Atlanta Braves 2009 Outlook

The 2008 season was a mighty disappointing one for the Atlanta Braves. Injuries ruined any chance the Braves had of contending as John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Tim Hudson all went down to season ending surgery. For Smoltz and Glavine that could mean the end of their soon to be Hall of Fame careers.

Other injuries, most notably the nagging injuries to Chipper Jones, also took their toll. The Braves lost closer Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan to season ending surgery as well. Add in the fact that Jeff Francoeur had the worst season of his young career 2008 was a forgettable season.

Of course with every season comes some surprises. Jair Jurrjens at the tender age of 22 established himself as the future ace of the team for years to come and Jorge Campillo came out of nowhere to lock down a spot in the rotation with a bugs bunny type change up.

Martin Prado and Omar Infante proved to be valubale utility players while Mike Gonzalez returned from Tommy John surgery the previous season to re-establish himself as one of the more dominate closers in all of baseball. Gonzalez is most likely to return in that role again for 2009, unless John Smoltz returns to pitch out of the bullpen.

The offense took a hit during the season with the trade of 1B Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels. But 1B Casey Kotchman showed during the season's final month why he was acquired. Many scouts (myself included) believe Kotchman, who will be entering just his 3rd full season, will develop into a solid .300 hitter with 20 homerun power.

With Francoeur's down year and the lack of an everyday left-fielder and center-fielder the Braves outfield as a whole was the worst in all of baseball. Many single players had more homeruns than the Braves outfielders combined. That will most certainly have to change if the Braves are to contend in 2009. That all starts with Francoeur. Francoeur slumped to a .239 batting average a year after hitting .293. His power numbers also took a hit down to 11 homeruns and just 71 runs batted in. If Francoeur can get back to the 29 homeruns he showed in 2006 with the batting average of 2007 then that will go a long way in determining if the Braves make a comeback in 2009.

The Braves must find an everyday left-fielder and center-fielder. I personally like the speed of Josh Anderson and Gregor Blanco but believe those guys will prove to be nothing more than number 4 outfielders at best. General Manager Frank Wren has his work cutout for him on that front.

But the main reason the Braves fell off in 2008 was the starting pitching. Frank Wren has said he wants to add 2 veteran starters and Mark Bowman the Braves.com beat writer estimates the Braves will have 45 million to work with. There are plenty of veteran starters on the market this year (unlike last year) but the price for pitching has increased greatly over the past few years. A solid starter now costs in the range of 15-20 million dollars a year.

Here are some of the guys the Braves might be looking at:

A. J. Burnett
Derek Lowe
John Lackey
Ben Sheets
CC Sabathia

The Braves also might have trade for what players they want. But they have made it clear that their top prospects are off limits. That if they have too they will bite the bullet on 2009 and look forward to 2010. I wouldn't be apposed to that myself. For the last 3 or 4 years the Braves have been trying to reload and have been raiding the farm system as a result. Lets not forget that the Braves didn't get to all those World Series in the 90s by raiding the farm system. The core of those teams was home grown players starting with the starting pitchers.

If I had my way about things I would bring back Glavine, Smoltz, Hampton and maybe Maddux for one last ride and talk those guys into retiring along with Bobby Cox so the Braves can finally move on from living in the past.

The Braves have done that with the position players but have yet to do it with the pitching staff and we have seen over the years that you don't win games without pitching. Just look at the Texas Rangers if you need proof.

The Braves are have some young pitchers in the lower minor league levels with some upside. The closest one to the majors seems to be RHP Tommy Hanson. The Braves would like to keep from rushing him to the bigs next year but he might be in the rotation next year if injuries come up. Other young pitchers include LHP Cole Rohrbough, LHP Jeff Locke and RHP Julio Teheran.

Speaking of position players the Braves have a kid who might be ready for the bigs by the end of next year named Jason Heyward. He was the Braves top draft pick in the 2007 draft and has monster power. He could fill that hole in leftfield for years to come. I also say give Jordan Schafer every chance in the world to win the centerfield job next year. If Francoeur gets back to the old Frenchy that would be one hell of an outfield for years too come.

Just my take on the Atlanta Braves.