Atlanta Braves

It was a fairly quiet winter in Atlanta. The biggest news were the few fan favorites who left for other cities, and the future home of the Braves—Cobb County. There were a couple acquisitions that will help the Braves, but none that change the look of the club.

This calm offseason taught us a few things about the Atlanta Braves. From the financial issues to the bullpen, here is what we learned.

There are a few standout shortstops in baseball. Then there is the inarguable standout shortstop on defense, Andrelton Simmons.

The Atlanta Braves will once again hope a relatively young and inexperienced starting rotation can anchor the 2014 season as it did in 2013.

The Braves entered 2013 facing questions about Mike Minor and Julio Teheran's effectiveness for an entire season.

Brandon Beachy's health and Kris Medlen's role were also questions.

The end result was a 3.51 ERA for the starting rotation—good enough for fifth in the National League.

The Atlanta Braves continue to keep things close to the vest in regards to their offseason plans.

The Braves have some holes to fill, but if the season started today, they could field a competitive 25-man roster.

This makes the Braves relatively quiet players this offseason.

With that said, general manager Frank Wren will not pass up an opportunity to improve the club.

The Atlanta Braves have been selective in making moves so far this offseason.

With a young and talented core in tact, the Braves don't have many major moves to make.

However, there are still some questions that need to be answered as we approach the new year.

If the Braves are going to repeat as National League East champions, they have some loose ends that need to be tied up, to solidify this team as the early favorite.

The very thought of trading Craig Kimbrel can't help but rile up Atlanta Braves fans.

Although it's not necessarily even an actual rumor, the concept of trading baseball's best closer—as suggested recently by Buster Olney of ESPN (subscription required) merely as speculation—is just the kind of proposition that is, in a word, divisive.

Olney writes:

On Monday, the Braves shocked the baseball world with the announcement of plans to build a new stadium in the suburbs of Cobb County, Georgia, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. If it feels like Turner Field just opened yesterday, your sense of time isn't that far off from reality.

One of the biggest questions for the Atlanta Braves heading into the postseason was whether the lack of experience in their starting rotation and the absence of a true "ace" would come back to bite them.

Be excited Braves fans, the postseason has finally arrived.

The Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers are set to square off on Thursday for a five-game series with the winner advancing to the NLCS (online viewing information found here).

Like the Red Sox, whose offseason free agent targets I previewed yesterday, the Braves are one of the best teams in baseball without too many weaknesses on their current roster. The difference is that the Sox have several key players headed for free agency while the Braves have just one—catcher Brian McCann. And they could choose to replace him internally.