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ATLANTA - The Atlanta Braves are clearly rebuilding.The guy responsible for their overhaul insisted Thursday they can still be a contender.Long one of baseballs most consistent franchises, the Braves have dealt away three of their top hitters — Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Evan Gattis — and received only one player assured of being in the majors next season, pitcher Shelby Miller.President of baseball operations John Hart acknowledged that the Braves made all the trades with an eye toward their long-term future. Yet, in a city that has endured only three losing seasons in the last 24 years, the deals have caused major consternation among the fan base, with many complaining that the team has given up on the next two seasons and is more concerned about being competitive when it moves into a new suburban stadium in 2017.Not so, Hart told The Associated Press.We may not be the prettiest girl at the dance, he said in a telephone interview, but were going to be a lot of fun to dance with.On Wednesday, Hart dealt the power-hitting Gattis and a minor-leaguer to the Houston Astros for three prospects. Already this winter, the Braves got four prospects from San Diego Padres in exchange for Upton, while Heyward and reliever Jordan Walden were sent to the St. Louis Cardinals for Miller and another pitching prospect.Hart, who took over the de factor general manager role after Frank Wren was fired with a week to go in a disappointing 2014 season, said it was imperative that the Braves moved boldly to get something in return for players such as Upton and Heyward, who were entering the final year of their contracts, and bolstered a depleted farm system that ranked among the worst in the game.Gattis wasnt a contract issue — hes still got four more years before hes eligible to become a free agent — but Hart said the Braves determined he wasnt a viable full-time player at either catcher or as Uptons replacement in left field because of defensive limitations.A Texas native, Gattis said he was glad to be heading to a team that seems to have higher goals than the Braves.It seems like they are going into rebuilding mode, he said Thursday. Im excited to be on a team that is looking to win — this next year, immediately. Thats a really good situation for me.Those words must be stinging to a franchise that won a record 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005, and captured the NL East title just two years ago. Under former owner Ted Turner, the team was able to spend freely to fill whatever need it had. The current owner, Liberty Media Corp., has imposed much tougher salary constraints.It was highly unlikely that either Heyward or Upton would have re-signed with the Braves after the 2015 season, especially with the team still saddled with three more years on B.J. Uptons $75.25 million contract. He has been one of the biggest free-agent busts in baseball history, and theres little hope of team dumping his contract unless he has a major turnaround this season. The team also owes another $13 million to second baseman Dan Uggla, who was released by the team last season.We realized we couldnt fix everything, Hart said. That gave us sort of a road map for what we wanted to do this winter.The team picked up two of Houstons top-ranked prospects, right-handed pitcher Mike Foltynewicz and third baseman Rio Ruiz. The trade with the Padres brought prized left-handed pitcher Max Fried, a former first-round pick coming off Tommy John surgery. The deal with the Cardinals included right-handed pitcher Tyrell Jenkins, who is now listed among the Braves top prospects in the latest rankings by Baseball America.Hart said there could be some minor tinkering before the start of spring training, but no other major deals are expected. He said its likely the Braves will do a lot more platooning this season and look to be more creative in scoring runs, rather than relying mainly on the long ball.Even with Justin Upton, Heyward and Gattis, the Braves still ranked next-to-last in runs scored in 2014. The offensive woes led to a late-season collapse that resulted in a 79-83 record, 17 games behind NL East-winning Washington.Look, we werent going to be favoured even if we kept everybody and added two pitchers, Hart said. But I think the future is significantly brighter because of what we were able to do this winter.___Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 Alex Smith Jersey . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, it doesnt appear the offer was warmly received by the team. Blue Jackets director of hockey operations John Davidson and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said on Wednesday the team has made offers of $6 million for two years, $32 million for six and $46 million over eight years but each one was refused by the restricted free agent centre and agent Kurt Overhardt. 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Jonathan Allen Jersey . -- Henry Josey watched helplessly from the sideline last fall, rehabbing from a serious knee injury, while Missouri was getting pushed around in its first SEC season.BASEL, Switzerland - Basel beat Liverpool 1-0 on Wednesday to extend its exceptional record against English clubs in the Champions League.Veteran forward Marco Streller pounced on a loose ball in the goalmouth in the 52nd minute to earn the Swiss champions first Group B points after a 5-1 loss at Real Madrid.Basel is now unbeaten in seven matches against English opposition in the competitions group stage a€” a run started 12 years ago when it advanced ahead of Liverpool.It was a perfect evening, said Basel coach Paulo Sousa, hailing a win against an historic club like Liverpool.Liverpools best effort was Mario Balotellis swerving, 60th-minute free kick from 30 metres (yards) which was blocked awkwardly by goalkeeper Tomas Vaslik.I thought we were too soft all over the pitch, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said, adding his team didnt deserve anything.Madrid leads the group after winning 2-1 at newcomer Ludogorets Razgrad. The Bulgarian champion also lost 2-1 at Liverpool two weeks ago.Liverpool owed that victory to a stoppage-time penalty, and the five-time champion never looked like winners in Basel.I thought we were second best at times tonight, Gerrard said. I think they are an OK team, but I wouldnt say we were blown off the park or that they were fantastic.Streller, the Basel captain, annd new coach Sousa joined in a leaping embrace at the final whistle.ddddddddddddThe 33-year-old forward also scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 win at Chelsea last season, which the Swiss club followed up with a 1-0 victory at St. Jakob-Park. Basel started its recent run of upset victories against English visitors by eliminating Manchester United with a 2-1 win in a December 2011 group-stage match.On Wednesday, Streller was ideally placed to take advantage of the unlucky Mignolets second excellent save within a minute.After the Liverpool keeper dived low to his left to push away Ahmed Hamoudis shot, the resulting corner was deflected toward goal and he could only parry the ball to Streller.Basel goalkeeper Vaslik was more fortunate when he pushed out Balotellis free kick, as a follow-up shot by Lazar Markovic was blocked by defender Fabian Schaer.Gerrard had a free kick in the 85th but this time Vaslik caught the ball cleanly.An incident in the first half could put Basel in further trouble with UEFA while it is serving two years of probation for fan disorder last season.Referee Jonas Eriksson briefly stopped play in the 26th minute to carry what appeared to be a used firework from the pitch.UEFA could apply sanctions when Basel next plays at home, against Ludogorets on Nov. 4. 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