With the Hudson Domino Set to Fall, What Comes Next for the Atlanta Braves?

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If you believe Dave O'Brien, Mark Bowman, and the ever-so-unreliable Ken Rosenthal, Tim Hudson is set to sign a three-year extension with the Atlanta Braves in the neighborhood of $27 million.

I don't know about you, but that's a big relief.

Locking up an elite (provided he looks like his seven starts at the end of '09) two or three starter for under $10 million is always good.

When you add in the fact that he's locked up for under the salary of two of your potential off-season trade chips (Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez), it's even better.

So that's one thing this off-season down...999,999 more to go, right?

Still, it's good to see one of the issues that was going to affect later moves get close to knocked out before the World Series even ends.

But now come the tough decisions.

Will the Braves try to re-sign Adam LaRoche?

Which of the three big chips (Vazquez, Lowe, Kawakami) will be on the outs...and for whom?

What will happen to Kelly Johnson, Boone Logan, Mike Gonzalez, and Rafael Soriano?

What guys will get their shots this spring?

These are all things to consider...even if it is only November (at least it will be in about two-and-a-half hours).

In an upcoming series, I will address all of these issues as if I were Frank Wren, and then I will give you my 2010 Atlanta Braves (for, what, about the 18th time?).

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