Atlanta Braves

If you had to name the three players in Major League Baseball who have been associated with the term “contract extension” over the past three or four seasons, who would you name?

The first thing I will forever remember about Jason Heyward was his very first at bat as a major leaguer.

Facing a 2-0 count against a veteran pitcher in Carlos Zambrano, Heyward’s first swing connected with Zambrano’s fastball and flew into orbit, as did every Braves fan’s expectations for the 20-year-old rookie.

And the guy didn't disappoint.

Martin Prado was as valuable as anyone in baseball to his team in the first half of the season in 2010 playing second base.

His MVP-caliber season was derailed in the second half as injuries kept him out of the lineup for a stretch in August, as well as the playoffs, as the Atlanta Braves were knocked out in the first round by the eventual World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants.

Since 2006, second baseman Dan Uggla has hit 154 home runs. The only person to hit more over that time is Albert Pujols.

Now the Atlanta Braves are hoping for more of the same from the 30-year-old right-handed hitter.

Uggla and the Braves agreed officially today on a five-year, $62 million extension, which will keep the second baseman through the rest of his prime years as a major leaguer.

In articles like this, many websites will provide readers with the best overall prospects at any given position, but the intention here is to focus on those prospects that are likely to provide the greatest fantasy impact for the 2011 season; thus, while Oakland 1B prospect Chris Carter may have some long-term potential, he won’t be on my list because he is blocked—at least in the short-term—by Daric Barton.

Ditto for Yonder Alonso in Cincinnati.

The 2010 season started off with a bang when Jason Heyward hit a home run in his first career at-bat.  The Braves definitely had their ups and downs throughout the season but in the end the Braves and their fans couldn’t be all that upset with the results other than the fact that it marked the end of the Bobby Cox era. 

When Chipper Jones tore his ACL (for the second time in his career) in 2010, many (including myself) thought he would hang up his spikes for good and go down as one of the best switch hitters of all time.

But Chipper wasn’t going to leave the game until he could do so on his own terms, even if it meant a grueling recovery and playing for a manger other than Bobby Cox for the first time in his career.

This past year presented Atlanta Braves fans with plenty of moments to relish.

This was the first time the Braves had reached the playoffs since 2005 and was the final season for venerable manager Bobby Cox.

But, I'm staying away from those topics for this slideshow.

Instead, I'm focusing on singular moments over the course of the calendar year that Braves fans will be talking about for years to come rather than events that involved a culmination of years/months of dedicated work to draw their fanfare.

As the hot stove quiets down after the major signings and trades have taken place (Cl. Lee-Phi., A. Gonzalez-Bos., C. Crawford-Bos., D. Uggla-Atl, etc.), the 2011 teams have started to take shape.  While more changes could be on the horizon, the following slides will show how I see the lineup, rotation, bench, and bullpen to look come springtime.

Begin Slideshow

While we were all waiting to see if Cliff Lee would choose to be in Texas or the Bronx in 2011, he went out and LeBron-d us.

Lee will be taking his talents to the city of brotherly love and join Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt to create one of the, if not the, greatest starting rotations that the world has ever seen.