The Atlanta Braves had a rough start to their offseason. After completing a trade with the Chicago White Sox for pitcher Javier Vazquez, they missed out in the A.J. Burnett sweepstakes, failed to strike a deal with the San Diego Padres for Jake Peavy, got spurned by shortstop Rafael Furcal, and lost franchise ace John Smoltz to Boston.

But, in the last five days, general manager Frank Wren is trying to reverse the club’s string of bad luck. On Saturday, the club signed Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, and on Tuesday inked free agent Derek Lowe to a four-year, $60-million deal, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The team’s three new additions figure to represent 60 percent of the Braves’ five-man rotation in 2009. The order may vary, but it looks like Lowe, Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens, Kawakami and either Jorge Campillo or Jo-Jo Reyes.

The AJC reported on Saturday that the Braves acquisition of Kawakami, who went 9-5 with a 2.30 ERA for the Chunichi Dragons in 2008, helped in the team’s cause to sign Lowe.

With the package deal, Atlanta greatly changed its fortunes this offseason and climbed into contention in the National League East. Even if it overpaid for the 35-year-old Lowe, which some Braves fans seem to believe.

The rotation will stack up against any in the National League, but there are still questions in the Atlanta bullpen and, to a lesser degree, the team’s offense.

No major changes have been made to a bullpen that ranked 21st in baseball with a 4.25 bullpen ERA. And a big bat is still missing from the middle of a lineup that ranked 23rd in home runs (130) and 19th in slugging percentage (.408) last season. Put simply, the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets are still the teams to beat in the NL East.

Fantasy Spin
The same thing that makes Lowe valuable in real-life is what makes him valuable in fantasy. You can pencil him in for 30+ starts, a 3.50 ERA, 13-15 wins and pretty level performances. Given his lack of huge upside, Lowe tends to slip in drafts, but makes for a quality addition after the 15th round in 10-team leagues.

Kawakami is an unknown commodity at this point. First comparison that comes to mind is fellow Japanese import Hiroki Kuroda, who had moderate success in posting a 9-10 record, 3.73 ERA and 116 strikeouts in 183.1 innings with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Something in that neighborhood would be reasonable for Kawakami, which should make him an undrafted free agent in a majority of leagues.