NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST
1. Atlanta: The Braves' incredible run of 14 straight division titles was largely the result of outstanding international scouting, with homegrown signs like Andruw Jones (Curacao), Javy Lopez (Puerto Rico), Rafael Furcal (Dominican) and Vinny Castilla (Mexico), even briefly, Damian Moss (Australia).

Atlanta’s international forays continued with signings of infielders, Venezuelan Elvis Andrus and Cuban Yunel Escobar, and more recently of Colombian pitcher Julio Teheran, Panamanians Randall Delgado and Christian Bethancourt, and Dominicans Santos Rodriguez and Carlos Perez. Besides South Korea’s Jung Bong, the Braves have largely seen limited success in Asia but hope that changes with Taiwanese signs Wei Cheng Huang and Meng Hsiu Tsai.

2. New York: The Amazins’ have traditionally had less success in Asia and elsewhere but more success in Latin America, with flops including Japan’s Kazuo Matsui, Masato Yoshii and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, South Korea’s Jae Weong Seo and Australia’s Justin Huber.

Jose Reyes is the singular face of the Mets international scouting success today, not Rey Ordonez (Cuba), Edgardo Alfonso, Endy Chavez or Deolis Guerra (Venezuela), or Carlos Gomez, Guillermo Moto, Octavio Dotel or Manuel Lee (Dominican). The Metropolitans show no signs of slowing down in Latin America, with top prospect signs like outfielder Fernando Martinez, third baseman Jeffry Marte and righthander Jenrry Mejia, all Dominicans, and Venezuelan shortstop Wilmer Flores.

3. Philadelphia: Canadian Ferguson Jenkins; Puerto Ricans Ozzie Virgil and Willie Hernandez; Dominicans George Bell and Julio Franco; and Nicaraguan Marvin Bernard were all Philly original signs that had bigger impacts with other clubs. But Venezuelan Manny Trillo and Dominican Nino Espinosa helped the Phils win the 1980 title, and last year, Panamanian catcher Carlos Ruiz did the same.

Philly’s top non-U.S. born prospects are Venezuelans, pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who pitched in the MLB All-Star Futures Game a year ago, and infielder Freddy Galvis. The Fightin’ Phils are also high on Aussie pitcher Drew Naylor.

4. Florida: The Marlins have had outstanding international scouting success, the best of the four 1990s expansion clubs. Colombian Edgar Renteria and Cuban Livan Hernandez helped the Fish win the ’97 title while Venezuelans Miguel Cabrera and Alex Gonzalez and Dominican Luis Castillo helped lift the upstart Marlins to the 2003 crown. But since then, the low-spending Marlins have seen less success internationally, although a pair of pitchers, Venezuelan Jesus Delgado and Puerto Rican Hector Correa show promise.

5. Washington: The Nationals, formerly known as the Expos, are a long way away from their international scouting glory days which reaped the likes of Canadians Larry Walker, Jason Bay and Matt Stairs; Puerto Ricans Wil Cordero, Jose Vidro and Javier Vazquez; Venezuelans Andres Galarraga and Ugueth Urbina; Dominicans Vladimir Guerrero, Antonio Alfonseca and Miguel Batista; and Colombian Orlando Cabrera.

General Manager Jim Bowden and special assistant Jose Rijo are out in the wake of an FBI investigation into alleged bonus-skimming in Latin America and the Nats' top Dominican prospect, Esmailyn Gonzalez, is now four years older than originally thought and his real name is Carlos Alvarez Daniel Lugo. The Nats remain decidedly thin on international prospects, with Roger Bernadina (Curacao) and Sandy Leon (Venezuela) among its better homegrown signs.

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