Future NL East Champions

The 2008 Atlanta Braves season starts tomorrow!!! Bobby Cox and the rest of his staff have finally made their 25 man roster. The Braves are hopeful for a return to the playoffs this year.

They have added more depth to the rotation, bench, and bullpen this off-season. That is really going to help the Bravos on a long 162 game season. The Phillies and Mets have been going back and forth this off-season about who is going to win the NL East. They better not sleep on the 14 consecutive division winning Braves.

A plethora of experts have also picked either the Mets or Phillies to win the NL East or Wild Card. Two of the best baseball journalist in the game like Peter Gammons and Ken Rosenthal, have picked the Braves to win the East this year.

This season is going to be tough. There is going to be a great deal of ups and downs this year. The Braves should just take it one pitch at a time and win 2 of 3 or 3 of 4 each series. One of the most important things to do is to beat the teams that you’re supposed to beat. So we should never lose a series against teams like the Pirates, Nats, Marlins, and other sorry teams in the NL. We can have a better record if we sweep those less fortunate teams.

The main thing for the Braves is for everybody to stay healthy. If everybody stays healthy, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that we will make the playoffs this year. We will not only make it, but having an experienced rotation, a great lineup, and power arms in the pen. The Braves should do very well in the post-season when we make it there. The Braves will be NL East Champions!!!!!

The roster is going to look like this on opening day…

Starters
1. Tim Hudson
2. Tom Glavine
3. Jair Jurrjens
4. Mike Hampton

Bullpen
Long Relief Pitcher: Jeff Bennett
Lefty Specialist: Royce Ring
Lefty Specialist: Will Ohman
Middle Reliever: Chris Resop
Middle Reliever: Blaine Boyer
Set Up: Manny Acosta
Set Up: Peter Moylan
Closer: Rafael Soriano

Bench
Infielder: Martin Prado
Infielder: Ruben Gotay
Catcher: Corky Miller
Utility: Brayan Pena
Outfielder: Gregor Blanco

Lineup
2B. Kelly Johnson
SS. Yunel Escobar
3B. Chipper Jones
1B. Mark Teixeira
C. Brian McCann
RF. Jeff Francoeur
LF. Matt Diaz
CF. Mark Kotsay
P. Pitcher

Disabled List
Mike Gonzalez (15-day)
John Smoltz (15-day)
Anthony Lerew (60-day)
Omar Infante (15-day)
Chuck James (15-day)

When John Smoltz comes back in the series finale game against the NY Mets, expect the Braves to eliminate somebody out of the pen. In all likely hood the will probably deal Royce Ring to a team that needs help in the pen. Frank Wren has also said that he will like to add a guy to come off the bench with some pop in his bat. Wren has targeted some players, but hasn’t told the media whom he has targeted. The Braves will be World Champions!!! (I am really excited)