Rune on THE NL East

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Rune on The NL East, It?s not the sequel to Debbie does Dallas or Das Texan does Montana ( ) but will be just as entertaining if not more, I will bore you with my

Personal opinion and then give you the best damn predictions you?ll fine (or most ignorant) but either way, here we go, I?ll list my run down of each team based on their standing last year and every day their will be a new one while on the sixth, I will give my final standings and my award predictions

The Days of Ted Turner are gone, now exit The Cowboy Hat enter the empty pockets, The Braves have still have the pieces of a winning team but the remaining pieces of a championship run are long gone but The Puzzle is still very clear despite some missing parts. Possibly the best Outfield in baseball has just been stripped of it?s biggest part, Sheff departed for the much greener pastures of Gotham leaving a gaping hole, what?s their remedy for loss of All-Star? Brining in the 2004 version of The Black Knight in Monty Python. J.D. Drew is a reasonable replacement for The 80 games he?s healthy for the other days they will rely on young Ryan Langerhans and Gary Mathews, if Drew does somehow defy reasonable thinking and does remain healthy, The OF will still remain one of the best out there. If Drew goes out there and proves his body can not take the game, The Braves are either left with a huge dilemma only able to be filled by essentially 4th OF or they could trade for an even further downgrade of Drew, either way The Braves could be resting their entire Season on J.D. If J.D. does go down it?s now essential that Chipper returns to his MVP/3B form and it appears theirs no way around it. A heavy burden is being put on two of the most talented Outfielders in the game and we will be quick t find out how much influence one player can make on the rest. Now from The Negative to the positive we go which is their Rotation, most are quick to say that The Braves have been left on their butts by the departure of Maddux and it?s an obvious hole. His departure will hurt but how soon everyone forgets about Paul Byrd. Byrd as we know was left out of last year?s season due to health problems, is he 100%? We will have to see but if he is able to deliver or even semi ? deliver what he did in KC in 2002, Atlanta could be greatly rewarded by a win total in the high teens. Also add Russ Ortiz who shows no signs of slowing down, A Healthy Mike Hampton who revived his career with Leo last season, what could another year do with Rockin Leo do for him? Then we get to the age-old question, Is The Sophomore slump in sight? This time it?s directed at 24 year old Horacio Ramirez, with an era for 4.00 last year and 12 wins Horacio surprised a lot of people and could have easily been the best rookie pitcher any year EXCEPT last year. Horacio shows skill but was sketchy following the all star break but what pitcher wasn?t last year? If Horacio shows development he could find his way to one of the future stars of the braves organization, if he falters he proves to be another Damian Moss. Then we go on to the fifth starter for the Bravos, Thomson, Wright, etc? Take your pick because it?s not going to be pretty and I?ll leave it at that. The Braves do have another bright spot when it comes to pitching, They have the best bullpen in the majors? If their starting pitchers are able to last eight innings for Smoltz, Smoltz is getting up there in age and this is the time closers begin to lose their steam but are you willing to bet against, Smoltz?. The Braves are left with a pit full of muck when it comes to their middle pen. During the off-season, The Braves acquired such names as Alfonseca and Almanza, what do they both have in common? Both are Marlins dropouts neither realistically are going to improve to make The Braves middle bullpen any better but both have shown small windows of brightness then covered by a freak mud slide, The Braves also have some young talent who are going to have to improve to remain a brave, Trey Hodges had a luke warm season last year but is still young and it?s possible he could post somewhere in the high 3?s this year, Jung ?Pass The? Bong on the other hand exploded last year posting a plus five era having various stints with the team, I like him but he?s going to have to fight to be a part of this team

Another gaping hole inside The Braves organization is their corner infield position, as of now they have a young 1b Prospect named Adam Laroche and on the other end appear to be giving utility infielder Mark Derosa his chance. Considering Derosa put up quality numbers off the bench last year and add that to the fact that his basis of comparison(Vinny Castilla), I predict Derosa will have a solid season at third, will it be enough to make up for The Offensive Loss of Sheff? No but at least he can say he started. Laroche on the other hand is a quality prospect, posting great numbers in his runs in A and AA last season, the downside to him though is he never saw a late September call up, so neither The Braves or anyone can be sure just how he?ll react to this level but you can be sure he?ll see plenty of ST time to ease his way into the big?s.

Then like a long drawn out story, The Braves misfortunes continue after letting veteran Javy Lopez go via FA the braves are left with young blue chip prospect Johnny Estrada to fill his void, like just like The Braves story he is being places The Burden of picking up where Javy left off, but unlike other young prospects Estrada has already seen plenty of time in The Majors due to Mike Lieberthal?s 2001 injury, Estrada some quality time behind the plate although his stats were not the prettiest, it has given him some valuable experience for a young catcher add that to his success in The Minors and The Braves should have no problem at catcher, Javy Lopez? No but who could repeat that season?

Summary: The Braves have enough pieces to make a run whether it?s A WS Run or a run to the buffet line at Old Country, remains to be seen but it?s clear Their young talent is going to need to step up way past expectations if this team is to add another NL East Banner.