It would be one thing if B.J. Upton were the only player on the Braves who had an abysmal season. When you add the injuries and the season of Dan Uggla to Upton worst year of his career, it is actually amazing this team ended with 96 Wins. With the club losing Brian McCann, Paul Maholm and Tim Hudson, they will need Upton and CO. to rebound for the team to contend again in 2014. Upton has to get back to 20/20 years for powers and steals, and at least hit to 85% of his career 3 slash – to justify the contract doled out by the Atlanta Braves. Uggla must correct his vision problems and get back to raking again. These 2 guys are the #2 and #3 paid guys on the squad in 2014 behind Justin Upton.

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024 & Jeff Kleiner (Org. Depth Chart/Payroll Expert) Follow @prosportsroster

Follow MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports

The ‘Tomahawk Choppers’ have 2 players that are killing them for Free Agent signings this winter.

B.J. Upton is only in the 2nd year of his 5 YRs/$75 MIL – and underachieving Dan Uggla  is still on the  books for 2 more years.

Between these 2 gentleman, they will bring down $26.25 MIL in 2014.  The Braves are hoping for more than under the ‘Mendoza Line’ Batting Averages – and an occasional big fly.

The Braves are also headed to Arbitration with Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward and Craig Kimbrel.  This is certainly bound to cost the organization a pretty penny.

In fact, those 3 players will likely exceed the amount of the B.J Upton and Uggla contracts.

Craig Kimbrel 2013 Highlights – Mature Lyrics Parental Guidance Is Advised:

Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman are both due for raised in Arbitration. Freeman has played more like an MVP caliber guy than Heyward has, so expect him to land a deal north of $10 MIL for 2014. After a slow start, Heyward thrived in the leadoff spot before injury sidelined his progress. As the #1 hitter, he was averaging nearly a run scored per game. While this wont reflect in his 2014 Arbitration, if he keeps that up, his case will awesome for a big payday in 2015 Arbitration.

Kris Medlen, Mike Minor and Chris Johnson are also due for the Arbitration process.  Again, the club won’t go unscathed from this either.

That is your listed #1` and #3 Starting Pitchers, and a 3B who was in the NL Batting race for the majority of the 2013 campaign.

This sum will cost the club in the mid-teens for Millions as well.

With all of this money on the books, it will be tough to add any additional players in the upcoming season.  Look for Atlanta to be in the $90 – $100 MIL range for total team payroll.

Atlanta Braves Payroll in 2014 – 2016

Craig Kimbrel is one of the best young closers in baseball. He has saved 139 games for the Braves over the last 3 years (leading the league in each season). Astoundingly, his Career ERA after 227.1 IP logged is a miniscule 1.39 ERA. This man could set an ALL – Time high for his Arbitration hearing for relievers based on his results. I would not be surprised if someone awards him in the $15 MIL range for 2014. The Braves will need his dominance once again this upcoming campaign.

For all of the Rosters, Depth Charts, State of the Unions and Salaries Posts that we do, please visit our dedicated page link here.

Note From Chuck Booth:

You guys are all in for a treat.  Jeff Kleiner has developed a site (prosportsrosters.com) that covers all organizational affiliates in the Minors for all of the Major League Baseball Clubs. 

We are going to combine efforts to bring you the best look at salaries, current 25 Man Player Rosters and Depth Charts for all 30 teams. 

Jeff is going to provide the documents in form of spreadsheets and I am going to accompany the posts with deep analysis of what the numbers tell us from my perspective. 

If you can’t wait for all of my assessments for each club, go and visit Jeff’s website over at http://www.prosportsrosters.com.

In Speaking with Jeff, he is one of the more passionate fans I have come across towards the game of baseball.  He spends enough time in updating his MLB Facts for it to be a Full-Time Job. 

Jeff updates this page below on a daily basis.  After you click on it….Bookmark it.  There is a 3 year salary forecast and stats not listed here on this page.  Jeff updates these pages daily and these changes include any Roster moves!

Authors for this post:

Jeff Kleiner:  “I have been a sports fan since the first Baseball game I went to at Comisky Park in Chicago in 1959, when baseball for me turned from black and white to color.

I have attended or watched thousands of games, always paying attention to statistics, rosters and salaries of all professional sports.

Luckily I had the advantage of watching WGN TV and seeing hundreds of games in the 60’s. Collecting Baseball Cards and then later dealing them gave me an extra sense of the sport, both good and bad.”

For all of your Salaries, Roster and Depth Charts for all 4 Major Sports (entire organization – Minors and Majors) click here or Follow Me on twitter  Follow @prosportsroster

prosportsrosters.com is the best source for following entire organizations in all 4 Major Sports.

Chuck Booth – Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames:   To learn more about my  “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here .

You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days – click here. 

I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB. 

You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports

Chuck Booth at Turner Field April.18/2012

Like us on Facebook here