*Photo from Sporting News*
Up next, the scene shifts to the Southeastern US, to take a look at the Atlanta Braves offseason.
2019 recap
The Braves cruised through the regular season en route to the NL East title, but ultimately fell out of the gate in the deciding game 5 of the NLDS against the St.Louis Cardinals, giving up 10 runs in the first inning and were eliminated as a result.
What you need to know
The Braves front office wants to make sure this doesn't happen again in the coming years, so they opened up the wallet this offseason. They started with bullpen reinforcements, bringing in Darren O'Day and Will Smith for the back end of the bullpen. They re-signed Chris Martin for some bullpen depth, and picked up C Travis D'Arnaud to back up incumbent Tyler Flowers. To replace Dallas Keuchel in the rotation, the Braves brought in veteran lefty Cole Hamels to pair with Mike Soroka at the top of the rotation. In January, they picked up a depth infielder in Adeiny Hechavarria and picked up an old icon in Felix Hernandez to compete for a rotation spot. Then they snagged a power bat in Marcell Ozuna for the outfield. Now, here we are.
Moves I like
I like what Atlanta did this offseason. Hamels and Hernandez aren't the same pitchers, but they will only be here for one year, so Atlanta can just let them leave in free agency if they don't pan out. O'Day is good when he's healthy, and Smith had a good 2019, and he should keep it up in 2020. Martin is a good long or middle relief option, and Hechavarria can play all over the infield, and can platoon with top prospect Austin Riley at 3rd base. Ozuna is good with the bat, but has some defensive issues. He'll most likely serve in a platoon role with the rest of the Braves outfielders.
2020 outlook
The Braves still have the talent to win the NL East for the 3rd straight year, but it figures to be a 4 team race all year for the division, and they have good depth, so they should win the NL East again. But, like last year, Atlanta's success will be measured by how they do in October. Another NLDS exit might mean the end of the line for some people in Atlanta.
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