Of A's and Braves

Last year at this time, the Atlanta Braves had lost two star players (Greg Maddux and Javy Lopez) and had replaced those two with just one star (JD Drew) and some flotsam (John Thomson and Jaret Wright). Everybody (with the exception of me) said that the Braves run as NL East champs was over and that 2004 would be a rebuilding year in Atlanta. The Braves won their division last year despite the sceptics who all said that Philadelphia would eat their lunch.

This year the Oakland A's have lost two star players (Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder) and have replaced them with just one star (Jason Kendall) and jetsam (Haren, Thomas, Cruz, etc.) Everyone is looking at this to be a rebuilding year for the A's (except me - I think they are the team to beat).

Just a couple of reminders:

- the A's only lost the division by one game last year
- this year they have an established closer and won't be losing those early season games that they lost last year because they were trying to force Rhoades into the closer role.
- the A's offense is much better this year. One through nine - they have a solid line-up and they should score a lot more runs

Out of nowhere:

- the Braves are very thin at both outfield and first base. I wonder if they would be interested in Kevin Millar?