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Braves Quote For The Day ... Does Freeman Have Competition

The answer is no. From Kevin Goldstein's Monday ten pack at Baseball Prospectus:

Atlanta isn't even pretending Freeman has competition for this job. He's not in the class of Jason Heyward, but he might be close.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about Freddie Freeman. Though a word of caution; the Braves pretty much just have Eric Hinske as a backup at first base, or maybe even Martin Prado. Their plans rely entirely on Freeman taking to the everyday first baseman's role quickly. If he doesn't, it may be tough to replace him without stealing from another position, or playing some sort of musical chairs with players.

The Braves didn't even put this much pressure on Heyward last year, as they made him earn his opening day roster spot in Spring Training. Actually, come to think of it, I can't remember the last time the Braves just handed a rookie a starting role before Spring Training even started. The only one I can think of in the past decade or so is Adam LaRoche, but he was splitting time with Julio Franco, and I can't remember if the starting role was his before Spring or not.

I hope the Braves don't have to "plan-B" it, but it should would be nice to have a plan-B available.

Goldstein also has some good things to say about Craig Kimbrel in his article.

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