Somewhere there is a balance between the misguided, sky-is-falling pessimism of some posters and the naive, laissez-faire optimism of scottyboy.

It’s easy for Phillies fans to joke. They are defending World Series champions, and they’ve filled their needs for 2009. For the Braves, it’s not so simple. The future is hazy, and it’s hard to joke when things are so unclear. We aren’t the Nats or the Royals…at least, not yet. But there is a very real danger that if things don’t turn around in the next few years, the Braves franchise could be just another Astros or Giants: a mid-market franchise struggling to get back on its feet.

So while I agree that there’s reason to be glad that Peavy or Burnett or Furcal didn’t happen, I do believe there is a great deal of urgency for the rest of the offseason. Frank Wren needs to make something happen. I don’t care what he does, but for right now, the organization is severely lacking in direction. Wren needs to make something happen, and I have full faith that he will. But I ain’t exactly going to relax either.

We don’t have three infielders who are perennial MVP candidates, or an underrated power outfield, or a solid ace, or a lights-out closer.

We are crap this year with or without Dunn/Burrell/Whoever.

all of these posts are getting old, irrespective of the approach. maybe there’s simply not much to talk about right now… for a few days? that’s not so bad.

but for anyone who is new to the site and is itching for a rehash of the peavy/escobar debates or what not, just run through the old archives where you’ll see these arguments crafted to a fine point with relevant sets of stat-based premises and pictures of the players’ wives (and then entirely new reasons and arguments to sign one particular player over another) and everything else one could ask for this holiday season.

Scottyboy poses a very reasonable question.

Here’s the answer. At the beginning of the offseason, thousands of Atlanta Braves fans were brought to believe that the Braves would acquire two top-of-the-rotation starting pitchers and a middle-of-the-order power hitting left fielder, then re-sign John Smoltz.

This very public expectation was encouraged despite the fact that the Braves compete in the professional marketplace against 29 other major league teams….many of whom have as much or more money to spend than the Braves….and many of whom want to rebuild their starting rotations and lineups as much as the Braves do.

When AJC columnist David O’Brien fanned the ill-fated Jake Peavy rumors in October and November, a large number of Braves fans were thinking along the lines of a Peavy/Burnett/Smoltz/Jurrjens/Hanson starting rotation and an improved lineup that could score a lot more runs. So for a few weeks, people actually thought the Braves might win the NL East Division pennant in 2009.

Although the actual chances of making up a 20 game deficit in the standings in one offseason while having to rebuild the starting rotation have always been fairly close to zero, this reality did not sink in for most people until the Peavy deal fell through and Burnett signed with the Yankees.

Now, many rank-and-file fans are “tense” because they are just now realizing 2009 will be a rebuilding year for a team with a lot of shortcomings and “holes”, and that is not at all what they were brought to believe at the beginning of this offseason.

Take heart. The Braves will not catch the Phillies and Mets in 2009, but there is still some very good news. That good news is that the “holes” in this ball club are almost a perfect fit with the current strengths of the Braves’ farm system. The Braves need to rebuild their starting rotation and their outfield. Within the next two seasons, talented prospects Tommy Hanson, Cole Rohrbough, Jason Heyward, Jordan Schafer, and Gorkys Hernandez will probably reach Atlanta. Frank Wren has demonstrated a will to hang onto them and develop them into future Braves. This means the Braves will almost certainly be competitive again in the NL East Division within 2-3 years without having to spend ridiculous money to predatory people like Paul Kinzer, Arn Tellem, and Scott Boras to sign overvalued free agents.

This will not satisfy the “immediate gratification” crowd. But nothing satisfies them. For people like me who were Braves fans during the very lean years of the 1970s and 80s, things actually look somewhat more optimistic now that the new Braves GM has shown an inclination to hang onto the Braves undervalued minor league assets. I know some of them probably won’t make it to Atlanta for various reasons, but many will. And I’ll gladly take Jordan Schafer, Gorkys Hernandez, and Jason Heyward over Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, and Rocco Baldelli right now.