Major League Baseball is asking its fans to vote for the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise.  The winners will be announced in July at the All Star Game in Cincinnati.  Today, I will give my Franchise Four picks for the National League East.

Well, this is a nice collection of players selected to represent the Braves.  6 of the 8 have been elected to the Hall of Fame with a 7th sure to make it once he is eligible.  Hank Aaron and Warren Spahn rise above their Hall brethren, so they take the first two slots.  The last two slots come down to Eddie Mathews, with his 512 career home runs, and the 3 aces of the 90s, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.  I’m going to go with Mathews and Maddux.

A much different scenario for the Marlins, who have only been in existence since 1993 and have a history of ownership who ships out any player that may be any good and, thus, command a decent salary.  The 8 players in the running have averaged less than 7 years in a Marlin uniform.  That said, I will pick Josh Beckett, Gary Sheffield, Mike Lowell, and current star Giancarlo Stanton.

The Mets list of nominees have one obvious choice in Tom Seaver.  Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, both members of the 1986 World Champions, make you think of what might have been had drug abuse not derailed both of their careers.  For my other 3 slots, I will go with Mike Piazza, Dwight Gooden, and local boy done good John Franco.

Three slots get taken right off the bat by Hall of Famers Steve Carlton, Robin Roberts, and Mike Schmidt.  The last slot is between 3 other Hall of Famers and 2 present day stars.  I’m going to go with Richie Ashburn for the final spot.

The Nationals list of nominees are dominated by players from the franchise’s previous incarnation as the Montreal Expos.  My first thee selections will be Gary Carter, Andre Dawson, and Tim Raines.  For the last slot, part of me wants to select Ryan Zimmerman, just so that the Nationals can be represented in their own Franchise Four.  Instead, I will go with Dennis Martinez.