With the conclusion of the World Series, it's time for an After Action Report on the Braves' season.
What went better than expected?
Jeff Francoeur improved his plate discipline. Walks were up from 23 in 2005 to 42 in 2006, putting him on par with Alfonso Soriano after his third full year in the majors. This helped Frenchy improve his batting average from .260 to .293, and his total extra-base hits went up. This means he really only needs marginal improvements, a bit more plate discipline here, a tiny bit of power ther, to have a break out year
Edgar Renteria, when healthy, had an amazing year.
The decision to trade him made sense, but it's going to be tough to replace his production. Yunel Escobar better be as good as his half-season suggests.
Chipper Jones had one of the three best years of his career. Only his MVP year and 2001 were significantly better.
The Atlanta Braves got Mark Teixeira, who promptly hit the cover off the ball
In general, GM Schuerholz made effective, bold moves at the deadline, picking up Teixeira and Dotel. Saltalamacchia was a big price to pay, but the Braves really were in a position to make a run at the division title, and if you played the season over again, Tex might have made the difference.
The bench mostly carried its weight. Traditionally a source of weakness for Atlanta, the Braves substitutes did an admiral job filling in. Matt Diaz had a good half-year in left field, though his left-right platoon suggests he won't be an every day player. Yunel Escobar was effective enough in the infield that the Braves decided to trade Renteria (definitely a "sell high" move, as well as a chance to free up salary for Tex). Even Willie Harris had a couple of good months before turning into a pumpkin.
What went as expected?
Jarrod Saltalamacchia did adequately in his midseason call-up. .266/.310/.422 is decent performance if Salty can play catcher, and he's very young, but at first base it's not clear if he will be a perennial All-Star. He was expendable with McCann signed to such a cheap long-term deal. But he may be a player the team misses sorely in the coming years.
The bullpen was decent. ESPN says the bullpen era was second in the league, though it sure didn't seem like it was that good.
The Kelly Johnson-to-second-base experiment worked. Defensive statistics are imperfect, but Zone Rating suggests KJ was a slightly below average defender, which is about all one can expect. Coupled with his impressive plate discipline and substantial power for a 2nd baseman (3rd in the NL in OPS), it was definitely the right decision.
What went worse than expected?
Brian McCann took a step backward. This has to be the biggest concern for the Braves. McCann has already had a couple of oddball injuries, which is fine if they don't affect his performance too much, but this year they seemed to have an impact. His walks were down, his strikeouts were up, and his power dropped considerably.
Andruw Jones had an awful year at the plate. Bad enough that the Braves didn't make any real attempt to sign him, though they might not have in any circumstances given the asking price. But .222/.311/.413 is not a good way to make friends. Andruw's getting close to the age where he may totally crater. I hope he doesn't, but the team doesn't seem interested in bearing the risk at Scott Boras' asking price.
Scott Thorman was a total zero. .216/.258/.394 is a line you might see from your backup shortstop, but not your left-handed hitting first baseman.
Bobby Cox kept giving at-bats to players that were hot in May but ice cold in August. See Harris, Willie.
All in all, the Braves' luck tended to average out in terms of player performance. But based on their record they underperformed, which means they might be back in contention again next year.
