Monday, February 13, 2006
2006 Outlook: Atlanta Braves
The first of my 30 team outlooks for 2006 with be the Atlanta Braves. Enjoy the next month.
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Every year, sportswriters fall into the same trap, and pick a team other than the Atlanta Braves to win the National League East. Peter Gammons and countless others did so last year by going with Florida, which would fall far short of Atlanta. And in 2004, the consensus pick to win the division was revamped Philadelphia, which held a lead into midsummer but in end watched Bobby Cox and co. leave them in the dust. I haven’t made the same mistake. Every year since 2001, I’ve gone with Atlanta, and it’s never failed.
The Braves have a potential chink in their armor now, as pitching coach Leo Mazzone defected to Baltimore during the offseason. Mazzone was credited with turning career after career around, including Jaret Wright, who imploded in the Bronx last year. He also made Jorge Sosa, an unknown acquired from Tampa Bay before 2005, a 13-game winner.
The top arms in the Braves rotation should be fine even without Mazzone’s tutelage. John Smoltz and Tim Hudson are proven ace-type pitchers atop the rotation. But after that, it goes downhill. John Thomson is a journeyman starter who was injured last year and has been mostly mediocre throughout his career. Then comes Sosa, who is unlikely to repeat his 2005 heroics, and Horacio Ramirez, a young lefty. Mike Hampton is out for the season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Atlanta’s youth movement is most apparent in the bullpen and lineup. Jeff Francoeur took the world by storm last summer, and he joins Ryan Langerhans and Andruw Jones in a purely homegrown outfield. In fact, the only member of Atlanta’s projected starting lineup that is not homegrown is Edgar Renteria, acquired in a trade from Boston for stud third base prospect Andy Marte. Renteria was a major disappointment in his only season with the Red Sox, but the Braves hope a return to a warmer climate and smaller market will allow him to achieve the levels of production he enjoyed while thriving with the Marlins and Cardinals earlier in his career.
This roster is built around a few notable cogs in Andruw and Chipper Jones, Smoltz and Hudson, but for the most part is a collection of youngsters and journeyman veterans. Bobby Cox will have to work some magic to achieve lucky number fifteen, but history tells us there’s no reason to believe he won’t. Outlook: 1st Place, NL East
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Every year, sportswriters fall into the same trap, and pick a team other than the Atlanta Braves to win the National League East. Peter Gammons and countless others did so last year by going with Florida, which would fall far short of Atlanta. And in 2004, the consensus pick to win the division was revamped Philadelphia, which held a lead into midsummer but in end watched Bobby Cox and co. leave them in the dust. I haven’t made the same mistake. Every year since 2001, I’ve gone with Atlanta, and it’s never failed.The Braves have a potential chink in their armor now, as pitching coach Leo Mazzone defected to Baltimore during the offseason. Mazzone was credited with turning career after career around, including Jaret Wright, who imploded in the Bronx last year. He also made Jorge Sosa, an unknown acquired from Tampa Bay before 2005, a 13-game winner.
The top arms in the Braves rotation should be fine even without Mazzone’s tutelage. John Smoltz and Tim Hudson are proven ace-type pitchers atop the rotation. But after that, it goes downhill. John Thomson is a journeyman starter who was injured last year and has been mostly mediocre throughout his career. Then comes Sosa, who is unlikely to repeat his 2005 heroics, and Horacio Ramirez, a young lefty. Mike Hampton is out for the season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Atlanta’s youth movement is most apparent in the bullpen and lineup. Jeff Francoeur took the world by storm last summer, and he joins Ryan Langerhans and Andruw Jones in a purely homegrown outfield. In fact, the only member of Atlanta’s projected starting lineup that is not homegrown is Edgar Renteria, acquired in a trade from Boston for stud third base prospect Andy Marte. Renteria was a major disappointment in his only season with the Red Sox, but the Braves hope a return to a warmer climate and smaller market will allow him to achieve the levels of production he enjoyed while thriving with the Marlins and Cardinals earlier in his career.
This roster is built around a few notable cogs in Andruw and Chipper Jones, Smoltz and Hudson, but for the most part is a collection of youngsters and journeyman veterans. Bobby Cox will have to work some magic to achieve lucky number fifteen, but history tells us there’s no reason to believe he won’t. Outlook: 1st Place, NL East
# posted by Dave @ 3:45 PM 
