How will the Atlanta Braves perform in 2006?
470407
I believe they will be trumped out of the pennant by the New York Mets. The braves dont have the starting pitching they need and they have a bunch of young but promising players that wont get the job done. I like the mets followed by the phillies. I figure the braves are gonna finnish probably 3rd. One bit piece of the puzzle that is missing is pitching Leo Mazzonee....hes gonna work magic with baltimore and the braves are gonna miss him a whole bunch!
412867
The Braves will win again.  They seem to pull off miracles with minor league players every year. Look at last year, how many players got called up from Richmond and finished out the season?
1103716
Nope...they wont win their division for the first time in about 13 years...wont make it as a wild card...nope, not this year...
79060
This is OUR year. WE will dethrone the Braves. GO METS!!!
13467
The Phillies will likely be worse as they have severely downgraded at closer and traded pitcher Padilla away. Their offense will take a hit as Rowand will be worse than Michaels/Lofton, although he has a better glove. Also, Bell/Nunez and Lieberthal/Fasano will fall even further below being average producers for their position. The Mets will be much improved, and the Braves will probably drop 5 games in the standings
69451
I was just going to ask how many cub fans out there think the cubs will have a good year in 2006, and saw your post so....... As far as Dusty goes, I somewhat agree with what you say......he just does not seem to have whatever spark they seem to need to succeed. The bottom line is, though, that success\non the field is the real indicator of how good or bad a manager he is. Based on last year......the jury is out. I feel if the team is not better this year, Dusty will be somewhere else in the future.
1043155
That would be nice...but I am not going to expect it.\n\nStranger things have happened (the red sox beating the yankees after being down 3 games to none in 2004 comes to mind).\n\nEven if they play .500 ball the rest of the season that would put them at 94 wins....which could very well be a wild card.\n\nWhatever happens I am simply enjoying this.\n\nThey are long overdue.
961870
Don't panic...I am a Braves fan but I live in Columbus so I get a lot of Indian coverage.  Believe it or not they appear to know what their doing.  All of the major players are in camp and not being shopped around,  You have solid pitching. Sabathia, Lee, Byrd...You need a closer...thanks by the way! (Wickman)... Sizemore, Hafner, Marte(your welcome) will be fine...I told a buddy of mine last year that his Tigers would be better than everyone thought this past year. This year its the Indians and the Brewers. In case you missed it the Tigers were pretty good....Lucky Guess!!!!!!!!
602925
i love the Braves...I have faith...so YES they will win...
38775
The Phils won't win it all; the Braves or Mets will likely win that division.\n\nAnd I predict the Brew Crew to win it all in '06.
1074379
GO BRAVES GO!!!!!!!!!\n\nTHE RED SOX ARE OKAY TOO
1046505
I think they will have a tough season.  They just dont seem to bring in the talent after that stripper madness.  They will be ok but not contenders.
346367
The Indians will do awesome.  Think about who they have batting.  Sizemore, a great leadoff hitter.  Pronk, who will probably lead the league in homers and RBIs.  VMart, hands down the best catcher in the league.  And a few others who are showing their potential at the right time (Casey Blake, Ronnie Belliard, etc.).  Even Eduardo Perez (a former Tampa Bay-er) is getting into the act.\n\nTheir pitching staff, while not stellar, has enough to make it deep into the playoffs.  CC and Jake are good.  Jason Johnson has been good so far, and Wickman hasn't shown signs of faltering as their closer.  I think they are in a tough division though (who would have said this two years ago) but they should be able to overcome the Twins and either be a wild card team or AL Central winners.
1055589
Love the Mets.... Finally , Maybe we can beat those pesky Braves and take the division....Sorry Brave fans you run is OOVERRR!!
669195
Yes, definitely!  I am not a Mets fan, but I am so happy they're doing so well...it's about time.  They WILL beat out the Braves for the NL East...the Braves are in THIRD right now, anyway....they might not even make second...
97216
well it could be worse, you could be a cubs fan!\n\ni think as long as they keep the mazzone/cox pitching connection together, keep the youngsters (john francoeur---where did they GET that guy?) who can play to plug the holes, and have sound defense from andruw jones in center, they'll be okay.  the fish and the phils won't be much of a threat to them in 2006, i'd expect to hear the tomahawk chop again in october.  \n\n...ever again?  oh yeah!\n\nps:: i was not aware about mazzone.  sorry.
583034
The Braves are never built for the playoffs. When the rotation  shortens they lack a superstar #1 and #2 starter, and teams seem to adjust to the hitters really well to the Atlanta bats in a 5 or 7 game series.