[EKUAlum05]

I agree that the Braves have a good starting rotation. As a fan of the Braves with a good knowledge of the team, I'm sure you wouldn't remotely compare the present starters with Avery, Glavine, Smoltz, and Maddux. The latter three are sure Hall of Famers and Avery may have had better stuff than any of them. You have to go back to the Baltimore foursome of twenty game winners- Palmer, McNally, Cueller, and Dobson to find a comparable performance by a starting staff and only Palmer of that group is an inductee.

Wainwright, a prime example of the stupidity of the Drew trade, should have won the Cy Young Award last year. The voters were too enthralled by the oddball Lincecum and many votes were split between Carpenter and Wainwright.

Let's put it this way... we may never see a rotation ever compare to those Braves rotations of old. With the evolution of free agency, and so many teams focused on the "now" and not developing their farm systems, that Braves rotation may serve as the greatest of all-time. Sadly, they only had one title to show for it.

Suffice to say Atlanta easily has one of the Top 4 starting rotations in baseball, but they are nowhere close to where the rotation from the early 90's stood.

Atlanta's entire season rests on 3 things and one variable:
1) Production from Troy Glaus. I don't really like the decision to let Laroche go, he was the team's sparkplug to get back into playoff contention last year. Glaus was brought in to hit homeruns...but he is a huge question mark with surgery in his background and tons of injuries.

2) Chipper's Health- When Chipper plays he gets the job done. When Chipper is hurt Atlanta suffers. End of story.

3) Outfielder Output- Martin Prado was amazing last year, but can you really expect a repeat performance? McLouth had a down year and seemed to never be 100%, can he bounce back and be a 20+ HR, .300 hitter, and get 25+ SB's? I am not a Milk Man fan and didn't think he was worth Vasquez... he has to be a .280 hitter with 20+ HR's and 70+ RBI's to be worth the trade IMO.


..... and the variable:

Jason Hayward. He is the Brave's future slugger and many think he will find his way into the lineup. The ultimate fear is he gets chewed up and exploited like Jordan Schaffer last year. If he can make the transition he could be the difference between a contender for the Wild Card and a potential NL Champion.


My guess: Braves finish 2nd in the East and battle for the Wild Card with the Giants, Rockies, and Cubs.