At the end of the 2008 baseball season, the Atlanta Braves ran Jair Jurrjens, Mike Hampton, JoJo Reyes, Jorge Campillo and James Parr.  Fast forward a few months and suddenly the Bravos have a rotation of Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami, Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens and Jorge Campillo.  No Jake Peavy, as was once highly speculated.  No AJ Burnett, who GM Frank Wren went hard for.  No John Smoltz, who is now in Boston.  Still in the hopper is one Tom Glavine, who could push Campillo out of the rotation if he rejoins the Braves next month.

Where does that leave the Braves?  That depends on several factors.  Hit the jump for more.

When I first sat down to write this, I thought that we did not know which Javier Vazquez the Braves are getting.  Everyone seems to remember him tearing up the NL as an Expo, but falling off once he left Montreal.  That is what I thought, but upon looking at his career stats one thing became clear.  We do know exactly what the Braves are getting in Javier Vazquez.  They are getting a guy who is going to be aggressive and give up runs accordingly.  He has never won more than 16 games, and his overall win-loss record is a losing one (127 – 129).  He is still the exact same pitcher as he was in 2001, however, when he won said 16 games.  As a matter of fact, Javier Vazquez is about as consistent of a pitcher as you will find.  He is not the best pitcher that you will find, but he is consistent.  So that Expo you remember tearing it up?  Looks like he is back, or rather he never left?

Who in the blue hell is Kenshin Kawakami?  Go to TalkingChop to find out a little bit more about him.  You have to watch the video of this guy pitching.  Go ahead, go to TalkingChop already.

Whether or not Kawakami’s stuff translates to the Majors is debatable, so I will temper any enthusiasm.  However, I do like this signing very much.  The upside is tremendous, as Kawakami seems to have some potent stuff that could translate into a solid number two starter.

Derek Lowe.  He is not going to strike out a lot of hitters, but he is going to get them out.  Like Vazquez has, Lowe has managed to stay rather healthy his entire career.  Lowe’s numbers do not add up to him being a number one, but he is a solid number two.  The Lowe signing is a huge boon to the rotation, and while it is a four year deal at $15mil per, Lowe was not given a no trade clause, which makes this deal easier to accept.

That leaves the Braves with a pretty decent rotation.  Is it the best in the NL East?  We will not know until they lace them up and we see how Lowe translates to the NL East and how Kawakami settles in, but there will be an argument to be made in the Braves’ favor.  With Jair  Jurrjens having the upside that he does coming off of his rookie year in which he was the best rookie pitcher in the NL, it could be a surprisingly strong year for the Braves.

So a week after losing John Smoltz and causing me to declare this the worst off season ever, the Braves have turned the corner and made some positive moves that will lead them back towards contention.  They have to add at least one outfield slugger to have a chance, though.  Andruw Jones is an option, which personally I’m not very excited about.  However, he has been working out with Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, and seems to be in phenomenal shape.  He absolutely stunk in winter ball, though.  There are other options currently available, like a certain Adam Dunn.

Paging Mr. Dunn.  Mr. Dunn, would you please report to the Braves’ front office…