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posted March 24, 2008 at 17:53 in MLB Free Picks

John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Tim Hudson headline the top three spots in the rotation for the Atlanta Braves – all that is missing is Greg Maddux for an early '90s reunion.

As long as Smoltz and Hudson continue their strong performances, Glavine fits in well as a solid No. 3 innings eater.

There are question marks at the back end where Chuck James, Mike Hampton and Jeff Bennett are expected to compete for time, but the reality is that the Braves are rarely ever short on pitching.

James can chew up some innings and the Braves are confident that they have enough talent in the farm system if the Hampton project fails. Hampton hasn't pitched in over two years.

Keep in mind that Smoltz and Glavine aren't getting any younger so if injuries or age set in, the Braves will start rebuilding their rotation with youngsters, which means they'll be out of contention.

Relief Pitching:

Last year, the Braves figured they had a depth at closer as Bob Wickman, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano were supposed to be capable. After Wickman's collapse and Gonzalez' injury, the load falls on Soriano.

Soriano has the stuff to be a closer and has been pegged to be one of the future since his days in Seattle. The key for Atlanta will be to get Gonzalez back at full strength (from Tommy John surgery).

If that's the case and he work the eighth, that will allow all of the other arms to fall into place.

Without him, there is a vacancy for the setup role, which likely will be filled by committee.

Hitting:

Between Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson and Mark Kotsay, the Braves should have a decent leadoff hitter, which was a problem last year.

Mark Teixeira came over from Texas midseason and had a monster season. He'll fill the power that Andruw Jones typically produced, but failed to do last year.

With Chipper Jones, Teixeira, Jeff Francoeur Brian McCann and Matt Diaz, the Braves should be plate more runs since there are effective table-setters at the top.

Kelly Johnson started last season as the apparent solution to Rafael Furcal at the top of the lineup, but couldn’t shoulder the load the whole season. With Escobar and Kotsay around, expect Johnson to have a much stronger season since he won’t have all of the pressure on his back.

With productive hitters at the top of the lineup, the batting order won’t be a problem for the Braves.

Regular Season Wins: 85.5

The Atlanta Braves finished with 84 last year in what some might consider to be a down year – a second down year after making the playoffs for 14 consecutive seasons.

But now they have some pitching depth with the addition of Tom Glavine and they have Mark Teixeira for a full season. More importantly, a year of growth for Francoeur, Johnson, Escobar and a deep pool of pitchers that on the cusp of the big leagues means the Braves are ready to contend again.

The odds makers have the Braves pegged to win two more games than they won last year, but don’t forget that Bob Wickman blew a handful of saves last year that could have easily go them to 86 wins.

Keep in mind that this division is much more competitive than the days of when the Braves used to be penciled in as the NL East champ prior to the season. Even so, they are one of the teams in the three-horse race and should finish with 86 wins.

Free Pick: Over 85.5 wins

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