two of the three postseason wild card slots were claimed by the Mets and Braves. Since then, New York bagged Soto with an astonishing 15-year, $765 million offer. And the Braves are getting back 2023 NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. (who didn't play again after tearing his ACL on May 26) and All-Star right-hander Spencer Strider (who made only two starts before undergoing elbow surgery.)

"I always say, to win a division you've got to win within your division," Thomson said. "And you've got to win at home. If you can do those two things, you're in pretty good shape."

It doesn't figure to get any easier. Talking about how the competition has improved from last season is an overworked trope. At the same time, on paper at least, the East could be a beast.

METS

Owner Steve Cohen has won more dollar bill-stacking contests than pennants so far, but there's a lot of realistic optimism in Queens heading into this season after winning a playoff round for the first time since 2015.

In addition to Soto, franchise fixture and fan favorite Pete Alonso will be back at first base after a prolonged soap opera of a negotiation. A lineup that finished seventh in MLB in runs scored in 2024 could be even more dangerous this year.

The biggest question is the rotation. Returning No. 1 starter Sean Manaea will open the season on the injured list after suffering a strained oblique. Right-hander Frankie Montas was signed as a free agent ... then strained his lower back his first day in Port St. Lucie and is expected to miss the first two months.

Kodai Senga made only one regular season start in 2024 before missing the rest of the year with a calf strain. Clay Holmes is being converted from reliever to starter.

There's also uncertainty over whether 2022 batting champ Jeff McNeil will remain the everyday second baseman or be replaced by Bret Baty, Luisangel Acuna or Ronny Mauricio.

Said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski: "The Mets took a big jump forward last year. They've got a lot of werewithal and some smart people running their organization. I think they're both going to be very good for years to come."

So circle the dates June 20-21-22 and September 8-9-10-11 on your handy pocket schedule. That's when the Mets will be at Citizens Bank Park and this ancient rivalry has never been hotter, especially after New York kayoed the Phillies in last fall's NLDS.

BRAVES

Despite being without one of the best position players and one of the best starting pitchers in baseball last season, Atlanta made the playoffs. What else is new? The previous six years, the Braves won the division.

They lost left-hander Max Fried (11-10, 3.25), who signed as a free agent with the Yankees. But when Strider comes back — currently expected to be around May 1 — he'll join Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez and Spencer Schwellenbach to give Atlanta a formidable rotation.

Acuña has said he hopes to return about the same time. And while general manager Alex Anthopoulos didn't make many offseason moves, he made a splash by signing Jurickson Profar (3 years, $42 million) to play left field and stabilize the leadoff spot.

Bet against the Braves at your own risk. They've won their division 21 of the last 33 years while qualifying as a wild-card on three additional occasions. "The Braves are a good organization," Dombrowski said. "They've won the division a bunch of times. Won a World Championship. They're a very well-run organization from top to bottom. So you know they're going to be good."

NATIONALS

The Nationals won the World Series in 2019. It seems so much longer ago than that. The ceremonial hoisting of the trophy was followed by five straight losing seasons, five straight years in the baseball wilderness.

Thomson and Dombrowski, however, view the Nats as the stealth club of the NL East. Probably not ready to make the playoffs right now but coming up fast in the rearview mirror and good enough to create a lot of disruption in the meantime. "I think they're going to surprise a lot of people," the manager said. "They've got a lot of really good young players and they've added some pretty good veteran guys to put around them."

Five starting position players who were 25 or younger (SS C.J. Abrams, CF Jacob Young, 2B Luis Garcia Jr.; LF James Wood, C Keibert Ruiz) are returning. So is No. 1 starter MacKenzie Gore, who just turned 26 in February, plus back of the rotation starters Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz.

To that base, general manager Mike Rizzo added former 29-year-old Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner Nathaniel Lowe (in a trade with the Rangers) to solidify first base and 32-year-old power bat Josh Bell (signed as a free agent) to be the DH.

He also signed two starters: 2019 All-Star right-hander Michael Soroka and lefty Shinnosuke Ogasawara from the Chunichi Dragons of the Japan Central League.

Said Dombrowski: "They've got some really good, young players. You never know when it will come."

MARLINS

It would be charitable to say that Miami is rebuilding. Again. It would probably be more accurate to depict it as starting over after yet another salary dump.

It began barely a month into the 2024 season when they sent their best hitter, Luis Arraez, to the Padres. They subsequently moved established reliever A.J. Puk and middle-of-the-order bat Jazz Chisholm Jr. before really backing the truck up at the trade deadline. On July 30, six separate trades gutted what remained of the big-league roster.

No team can be completely dismissed and the Marlins always seem to have emerging talent and some good arms. Catcher Augustin Ramirez, acquired in the Chisholm deal, is being promoted as a future star. Sandy Alcantara is expected to be 100 percent. The 2022 NL Cy Young winner is expected to be fully recovered from the 2023 Tommy John surgery that cost him all of last season.

The Phillies, of all teams, shouldn't have to be reminded about not dropping their guard. After all, they went just 7-6 against the 100-loss Fish last year.