National League All-Acquired Team 2011

It's been a while since Part 1 of my All-Acquired Team project hit the tubes a couple weeks ago - it turns out that real actual-factual baseball (plus the emergence of my fantasy team as an early powerhouse!) has had more interest for me than my lists. But I'm of the mind that completing a project is nearly as important as starting it, so I'd like to bring this little experiment to a close, with the...

2011 NATIONAL LEAGUE

ALL-ACQUIRED TEAM

At first glance, the lack of offense is the most immediately apparent feature of this roster. You can only see two significant threats: Jayson Werth (signed a huge Free Agent deal with the Nationals) and Dan Uggla (acquired via trade by the Braves). Of Werth's three full big league seasons, they've all been good (for an average of 4.2 WAR), but they've all come in hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park with an All-Star offense surrounding him. Uggla has never had an OPS below .800 in his 5 seasons in the bigs - all with the Marlins after being acquired as a Rule 5 pick from the Diamondbacks. After those two, the lineup consists mostly of question-marks and also-rans.

Carlos Pena gets pretty high marks in MLB's pre-season rankings; I guess they're banking on a change of scenery from the miserable dome in St. Petersburg FL to the friendly confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago will account for his batting average rising above the mendoza line. (It hasn't yet in his 20 games with the Cubs, as he's currently sitting at .169.) His backup is high-strikeout slugger Adam LaRoche, who joins Werth on the Nationals. Interestingly enough, when I plugged this lineup into MLB 11: The Show, the CPU picked LaRoche to start over Pena. The swp from 2011 backs up this decision.

The rest of the starting infield features an aging shortstop who experts say can't really play the position anymore (Miguel Tejada, signed by the World Champion Giants) and a utility infielder who is projected to spend most of his actual 2011 time vying for playing time (Ty Wigginton, signed with the Rockies). The bench actually looks pretty strong with an established middle infielder in Ryan Theriot (who will start at SS for the Cardinals) and a lot of versatility in All-Star Omar Infante (traded for Dan Uggla) and Bill Hall (Astros) - both super-utility types turned regular second basemen. They would look really strong if they had a decent team to back up.

Rounding out the outfield is Cameron Maybin, whose defensive talents should really shine through for the Padres in spacious Petco Park, and Lance Berkman, who will attempt to play in the outfield regularly for the first time in six years. The move seemed to rejuvenate him; he's hitting .378 with 6 HR for the Cardinals. Nyjer Morgan, who rather recently became eligible for this list, can back up any of the outfield spots.

The real strength of this team is the starting pitching. We've all heard about Cliff Lee and his signing by the Mystery Team *cough* Phillies *cough*, and he's continued his lights-out K/BB brilliance into 2011. But the real depth to this imaginary staff comes with two acquisitions by the Brewers. Yes I know that Zack Greinke is still injured and hasn't made his '11 debut yet, but MLB 11: The Show picked him as the #1 starter over Lee. Shaun Marcum has pitched to a very nice 2.73 ERA, 1.146 WHIP in his 5 starts. Matt Garza has been striking out everyone for the Cubs, despite being unlucky in the win department. And Javier Vazquez hasn't been anywhere close to regaining his 2009 form with the braves (6.52 ERA, 2.017 WHIP).

But the talent doesn't stop with five pitchers, and this is reflected in the Long Relief (LR) position. Kevin Correia has already thrown a complete game and came out of the bullpen for the Pirates and Aaron Harang leads the league in wins pitching for the Padres. Other notable starters who were left off the roster: Jon Garland (also a complete game after a late start for the Dodgers), Tom Gorzelanny (struggling a bit for the Nationals), Armando Galarraga (trying to give the Diamondbacks a taste of his near-perect glory), and Chris Young (trying to re-jump-start his injury-plagued career with the Mets).

Quite a wealth of arms; I would have included more on the roster, but I felt it was necessary to represent with a complement of full-time relievers. Which would be worth it if there were more than two useful relievers acquired by NL teams over the 2010-11 off-season. We've got J.J. Putz, re-entering the closer market with the Diamondbacks, and doing a darn good job of it. We've got Takashi Saito, a former closer in Japan, who was brought in to set up and mentor the Brewers' young Canadian closer John Axford before going on the DL with a hamstring strain. And then we've got the rest.

My next project (really it's more of an idea) has to do with the hottest prospects in the game, and which of them we have a chance to see reach the majors any time soon. But before I get around to analyzing MLB's Top 50 list, we'll hit the one-month mark of the 2011 season, which I feel requires some sort of recognition and recap of the top performers so far.