They are trying to recreate the success of the run that began in the early 90s by "rebuilding" their minor league system. But the reality is that while they did have much success with pitching from the system (Glavine, Smoltz, Avery, etc.) many of their every day players came from trades and free agent signings. Not to mention that Greg Maddux was a free agent signing.
That was different era. Not just for the Braves, but for baseball in general. There's more than one way to skin a cat these days. The World Series is no longer exclusively the domain of the teams that outspend everyone else. Sabermetrics has completely changed the way rosters are built and has evened the playing field to a large extent. A $250M team may look vastly superior to a $75M team on paper, but if the latter is built correctly, there may not be much of a difference in W column. In fact, the cheaper team is often better these days. Look no farther than your reigning world champs.
The Braves attempted to field a team of all-stars (to the extent that their budget would allow) when they acquired the Uptons, Derrick Lowe, Dan Uggla, etc. It didn't work out. And there is where we see the one big advantage that big budget teams still have over their small market peers: they can afford to make mistakes on big trades and free agent contracts. But when a team like Atlanta is saddled with BJ Upton and Dan Uggla (and their huge contracts), it's crippling. They were really left with no choice but to blow it all up and start over.
I don't like that they've traded away many of the popular veterans like Heyward, Simmons, and Kimbrel, but unfortunately that's the business these days. It's cold and impersonal, but unless you're the Yankees or Dodgers or the like, you can't afford to overpay a popular player if he isn't helping you contend for championships. And those guys weren't.
Yes, the Braves have helped their minor league system, but the chances of being able have lightning strike twice to build a legit contender is pretty low. They are pretty much saying screw you to the current fans and a banking on the new ball park drawing fans, in spite of how bad the product on the team is. The new park will bring fans in for a few series, but that's going to dry up quickly if the team sucks swamp water.
The stated goal is to contend by 2017. I think they'll probably miss that by a year unless they go crazy in the free agent market and/or trade for some big major league bats before then. Unless Ted Turner walks back through that door, that's probalby not going to happen. But by 2018, I can see this team winning big.
I just wish SportSouth would drop the Atlanta Braves and cover Rome and MIssissippi this season. What happens down on the farm is going to be FAR more interesting than the big show.
