The Atlanta Braves are finally getting some respect. They have not won a pennant since 1999 or a World Series since 1995 but came close enough to smell the roses last fall.

The Braves missed reaching the final round by one game – falling one run short in the National League Championship Series finale – and also fell one run short of the Dodgers in sharing the major-league lead for runs scored.

These Braves are young, hungry, and powerful – even after lopping $30 million off their payroll and paring such productive veterans as slugger Adam Duvall, outfielder Nick Markakis, catcher Tyler Flowers, and reliable relief pitchers Mark Melancon, Shane Greene, and Darren O’Day.

The big move off the winter was retaining 30-year-old Marcell Ozuna, who led the league in home runs, runs batted in, and total bases during the virus-abbreviated 60-game season. His new $80 million deal includes a club option that could keep him in Atlanta through the 2025 campaign.

With the right-handed Ozuna batting behind him, the lefty-hitting Freddie Freeman won Most Valuable Player honors, collecting all but two of the 30 votes cast. He’ll return to first base, where he’s a perennial Gold Glove contender, and join a strong defensive infield that also includes switch-hitting Ozzie Albies at second, former Vanderbilt standout Dansby Swanson at short, and rising star Austin Riley at third. All are capable of hitting at least 20 home runs.

Both corner outfielders, Ozuna in left and Ronald Acuña Jr. in right, could hit twice as many, along with Freeman. Ozuna actually made a run last year at the National League’s first Triple Crown since 1937, when Joe Medwick won the elusive award. In 2020, the only year that the NL employed the designated hitter, he was named the DH on the all-MLB team chosen after the season.

Acuña, still just 23, already owns a Rookie of the Year trophy and hopes to add an MVP as well. The powerful lead-off man, who led the league in runs and steals two years ago, has already boasted that his goal is a 50/50 season – a feat unprecedented in baseball history.

With Acuña, Albies, Freeman, and Ozuna as his first four hitters, manager Brian Snitker has a fearsome foursome unequaled in the National League. His fifth hitter, on days he catches, will be Travis d’Arnaud, a powerful right-handed batter coming off the best year of his career.

Swanson figures to bat sixth, followed by Riley, slick-fielding rookie center-fielder Cristian Pache, and the pitcher. Pache didn’t hit much this spring but his defense is so stellar that it conjures up memories of former Brave Andruw Jones, who won 10 Gold Gloves in a row.

The Braves have a much stronger defense than any of their three biggest NL East rivals – the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, and Philadelphia Phillies – and know from past experience that preventing runs is the key to winning games.

Atlanta holds the major-league record for most consecutive division championships (14 straight from 1991-2005) and is working on a new streak now, with three in a row from 2018-20.

The lone Braves weak spot is left field, where Ozuna operates with a surgically-repaired shoulder that hampers his throwing skills. The minute the universal DH returns – which could be 2022 after the implementation of a new Basic Agreement between owners and players – the job will be his.

Atlanta is well-stocked with promising potential outfield replacements from Drew Waters, a switch-hitter who’s been compared to Chipper Jones, to Michael Harris, the talk of the team’s spring camp.

Snitker won’t lack for starting pitchers, with Max Fried and Mike Soroka forming a young and talented left-right tandem at the top of the rotation. Soroka is ticketed to return in mid-April after rehabbing a torn Achilles that required August surgery.

To fill the void, the Braves added veterans Charlie Morton, who pitched for Tampa Bay in the World Series, and fellow free agent Drew Smyly, who adds a southpaw arm to the front five. Both signed one-year contracts worth a combined $26 million. Morton, 37, is the oldest man on the team but has a big-game pedigree that his teammates lack.

The best starter on the staff might turn out to be Ian Anderson, who showed no fear when thrust into the playoffs picture last year. At age 22, he has a chance to join Fernando Valenzuela as the only men to win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards in the same season.

To keep their payroll palatable in the wake of a season without fans, the Braves decided to hang their bullpen fortunes on younger arms. Behind veteran Will Smith, a 31-year-old closer in the second year of a three-year, $40 million contract, are fellow southpaws A.J. Minter, Tyler Matzek, and Sean Newcomb. Few teams have so many lefties available out of the pen, though righties Chris Martin and Josh Tomlin will get lots of work too.

Atlanta’s bench isn’t the best in the league but isn’t the worst either. William Contreras, brother of Willson, is the catcher of the future but will get much-needed playing time in the minors while the more experienced Alex Jackson serves as d’Arnaud’s understudy.

Newcomer Ehire Adrianza, who hit well during spring training, will be an all-purpose infield sub, with former World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval subbing at the infield corners and serving as a pinch-hitter capable of producing with power from both sides of the plate. Ender Inciarte, who owns three Gold Gloves, will be the chief outfield reserve, though Riley can also play there.

Snitker, 65, is not only the oldest manager in the NL but has a longer service record with his current club than any other active pilot. Signed as a catcher by the Braves, he never made the majors as a player but spent 45 years as a coach and manager at every level of the organization. A Bobby Cox disciple with Old School instints, the even-tempered Snitker embraced analytics after Alex Anthopoulos, 45, brought the concept to the club when he became general manager on Nov. 13, 2017.

The main task facing the GM now is extending the contract of Freeman, the Face of the Franchise since Hall of Famer Chipper Jones retired. Like Jones, the All-Star first baseman has spent his entire career in a Braves uniform and stated his desire to stay. Freeman, in the last year of his eight-year contract, will earn $22,359,375, by far the highest on the team.

If he or Acuña should encounter a sudden slump, they can get help from a pretty good source: Jones is back as an assistant hitting coach during home games. The experienced and respected Atlanta coaching staff also includes former major-league managers Ron Washington and Walt Weiss plus holdovers Kevin Seitzer, who coaches the hitters, and Rick Kranitz, in charge of the pitchers.

Morton is the highest-paid pitcher at $15,000,000 but, like Freeman and d’Arnaud, also has a contract that expires after this season. Payroll for the entire team, according to Spotrac, is $131,894,875, 14th among the 30 clubs.

The team is owned by Denver-based Liberty Media
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, which keeps tight control of the purse-strings. Just because the Braves rank in the middle of the pack in payroll does not mean they’re a middle-of-the-road ballclub. Having so many young players enables the team to spread its wealth throughout the roster. Ian Anderson, for example, has a 2021 contract of $575,500 – the major-league minimum.

Expectations for the 2021 team couldn’t be higher. In its baseball preview issue, Sports Illustrated predicts the Braves will win the NL East by three games over the Mets, beat the San Diego Padres in the Division Series, deflate the Dodgers in the Championship Series, and prevail against the Yankees in a rematch of the 1999 World Series – the last one involving Atlanta.

Several pre-season annuals also predict a deep October run for the team, with all six experts polled by USA TODAY Sports Weekly saying the Braves will maintain their reign as Beasts of the East.