Baseball Mania...

Happy opening day, everyone. It is opening day, right? I guess it just doesn't feel like it.

I do plan on posting my predictions this baseball season, but the bad news is that that will probably come after the REAL opening day, this Sunday. I'll get it up as soon as possible though.

I really want to talk about the Braves, more than opening day and more than predictions. There are a few items that I find rather interesting...

To most Braves fans, the biggest story this year will either be Tom Glavine returning or Mike Hampton returning (different kind of returning). However, I want to talk about the absence of Chuck James. It appears as if he won't be a part of the opening day roster. From the best I can tell, all indications are that the 5th spot in the rotation will be given to Jair Jurrjens. Last year Chucky was the #3 starter, this year he will be in Richmond? It's tough for me to swallow. There isn't a huge difference between Chuckies stats and Glavine's stats from a year ago. Did our rotation really improve that much? My answer is no. We got deeper, but not really better. Poor ole Chucky, he has earned his keep, imho. What's worse is that there isn't even talk of putting him in the Bullpen in the long relief/spot start role. Jeff Bennett appears to be the front runner in that position. Jeff Bennett? Before Chuck James? This is getting a little out of hand. I know Jeff Bennett pitched well in his couple of appearances at the end of last season and this spring, but there is a reason he is a minor league journeyman, right?. If it's me, Jurrjens is in AAA, James is #5. I could care less if it's 3 lefties in a row, I'm putting the best 5 pitchers in the rotation regardless of which hand releases the ball. Besides, we have a history of bringing pitchers up too early anyways, this seems like a good year to break that habit since we're so deep anyways. If you're in the "jurrjens is the next great thing and needs to be on the roster getting ML experience" group, then that's fine. I'll be happy if Jurrjens got the long relief role. Hey, I might even settle for Jurrjens having the 5 spot and James being in the long relief role (Note: I would absolutely love it if Jurrjens proved me wrong and had a great year!).

I guess it's just hard for me to see how Chuck james is the odd man out.

What do you guys think, have I been drinking Chuck James kool-aid or does he really need to be shown more love?