Braves have fallen hard and far

The Atlanta Braves used to be the model franchise in all of sports. While they only won a single World Series title during their dynastic run of the 1990s – beating the Cleveland Indians in six games for the 1995 championship – Atlanta was always among the sport’s best.

From 1991-2005, there were 14 consecutive National League East titles (Atlanta was second to the Montreal Expos in 1994, but with the strike cancelling the season, there was no division champion). The Braves reached the World Series in 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1998, showcasing one of the greatest teams ever assembled.

Currently, the Braves are the laughingstock of baseball.

The team can’t come close to filling Turner Field and somehow are getting another new ballpark in Atlanta, despite having fans who refuse to show up even in the postseason or on Opening Day. The Braves have only one real star in Freddie Freeman, and it feels like he might be in that role for quite some time. The farm system has promise, so there is that ray of sunshine, but the pipeline won’t be helping in 2016 and likely in 2017 when it comes to wins and losses.

This is a fan base that is used to rooting for hurlers such as Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tim Hudson. The current rotation features Julian Teheran, Matt Wisner, Bud Norris, Jhoulys Chacin and Williams Perez. Outside of Teheran – who is really a No. 3 starter on a good team – none of these pitchers belong on a major-league roster.

It is always tough to see a once-proud franchise suffer silently, especially when there is such little support in the home market. The Braves will have a tough time drawing flies this summer when the franchise is approaching 100 losses. A good start would have at least intrigued fans, but 0-8 is the reality as Atlanta has been outscored 49-22.

This season is about trying to find some positives that can be built upon for the long haul. Atlanta should hope that outfielder Nick Markakis, shortstop Erick Aybar and catcher A.J. Pierzynski have big first halves so the front office can ship them out for more prospects. At this juncture, that is the only value of an aging trio which will be long gone before this team starts to contend on a meaningful level.

Hopefully the Braves can avoid the century mark in the loss column It won’t be easy, with one of the more barren rosters in recent MLB memory.