Click here to return to the general 2010 MLB Season Preview. Quite easily, the Braves were the best team in baseball to not reach the postseason in 2009. They had good balance on the mound (3.57 ERA) and at the plate (fifth in the NL in runs). Atlanta was 17 games over .500 for the second half of the season until they rattled off six consecutive losses to frustratingly close 2009. Based strictly on their Pythagorean record, the Braves were a 91-71 team and that was without Tim Hudson for most of the season and a definite transition season offensively. 2009 Opsera Finish: 3rd What Happened In The Winter With the exception of the Javier Vazquez for Melky Cabrera trade, Frank Wren made a series of moves where Atlanta aged themselves. Billy Wagner, Troy Glaus, Takashi Saito and Eric Hinske were all signed to affordable one-year deals, avoiding the big two free agent left fielders who each could have bolstered their feeble power categories. The Braves weren't expecting Rafael Soriano to accept arbitration and with Wagner already signed, they had to make a payroll trade by sending him to Tampa Bay. His departure, along with Mike Gonzalez, makes their bullpen a whole lot older. Atlanta had excess starting pitching following the new deal for Tim Hudson and dealing away Vazquez after a career season was a wise sell high move. They couldn't move Derek Lowe for any type of value in return and the difference between the two in 2010 shouldn't be nearly as big as it was in 2009. Cabrera helps keep right field warm until Jason Heyward is ready for the show, which doesn't seem like it will be long. I also like the upside of Arodys Vizcaino as a live young arm now in the system. Braves Offensive Preview Beyond Brian McCann behind the plate, the Braves have a lineup of old guys and question marks. McCann still hasn't reached his prime, but he's a lifetime .853 OPS hitter who will eclipse the 100 homer mark this season. The Braves are incredibly fortunate to get his type of offensive production from the catcher position. Chipper Jones appeared in more games (143) than he had in any season since 2003 (153), but his OPS dropped from 1.044 in 2008 to .818. His splits show some signs of concern, with a .772 OPS from the left side of the plate and .747 and .645 marks in August and September to close what had been a productive season up until that point. There are only a small handful of seasons on record for a 38-year-old to have an OPS over .900, but Chipper seems more than capable of staying solidly in the .800s for another two seasons. I think Nate McLouth is generally overrated, but he should get more comfortable in Atlanta after spending his first spring with the club. Martin Prado, one the other hand, is one of baseball's more underrated hitters even if he is still a significant work in progress defensively. Matt Diaz is another underrated hitter, who has a career OPS of .921 against lefties. Assuming Heyward becomes the kind of ballplayer he is expected to develop into, a mini-platoon between Diaz, McLouth and Cabrera could eventually be in order. I think Heyward can provide an injection of youth and energy not unlike Evan Longoria during Tampa Bay's 2008 World Series run. Yunel Escobar had an .812 OPS, but I expect that number to either drop or stay about the same in 2010. He was significantly helped out by blistering months of May and July. Escobar is an above average hitting shortstop, but his inability to improve against lefties is disconcerting. Finally, speaking of disconcerting, we get to Glaus and his prospects at first base. The position has felt like a very fast revolving door ever since the end of Fred McGriff's tenure, with names like Andres Galarraga, Julio Franco, Mark Teixeira, Casey Kotchman, Adam LaRoche coming into and out of the Peach State. Atlanta likes Freddie Freeman at the position long term and Glaus can fill in this season, but he missed almost the entire 2009 season with a shoulder injury. I can also foresee a situation where they need first base for Chipper this season and someone like Mark DeRosa, albeit more expensive, would have provided much more value. To his credit, Glaus is still just 33 and hasn't had an OPS season under .800 since his second season in the MLB. Braves Pitching Preview The Braves should have one of the strongest and most balanced rotations in baseball with Hudson and Lowe being supported by Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson and Kenshin Kawakami. Jurrjens and Hanson both have the stuff to be front of the rotation guys. Jurrjens has had some shoulder issues, but he's beginning to look right in Spring Training and even though his ERA probably won't be 2.60 again, it should be well below 3.50. Atlanta's bullpen looks significantly different with the departures of Soriano and Gonzalez and the additions of Wagner and Saito. Wagner had an excellent 22 strikeouts in 13.2 innings with Boston and even though those are unsustainable numbers, he should be every bit as good as he's always been when healthy. Beyond Saito are the reliable Peter Moylan and young lefty specialist Eric O'Flaherty. Even though the bullpen won't be as strikeout heavy as it was with Soriano and Gonzalez in 2009, it should be an area of surprising strength. What Are Their 2010 Chances? It is difficult to be overly confident about this creaky of a team, but I like Braves to definitely win more than 86.5 games with a real chance at either dethroning Philadelphia or at least sneaking their way into the playoffs via the Wild Card. There are a lot of fragile pieces that need to stay healthy, but the Braves truly are loaded with a great balance of talent in what appears to be Bobby Cox's final season as manager of the Braves. I always found myself passionately rooting against those 90s Braves because I was still bitter about 1993 with the Giants and I always preferred those Yankees teams they lost to in 96 and 99, as well as the Twins, Jays and Indians. But over the past couple of seasons when the Braves had really good teams that are just barely out of contention, I found myself completely pulling for the old skipper and his aging superstar. I'm a believer that everything will stay in place for one final run. Click here to follow Chris Reina's Twitter feed. Click here to return to the general 2010 MLB Season Preview.