Atlanta Braves

Atlanta finished last year with a 90-72 record and won their fourteenth straight division crown (well its actually eleven if you count the strike year but its still impressive).

Pitching

The rotation has a lot of quality arms battling for places. Between Mike Hampton, John Thomson, Kyle Davies and Horacio Ramirez you have four guys who have proven they can rack up quality innings in the Major Leagues but the real keys lie in the health of Tim Hudson and John Smoltz.

Hudson is as good as they come but missed substantial time last year with one knock after another. If he can stay healthy he will be the ace of the rotation and that’s saying something when you have John Smoltz on your roster. We’re still waiting to see how many more innings Smoltz has left before that elbow finally gives out but until then he is a fierce competitor with one of the best sliders around.

The bullpen doesn’t seem to have been improved upon from last year and last year it wasn’t too great. Chris Reitsma seems favourite to be the closer but he was less than convincing in that role last year. He will be backed up mainly by those that don’t crack the rotation but without Leo Mazzone pulling the strings we shall have to wait and see how things pan out. This will be a concern.

Defence

Jeff Francoeur is a quality right fielder with a strong arm and Langerhans isn’t too shabby in left but they don’t need to be that good when they’re out there with Andruw Jones. He is still incredible in centre and you’ll be hard pressed to find better.

The infield will be as good as Edgar Renteria. If he can put his disappointing year in Boston behind him and return to the form that made him a perennial NL All Star then he could prove to be a shrewd acquisition and Chipper Jones lack of quality with the glove won’t be so apparent.

The Braves should turn their fair share of double plays. Adam LaRoche has soft hands at first and Marcus Giles is fearless making the pivot at second. No one hangs in there longer and he doesn’t get the credit he deserves.

Is Brian McCann ready to carry the load? Pitchers seem to enjoy throwing to him but his footwork can let him down. Todd Pratt is a capable reserve but you don’t want to have to rely on him as the primary receiver.

Offence

Andruw Jones absolutely carried the line-up last year and many a year he’d have won MVP honours for it. The only question is can he carry it over to this year?

There is plenty of potential elsewhere in the line-up with Renteria being a versatile hitter throughout his non-Boston career, Marcus Giles fits nicely into the second spot and Chipper Jones is still Chipper Jones and should still be a good bet for 30 HR and 100 RBI.

Adam LaRoche is still a little lightweight a hitter for an everyday first baseman as is Ryan Langerhans for a left fielder although he could share time with Kelly Johnson who showed some quality last year at the plate.

Brian McCann has plenty of potential with the bat but we’ll see how he does. The key to the success of the Braves line-up could be Jeff Francoeur who makes consistent hard contact with good pop but as much as he hates to work counts he’ll need to if he’s going to make the most of his talents and stick around in this league. Sometimes he almost seems like to take a walk would be a personal affront to his character.

Who’s batting lead-off? There doesn’t seem to be too many guys who really fit the mould and unless everyone plays to their full potential, The Braves will struggle to score consistently unless someone can fill that role. There’s not much speed here and Furcal has been a key contributor over the years in that role.

Rookie Watch

Joey Devine and Chuck James will both be given a chance to crack the rotation in Spring Training. Devine rocketed through the system in his first pro season and even made it onto Atlanta’s post-season roster but James was as good as any pitcher in the minors last year. He’s a crafty lefty with a knack for pitching but his under whelming stuff and a propensity towards allowing fly balls might make the Majors a tougher challenge for him.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia is still the class of the system, he’s a strong hitter and leader with solid average defensive skills. He’s still probably a year away but he’s a potential All Star for many years to come.

Management

What can you say about Bobby Cox? He took a team of kids and a line-up decimated by injury into the post-season and won yet another division crown. There aren’t many better at motivating a team and knowing when to push buttons the only question about him is how will he react without his long term confidant Leo Mazzone?

What can you say about John Schuerholtz? Few teams seem to have the turnover of players that Atlanta do but they still keep winning and still keep producing players through the farm. There are few better GM’s better than Mr Schuerholtz and if Atlanta need to make a deal, you know he’ll make a good one.

Outlook

The thing is that Atlanta have done so well for so long that you can never count them out. Even with the apparent holes in the bullpen and at the top of the order the Braves brain trust always seems to find a way to make what they’ve got work.

In theory they should be a solid team that will finish on the happy side of .500 and they’ve gotta slip up some time but they won the division last year with the majority of these players and now they’re more experienced for it and as a result its still their division to lose.