Braves Report

The 2008 championship season figures to be a bright one for the Atlanta Braves as they look to reclaim their rightful place on top of the National League East. This version of the Braves will feature a formidable offense to go along with a very deep pitching staff. Under the tutelage of Bobby Cox, the Braves begin their epic journey to the top on March 30^th against the Washington Nationals.

The off-season brought about some changes in Atlanta. For the first time since 1991, the general manager’s office will not be occupied by John Schuerholz, who became the President of the Braves in October. He is being replaced by Frank Wren. For the first time in eleven seasons, Andruw Jones will not be patrolling centerfield. But at least one very familiar face will be making his return home to the Braves. Tom Glavine signed a one year deal with the Braves after spending the past 5 years with the much hated New York Mets.

The Braves have one of the best offenses in baseball. The Braves have arguably the best 3rd and 4th combo in the game with a pair of switch hitting sluggers in Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira. Chipper must remain healthy and get at least 500 at-bats for the Braves to have a shot at the division. Teixeira will be in his first and maybe his last full year in Atlanta. His power will off-set the power the Braves lost when Andruw decided to sign with the Dodgers. Do not be surprised if Teixeira starts off slow, historically he has improved each month as the season progresses.

All-Star catcher Brian McCann, Kelly Johnson, and Yunel Escobar (The World’s Greatest Cuban, I dare you to name a better one.) Escobar played extremely well last year after he was called up. His outstanding play allowed the Braves to trade away short-stop Edgar Renteria to the Tigers. Johnson is emerging as one of the National League’s premier second baseman. While McCann is already one of the best catchers in baseball.

Perhaps the biggest question mark on the Braves, is the centerfield spot. The Braves got Josh Anderson back in December to take over but would acquire Mark Kotsay in January as the front-runner for the centerfield. While Kotsay did not set the world on fire hitting just .218 in the Grape Fruit League, he won the job. Jeff Francoeur will return to right field. Many believe that this is the year that he puts it together. Matt Diaz, the hitting machine, started the spring looking like he was going to platoon with Brandon Jones, but Jones has since been sent back down to Triple A Richmond and Diaz will start in left field full time.

The starting rotation will be John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, Tom Glavine, Jair Jurrjens, and Mike Hampton. If one of them goes down then Chuck James, Jo-Jo Reyes, and or Jeff Bennett will be able to step in as a major league starter. Smoltz will start the season on the DL but will come off of it on April 6^th against the rival Mets. He will be the ace of the team. Hudson will prove to be a very good number 2, he would be a number 1 on the more than one team. Glavine returns from a 5 year stint with the much hated Mets. He will not be the same pitcher he was when he left after the 2002 season. He will eat the innings up while providing league average stats. Mike Hampton is penciled in for a rotation spot. The big question with him is his health. He has not pitched in the Majors in August 19^th, 2005. Jair Jurrjens will be the number 5 starter to begin the season. He was acquired along with Gorky Hernadez in exchange for Edgar Renteria.

The Braves will rely on Rafael Soriano as their closer to begin the season. His performance in that role will be vital to the Braves success this year. Peter Moylan will be the team’s set-up man. He had a great season last year with an ERA of 1.80. Will Ohman will the lefty specialist to begin the year and will remain their until Mike Gonzalez returns in June. Manny Acosta will serve as a middle reliever. In 22 and 2/3rds innings of work in Atlanta last year he had an ERA of 2.28. This leaves Jeff Bennett, Blaine Boyer, Chris Resop, and Royce Ring to battle out for the 3 final bullpen spots. Bennett is the only one with options left. For that reason alone I expect him to get optioned down to Richmond to begin the year.

The bench is where there are spots to be won. Who will be the back-up catcher? It is between Bryan Pena and Clint Sammons. I am going to say Pena gets the job because Sammons has options and Pena does not. I think both Martin Prado and Scott Thorman have spots on the team for them. And the battle for the final spot and reserve outfielder comes down to Gregor Blanco and Josh Anderson. Blanco has played extremely well this spring and in my mind has earned the final roster spot.

The Braves have one of the best all-around teams in the National League. They have pitching depth. A scary good offense. I do not see one glaring weakness like the Braves had with the 4 and 5 starters last year. Unfortunately the Braves are in a very tough division. This race will go down to the wire. It should make for an exciting season. I expect nothing less than the Braves reclaiming their crown as the National League East Champions.