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This season for the Atlanta Braves will likely be an emotional one for fans and players alike. Manager Bobby Cox has decided to retire from coaching after 24 years with the team. Cox led the Braves to an unprecedented 14 consecutive division title from 1991-2005. During that span, Atlanta made it to the World Series 6 times (winning 1) and Cox has since passed Sparky Anderson for 4th on the all-time wins list. However, the Braves have not made the postseason since 2005. A mixture of veteran leadership and talented youth hope to start a new streak and send Bobby Cox off with a fond farewell. Here's a list of players who can help both the Braves and your fantasy team.
Hitters
Brian McCann - C
At a notoriously weak position, McCann is one of the best. Owning a player who can hit .300 and hit you 20-25 HR is great, but having a backstop that can do it is invaluable. Over the past four seasons, McCann has launched 86 bombs (best at his position) and has stayed right around the 90 RBI range. His batting average has fluctuated during that time, going as high as .333 and as low as .270, but offseason corrective eye surgery should (hopefully) make that a more stable category. I'd expect him near the .285-.290 range while still providing pop. When Joe Mauer and Victor Martinez are off the board, McCann becomes the hot commodity.
Yunel Escobar - SS
Yunel has seen his runs, hits; RBIs and HR improve over each of his big league seasons. At what many refer to as the "prime" age of 27, we could be in line to see a breakout season. Escobar's fly ball rate also reached a career high of 30%, so eclipsing his personal best 14 HR last season may not be farfetched either. Two things to consider, however, are his lack of speed (12 career SB) at a position known for fleet feet, and Yunel is prone to miss chunks of games with injuries (about 140 GP/year in his career). That aside, Escobar could perform his way into the top 10 shortstop in the game by the end of the year.
Jason Heyward - OF
Many consider the Braves 1st round pick of 2007 draft the best prospect in the big leagues...and why not? With a stellar mixture of power, speed, and plate discipline, there's reason to believe that 20 year-old Heyward will win the starting right field spot in Atlanta with a good spring training performance. Even if they wait until June (like they did with pitcher Tommy Hanson last year), Heyward is worth a mid-late round pickup on pure potential alone. The average stat-line projection of multiple sources I've checked: .282 AVG, 70 R, 15 HR, 65 RBI, and 10 SB. I'd take that kind of production with a mid-round pick in a year where outfield isn't as deep as it used to be. And trust me, those are modest projections.
Pitchers
Jair Jurrjens - SP
Jair may be one of the most undervalued pitchers in fantasy baseball. He's allowed less than hit per inning in a career in which he's won 27 games in 2 years with the Braves. His ERA dropped over a full run (3.68 in '08 to 2.60 in '09) last year, largely in part to a 7-3 record, 2.24 ERA, and 1.15 WHIP over the second half of the season. While I personally think this dominance can transfer to 2010, his "lucky" BABIP (.273) and strand rate (79.4) may inflate some of those numbers. But at 24, Jurrjens has plenty of time to prove himself worthy as an elite fantasy option. It likely won't be this year, but I've seen him go as low as the 30th pitcher off the board and to me that is a STEAL!
Tommy Hanson - SP
I drafted Hanson in the last round of my "big money" league last year. My patience (filled with lapses of impatience) while waiting for his June 7 call-up paid off in huge way down the stretch. In 21 starts, Hanson racked up 11 wins while sporting a 2.89 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. His 8.18 K/9 was impressive, but I expect that number to climb even higher as the 23 year-old struck out at least 10 per inning in the minors. There's good reason that Hanson is consistently seen in the top 20 for pitchers on draft boards. His .192 BAA right-handed batters was second only to Jake Peavy last year. He's got a nasty swing-and-a-miss curve, and an equally filthy slider that doesn't require him to throw a scorching fastball to fan hitters (although it is clocked at a respectable 92-95 mph). That would lead you to believe Hanson's 6-6, 220 frame can hold up for longer than 200 innings this year and catapult him into the top 10 fantasy pitchers by season's end.
Billy Wagner - RP
The Braves were so impressed with the brief 17 game stint from the 38 year-old last season with the Mets and Red Sox that they sent closers Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano packing. In his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, the lefty hopes to regain the form he once had when he dominated the NL with the Astros in the late 90's. If the last couple of months of 2009 were any indicator (1.72 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, a staggering 14.94 K/9), Wagner could shoot-up the rankings before we know it. But before I get ahead of myself, Wagner is obviously an injury risk and I wouldn't advise reaching for him. And if you do land him, do yourself a favor and handcuff him in the later rounds with Takashi Saito, who would be next in line if Wagner were to unsurprisingly need a DL trip. If he can stay healthy all year, a 30-40 save campaign wouldn't be out of the question.
The Braves seemingly have the pieces in place to make an argument for a possible run at the NL Wild Card or even yet another NL East title. The division is quite strong this year, though, top to bottom and I'm not sure if Atlanta's offense stacks up. With aging and injury-prone veterans like third basemen Chipper Jones and first basemen Troy Glaus, can the youth movement of Jason Heyward, Brian McCann, and Yunel Escobar carry the load if need be?