EAST IS NO EDEN

Four squads maneuvering to contend in tough division

UNLESS THE Pirates think t hey can overtake t he Brewers, Cubs and Cardinals and capture the NL Central, then the NL East is the lone division that contains four teams that are approaching this offseason with designs on finishing first in 2019. That already has led to the Braves giving $23 million for one year to Josh Donaldson, the Mets moving to the brink of investing a large sum to obtain Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, and that is before the Phillies even get a “little bit stupid” in spending their money this offseason. The Nationals have yet to make public whether they will make an 11thhour bid to retain Bryce Harper or reroute those dollars to bolster t heir rotation, in particular.

The Marlins are the non-contender of the division, yet are intriguing because, in J.T. Realmuto, they arguably have the most attractive trade piece of this offseason.

Ladies and gentleman, the NL East, the most interesting division in the world:

METS

Brodie Van Wagenen has not tiptoed into the GM responsibility. His first major player transaction would go right into the doozy category. He is on the brink of trading two of the team’s best prospects (Justin Dunn, Jarred Kelenic) while absorbing a good deal of Cano’s pact to land elite closer Diaz. Van Wagenen is determined to honor his press conference promise to contend in 2019. He seems to think upgrading defense and bullpen are central to do that, so Diaz is not the only reliever the Mets will obtain this offseason. An Andrew Miller (who played for Mickey Callaway in Cleveland) or David Robertson is possible. So is trading Noah Syndergaard if Van Wagenen could mesh finding catching and center field upgrades with landing a freeagent starter who can ably replace Syndergaard.

Van Wagenen has demonstrated energy, fearlessness and showmanship early in his tenure. Will that translate into 90-plus wins?

BRAVES

The defending East champs are gambling that Donaldson and Brian McCann — both bedeviled by 2018 injuries — still have high-end production in their games. If so, Atlanta already has gone a long way toward addressing priority one this offseason: an offensive boost. They still seek a corner outfielder — Andrew McCutchen? Michael Brantley? — to join a lineup with Ronald Acuna, Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies, plus Donaldson and McCann.

Atlanta has a deep farm system and dollars to spend to pursue end-game bullpen and a topof-the-rotation starter.

PHILLIES

No team has more to spend this offseason than Philadelphia. It was owner John Middleton, who recently said, “We’re going into this expecting to spend money. And maybe even be a little bit stupid about it.’’

The feeling around the sport has been that the Phillies leave the offseason with Harper or Manny Machado — with a slim chance of both. Plus, they are in on top starters, such as Patrick Corbin. Plus they are in on top relievers, such as Zach Britton. Plus, they are involved in myriad trade scenarios, including about Seattle shortstop Jean Segura.

No team faces more pressure to take big pieces off the board this offseason.

NATIONALS

I am surprised how many executives and agents I speak to feel Harper still ends up back here (and Machado goesto Philadelphia). Whether it was done for public relations, to suggest effort, or for real, the Nationals’ reported $300 million offer to Harper in late September felt like a last effort to keep a homegrown star.

And it is not hard to make a case that the Nats are better off with a divorce from Harper and having Adam Eaton, Victor Robles, Juan Soto and Michael Taylor share the outfield rather inexpensively, then redirect the dollars earmarked for Harper elsewhere, notably the rotation. The early offseason sense was that the Yankees were the favorites for Corbin and that their biggest threat was the Phillies. But Corbin also visited the Nationals in the last week, and executives think Washington is a legitimate player for him to join Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg atop the rotation.

Washington al ready has obtained two relievers (Kyle Barraclough and Trevor Rosenthal) and two catchers (Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki) to try to distance themselves from 2018, when they were the majors’ most disappointing team.

MARLINS

Realmuto is the kind of talent — especially when available prime-aged star catchers are all but non-existent — that makes teams change plans. But clubs have said Miami’s requests have been so exorbitant as to all but make Realmuto unmovable. Perhaps that is only an opening gambit, but the Braves and Nationals — perhaps the teams that expressed the most interest in the past 12 months — have locked in two catchers each on major league contracts. An official from one of those teams said, “Miami is not trading him in the division.”

If true, that would take the interested Phillies out, too. The Astros, Brewers and others, though, remain interested.

If Realmuto is traded, the Marlins will have depleted themselves of all their star-level players. Which is probably the right approach, since in this version of the NL East, a team is going to need multiple difference-makers to emerge as the division champ.