Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
The Atlanta Braves were alive in the wild-card race late in the season due to a powerful pitching rotation that featured six viable starting candidates (at least there were six at the end of the season). The Braves ranked third in the National League in team ERA with a 3.57 mark and had two 15-game winners in Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez. They also ranked fourth in team batting average and sixth in runs scored even without a true cleanup hitter in the lineup.
If you examine their bullpen you'll also find two relievers who were in the top five in strikeouts among relief pitchers -- Mike Gonzalez with 90 and Rafael Soriano with 102. These relievers shared the closing duties for most of the season and each had ERA's below three to finish the year.
Nate McLouth gave it the old college try, but in the end the left hamstring injury that he sustained on Aug. 8 forced the Atlanta Braves center fielder to the 15-day disabled list.
McLouth originally sat out three games for the Braves. He played on Aug. 14 and then was forced to leave the game early the next day after re-injuring the hamstring. His injury is considered mild and he is expected back in the minimum.
McLouth has played in 56 games since coming over to the Braves from Pittsburgh in a trade in early June. He's batting .260 in an Atlanta uniform and has six home runs and 10 stolen bases.
MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.
ATLANTA -- Nobody has ever argued the fact that Bobby Cox is a smart baseball guy. But how could he have known that the Braves bats would come alive like this?
Sitting in his office after Thursday night's game, a game which marked the return of baseball from the All-Star break and the return of Jeff Francoeur to Atlanta, in a Mets uniform, Cox said, "I think the hitting you're going to see in the second half is a lot better than the first half."
If you include Thursday's game, the Braves have scored 24 runs in their four games since the break, all against the Mets. They've also averaged 10.25 hits per game and hit six home runs in their three victories (and one loss) against New York.
"I looked at the schedule and I think we have 35 games in the second half between the Mets, Phillies and the Marlins." said Derek Lowe who pitched in Thursday's 5-3 win.
ATLANTA -- As the All-Star break comes to an end around Major League Baseball, the hometown Braves play host to the New York Mets for a four-game series. Jeff Francoeur will step out into right field at Turner Field on Thursday night, but that's about the only thing looking normal as Frenchy returns home.
"I don't know. I would hope that they don't boo big-time", Francoeur said when asked what he expected from the crowd when he came to bat for the first time in Atlanta as a member of rival the New York Mets. "I've played hard here for four years and I feel like I've given my best to Atlanta and to the community."
NEW YORK – No deal more clearly defines the "change of scenery" trade than the one the Mets and Braves pulled off Friday.
Being division rivals, separated by just a half-game in the NL East, didn't matter. Each team was tired of its right fielder, and each now has a new one, with Atlanta getting Ryan Church and New York obtaining Jeff Francoeur.
"Right now, where we are, we just wanted to change it up a bit," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said. "We just needed something different."
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the Roto Rush is your double espresso shot of fantasy baseball advice every weekday.
The Mets are beginning to look like the Patriots when it comes to injury information. Just a couple of weeks ago, I told you to be worried about Jose Reyes' bum leg when we found out he had a "calf strain." Thursday night, the team confirmed Reyes has a torn right hamstring tendon and this is believed to be something new. Excuse me for being cynical, but this is the latest in a long line of sketchy diagnoses. Let's take a look at what else New York bungled, shall we ...
MLB Power Rankings:Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.
Sorry for the delay, kiddos, on the Power Rankings. I'm sure you spent the entirety of Wednesday wondering "WHERE IN GOD'S NAME ARE THEY??? WITHOUT THEM I'LL HAVE NOTHING TO BANTER SENSELESSLY ABOUT TO MY CO-WORKERS!!!1" Or something like that. Either way, it's time to debate the worthlessness of your favorite baseball team in numerical form once again. Do enjoy.
"The Mets injury woes are becoming so comical that from now on I'm just going to imagine that Snoop and Chris Partlow are bringing starters one by one into vacant homes and shooting them in the head." - Matt W., on the Progressive Boink forums
The important thing to remember here is that now is when the Mets are supposed to be great. They don't start getting bad until the middle of September. If they can hurry up and be bad NOW, maybe they will be good at the END of the season. Or they will be so bad that Major League Baseball demotes them to AAA.
Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.
ATLANTA -- Nobody has ever argued the fact that 
ATLANTA -- As the All-Star break comes to an end around Major League Baseball, the hometown Braves play host to the New York Mets for a four-game series. 
NEW YORK – No deal more clearly defines the "change of scenery" trade than the one the Mets and Braves pulled off Friday.
Poppin' out the box scores and right into your cubicle, the 
MLB Power Rankings
"The Mets injury woes are becoming so comical that from now on I'm just going to imagine that Snoop and Chris Partlow are bringing starters one by one into vacant homes and shooting them in the head." - Matt W., on the 
