Atlanta Braves 2006 Season and Off Season

The Atlanta Braves 2006 season saw of the greatest streaks come to an end. Starting in 1991 the Braves have been in the playoffs every year until 2006 when that streak ended. How many other sports teams can saw that for 14 consecutive years they reached the playoffs?

During 2006 the Braves had their first losing record at 79 and 83 since the 1990 season when their record was 65 and 97. 2006 saw the Braves with a lot of young players mixed with some veterans. Not everything that happened during the year was bad though.

Second year catcher Brian McCann proved that his success in 2005 was not a fluke. McCann played in 130 games; he hit .333 with 24 home runs and 93 runs batted in. He should be a good player for quite some time since he is only 23. Jeff Francoeur, Atlanta native, played in all 162 games during the season. Francoeur hit .260, 29 home runs, and 103 runs batted in. It was also his second full season. Francoeur and McCann both came up to the majors from Double-A during 2005. Adam LaRoche set career highs in hits, doubles, home runs, runs batted in, and batting average in his third big league year. 2006 saw LaRoche hit .285, 32 home runs, and 90 runs batted in.

Andruw Jones continues to be one of the greatest centerfielders of all-time. Andruw had another consistent year with both the bat and the glove. He hit .262, 41 home runs, and 129 runs batted in. Chipper Jones had a second straight year in which he battled injuries. Limited to 100 games, Chipper hit .324, 26 home runs, and 86 runs batted in.

The pitching staff seemed to have the most problems during 2006. John Smoltz had another outstanding season in the starting rotation. Smoltz started 35 games and threw 232 innings while striking out 211 batters. He finished with a record of 16 and 9 with an era of 3.49. Tim Hudson also started 35 games during his second year with the Atlanta Braves. He had a 13 and 12 record in 218.1 innings with an era of 4.86. Nobody else in the rotation started more that 18 games. There were 5 other pitchers on the entire staff that made 10 or more starts.

The bullpen was not much better. The Braves lacked a closer most of the season until the acquired veteran Bob Wickman from the Indians. Wickman had 18 saves with an era of 1.04 for Atlanta. Other bright spots from the bullpen included Chad Paronto, Oscar Villarreal, Macay Mcbride, and Tyler Yates. The rest of the guys were not so good.

During the off season the Braves made some changes. Marcus Giles was not retained and later signed with the San Diego Padres. They also let reliever Chris Reitsma go. Often injured starter Horacio Ramirez was traded to the Seattle Mariners for dominate setup man Rafael Soriano.

The 2007 Braves should show improve. Having a closer the whole season will certainly help. Soriano will bridge the game from the starters to the closer. Atlanta will need guys to step up and stick in the starting rotation. The offense should still be good. The big question is can the Braves start a new run in 2007 and go another 10+ years making the playoffs?