In short: Probably, but it’s close. In long:

With many MLB players already en route to spring training, a handful of good or potentially useful free agents remain unsigned. Former Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler highlights the group on the position player side, with durable right-hander Yovani Gallardo standing as the open market’s top pitcher.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves, in the midst of a rebuilding phase, do not look like they’ll field a particularly competitive team in 2016. Same goes for the Philadelphia Phillies, but I’m using the Braves for the purposes of this exercise. Here’s a look at how a team of current free agents stacks up against the Atlanta club, position by position.

The free-agent club includes a couple of players who may retire, like starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, but not ones who have explicitly stated they’re retiring, like A.J. Burnett and Dan Haren.

Starting pitching

(PHOTO: AP Photo/LM Otero)

Team Free Agent owns a clear advantage here. Behind the solid Julio Teheran, the Braves will likely open the season featuring a starting rotation built of fringey prospects who haven’t shown much in the big leagues and/or guys like Bud Norris, Kyle Kendrick and Jhoulys Chacin who are looking to revive their careers. After Gallardo, the free-agent club could feature Buehrle, Alfredo Simon and Tim Lincecum, all of whom could at least be depended on to gobble up innings. And though Cliff Lee didn’t pitch at all in 2015, he’s apparently healthy, willing to sign if he can find a good fit, and he was still an elite starter as of 2013.

Relief pitching

(PHOTO: Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports Images)

This one goes to the Braves, who appear to have a bunch of decent bullpen options in front of closer Jason Grilli — guys like Jim Johnson, Arodys Vizcaino, and former Dodgers righty Chris Withrow, who should be ready to return from Tommy John surgery. Relievers still on the open market, meanwhile, come with some red flags — most notably that no team has signed them by now, since all teams could pretty much always use another good bullpen arm. That group would likely include Ross Ohlendorf, Manny Parra, Matt Thornton, Ryan Webb and Tommy Hunter, all of whom could be decent but none of whom appears likely to be excellent. Bullpens are always fickle, but the Braves’ should be something of a strength if everything breaks right.

Catchers

(PHOTO: Jonathan Dyer/USA TODAY Sports Images)

Say what you will and probably already have about A.J. Pierzynski, but he’s way better than any remaining free-agent catcher, giving the Braves a big advantage here. Teams need tons of catchers for spring training, so basically every catcher with anything close to a Major League resume gets scooped up before camp opens. I struggled to find any backstops whatsoever for Team Free Agent, but as far as I can tell, former Pirates prospect Tony Sanchez remains available after getting released by Pittsburgh in early January. Behind him, the free-agent club would need to use Taylor Teagarden, who was recently caught on camera discussing his own PED use, or Cody Stanley, who is currently suspended for PED use.

Infield

Ian Desmond (PHOTO: Eric Hartline/USA TODAY Sports Images)

This one appears close, mostly because the Braves’ infield includes Freddie Freeman, the best player involved in this hypothetical matchup. But a slight advantage here goes to Team Free Agent. Ian Desmond is coming off a down year, but was a good big-league shortstop for the three seasons prior and should play at least as well as Braves’ shortstop Erick Aybar. At third, free-agent David Freese is a solidly average Major League regular, which can’t necessarily be said of Atlanta’s Adonis Garcia. The best first-base options on the market, Justin Morneau and Pedro Alvarez, can’t come close to stacking up against Freeman, but delightful veteran Juan Uribe — playing somewhat out of position at second base for the sake of having Juan Uribe on this team — will likely outhit Jace Peterson.

Outfield

Austin Jackson (PHOTO: Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports Images)

I’ll call this one a tie. The combination of Fowler and another 2015 Cub, Austin Jackson, should give Team Free Agent plenty of range in the center and left, and the club could platoon longtime Padre Will Venable and Ryan Raburn, masher of lefty pitching, in right field. Ender Inciarte, acquired by the Braves in the deal that sent Shelby Miller to Arizona, is a nice player with plenty of upside, but the Braves’ likely center fielder, Michael Bourn, mustered only a .592 OPS in 2015. Nick Markakis, the Braves’ right fielder, remains about an average big-league regular thanks to his strong on-base skills.

Bench

(USA TODAY Sports Images)

The Braves have a bench full of not-too-old veterans with the capacity for bounceback seasons, like preeminent baseball bro Nick Swisher and journeyman infielder Emilio Bonifacio. Utility man Kelly Johnson, reuniting again with the club that first drafted him, makes a very solid bench bat. Team Free Agent’s bench would likely feature the powerful but limited Alvarez, 37-year-old Jimmy Rollins, Rickie Weeks, and one of the catchers with PED problems.

It’s hard to say which club would prove better over the course of a 162-game season, but I’d bet on Team Free Agent based on its starting pitching — especially if it turns out Cliff Lee has something left in the tank and feels Team Free Agent is the right fit for the twilight seasons of his career.

That’s not to say, of course, that the Braves should cut all their players and sign all remaining free agents: What Atlanta is doing makes a lot of sense given their situation, and the returns they got from dealing Miller and Andrelton Simmons, among others, suggest they’re moving in the right direction. They just don’t look likely to be very good in 2016, and, in fact, look likely to be very bad in 2016. And no remaining free agent appears to be the difference between the current Braves and a competitive club.