Freeman: Braves will soon be good for years to come

The Atlanta Braves will feature a completely revamped and overhauled roster heading into spring training 2016, and despite being in a tough National League East division with the New York Mets and Washington Nationals, Freddie Freeman is excited about the season ahead and the direction the franchise is going.

"I'm looking forward to seeing those guys we got in the trades, like the Swansons, the Blairs, all those guys that we got from the (Los Angeles) Angels too," Freeman told David O'Brien of AJC.com. "It's going to be the same thing this year (as last spring), we're going to have to have name tags on our shirts. But it's a lot more exciting crew that we're going to have in spring training, to get to know these guys."

The Braves were one of the most active teams in the offseason, trading away Andrelton Simmons, Shelby Miller, Cameron Maybin, and Christian Bethancourt for prospects, while stocking the big-league club with affordable veterans.

Freeman thinks that despite what some people in baseball have to say about the Braves' chances of winning the division, they're going to be good sooner than expected and stay that way for awhile.

"We got a lot of top prospects back in the trades and I'm looking forward to seeing them in spring training," he explained. "We have some young guys that could be making an impact with us this year, and in my opinion it's an exciting time to be a Braves fan because I think we are going to be good soon - and for a lot of years to come."

Freeman, who was also mentioned in trade rumors, but ended up staying put, hit .276/.370/.471 with 18 home runs and 66 RBIs last season, despite battling wrist injuries, which limited him to 118 games.