2010 Braves limp home to 77-85 season

November 26, 2010-

"It was a tale of two seasons," said Braves GM Jobo Foster. "There were stretches where we played like a playoff bound team, but there were others when we played like we were a cellar bound team."

Succinctly worded, that sums up the GABA Braves 2010 season which saw Atlanta stumble home with a NL East 3rd place finish, 20+ games behind the GABA champion Florida Marlins.

Foster took time to review and evaluate the questions raised about this team as they came out of spring training at the beginning of this season.

1. Has the bullpen been significantly improved? "Overall, our pen remained the same...new faces, but similar performance. Despite fine steady seasons by new acquisitions Chris Perez (3-2, 2.45 ERA, 2 saves) and Josh Kinney (3-3, 3.33 ERA,), most of the rest of our relievers were spotty at best in their performance. Joe Nathan had a very "un-Joe Nathan " type season (4.03 ERA, 28 saves in 37 opportunities with 5 blown saves). I'm sure Nathan will return to form this year. We will be on the lookout again to improve our pen."

2. Will the winner of the fifth starter role be able to handle the job? "Tommy Hanson (9-14, 4.76 ERA) got the job from the start of the season and Bobby Cox stuck with him through the season. He was up and down all year, but toward the close of the season he seemed to be settling in and showing signs of the potential we feel he has. What we did not expect was Tim Hudson's troubles (3-12, 6.37 ERA and released after 17 starts). We brought up young John Rathwell who showed promise, but also, as you might expect, took some lumps (3-4, 6.05 ERA in 10 starts). We have several guys who will vying for a place in our rotation with Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, and Hanson. We certainly are looking to trade for a starting pitcher we feel will be a good fit for us."

3. Can 20 year-old Freddie Freeman handle the job at first base? "The answer is yes. Freddie did all we asked of him. For such a young rookie, he had the kind of streaks you might expect, but he had a solid year offensively (19 HR, 80 RBI, .262 BA) and defensively. He'll only get better as he matures."

4. With two lineup changes will the Braves be as productively offensively as they were in 2009? "No, we were not. From a league leading 886 runs scored, we fell to 727 (13th in the NL) last year....a full run less per game than the year before. Our two new position players, Freeman and Mark DeRosa (19 HR, 100 RBI, .286 BA), and Brian McCann (23 HR, 91 RBI, .306 BA) handled their roles well. But we had a great drop-off with the rest of the lineup. Injuries limited the time played and effectiveness of Jordan Schafer, Nate McLouth and Jeff Francoeur, our entire starting outfield. Chipper Jones had a year a lot of guys would like to have (17 HR, 77 RBI, .294 BA), but actually is a down year for him. Yunel Escobar never got on track with his bat all year as his batting average dropped from .294 to .254 and his home runs were cut nearly in half (from 13 to 7). We have got to pick up the offensive pace in 2011."

5. Will the "Bobby Cox Farewell Tour" be a motivation or a distraction for the 2010 season? "I think it proved to be neither. We will miss Bobby in the dugout this year, but I believe our new manager, Terry Pendleton, is ready to lead this team from this point forward, if we can get him the pieces he needs."

Foster went on to say that because of finances, the Braves would not be offering arbitration to Jeff Francoeur among others. "Since Jose Martinez is still a work in progress, we'll be scouring the trade markets for a good bat to go in right field. Plus any other improvements that we might be able to stir up."