Braves Can Send Bobby Cox To Retirement Happy

The Atlanta Braves are not the best team in baseball. They are not even the best team in the National League. That doesn’t mean the team lacks the talent to send Bobby Cox into retirement with a smile on his wrinkled face.

I’m not going to be a homer and say the Braves are going to win the World Series. We’ll hope they make it into the postseason.

There are a lot of questions that the season will answer.

For example, will Troy Glaus provide any boost to the Braves offense?

Will Martin Prado be able to continue his improvement and be a solid second baseman?

Has Yunel Escobar matured enough to realize he is likely going to be crowned as the team’s leader once Chipper Jones decides to hang his bat up for good.

Is the outfield of Melky Cabrera, Nate McLouth and Matt Diaz good enough? Do you call up Jason Heyward (all signs are telling me that the Braves do plan to bring up Heyward sooner than later) with fingers crossed? How much can a rookie do for a team, anyway?

Now, I can feel confident in answering some questions about the Braves.

Will the rotation survive without Javier Vazquez? Yes. Tommy Hanson is the real deal and Jair Jurrjens has proven he is an ace. Add to the equation a healthy Tim Hudson and even an average Derek Lowe (15 wins) make this one of the best rotations in baseball. It’s not the best, though.

Chipper Jones will rebound because he knows that his career clock is ticking.

The Braves added some depth with Eric Hinske and removed two inconsistent relievers who each had special stuff, but they could not stay healthy or consistent enough for the Braves to really compete for pennant.

Bobby Cox might be all this team needs for motivation, but there is no question that certain players will have to succeed if this team is going to compete.