ATLANTA (AP) -- This was not unexpected. Not after the Atlanta Braves traded away just about anyone with a major league pulse.
Then again, it's a bit jarring to see a perennial playoff contender, a team that won the NL East just two years ago, sitting near the bottom of the standings and on pace for its worst season since 1990.
With about five weeks to go in a lost season, the Braves (54-73) have dropped 31 of 43 games and are used to playing before sparse crowds at Turner Field. A three-game series against the last-place Rockies this week failed to attract an announced turnout of even 20,000, though things should pick up this weekend when the New York Yankees visit Atlanta.