Bobby Cox has done an incredible job for the Atlanta Braves over his career. Cox has managed the Braves for 21 seasons and he’s compiled a 1,816-1,394 (.566) during the regular year. He also has won a World Series (1995) and he’s won 14 Division Titles with the Braves. Over his 25 year major league career as a manager, Cox has compiled a 2,171-1,686 (.563) record during the regular season and he’s 66-66 (.500) in the post season.

The Braves identified the bullpen as their biggest weakness in the off-season so they really reloaded on arms to cure that problem. 38 year old righty Bob Wickman will be the Braves stopper again this season. He was 1-6 with 33 saves, a 2.67 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 57 games for the Cleveland Indians and the Braves. He was really awesome after the Braves traded for him as he saved 18 games, had a 1.04 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP in 28 games for them. Look for the Braves to limit Wickman’s innings to keep him healthy and effective. He will save 30+ games for the Braves this season as long as he stays in one piece.

28 year old lefty Mike Gonzalez will be half of the set-up crew for the Braves and they brought the flamethrower to town in a trade for Adam LaRoche. Gonzalez also has experience as a closer if something happens to Wickman during the season. Gonzalez was 3-4 with 3 holds, 24 saves, a 2.17 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP in 54 games last season for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Batters only hit .213 (lefties .163) against him last season and he whiffed 64 batters in 54 innings so that shows you what kind of dominating stuff he has. Gonzalez’ only weakness is sometimes he’s a little wild as he walked 31 batters in 54 innings, but that’s a small problem for him that will be fixed by the Braves. He will have a great 2007 for the Braves.

27 year old righty Rafael Soriano was added from the Mariners in a trade for Horacio Ramirez and he brings big-time heat from his right arm. Soriano was 1-2 with 18 holds, 2 saves, a 2.25 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 53 games for the Mariners last season. Batters only hit .204 (righties .179) against him last season and he whiffed 65 batters in 60 innings which shows the kind of stuff he has. The Braves have essentially three closers to line up in a row and Soriano has the best stuff of any of them. Look for him to also have an outstanding 2007 season.

25 year old righty Oscar Villarreal was 9-1 with 2 holds, a 3.61 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP in 58 games (4 starts) for the Braves last season. Villarreal’s only real problem on the mound is that he gives up too many homers as he allowed 13 of them in 92.1 innings last season. Look for him to do a solid job early in games for the Braves in 2007.

24 year old lefty Macay McBride bursted on the scene last year and pitched well for the Braves. He was 4-1 with 10 holds, 1 save, a 3.65 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP in 71 games for the Braves. Batters only hit .248 against him (lefties .181) and he whiffed 46 batters in 56.2 innings. He walked 32 batters and that got him into trouble last season. Still, look for the Braves to use him as a situational lefty and that should really improve his stats and porduction for the Braves in 2007.

29 year old righty Tyler Yates was saved from the scrap heap by the Braves last season. He was 2-5 with 12 holds, 1 save, a 3.96 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in 56 games for the Braves last season. Batters only hit .228 against Yates last season and he whiffed 46 batters in 50 innings. He needs to tighten up his control as he walked 31 batters last season and that’s way too many.

31 year old righty Chad Paronto was 2-3 with 8 holds, a 3.18 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 65 games for the Braves last season. That was by far Paronto’s best work as a major league pitcher. Look for him to continue his solid work out of the pen but it will be much earlier in games.

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The Braves took advantage of the Royals getting sick of playing Angel Berroa at shortstop. Tony Pena didn’t have much of a future for the Braves as he can’t hit. Last year was the first season that Pena hit over .260 in the minors as he hit .282 in 81 games for the Braves AAA team. He then played in 40 games for the Braves and he only hit .227 with a .602 OPS. In return for Pena, the Braves get the #15 rated prospect in the Royals system according to Baseball America. The 21 year old righty started 10 games in the minors last season and he was 4-1 with a 2.91 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. Cordier had Tommy John surgery last fall and he will miss the 2007 season, but, this still was a great move for the Braves who didn’t have any expectations that Pena would ever be more than a reserve player at the major league level.

The Braves have a decent mix of veterans and youngsters set up for their rotation but they will need health to provide the team with the quality innings that they need. Soon to be 40 year old John Smoltz is the #1 starter for the Braves. He was 16-9 with a 3.49 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in 35 starts in 2006. Smoltz still has the big fastball and nasty slider as evidenced by the 211 K’s he had in 232 innings last season. Injury is the only thing that could derail Smoltz who should win 15-17 games with a 3.15-3.45 ERA and 200+ strikeouts in 2007.

31 year old Tim Hudson had an off year as he was 13-12 with a 4.86 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP in 35 starts for the Braves in 2006. It’s hard to believe that Hudson had such a high ERA + WHIP in 2006 as both were career highs. Hudson still has good stuff as he whiffed 141 batters last season. Don’t look for Hudson to give up as many hits (235) or homers (25) as he did last season. Hudson will bounce back and win 15-17 games with a sub 4.00 ERA in 2007.

25 year old lefty Chuck James will be the Braves #3 starter this season and he bursted on the scene last year with a 11-4 record with a 3.78 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP in 25 games (18 starts). James will have to improve his control a little bit as he walked 47 batters in 119 innings and he must keep the ball down more as he allowed an amazing 20 homers last season. Look for James to win 12-15 games with an ERA anywhere from 3.85-4.50 in 2007.

34 year old lefty Mike Hampton missed all of last season and he injured himself swinging a bat in Spring Training and will miss the first month or two of 2007. The Braves were really depending on Hampton who has a record of 32-20 after the Braves saved him from the Colorado Rockies. Look for Hampton to pitch well for the Braves in 2007 after he gets himself healthy.

33 year old lefty Mark Redman was signed almost immediately after the Braves need Hampton would miss a big chunk of the 2007 season.  Redman was an “All-Star” in 2006 as he was 11-10 with a 5.71 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in 29 starts. Redman allowed opposing hitters to bat .307 against him in 167 innings and that will need to improve if Redman is to help the Braves. Look for Redman to win 10-13 games for the Braves with a 4.25-4.60 ERA in 2007.

23 year old righty Kyle Davies will be in a battle with Lance Cormier for the #5 starters job in 2007. Davies was a huge disappointment last season as he was 3-7 with a 8.38 ERA and a 1.94 WHIP in 14 starts for the Braves. He allowed 90 hits and 14 homers in only 63.1 innings last season for the Braves and those numbers are pathetic. Still, the Braves still have high hopes for Davies.

26 year old righty Lance Cormier also wasn’t too impressive last season as he was 4-5 with a 4.89 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP in 29 games (9 starts) in 2006. Cormier was also very generous on the mound as he allowed the Braves’ opponents to hit .314 against him last season. Cormier would be much more effective if he just cut down on walks because he has decent stuff.

The Braves didn’t sit around and mope when Mike Hampton got injured as they signed Mark Redman to a minor league contract and invited him to Spring Training. It’s expected that Redman will be in the rotation come April when the Braves break camp. Redman was an “All-Star” last season with the Kansas City Royals as he went 11-10 with a 5.71 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. But with a return to the National League and a more pitcher friendly park, Redman should be an asset to the Braves. He has a 19-24 record in two seasons in the National League with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Look for Redman to win about half of his decisions and to have an ERA in the low to mid 4’s for the Braves in 2007.

23 year old Jeff Francoeur played his first full season in the majors in 2006 and he put up some pretty impressive numbers. He played in all 162 games last season for the Braves and he hit .260 with 83 runs scored, 29 homers, 103 RBIs and a .742 OPS. He will need to get more selective at the plate if he wants to improve his batting average in the future. Francoeur played in all 162 games in RF for the Braves and he made 9 errors and showed below average range. He will need to improve on defense if he wants to be a complete player. Look for Francoeur to maintain his power but he won’t hit over .260 unless he swings at less bad pitches this season.

Craig Wilson will likely back up Francoeur in RF. He played in 32 errorless games in RF last season but he showed below average range.

It’s amazing to think that Andruw Jones will not be 30 years old until April 23rd, 2007. He’s been a good player for a long time, but now he’s a great player! He played in 156 games last season and he hit .262 with 107 runs scored, 41 homers, 129 RBIs and a .894 OPS! He also played very well on defense as he won his 9th consecutive Gold Glove in 2006. He played in 153 games in CF and he only made 2 errors while still showing outstanding range! Look for Andruw Jones to pop 40+ homers again in 2007 and win another Gold Glove.

Ryan Langerhans would play center if Jones needs a day off or if he gets injured. He played 24 games in CF last season for the Braves and he didn’t make an error while showing outstanding range.

Mike Hampton fell to the ground after injuring his left side in BP on Thursday. He strained his left oblique muscle and will likely miss 4-8 weeks for the Braves. His loss almost cements Kyle Davies and Lance Cormier spots in the rotation for the first month of the season. This will hurt the Braves a little bit as they were depending Hampton to give them quality innings as their #4 starter this season.

It seems as if the starting LF will be determined in Spring Training. It will either be Matt Diaz, Ryan Langerhans or possibly Craig Wilson if Scott Thorman is declared the starter at first base. 29 year old Matt Diaz was rescued from the K.C. Royals when the Braves traded for him in December of 2005. All he did last season was continually rip the cover off of the baseball. He played in 124 games last season for the Braves and he hit .327 with 7 homers, 32 RBIs and a .839 OPS. He played 95 games in LF and he showed outstanding range, but, he made 4 errors. He will need to tighten up the defense if he wants to win the full time job. He actually hit better against righties (.358) than lefties (.295) so it doesn’t seem as if he will platoon with Langerhans. I look for Diaz to get the bulk of the time in LF unless Craig Wilson enter the competition. It doesn’t matter how much he plays this season, he will hit.

27 year old lefty swinging Ryan Langerhans will get to compete for the starting job in LF this season, but he will likely lose out to either Matt Diaz or Craig Wilson. If that is the case, he will still make the team and back up at all 3 OF positions. He played in 131 games last season and he only hit .241 with 46 runs scored, 7 homers, 28 RBIs and a .727 OPS. He is an outstanding defensive LF as he played 104 games out there and only made 1 error while showing fantastic range. He has the look of a very good back up OF, but his weaknesses are exposed when he plays too much.

Craig Wilson is the wildcard in LF. He has the power that teams like at the corner outfield slots. He’s not a good defensive OF but he tries hard and isn’t afraid to get dirty. If Thorman wins the first base job in Spring Training it will be hard for Diaz/Langerhans to beat him out.