Leadoff: Five observations from Braves spring training

2. The two most exciting young position players in the Braves' camp are outfielder Acuna and second baseman Ozzie Albies. It's worth noting both were in the Braves' organization before the long rebuild began. And another player who was in the organization pre-rebuild, Johan Camargo, is the leading candidate to be the opening-day third baseman. So the farm system obviously wasn't quite as barren as the Braves said back then.

3. There's no consensus agreement on who is the Braves' top pitching prospect, with most prospect-evaluation sites bunching several of the organization's talented young arms closely together. Baseball America ranks Luiz Gohara as the Braves' top pitching prospect, while MLB.com goes with Kyle Wright and Baseball Prospectus with Kolby Allard. But for now, the one who seems to be drawing the most attention in spring training is Mike Soroka.

4. A $112 million player payroll, which is approximately where I project the Braves' to be on opening day as things currently stand, would have ranked 21st among the 30 MLB teams at the start of last season.

5. Ticket prices posted at Saturday's Braves-Cardinals game at Disney were awfully high for spring training. Lower-level seats were $64, upper-level seats $48, and it cost $25 to sit on the grass berm beyond left field. You can get into SunTrust Park for the Braves' regular-season opener March 29 for less.