Chipper Jones thinks that's a mistake.
"If they choose to overlook us, there's nothing we can do about it," he said. "But we'll be heard from. We'll have impact. We're as good as anybody in the division. Everybody here wants to get back to the playoffs."
Braves manager Bobby Cox thinks his team was as good as anybody in the division last year. That 79-83 record and third-place finish, he says, was directly attributable to a bad bullpen.
"We had a good team last year," he said. "We had one little soft spot and it showed up."
Showed up in the form of a league-high 29 blown saves.
"Horrible," he said. "If we had just a bad year and blew only 20, I think we're in the postseason."
Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz began addressing his team's major weakness in the second half of last season, when he acquired veteran righthander Bob Wickman, who took the adventure out of the closer's role with 18 saves in 19 chances.
The retooling continued this winter when Schuerholz picked up lefty Mike Gonzalez and hard-throwing righthander Rafael Soriano in a pair of trades. Gonzalez had 24 saves and a 2.17 ERA in 54 games for Pittsburgh last year. Soriano had a 2.25 ERA in 53 games for Seattle. They join workhorse Chad Paronto and lefty Macay McBride in a bullpen that should be a solid bridge from what looks like a good rotation to Wickman.
"We're vastly improved in the bullpen," Cox said. "If we have those guys last year, we're in the postseason."
You have to go back to 1990 to find the last time that Braves hadn't made the postseason.
"I enjoy pitching at that time of year," said John Smoltz, the Braves' ace. "Watching it - it's not a lot of fun."
Smoltz, who'll face the Phillies on opening day, is known for being brutally honest. He's not happy about the way the Braves played the last several years, even as they were winning division titles. The Braves were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs four straight seasons, 2002 to 2005.
