Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Braves always seem to be one-upped by the competition...

I'm a pretty rabid Braves fan. 'Why?' you ask. Well, I grew up watching the championship caliber baseball in the 90's and into the beginning of the new millenium. However, the Braves haven't made the postseason since 2005 and now they are beginning to assemble a team that may pale in comparison to some of the monster rosters that the Phillies, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs are currently assembling this year. The Braves started off the off-season the right way by acquiring Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan from the White Sox for a few mid-level players, Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers, Jon Gilmore and Santos Rodriguez. While Flowers and Rodriguez have the most upside out of the trade, neither has yet to prove themselves above the class A level. They also signed Brian McCann's backup for the next two years, David Ross, whom definitely has some pop in his bat and provide a big upgrade over Atlanta's backup catchers last year. However, by letting the Jake Peavy deal go by the wayside they may have made their most crucial mistake this off-season. Now, it appears that Peavy will be headed to a major central division rival, the north-siders, Cubs. When Braves General Manager, Frank Wren effectively shut down discussions with the Padres for Jake Peavy, he all but ensured that the Braves will once again not make the postseason for a fourth straight season.

The Braves are still actively pursuing a big name free agent this offseason, A.J. Burnett, but with the Yankees in the mix, and C.C. Sabathia being courted by the free-spending Dodgers, there is little hope that the Braves will be able to match the monster offer that the Yankees will bestow Burnett with. With that said, the Braves will go into spring training without a #1 or #2 starter to lead a youthful, inexperienced rotation. As it stands the Braves roster will look like this: Javier Vazquez and Jair Jurrjens will be penciled in to the number 1 & 2 slots of the rotation; #3,4, & 5 will be determined in spring training battles. There could be some no names in the opening day roster as is the Braves custom. A number of players that will be fighting for an opening day rotation spot will be Jo-Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton, James Parr, Jorge Campillo, Anthony Lerew and minor league hopefuls Luis Valdez, Braves minor league pitcher of the year, Tommy Hanson, and Todd Redmon, along with a suprising candidate or two that will play awesome in Celebration, Florida and catch the eye of manager Bobby Cox.

What the Braves still need is a big name like Peavy or Burnett, a right-handed power hitting left fielder, a speedy guy to put at the top of the lineup like a Rafael Furcal and the cohesion that made them a force to be reckoned with for an unprecedented 14 consective years. Frank Wren, you have your hands full. Good luck in Day 2 of the Winter Meetings and the rest of this off-season.

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