The Atlanta Braves finished second in the NL East in 2011, losing the wild card spot on the last day of the season, the most exciting evening of baseball ever. The offense lacked for a star, as 39-year-old Chipper Jones produced the highest bWAR at 2.8 wins in 2011. On the other hand, five pitchers produced bWARs of at least three wins. Three of those were relievers, however. A combination of a lack of offense and not so great starting pitching put pressure on the pen to hold leads.

The Braves did not add any players from other teams to their major league roster over the winter. The did let go of the following major contributors:

• Brooks Conrad, inf
• Alex Gonzalez, ss
• Derek Lowe, p
• Scott Linebrink, p
• Nate McLouth, of
• George Sherrill

Most of these players were in the mid 30s, McLouth the youngest would play 2012 as a 30 year old. There have been rumors of a Braves trade for a shortstop all winter, but the right deal never came along. Chipper Jones feels good, and will return for one more try, but he is not the superstar of his youth. For all intents and purposes, the Braves have moved into rebuilding mode. They’ll sport a younger team, with Michael Bourn, Brian McCann and Jones at the heart of the offense. Jason Heyward is still very young, and Atlanta hopes he’ll fully recover from an injury plagued 2011 season. There’s a very good chance the Braves offense will be better in 2012.

I do worry about the bullpen, however. Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters, and Eric O’Flaherty worked very hard in 2012, with great success. The problem with relief pitchers is that any amount of work represents a small sample size. All three of them could turn in poor performances in 2012, either from Fredi Gonzalez working them too much, or just regression to the mean. With Tim Hudson undergoing back surgery this winter, the team really doesn’t have a proven innings eater on the staff. If the Braves depend on the pen as they did in 2011, they could be in real trouble.

It looks to me like the Braves will test out youngsters this season, see who can play, then build from there. For the last 20 years, this organization allowed veterans to leave and youngsters to play, and reaped the rewards for efficient use of the team’s money. This may not be a playoff year for Atlanta, but the turnaround likely won’t take long.