Alright, let's talk some biesbols. I'll throw out a quick rundown of my Bravos and I expect some analysis from you ladies on your favorite club.
Let me say first off, I think this is as solid a club as we've had in quite a long time from top to bottom. Which means they'll fall flat on their collective faces and win 73 games. Honestly, the last two division titles were totally unexpected and may have been won by default as much as anything else. The division just hasn't been very good overall, despite Washington catching fire at exactly the right time. But still, the Braves were solid because of A.) Donaldson having a good year and hitting behind Freeman, which finally gave him some real protection, and B.) The emergence of several very young guys on the bump, like Soroka and Fried. Plus, Acuna, Jr. put in an unbelievable all-around season.
The Ups for 2020: Everyone is back with the exception of JD. The young pitchers are more experienced and other young guys in the field like Acuna and Albies should....should only be better with another year under their belts. Kind of an unknown because of his age, but you have to think the rotation got better with the addition of Cole Hamels. Also, they added Will Smith, from San Fran, as the closer. He had an ERA of around 2.50 and 34 saves. Big guy who gets a ton of strikeouts. It's been a while since we didn't have closer by committee and hopefully, he'll take over that spot and we have someone we can trust out of the pen.
Brian Sign Stealing Cheater McCann retired so the Braves signed well traveled, Travis d'Arnaud. He played with 3 different teams last year; however, still managed a nice stat line of .251 16/69. Honestly, if he can up those numbers even a little as the every day catcher, it's already a huge upgrade at that position. Hell, I would be an upgrade over Tyler Flowers.
The Downs: The glaring loss is obviously Josh Donaldson. Marcel Ozuna was picked up, possibly on a one year rent-a-stick contract. If he reclaims some of his magic from his last year in a Marlins uni, life will be pretty damn good as a Braves fan. If he plays like he did as a Red Bird, we'll definitely feel the sting of losing JD.
If Hamels stays healthy and gives us 14-15 wins, he'll be worth the price. But as much as I like this staff for the Braves future, Hamels is not what I was looking for in the off-season. I think they're solid. But there's no #1. There's no Kershaw or Verlander or Strasburg or Scherzer. How long ago was it now that we had 3 guys we could hand the ball to and think "W"? I wanted them to find just one. Didn't happen.
As nit-picky as this sounds, the one thing that makes me question the sanity of management is allowing Luke Jackson anywhere within 35 miles of the stadium. Why is this guy on this, or any other Major League roster? I truly believe Kaos could sit on the slider he throws weakly 90% of the time and bat .300.
The Bottom Line: I think the Braves are a little better and certainly more experienced than last year. Not huge, but certainly improved on paper. I didn't see the division get any stronger overall, so I look for the ATL to be right there for a division title at the end and a wildcard spot at worst.
Get to it!!!
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