I will stick to my guns...

[VirginiaBrave]

This team will win 83-87 games. If its the high end they will win the 2nd NL Wild Card.

[weso1]

This team will win 83-87 games. If its the high end they will win the 2nd NL Wild Card.

This is why we have laws concerning gun regulation.

[cajunrevenge]

If Teheran/Wood perform up to expectations I also think we can win 83-87 games and contend for the second wild card. I think they should seriously consider starting to aquire players at the trade deadline that will also help us in 2016. A good example is Carlos Gomez. Add Gomez and a quality reliever or two and we would be in business.

[thethe]

Stick to the plan. The goal is playoffs next year and legit world series contender in 2017. Accelerating a plan can often times be disastorous. Team is not good enough to win anything this year even with tweaks

[nsacpi]

Stick to my guns versus stick to the plan. Things getting sticky around here.

I will stick to a point I've made before, which is that any team with Simmons and Freeman as its core only needs a decent supporting cast and some pixie dust to be a playoff contender.

[rico43]

Stick to the plan. The goal is playoffs next year and legit world series contender in 2017. Accelerating a plan can often times be disastorous. Team is not good enough to win anything this year even with tweaks

I think adding one bullpen arm (Stults?) and bringing Wisler or ManBan up by June will have this team in a position to win low-scoring games regularly.

[thethe]

I think adding one bullpen arm (Stults?) and bringing Wisler or ManBan up by June will have this team in a position to win low-scoring games regularly.

Oh, thats fine. I just don't want to start trading off pieces for short term solutions. Call up everyone that deserves a promotion if it helps the team win. As long as we win with what we have internally I'm fine. If a trade presents itself for a long term solution I'd be open to that as well. Anything but trading for a 1-2 year player.

[stpeteirish]

This team will win 83-87 games. If its the high end they will win the 2nd NL Wild Card.

only if we play the Marlins 50 times.

[gilesfan]

This team will win 83-87 games. If its the high end they will win the 2nd NL Wild Card.

Cool. Thanks for letting us know

[clvclv]

If Teheran/Wood perform up to expectations I also think we can win 83-87 games and contend for the second wild card. I think they should seriously consider starting to aquire players at the trade deadline that will also help us in 2016. A good example is Carlos Gomez. Add Gomez and a quality reliever or two and we would be in business.

I LOVE Gomez, but personally don't want ANY part of being in the bidding war he's going to generate when the Brewers make him available. He's a free-agent following next season and will command a Justin Upton level salary, PLUS would cost us at least two of Wisler/Banuelos/Fried/Peraza/Albies/Mallex Smith.

I'm fine with paying him that much, but would just wait until after next season when you just have to give up the money.

[nsacpi]

I'm encouraged that the triumvirate of Maybin Gosselin & Cunningham might be a good enough supporting cast for Simmons & Freeman.

It would also be helpful if Williams Perez were a palatable fifth starter.

[Julio3000]

I like our outfield D a lot better with Cunningham/Maybin out there instead of EY/KJ/White Gomez. I still think, if most things break right—Tron's hitting is not a mirage, pitchers' health—this team could chase .500. Someone would have to step up in the 'pen, though.

[The Chosen One]

I've stuck to my guns since the beginning of the season.

We're in for a wild (card) ride. Going to be one of the managerial seasons we'll be talking about for many years to come. When Tim Kurkjian's grandchild reports for ESPN6 a few decades from now, he's going to do a piece on the historic era of Braves Baseball between 2015-2025. It'll all start with him talking about the Legend that Almost Wasn't, Fredi Gonzalez. How Fredi's job was in up in the air heading into 2015, but he manned the ship and steered it clear to lead his team into the playoffs with grit, toughness, and leadership. Was just another chapter in what would be a Hall of Fame career.

[Tapate50]

[zitothebrave]

If Teheran/Wood perform up to expectations I also think we can win 83-87 games and contend for the second wild card. I think they should seriously consider starting to aquire players at the trade deadline that will also help us in 2016. A good example is Carlos Gomez. Add Gomez and a quality reliever or two and we would be in business.

Any improvement from Teheran will be countered in game by Shelby Miller falling back to his peripherals. .183 BABIP as a ground ball pitcher is not sustainable. That will rise sharply and when it does his ERA will come with it. Still he's pitching very well, not trying to discount that, but he's got basically the same FIP and xFIP that Wood has but his ERA is 2 and a half runs lower.

Them the what happens when Kelly JOohnson comes back to earth, Nick Markakis's BABIP returns to career norms, and tons of other things that could go wrong.

The Braves need essentially a lot of guys to over achieve and few guys to underachieve. I dont' like betting on those odds. We're devoid of a lot of good players. Let's say Julio, Wood, Miller, Freeman, and Simmons are our good-great players. Where are we after that? Who else can you say we should be able to ocunt on that guy? Last year we had Jason, Justin, Freddie, Wood, Julio, Kimbrel, Simmons, and Gattis.

Seriously there's not much you should be optimistic about. Our catcher of the future has performed way worse than expected, we don't have a real CF solution (though Maybin has performed better) Alberto Callaspo and Johnny Gomes are the turds we knew they'd be, Our bright spots are Simmons is hitting like he did in 2013, and Freddie is still Freddie, and Jace has been solid. He's not been a star by any means. Last year we had 3 position players with an fWAR over 4 and 4 incredibly reliable pitchers and a lights out back end of the bullpen. Assume Julio gets back to where we want him to be. I think we have 3 reliable pitchers, maybe 4 if Folty works out but he's young and developing I wouldn't expect it. Our backend is decent, but basically 1/4 of the way through the season,no one in the backend has stepped up. I didn't expect anyone to replace Kimbrel, but I hoped someone could replace Walden or Carpenter and that may not happen. THouhg Grilli has put up very nice peripherals and should be in that grouping.

I don't get why people are optimistic aside from it's early in the season and our division isn't that great. But it wasn't great last year either and we missed the wild card with a far superior team. And it isn't like we upgraded at manager. WE need a ton of luck to get into the playoffs.

I expect us to be sellers at the deadline. Douchebag, probably 2 of our 3 Johnsons will be gone, and I'm sure plenty of others will be on the block. Sucky play liekly eliminates Gomes and Callaspo as trade options.

[thethe]

About as cute as it gets!

[thethe]

Between Smith/Peraza/Albies there is a long term CF option in the organization.

[zitothebrave]

Between Smith/Peraza/Albies there is a long term CF option in the organization.

Probably. Never really know, injuries, poor performance, etc. can dictate that.

[thethe]

Probably. Never really know, injuries, poor performance, etc. can dictate that.

Ok, thats fine but don't say it doesn't exist when we have 3 legitimate candidates as well as a sleeper in Curcio.

[zitothebrave]

Ok, thats fine but don't say it doesn't exist when we have 3 legitimate candidates as well as a sleeper in Curcio.

I'm talking about current players on the Braves. Not future. I'm talking about our performance this year.