MLB Season Preview - Atlanta Braves

2016 Record: 68-93	Manager: Brian Snitker (2016)
5th  in Division	General Manager: John Coppolella (2015)
Failed to make the playoffs	AAA Affiliate: Gwinnett Braves AA Affiliate: Mississippi Braves

News

• Acquired 2B Brandon Phillips from Cincinnati for pitchers Andrew McKirahan and Carlos Portuondo
• Acquired INF Micah Johnson from the Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash
• Traded OF Mallex Smith and P Shae Simmons to Seattle for pitchers Luiz Gohara and Thomas Burrows
• Acquired SP Jaime Garcia from St. Louis for INF Luke Dykstra and pitchers John Gant and Chris Ellis
• Re-signed UT Emilio Bonifacio 
• Re-signed RP Eric O'Flaherty

Players Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
C	A.J. Pierzynski	Free Agent
RP	Chris WIthrow	Kansas City Royals

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
C	Kurt Suzuki	Minnesota Twins	1 year, $1.5 million
SP	Bartolo Colon	New York Mets	1 year, $12.5 million
SP	R.A. Dickey	Toronto Blue Jays	1 year, $8 million
UT	Sean Rodriguez	Pittsburgh Pirates	2 years, $11.5 million
RP	Jacob Lindgren	New York Yankees	1 year, $1.025 million

Top Prospects

• SS Dansby Swanson - MLB.com (4), BA (3), BP (2)
• 2B/SS Ozzie Albies - MLB.com (10), BA (11), BP (35)
• SS Kevin Maitan - MLB.com (32), BA (77), BP (100)
• LHP Kolby Allard - MLB.com (53), BA (37), BP (67)
• RHP Mike Soroka - MLB.com (78), BA (48), BP (64)
• LHP Sean Newcomb - MLB.com (80), BA (78), BP (44)
• RHP Ian Anderson - MLB.com (86), BA (66), BP (96)
• OF Ronald Acuna - BA (67), BP (31)

Projected Lineup

Order	POS	Number	Bats	Name	Age
1	CF	11	L	Ender Inciarte	26
2	SS	7	R	Dansby Swanson	23
3	1B	5	L	Freddie Freeman	27
4	LF	27	R	Matt Kemp	32
5	RF	22	L	Nick Markakis	33
6	2B	4	R	Brandon Phillips	35
7	3B	13	R	Adonis Garcia	31
8	C	25	R	Tyler Flowers	31
Bench	C	24	R	Kurt Suzuki	33
Bench	UT	23	R	Chase d’Arnaud	30
Bench	UT	8	L	Jace Peterson	26
Bench	UT	64	S	Emilio Bonifiacio	31
DL	UT	15	R	Sean Rodriguez	31

Projected Pitching Staff

Role	POS	Number	Throws	Name	Age
1	SP	49	R	Julio Teheran	26
2	SP	40	R	Bartolo Colon	43
3	SP	54	L	Jaime Garcia	30
4	SP	19	R	R.A. Dickey	42
5	SP	26	R	Mike Foltynewicz	25
LR	RP	55	R	Josh Collmenter	31
MID	RP	69	R	Armando Rivero	29
MID	RP	51	R	Chaz Roe	30
MID	RP	52	R	Jose Ramirez	27
MID	RP	46	L	Ian Krol	25
SU	RP	56	R	Mauricio Cabrera	23
SU	RP	38	R	Arodys Vizcaino	26
CL	RP	53	R	Jim Johnson	33

Most Important Player

• 1B Freddie Freeman - When Chipper Jones retired following the 2012 season, the torch for the franchise appeared to naturally fall into the hands of Freddie Freeman.  Since becoming a     full-time big leaguer in 2011, he has been one of the most consistent hitters in all of baseball and after a down season in 2015, Freeman returned to his typical self.  His batting average was back above .300 again, he had the highest on-base percentage of his career, and hit the most home runs of his career.  Freeman is the Braves best hitter and it's not even that close.  Before the Braves acquired Matt Kemp last season, Freeman didn't have anyone around him that could provide protection in the lineup.  With it appearing that the Braves will be more competitive than they were last season, Freeman will be a vital part of any success that the team has in 2017 and beyond.  As the lineup continues to get stronger as prospects develop into major leaguers, Freeman should be able to keep growing as a hitter and stay as one of the best hitters in the majors.

Breakout Candidate

• SS Dansby Swanson - Swanson will enter the 2017 season as a top five overall prospect in baseball and, based on how he performed in his brief stint in the majors last season, he should live up to that status.  In 38 games with Atlanta in 2016 Swanson hit .302, drove in 17 runs, and played quality defense.  He has been compared favorably to Derek Jeter and appears to have the tools to make that comparison possible.  I think that with another offseason under his belt and having already experienced big league pitching, Swanson will be successful in the majors this season and start bringing in the new core for the Braves.  He continues to make the trade that sent Shelby Miller to Arizona look like an absolute steal.

Regression Candidate

• SP Bartolo Colon - Colon will turn 44 this May, doesn't always look like he's in the best of physical shape, and has experienced a career revitalization unlike any other.  When a starting pitcher is that old, it seems like a surefire bet that he will regress at somepoint, so that's why I'm picking him.

Bounceback Candidate

• SP R.A. Dickey - Although Dickey is 41, he is a kuckleballer and has thrown relatively few innings considering his age.  2016 was Dickey's worst season since before he started pitching for the Mets in 2010 and will look to return to the success he has found throughout his career.  He threw the fewest number of innings since the 2009 season and has never had any problems being healthy.  He seems like a guarantee to make 30 starts and throw over 200 innings this season in a pitching rotation that could feature several young starters.  Look for Dickey to return to the quality of pitcher that he been for years now, especially if he can get off to a good start with his knuckleball.

Season Outlook

• The Braves are beginning the climb out of their rebuild now that several of their prospects will begin playing in the majors in 2017.  Dansby Swanson will start the year out in Atlanta and Ozzie Albies should see some playing time there as well.  This offseason the team's front office made moves that will improve their major league team in 2017 and allow for their upper level prospects to remain in the minors for one more season or ease into the majors.  They signed veterans Sean Rodriguez, R.A. Dickey, Bartolo Colon, and Kurt Suzuki to small deals and also acquired veterans Brandon Phillips and Jaime Garcia via trades.  I'm a fan of all of these moves, especially signing Rodriguez, who can play nearly every position in the field and is simply a really good baseball player.  I also like the team's decisions to sign Dickey and Colon and see them as capable of eating a lot of innings, taking much of the strain off the team's young pitchers and will also serve as good clubhouse leaders.  The only move I'm not the biggest fan of is the acquisition of Garcia who I don't think really serves a purpose and is only under contract for this season.  In general, the Braves' pitching staff should be pretty competitive, but their bullpen is pretty weak and if the rotation experiences any serious injuries, the team will struggle severely.  On offense, team has quite a bit of depth and is filled with professional hitters.  Kemp quietly had a really good season last year in his stints with Atlanta and San Diego and Freeman received MVP votes for the year he had.  Their lineup is filled with players that are simply placeholders and won't be around when the team is successful again with only Ender Inciarte, Freeman, and Swanson as members of the future core.  

Predictions

• I believe that the Braves will be more compeitive than they were in 2016 and may not finish in the basement of the division as they did last season.  By acquiring veteran pitchers who have had a lot of major league success in their careers and with the further development of Dansby Swanson and other prospects, this year's team should be pretty talented.  They also ended 2016 as a pretty good team and actually went 31-25 in August, September, and October.  Because of that, I think that the Braves will welcome in SunTrust Park with a better record than in 2016 by going 80-82 and finishing third in the division. 

*All stats and information came from baseball-reference.com, mlb.com, espn.com, spotrac.com, fangraphs.com, baseballprospectus.com, baseballamerica.com, and rosterresource.com