The Braves 2008 off season: brought to you by Susan Lucci

The Atlanta Braves have had one of the worst off seasons that I can remember, until last weekend. The Braves, like most teams, entered the hot stove season with a number of needs. And each one was addressed with the energy and enthusiasm to get everyone in town excited and then let us all down.

- Starting rotation help -The off season started knowing Hudson was out until at least mid season. Hampton signed elsewhere. Glavine and Smoltz were big big question marks. Jair Jurrgens was the only starter who's name Bobby Cox can write in pen when the season ended.
What they did in the hot stove

The good - They traded for Javier Vasquez. It was a nice pick up to bolster the back of the rotation, but hardly anything to get excited about.

The bad - Smoltz left for Boston. I think this one hurt the pride of Atlantans more than anything else. The guy is 42 and coming off surgery, if he wasn't John Smoltz no one would really be that sad to see him go.

The ugly - the Braves outright refusal to pony up the prospects for Jake Peavy. Allow me to step on my soap box and shout at the rain for a moment. I will never understand what makes GM hang onto pitching prospects when they have the opportunity to trade for elite pitching (see Yankees vs Johann Santana). It basically boils down to this, if your pitching prospects hit their ceiling - they will be Jake Peavy. Doesn't it make more sense to trade for Peavy? This clip explains it all. If you play out all scenarios I believe the Braves trading for Peavy would have been a no lose situation. If Peavy was great and the Braves were in contention, then all is well in the world. If the Braves were out of the race in July they would be able to unload Chipper to a contender and re-stock the farm system.

The redemption - Braves sign Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami this past weekend. Suddenly their rotation lines up with Lowe, Jurrgens, Vasquez, Kawakami, and someone to fill a gap until Hudson gets back. This is a deep rotation, if not overly impressive.

- Lead off hitter - the Braves have a lot of guys who can fill in the lead off roll, but no traditional lead off hitter. Escobar and Johnson filled in last year, but neither one gets on base or is enough of a threat to run to really make an impact.

What they did in the Hot stove
Well Rafael Furcal signed a four year deal to return to Atlanta. He was going to reclaim his position in short stop and return to his spot atop the Turner Field line up. There were articles on line and in the paper. The Braves had planned a press conference. And then things became very real. Furcal just used the Braves to get the contract he wanted from the Dodgers. Wow. This is a painful experience for any team, but add in the fact that it happened from your starting short stop from 2000-2005 and that's enough to make anyone go straight for the bottle. But hold on Braves fans, its about to get a whole lot worse.

- Right handed middle of the order hitter, preferably a left fielder - The core of the Braves order is solid Chipper, McCann, Kotchman, Escobar, etc. But they are missing that one feared hitter to anchor things. Since Chipper is a switch hitter, and B-Mac is a lefty, if the new guy could be a righty all the better.

What they did in the Hot Stove

Every time a free agent right-handed power hitter was mentioned this off season the Braves were mentioned as a contending team. Somehow, they came home with nobody.

Pat Burrell - Tampa
Raul Ibanez - Philly
Milton Bradley - Cubbies

Now don't worry Braves fans there is still time to act. If you can sell yourself on a Lefty-heavy lineup Bobby Abreu or Adam Dunn could be yours. There is a chance a former Brave and current Dodger will be heading back to Atlanta - sadly, it may be Andruw Jones and not Furcal. And we all know Manny is still a free agent.

Well Braves fans the good news is Susan Lucci eventually got her Emmy. Who knows maybe your off season award is still to come.