Quote:
Originally Posted by C-Viggity
[IMG]Going to be one of the more interesting years in recent memory. Think this team can do a lot better than a lot of 'experts' are projecting.
I'm looking forward to this season as well. I'm not sure what the 'experts' are saying, but recent projections based on PECOTA and CHONE both have the Braves as a borderline Wild-Card team, which seems about right.
One such projection, based on CHONE, predicts some pretty interesting times in the NL East. (
http://www.baseballprojection.com/2009standings.htm)
East (W-L)
Phillies (87-75)
Braves (86-76)
Mets (86-76)
The latest projections from the Baseball Prospectus folks looks like this:
East (W-L)
Mets (91-71)
Phillies (88-74)
Braves (87-75)
With Philly, LA, Milwaukee and Atlanta all within a game or two for the WC.
My thoughts:
-The rotation is solid except for Glavine. I really hope he gets hurt, because Bobby will probably be biased towards keeping him in the rotation even if he doesn't deserve it. He should be 3rd or 4th in line for the #5 spot at best. We should have spent his money keeping Smoltz or paying for something better in the OF. He adds no value to the team whatsoever.
-Lowe and Vazquez will both do well, with Vazquez doing slightly better.
-The OF continues to be an abortion, with Blanco, Francouer and Garret Anderson getting the bulk of the playing time. If I'm wrong, and Josh Anderson gets more AB's than Blanco, they could easily set the record for fewest walks/lowest OBP for an OF ever.