30 Teams in 30 Days 2018 24 Atlanta Braves

With a new stadium and a new front office, the Braves are ready to start inching back from rebuilding to contending. While it was definitely a blow to see a number of their top prospects stripped away due to infractions committed by the previous baseball operations regime, Atlanta still has a talented core at (or soon to be at) the Major League level, and they should soon be a force to be reckoned with in the NL East.

All-Acquired Factor

The only new player shown in the Sports Illustrated baseball preview issue is projected fourth starter Brandon McCarthy, but the story of how he came to the Braves is noteworthy enough to deserve some deeper examination. B-Mac was one of four players acquired from the Dodgers (along with veteran first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, injured lefty starter Scott Kazmir, and utility infielder Charlie Culberson) in exchange for Matt Kemp and the rest of his massive contract. While the overall amount of money that changed hands was about even, the deal was engineered to help Los Angeles push some of their salary obligations into the future, so that they could sneak their 2018 payroll under the luxury tax threshold. In the end, McCarthy and Culberson are the only players remaining with the Braves: Gonzalez was released immediately after the transaction (and later signed with the Mets), while Kazmir stuck around until five days before Opening Day before being handed his walking papers.

Fifth Starter

With Kazmir out of the picture, the last spot in Atlanta's rotation ended up going to Non-Roster Invitee Anibal Sanchez (ranked 711 by MLB.com), who joined the Braves after being cut loose by the Twins in Spring Training. He had a good couple of starts (and one good relief appearance) before going down with a hamstring strain, leading to the call up of Matt Wisler, a former two-time top 100 prospect (2014-15), who has settled into a solid depth role. Also on the injury front, prospect Luiz Gohara was ticketed for a rotation spot until he sprained his ankle during Spring Training, causing his pre-season ranking to drop to 353.

Left Field

According to the FanGraphs 2018 positional power rankings, superprospect Ronald Acuna Jr. will serve as Atlanta's primary left fielder, a projection that was backed up by his very solid MLB.com fantasy ranking of 154, and all but confirmed by his superhuman Spring Training performance (1.247 OPS in 52 plate appearances). Nevertheless, no one was surprised when Acuna was left off the Braves roster to start the season, due to service time concerns - by now we're all familiar with the somewhat arbitrary rule that gives a team an extra year of control over a player who spends the first ~2 weeks of the season in the minor leagues. (Sports Illustrated predicted that fact, naming placeholder Lane Adams as the starting left fielder, although in reality it has been Preston Tucker (acquired from the Astros during the offseason, and ranked 723) who has filled in, quite admirably so far. Adams, in fact, was just recently designated for assignment, leaving Peter Bourjos (772), picked up after being released by the Cubs, as their top reserve outfielder.

The surprises came when Acuna started off the season ice cold at the plate in Triple-A (.582 OPS through 67 PA). Perhaps pitchers are starting to make adjustments to Acuna's otherworldly talent after he spent 54 games at that level last year, perhaps he's phoning it in expecting to get called up at the earliest opportunity; whatever the reason, his poor performance has not yet earned him an MLB promotion, and I'm sure there are some in Atlanta's front office who are hoping (not publicly, of course) that his struggles continue through the month of June so that the organization can avoid paying him an extra year's worth of Arbitration salary. Whatever happens, Acuna is still considered the Braves' left fielder of the future, and it's quite likely we see him take that mantle at SOME point during the 2018 season.

Third Base

Looking at fantasy points will show you that Johan Camargo had a decent rookie season last year; what they won't show you is that the peripherals behind that season mean that it's unlikely to be repeated in the future. We haven't been able to see whether or not that's the case, as Camargo has managed only four games (one start) so far this year due to oblique issues. In the meantime, it's been another minor league signee, Ryan Flaherty (late of the Orioles, by way of the Phillies), who has filled in (quite admirably) in his stead. In an interesting, and perhaps noteworthy move, new Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos just recently brought in former star slugging outfielder Jose Bautista on a minor league deal, where he's slated to play his old position of third base, so Joey Bats could be a factor at the hot corner sometime down the line. In any event, whoever plays third base will be seen as little more than a stopgap for pre-2018 top 100 prospect Austin Riley.

Song

Georgia on My Mind - Ray Charles version

When Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell wrote "Georgia on My Mind" back in 1930, the franchise now known as the Atlanta Braves was located in Boston (although they were still known as the Braves), and its roster featured Hall of Famers George Sisler (in his final year) and Rabbit Maranville, not to mention a 38 homer performance by rookie Wally Berger, and 251 innings from starting pitcher Socks Seibold. I picked the Ray Charles version from 1960 rather than the original recording by Carmichael, not just because the then-Milwaukee Braves finished second (as opposed to sixth) thanks to contributions from Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn, and Lew Burdette, but also because Charles sang the song specifically with the state of Georgia in mind, rather than the sister of the original songwriter. I also briefly considered "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and The Pips for this spot, but decided against it, even though by the time it was released in 1973, the fifth place Braves had settled in Atlanta, with Hank Aaron now joined by Darrell Evans, Davey Johnson, and Phil Niekro.