ATLANTA BRAVES

2005 finish: 90-72, 1^st place in NL East

Manager: Bobby Cox (17^th season)

Incoming: SS Edgar Renteria, RHP Oscar Villareal, RHP Lance Cormier, C Todd Pratt, LHP Mike Remlinger

Long gone: SS Rafael Furcal, RHP Kyle Farnsworth, C Johnny Estrada, 3B Andy Marte, 1B Julio Franco, RHP Dan Kolb, OF Todd Hollandsworth, RHP Jay Powell, RHP Jim Brower

Rotation: RHP Tim Hudson, RHP John Smoltz, RHP Jorge Sosa, RHP John Thomson, LHP Horacio Ramirez, RHP Kyle Davies

Relievers: Closer: RHP Chris Reitsma; Setup men: RHP Oscar Villareal, RHP Joey Devine, LHP Chuck James, RHP Lance Cormier, RHP Blaine Boyer, LHP Macay McBride, LHP Mike Remlinger, LHP John Foster (DL)

Regulars: 2B Marcus Giles, SS Edgar Renteria, 3B Chipper Jones, CF Andruw Jones, 1B Adam LaRoche, RF Jeff Francoeur, C Brian McCann, LF Ryan Langerhans

Role players: C Todd Pratt, IF Wilson Betemit, IF Pete Orr, OF Kelly Johnson, OF Matt Diaz, 1B/OF James Jurries or 1B/OF Brian Jordan

The pressure is on: Chris Reitsma gets first crack at the closer role, but things will change if he is ineffective.

Breakout candidate: With Julio Franco gone, Adam LaRoche should get more at-bats, leading to bigger numbers from the No. 5 spot behind the Joneses – provided he can handle left-handed pitching.

Rundown: When a team wins 14 consecutive division titles (OK, not including the 1994 strike year, when they were in second place the day play ended in mid-August), you just put them down as your pre-season division winner until proven otherwise. Not that there aren’t reasons for doubt: Leo Mazzone isn’t around anymore. Neither is Rafael Furcal. Can Chris Reitsma be a successful closer, or will Bobby Cox have to go through the auditioning thing again? What if a massive case of the sophomore jinx sets in? Not to mention the fact that the Mets appear to be significantly better. But GM John Schuerholz and manager Bobby Cox have earned the benefit of the doubt, and if a hole needs to be filled, and some roster juggling needs to be done, you just assume that will happen, the Braves will win 90 or so games, and be back in the playoffs, where…we won’t go into that. Here are some more reasons to believe the streak will stretch to 15: Chipper Jones played in only 109 games last season, and is healthy and mashing in the World Baseball Classic. It’s reasonable to expect more from Tim Hudson, who battled an oblique strain and went 13-9-3.52 in his first season in Atlanta, and has supplanted John Smoltz as the Opening Day starter. They won’t have to spend a month or two figuring out that Raul Mondesi and Brian Jordan aren’t the answers at the corner outfield spots. In fact, the entire roster is more stable and defined than it was heading into last season. Reitsma can’t be as bad as Dan Kolb was last April, before he lost the closer role. John Thomson’s bizarre torn ring finger tendon cost him two months, but he posted a 3.68 ERA in September, and is healthy now. And while they won’t have Mike Hampton for the entire season due to Tommy John surgery, he only made 12 starts last year – all but three before June 1. They will, however, need every inning they can get from Smoltz, who got through 229.2 of them last season in an odds-defying return to the rotation at age 38 and after four seasons as a closer. But like Schuerholz and Cox, we should know by now not to doubt Smoltz. Jorge Sosa remains in the rotation after a breakout 2005 season, and Horacio Ramirez is capable of more at 26 and in his fourth big-league season. Kyle Davies also has shown this spring that he is ready, so there is a chance Thomson could be dealt for more help in the bullpen, where injuries temporarily have thinned things out. Blaine Boyer, Macay McBride and John Foster all could start the season on the disabled list, although the first two should be back by early April. Oscar Villareal could reemerge as a force after two injury-filled years in Arizona, and closer-of-the-future Joey Devine will fill a setup role. The only change among the regulars is Edgar Renteria for Furcal. While Renteria figures to bounce back from an off year in Boston, he’s not going to match Furcal’s 11 triples and 46 steals. Marcus Giles gets the first crack at the leadoff spot, with Renteria behind him, and you can expect something similar to the Braves’ fourth-place finish in runs scored last season. Yep, same old story, one more year in Atlanta.

Predicted finish: First place, 92-70

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