It's too early to know how the Braves will go about adding a power hitter and filling expected bullpen vacancies, but second base appears set with Martin Prado.
Despite a recent comment by manager Bobby Cox, who mentioned possibly moving Prado to right field and not "giving up" on second baseman Kelly Johnson, it sounds more likely that Prado will keep the starting job he won last summer.
"I think we watched Martin Prado become our everyday second baseman in the second half," Braves general manager Frank Wren said, "and ... going into spring training, there's no reason to think anything's changed."
Prado, who got his first opportunity at a starting role at midseason, hit .307 with 38 doubles, 11 home runs, a .358 on-base percentage and .464 slugging percentage in 450 at-bats.
In 239 at-bats as the Braves' second baseman, the erstwhile utility player hit .331 with a .914 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).
Johnson, the team's opening-day second baseman for the past two seasons, hit .224 with 31 extra-base hits (eight homers), a .303 OBP and .389 slugging percentage in 303 at-bats, down sharply from 2008.
After Prado's four-hit game June 30, Cox said he would be in the regular lineup for the time being and was too hot to sit.
Johnson was sent to Class AAA to work on his swing after resting a sore wrist. He never reclaimed his starting job and was used as a backup when he returned to the majors.
From opening day through June 29, Johnson hit .216 with a .288 OBP. From June 30 through the end of the season, Prado hit .318 with a .363 OBP.
"He earned the playing time he got," Wren said of Prado, "and right now I don't think anything in that regard is going to change."
For his career, Prado has a .307 average and .811 OPS in 779 at-bats, while Johnson has a .264 average and .776 OPS in 1,661 at-bats.
It's uncertain if the Braves will tender a contract to Johnson, 27, who could see his salary climb from $2.825 million to at least $3.3 million if the Braves offer arbitration.
Prado, 25, made $415,000 in 2009 and isn't eligible for arbitration.
Increased calls for more replay
After several questionable or blatantly wrong umpiring decisions in recent playoff games, there's a growing bandwagon of fans and media who believe it's time for expanded use of replay in baseball, at least during future postseasons.
Wren, co-chair of the Nov. 9-11 general managers meetings in Chicago, said last week he hadn't heard anything yet about adding the topic to discussions for the meetings.
"I think replay has its place," he said. "I'm not sure that even an expanded replay would satisfy everyone. There are certainly plays that would never be included, and certain calls we've seen would be outside of a normal replay scenario."
Free-agent updates
*Tim Hudson's agent has begun discussions with Wren about a contract extension for the veteran pitcher. Wren has recently declined to comment publicly about the situation. The Braves were expected to offer Hudson a two- or three-year contract worth less than $10 million annually, rather than pick up the $12 million option they hold on his contract for 2010. Hudson, who can veto the option, said he would prefer a multi-year extension and would take a "hometown discount" to stay with the Braves.
*Wren said the Braves haven't made decisions on their other pending free agents, relievers Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano, first baseman Adam LaRoche and outfielder Garret Anderson. It seems unlikely the Braves would bring back more than one of the relievers, and 37-year-old Anderson is expected to sign with an American League team.
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