The Atlanta Braves should be a lot more interesting to watch in 2017 but not necessarily because they will dramatically improve their win total after registering a National League-low 68 victories last season. Atlanta continued its rebuild with some curious additions in the offseason and it will be interesting to see whether they make this roster better or worse in the long run. It appears as though the Braves have acquired a number of older arms and younger pitching prospects with the hope that they can find some hidden gems in their free agent haul. Meanwhile, the Atlanta offense won’t be expected to improve too much so it’s hard to imagine this club climbing out of the NL East basement in 2017.
Key Additions: SP Bartolo Colon, SP R.A. Dickey, SP Jaime Garcia, 2B Brandon Phillips, C Kurt Suzuki, IF Sean Rodriguez
Key Losses: OF Mallex Smith, RP John Gant, SP Tyrell Jenkins, C A.J. Pierzynski
Strengths
The Braves brought in R.A. Dickey, Bartolo Colon and Jaime Garcia to throw in to their pitching mix with young prospects like Mike Foltynewicz, Matt Wisler, Aaron Blair and Sean Newcomb. It’s impossible to know for sure which arms will fill out the Atlanta rotation but this does appear to be a team strength based more on depth than overall talent. On paper, these moves seem to be quite shrewd. These veterans should help bring along the youngsters and aid in the development of the franchise. At the same time, guys like Dickey and Colon were signed on short-term deals, so the Braves haven’t mortgaged their future and won’t be clogging space.
The mix of young and old will also be present in the batting order with Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis back in the mix along with youngsters like Ender Inciarte and 23-year-old shortstop Dansby Swanson. Swanson is clearly one of the most highly touted prospects in years and it will be very interesting to see how the young star responds with a ton of pressure on him to deliver right away in 2017.
Weaknesses
While Swanson and a decent cast of veterans fill out the lineup, Atlanta doesn’t have any All-Star potential on offense outside of its highly touted shortstop prospect. Kemp, Markakis and Suzuki are decent veteran additions but none of those players is going to be an All-Star selection in 2017. Meanwhile, the same can be said for a rotation that is loaded with depth but lacks elite star power. The Braves are hoping that their veteran additions can be just good enough to help compliment and buy some more time for their young players but there is nothing particularly special about this roster with the exception of Swanson’s potential.
2017 Atlanta Braves Depth Chart
| Catcher | Tyler Flowers | Kurt Suzuki | Anthony Recker | ||
| First Base | Freddie Freeman | Chase d’Arnaud | |||
| Second Base | Brandon Phillips | Jace Peterson | |||
| Third Base | Adonis Garcia | Jace Peterson | Chase d’Arnaud | Rio Ruiz | |
| Shortstop | Dansby Swanson | Chase d’Arnaud | Jace Peterson | ||
| Left Field | Matt Kemp | Jace Peterson | Chase d’Arnaud | Rio Ruiz | |
| Center Field | Ender Inciarte | Jace Peterson | Emilio Bonifacio | Micah Johnson | |
| Right Field | Nick Markakis | Jace Peterson | Chase d’Arnaud | Emilio Bonifacio | |
| Starting Pitcher | Julio Teheran | Bartolo Colon | Jaime Garcia | R.A. Dickey | Mike Foltynewicz |
| Relief Pitcher | Arodys Vizcaino | Ian Krol | Paco Rodriguez | Mauricio Cabrera | Jose Ramirez |
| Closer | Jim Johnson | ||||
Projected Win Total: 71.5
World Series Odds: +12500
Outlook
If everything goes right, Atlanta could be marginally better in 2017 with a chance to improve on last year’s terrible win total. Remember, they finished the season on a high note as they were far better in the final months than they were in the early months of the 2016 season. The Miami Marlins appear poised to take a step back in the NL East but the Phillies could be better, so it will be difficult for the Braves to climb out of their division basement. Dealing with the Nats and Mets – two playoff teams – won’t help their case. Atlanta is a team in transition and while they might be more interesting to watch this coming season they won’t necessarily be all that much better overall in 2017.
Prediction: 72-89
The 2017 MLB season is rapidly approaching, so if you’re looking at some early lines and World Series futures, click here to bet on MLB (or any other sports) at BetDSI!
