Here is a tweet from FoxSports Ken Rosenthal about Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Tommy Hanson:

Okay Rosenthal, now we need an entire article on this so we can get even more excited. Though this tweet was pretty concise with its information.

Tommy Caveman for 2012 Cy Young!

ESPN's Keith Law puts the Braves farm system in an unfavorable light (or at least, not as favorable as Braves fans are used to) as he ranks it 16th in his latest farm system rankings. Here is what he had to say about the Atlanta system:

They have reaped as little from the draft the past two years as anyone, taking low-ceiling college guys with early picks, staying at or under MLB's bonus recommendations and having less luck on the international market. It's telling that the major question on every position-player prospect in their top 10 is whether he'll hit.

It's true they've been spending less on the draft and on international free agents compared to other clubs, but they've used that strategy to draft and sign a lot of mid-level talent, creating a great deal of depth in the system. This was their stated strategy for the last two drafts. Compare the Braves system to the Pirates system. Pittsburgh has had years of drafting high picks and handing out big bonuses and signing international free agents to big money. Law ranks the Pirates eighth in his rankings.

To better compare the two systems, let's look at how another prospect evaluator ranks systems and players. John Sickels ranked the Braves eighth in his 2012 organizational rankings, while the Pirates come in 12th. When one looks at the way Sickels evaluates players, by assigning letter grades, one can see the differences in the two systems. The Braves had A or B quality prospects through their top-16, while the Pirates had A or B quality prospects through their top-8. This shows the Atlanta system's depth.

While the Pirates need all of their top guys to pan out, the Braves have the depth to allow for some of them to be busts (which every system will ultimately have). One also has to believe that the Braves will get more out of Teheran, Vizcaino, and Delgado than the Pirates will get out of Cole and Taillon.

It's almost like Law is looking ahead to the 2013 rankings, which will likely not be as good for the Braves. A lot will depend on how the Braves hitting prospects fare this year -- there is a lot of boom or bust in some of those guys -- but the Atlanta system will likely look a lot weaker once Teheran, Vizcaino, and Delgado all graduate to the Majors this season.

Evaluation of this sort is not a perfect science, but it does seem that Law is not giving the Atlanta system its fair due, focusing too much on whether hitters will hit, and ignoring all the pitching.

An early look at the Atlanta Braves new promo spot for opening day (hat tip to Braves Directory of Marketing, Hill Scott):

This Is Why We Chop from @hill_scott on Vimeo.

If that won't get you in the mood for opening day, then nothing will.

The Atlanta Braves seem to be pulling out all the stops in order to secure a new organization-owned minor league team, complete with brand new stadium. The Braves have targeted Wilmington, North Carolina for this endeavor. Here is the local ABC station with the latest.

Former Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox, as well as Atlanta Braves General Manager Frank Wren and Mandalay Baseball CEO Art Matin are in town to attend tonight's Wilmington City Council meeting.

Talking Chop has been following this story since the beginning, click here for all the previous news about the Braves' partnership with Mandalay Entertainment. I'm sure we'll have more news tomorrow pending the outcome of the City Council meeting.

Today's Braves quote comes via a video posted by outfielder Matt Diaz, starring Tommy Hanson.

Good stuff from they guys as they get ready for spring training. And yes, Tommy needs to keep that look. (Original link here.)

A great tweet to see from Atlanta Braves beat writer David O'Brien this morning, quoting Chipper Jones regarding Jason Heyward:

Hallelujah!

Excitement ... building.

From a David O'Brien Tweet regarding Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones:

I really have no words for that. Strange. I guess he felt it probably wasn't that serious (but if that was the case, then why did he get an MRI). Strange.

It seems like Chipper is almost giving too many reassurances of his health today (if you're following the tweets from David O'Brien and Mark Bowman). Of course, that could just be what those guys are choosing to highlight in their reporting today, and not really anything different than normal. Speaking of...

LOLarry!

Perhaps now we are seeing the reluctance of the Atlanta Braves front office to make any additional trades (beyond Lowe) this off-season. Here is Roger McDowell from Braves pitching camp at Turner Field yesterday regarding Tim Hudson:

"We'll progress as the doctors say he can progress," McDowell said. "Whether it's the middle of April or first of May, we'll probably be a little more cautious so that we can have him at the end. There's no reason to rush things and then have a setback."

"Middle of April or first of May," that's a long time to be without your ace. This could be the big reason that all the Jair Jurrjens trade rumors went nowhere, and were pretty much unsubstantiated rumors to begin with. Hudson's recovery from back surgery to repair a herniated disk in early November may put him a couple of months behind the rest of the team when spring camp begins next month.

It certainly seems like the Braves aren't counting on Hudson to start the season. Add to that the uncertainty of Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson to return from their late season injuries, and the only pitcher from last year's season-opening starting staff who seems to be a sure bet to be healthy to begin the season is Brandon Beachy. It's a good thing the Braves have great starting pitching depth.

This depth could be put to the test early in the year, as the kids will have to be ready when the bell rings if the veterans on the staff can't go. The Braves rotation to start the season could conceivably look something like this: Beachy, Mike Minor, Kris Medlen, Julio Teheran, and Randall Delgado. Then as Jurrjens, Hanson, and Hudson got healthy, the guy doing the worst in the rotation would likely be replaced with the veteran.

If that mix of youngsters is actually the rotation to start the season, then the Braves will not have a single starting pitcher in their rotation over the age of 26 ... and it would still be a really good staff. Even when Jurrjens and Hanson return, the staff would still be 26 or younger. Take a minute to marvel at that amazing young starting pitching depth...

It's going to be a spring training with lots of reports about injury recoveries. Reports of pitchers ahead of their rehab schedule, and reports of others behind in their rehab. Get ready for a lot of conflicting reports, but in the end remember that the Braves will probably err on the side of caution with Hudson, Hanson, and Jurrjens, and even if they throw well in the spring there's still a chance that all three could start the year on the disabled list.

The early season scheduled off-days don't really give the team the ability to use a four-man staff to start the season, so a full five-man rotation will probably be needed from the opening bell. By the way, if the opening day rotation is Beachy, Minor, Medlen, Teheran, Delgado, who would be your opening day starter?