Braves begin quest for 15th straight title at LA Dodgers Monday

The Braves will open the 2006 season Monday at 4pm with the first of three games against the Dodgers. Tim Hudson gets the honor to start the first game of the season, an honor that has previously been given to John Smoltz, Greg Maddox and Tom Glavine. The Braves will be seeking to extend their record 14 straight division titles to 15. But many experts around baseball have pegged the NY Mets as the favorite in the NL East to stop this Braves streak. My thought is that the Braves should always be the favorite to win the division until they haven't won it. For the last 2 or 3 years these so called "Experts" have favorered other teams over Atlanta only to get beat once again. The Mets have made some good off season moves, getting Carlos Delgado, Billy Wagner and C Paul La Duca to go along with Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez and Carlos Beltran. On paper yeah the Mets look like they should win this division but divisions are won on the field not on paper.

Here's a look at who's here and who's gone for the Braves in 2006.

Who's here:
SS Edgar Renteria
C Todd Pratt
OF Matt Diaz
RHP Brad Baker
RHP Lance Cormier
RHP Oscar Villarreal
RHP Wed Obermueller
LHP Mike Remlinger
PC Roger McDowell

Notables gone:
SS Rafael Furcal
C Johnny Estrada
INF Julio Franco
P Kyle Farnsworth
PC Leo Mazzone