The Braves will likely be battling with Philadelphia for last place in the NL East this season. And that’s on purpose, as the club is going through a full-blown rebuilding process, selling off nearly every last tradeable piece this winter to continue bolstering their farm system for the future. The team has received a bevy of top-rated prospects, but few are major league-ready, which means another lean year for the Braves in 2016.
ATLANTA BRAVES
+14000 to win 2016 World Series
+7500 to win NL Pennant
Braves president of baseball operations John Hart isn’t doing any sugarcoating anymore. The Braves are in a full-out rebuild.
The purge continued in the offseason, dealing Andrelton Simmons, arguably the best defensive shortstop in the game, to the Angels and righthander Shelby Miller to the Diamondbacks. Add those two and Cameron Maybin to last winter’s list of Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Evan Gattis and Craig Kimbrel.
First baseman Freddie Freeman is pretty much the last man standing, and for a while there, Braves fans were convinced that newly promoted general manager John Coppolella would trade him too. Freeman hasn’t exactly been in top form to maximize his value anyway.
A wrist injury plagued him for much of the 2015 season, when he had career lows in games and at-bats. The two-time All-Star is expected to be healthy again this season, but with questions about what kind of protection he’ll have in the lineup, it could be another challenging season.
With Miller traded to the Diamondbacks, Julio Teheran is now the de facto ace of the Braves staff and frankly has pitched like one for stretches of the past two seasons. Teheran, who turns 25 in January, had an odd road slump for much of the 2015 season and – like the rest of the rotation – rarely got much run support.
Nobody in the rotation should feel secure, though, with the next wave of minor league starting talent knocking at the door. That list includes Lucas Sims, Tyrell Jenkins, Sean Newcomb and Aaron Blair.
The Braves acquired shortstop Erick Aybar from the Angels in the Simmons trade to be a stopgap until newly acquired prospect Dansby Swanson, last year’s No. 1 overall draft pick out of Vanderbilt, is ready for the big leagues.
This year’s version of the Braves reminds us a lot of the movie Major League – at least the roster. There will be plenty of “whose that guy?” when they take the field. On the actual roster, the focus will be on which players could end up being dealt at the deadline as the front office continues to stockpile prospects.
It’s a crapshoot since nobody knows how the prospects will eventually work out. But given the numbers the Braves have, they will certainly hit a home run on a few of them.
The Braves will not measure success in 2016 by wins and losses. They are destined for a losing campaign deep at the bottom of a rebuild. Atlanta will define success by the progress made by the players they hope will be a part of the next winning team.
Key Additions: SS Erick Aybar, C Tyler Flowers, OF Ender Inciarte.
Key Losses: SS Andrelton Simmons, SP Shelby Miller, OF Cameron Maybin.
It’s been 10 years since the Braves finished their run of 14 straight playoff appearances. They’re hopeful another wave of young talent sets the organization on course to get back to being regular playoff contenders. It’ll be a while, though, as the solid young pitchers who reached the big leagues last year continue to take their lumps and fans go reaching for their programs to see who the heck is who – if they show up to the ballpark at all.
Prediction: 66-96
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