Has rest of NL East gained any ground on Nats this winter?

The Nationals' offseason to date has not included any real additions, only the re-signing of free agents Howie Kendrick, Brandon Kintzler and Edwin Jackson, plus the swapping of Adam Lind for Matt Adams. There's still plenty of time and, more importantly, plenty of available players to make some significant transactions that will dramatically alter things. But for now, the 2018 Nationals look a whole lot like the 2017 Nationals.

That's not a bad thing, mind you, considering the 2017 Nationals won 97 games and cruised to another division title. But it has perhaps opened the door ever so slightly for the four other franchises in the National League East Division to try to make up some ground on the defending champs.

Have any of those four teams been able to do that? Let's run through them, one by one, and see where they stand as February fast approaches ...

MIAMI MARLINS
Last year's record: 77-85
Significant additions: Starlin Castro, Lewis Brinson
Significant losses: Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon, Ichiro Suzuki, Edinson Volquez
Quick, what team finished in second place in the NL East last season? Bet you didn't remember it was the Marlins, who were the best of the rest in a division that was non-competitive from the outset. It's probably not going out on a limb to predict they won't finish in second place this year, not after new ownership ransacked the roster of its biggest names, including all three starting outfielders. And they may not be done selling yet, with J.T Realmuto disgruntled and wanting out and some appealing relievers perhaps available as well.

ATLANTA BRAVES
Last year's record: 72-90
Significant additions: Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir, Charlie Culberson
Significant losses: R.A. Dickey, Matt Kemp, Jim Johnson, Matt Adams,
The Braves appeared to be headed on the right track last season, with a core group of young playes beginning to come together and perhaps set the stage for a major step up in 2018. But then came a major Latin American scandal that wound up getting general manager John Copolella banned for life by Major League Baseball, leaving the organization in turmoil. New GM Alex Anthopoulos has a lot of work ahead of him, but there is still some serious talent already in-house. And with outfielder Ronald Acuna (recently rated the No. 1 prospect in baseball) on the cusp of the majors, Atlanta might actually prove to be the Nationals' biggest challenger this season.

NEW YORK METS
Last year's record: 70-92
Significant additions: Jay Bruce, Adrián González, Anthony Swarzak, Jose Lobaton
Significant losses: None
It's understandable why the Nationals have attempted to keep the band together, hoping that what worked last season will work again this season. It's less understandable why the Mets are attempting to do the same thing. They re-signed Bruce (who was traded away last summer) and re-signed Asdrúbal Cabrera and José Reyes. Yes, there have been the additions of González, Swarzak and former Nat Lobaton, but are they forgetting that last year's team won 70 games and was a huge disappointment? Do they think the same cast of characters is going to perform significantly better. I suppose any team that still has Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard anchoring its rotation has a chance to be good. But the Mets once again are going to need a whole lot of things to go right to get back on top in 2018.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Last year's record: 66-96
Significant additions: Carlos Santana, Tommy Hunter, Pat Neshek
Significant losses: Freddy Galvis, Andrés Blanco, Daniel Nava, Hyun Soo Kim
Like the Braves, the Phillies have been rebuilding for the last few years and know they're still probably at least another year away from being ready to contend. But there are some very nice, young pieces here to build around (Rhys Hoskins, Nick Williams, Aaron Nola) and the signing of first baseman Carlos Santana to a three-year contract was a nice pickup that will both help them in 2018 and beyond. They're more likely to make a real big splash next winter (Manny Machado, anyone?) but at the very least they figure to be a significantly improved team this year and creep back toward the .500 mark.