Braves stand pat during offseason

If you haven't purged the final game of an epic collapse from your memory, you'll remember the Braves' lineup looked like this on that fateful September day: Michael Bourn, CF Martin Prado, LF Chipper Jones, 3B Dan Uggla, 2B Freddie Freeman, 1B Brian McCann, C Matt Diaz, RF Jack Wilson, SS So now, look ahead to Opening Day 2012. The Braves' lineup will look something like this: Michael Bourn, CF Martin Prado, LF Chipper Jones, 3B Dan Uggla, 2B Brian McCann, C Jason Heyward, RF Freddie Freeman, 1B Tyler Pastornicky, SS It's sort of like one of those photo games, where you stare at two nearly identical pictures that are next to each other and try to spot the differences. That's how similar last year's lineup will be with the one the Braves will send out in 2012. No big trades, other than the one that sent starter Derek Lowe to Cleveland. No Albert Pujols. No Prince Fielder. No Carlos Beltran. General Manager Frank Wren never intended to spend big bucks on the big names, but the Braves also didn't move on the lesser free agents. Wren said recently that was all part of the plan. "Like we've said all winter long, we're not looking to trade anyone," Wren told the AP. "We like our team, and if people come calling, we'll at least look around and see if there's a way that we can get better. But short of that, we like the guys we have and what they bring." So Wren and manager Fredi Gonzalez will work with the players they have and hope they produce more than last year, when the Braves struggled to hit, hit in the clutch and generally send runners toward that weird shaped dish called home. Obviously, the Larry Parrish Experiment didn't work, so the Braves brought in Greg Walker and Scott Fletcher to work with the hitters, most notably Jason Heyward. Putting Heyward back on track is priority No. 1, but he's just one of several players who need to stay healthy and productive all season. The questions are plentiful. Does Chipper Jones, who will be 40 on April 24, have another relatively injury-free season left in him? Can Dan Uggla hit more than his weight (.185 to 205 pounds) in the first half? Will Martin Prado regain the form he displayed during his 2010 All-Star season? Will Freddie Freeman progress or regress, like Heyward did in his second season? Can rookie Tyler Pastornicky take over at shortstop? Even the pitching staff is teetering toward instability with the uncertainty surrounding Tim Hudson, Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson. Hudson is coming back from back surgery, Hanson missed all but one start in the final two months with tendinitis in his right shoulder and Jurrjens was absent for all of September with a right knee injury. All three are supposed to be ready for the start of spring training, and their availability will decide how much the Braves will rely on youngsters Brandon Beachy, Mike Minor, Randall Delgado and Julio Teheran. Only the bullpen, built around Jonny Venters, Eric O'Flaherty and Craig Kimbrel, appears to be set. Meanwhile, the Marlins spent money like Bernie Madoff, signing Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell to put fannies in the seats of their new ballpark, and the Phillies re-signed Jimmy Rollins and added Jonathan Papelbon. Wren, meanwhile, didn't overreact, didn't trade his pitchers, didn't clean house. And he's perfectly fine with that.