Atlanta Braves

On today’s edition of This Day in Black Sports History, the 77th birthday of the man who is still widely recognized as Major League Baseball’s home run king is celebrated.

Born in Mobile, AL on Feb. 5, 1934, Henry Louis Aaron grew up in relatively poor surroundings, picking cotton on a farm and hitting bottle caps with sticks because his family couldn’t afford baseball equipment.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.

Since his major-league debut in 2006, Dan Uggla has made a living hitting home runs.

Gone is Billy Wagner, the 16-year MLB veteran, and in is Craig Kimbrel, a 22-year-old protege of the veteran southpaw.

The Atlanta Braves organization has always been one to either stand out from the crowd and wait for someone to knock their crown off; or it's been one to fly under the radar and not really be recognized as a playoff contender.

The Braves are going into 2011 with some great off-season moves (Dan Uggla in particular), but they're also going into this new season with some unproven rookies.

Mike Minor was the seventh overall pick in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft. He quickly rose through the minors and made his first major league start with the Atlanta Braves exactly 14 months after being drafted.

As January comes to an end and pitchers and catchers embark on warmer weather down south, fantasy baseball draft boards and dreams of greatness will slowly come out of hibernation. 

For those eager managers looking to get a leg up on the competition, here is a list of five young national league outfielders to target this spring. 

Begin Slideshow

After years of having Dan Uggla hit home runs against its pitching staff, the Atlanta Braves decided to add the muscle-bound second baseman to their roster. In exchange for Uggla, the Braves sent utility infielder Omar Infante and relief pitcher Mike Dunn to the Marlins.

Last season, the Atlanta Braves became the envy of the league, when MLB.com named Jason Heyward as the top prospect in their annual listing of the Top Prospects in Major League Baseball.

Last year, Jason Heyward ranked No. 1 among all Major League Baseball prospects. And boy, did he ever deliver for the Braves in his 2010 rookie campaign.

While the “J-Hey Kid” certainly helped thrust Atlanta back into the playoffs last season, he isn’t the sole reason the club is beaming about its seemingly bright future.

It is the goal of every professional athlete to leave their respective sport on their own terms, riding off into the sunset on the heels of a championship season filled with praise and accolades. This was not the case for Billy Wagner, as his 16-year baseball career ended in pain and frustration last October as his Atlanta Braves fell to the San Francisco Giants in the 2010 MLB playoffs.