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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,327 comments Add your comment
P-Town Brave
April 20th, 2009
4:25 pm
DirtyYuni-
You can usually find lineups posted on MLB.com or sportsline.com or espn.com in the MLB area about an hour before gametime.
jmart1951
April 20th, 2009
4:25 pm
With tonight’s lineup Cox should have batted Diaz third and Jones 4th. Even though Chipper likes to hit 3rd the best he can adjust occassionally.
Kotchman hitting 3rd, in my opinion, sets up well for double plays and inning ending outs. He doesn’t provide the value you want for Chipper hitting 3rd. If it were me, I would put my three best on base percentage guys (OBP) in front of Chipper to provide him the opportunities necessary to drive in runs. He might just find out that he likes batting 4th if that were the case.
ease19
April 20th, 2009
4:26 pm
ncgary…puff, puff, give man!
dogsbrekky
April 20th, 2009
4:27 pm
Someone wrote some bullpen stats
I would be interested to know what the stat heads consider to be the most important stat we should analyse our BP staff by
E.G. Jeff bennett rates well as to ERA but apallingly on many stats
P-Town Brave
April 20th, 2009
4:27 pm
Steve-
Not all the time, but occasionally…just to give a spell as you and I both know that he gets into slumps that can last awhile.
KLB
April 20th, 2009
4:29 pm
Josh – That’s their positions. 1-pitcher, 2-catcher, etc.
P-Town Brave
April 20th, 2009
4:30 pm
Dogsbrekky-
My opinion is that BP guys should be valued based on WHIP numbers most…these numbers will specify how many baserunners they allow per each inning. Also a good number to gauge for guys coming into jams is RI v RS or runners inherited and runners scored…a good number here shows you pitchers that generally have good stuff that can pitch for you in key situations.
P-Town Brave
April 20th, 2009
4:32 pm
And if that lineup is correct, I probably would have hit Francoeur 4 because of the way he is currently hitting the ball…
As I said before, always go w/ who is hot.
Random
April 20th, 2009
4:32 pm
“Paying too much attention to too little information fills [Braves] fans’ heads with imaginary disasters. “
beekay
April 20th, 2009
4:34 pm
I agree on Kotchman’s speed..I have never seen a slower Brave. Eddie Perez would beat him, so would Bruce “Eggs ” Bennedict ans Larvelle “Sugar Bear” Blanks and Roland Office would lap him from first to home
Anders
April 20th, 2009
4:35 pm
Tomahawk210 – Don’t get me wrong, I think the Rangers are playing as well as they can and just barely winning. Not sure they can keep it up. As for Lundqvist versus Luongo – who knows? I’ve seen like 5 west coast teams play this year so I have no idea what goes on out there. I haven’t seen Calgary in like two years – no lie. Brodeur may be the greatest of all time but he’s not the goalie he once was. I wouldn’t take him over Lunqvist today.
mbatl
April 20th, 2009
4:35 pm
According to local radio, Braves traded Boyer to St. Louis for OF Brian Barton. Looks like a decent pickup for some outfield depth at AAA.
Random
April 20th, 2009
4:36 pm
Monday Meds by Will Carroll (Baseball Prospectus)
Brian McCann (NA)
One of the least understood advances being made in baseball involves fine-tuning a player’s eyesight by opting for laser eye surgery. In its various forms, the vision correction has been credited with great feats, but the data set is so incomplete as to make it difficult to even guess about the actual effects. If there’s one thing we could say about the surgeries, it was that it couldn’t hurt. There had never been a negative consequence that was made public, but now we might have the first. McCann had the surgery last year, and has had trouble with dry eyes from time to time since then. It’s become significantly worse over the past few weeks, and he’s going to head to a specialist to have his eyes checked. There’s a chance that he may need a redo or some smaller procedure. Since we don’t have any in-season examples, we really have only anecdotal evidence to go on. McCann may need to go on the DL if the problem can’t be corrected with eye drops, and this has the potential to go much further if more surgery is needed. This one will need to be watched very closely, though the team expects to make a DL decision on Monday. I don’t have enough information to put a DXL on this.
Joe Schmoe
April 20th, 2009
4:36 pm
yea, I heard they traded Boyer. LOL. Dont let the door hit you on the way out guy!
Anders
April 20th, 2009
4:36 pm
Steve from OH – I’m torn on the Rangers/Caps going 7. Before the series started I thought they would, now it wouldn’t be good for the Rangers. I’m gonna be in DC all of next week so I was really hoping for a game 7 there. Maybe…
big dawg
April 20th, 2009
4:38 pm
anybody thinking “flyball frenchy” should be hitting in the 4 or 5 hole is just plain dumb. the guy flies out, on the infield at that, more than anyone in the game. i’m telling you, his bat is slow, and i noticed something else about him over the weekend, he actually holds the bat wrong. which doesn’t help.
there’s not a “true” clean-up hitter on this team, which is okay, we can still win without one. the thing we can’t win without is a decent bullpen..
Truer words were never spoken
April 20th, 2009
4:38 pm
“Sometimes moving on to a different club is good for a guy,” manager Bobby Cox said. “Gets him some fresh air somewhere else.”
Yeah, Cox. Why don’t you practice what you preach and get some fresh air.
BlawgDawg
April 20th, 2009
4:39 pm
Looks like Blaine Boyer just got traded to the Cardinals for an OF named Brian Barton (sp?).
Anders
April 20th, 2009
4:39 pm
Hey Anders……………… did you guys buy another starting pitcher yet ?? (Dogsbrekky)
I’ve been politely avoiding any pitching discussion. Are you sure you really want to go there?
J-X
April 20th, 2009
4:40 pm
I know that Escobar hits into alot of DP’s as well but at least he does have some kind of speed to rush the throw and maybe beat out a few. With Casey at 2 there would be no need for a throw. The second base/shortstop could just walk the ball over to first after stepping on second.
I kind of like the idea of Shafer at two if he can cut down on the K’s, but it is my opinion that when Shafer solidfies himself enough to move to the top half of the lineup he will be batting leadoff. He just looks so much more like the current generation of leadoff hitters.
bravos2249
April 20th, 2009
4:41 pm
dogsbrekky wants to be the “Tassie Devil”
Since the Yankees game is already PPD I don’t believe DC’s weather is as bad. If it was our game would have been PPD hours ago. At least if the weather was that bad it would lead we to believe that. It may be delayed or whatever but we will just have to wait and see. I’ve heard that the bad rain isn’t suppose to hit until 10 pm.
The long Blaine Boyer nightmare is now over
April 20th, 2009
4:41 pm
“Looks like Blaine Boyer just got traded to the Cardinals for an OF named Brian Barton (sp?).”
Blaine “Goo” Boyer for Brian “Boo” Barton.
bravos2249
April 20th, 2009
4:42 pm
Cards must be desperate
Random
April 20th, 2009
4:42 pm
Steve from OH (4:01 pm): “‘Sabermetricians will see a player with a 300+ average, a 400+ OBP, and 500+ SLG % and frequently get sexually excited.’
“Hmm…this is a new phenomenon. Usually an attractive young lady does the trick. Interesting…”
A stiff breeze’ll usually do it for me.
The long Blaine Boyer nightmare is now over
April 20th, 2009
4:42 pm
Tony LaRussa recognizes the value of olive oil in preparing delicious meals.
He appreciates oily substances.
King521
April 20th, 2009
4:43 pm
Brian Barton!?!? Looks like somebody will be getting a haircut….
chipperchop
April 20th, 2009
4:43 pm
According to Bill Shanks, Boyer has been traded to the Cards, for Brian Barton straight up.
Chop Chop
April 20th, 2009
4:44 pm
PWH,
I was just wondering something…
Why do you use Dewan’s plus/minus almost exclusively to support your fielding arguments? What about UZR? Is it because UZR really doesn’t like Kelly Johnson much? He’s been a -7.9 and a -10.6, the worst season in baseball among second baseman in 2008, the last two seasons.
For those wondering about Kelly’s fielding in left field, UZR has Kelly down for a +17.9 in 2005. That was in 648 innings.
(I’m just showing that I can use a fielding metric to refute a fielding metric. I’m proud of myself. Also, typing UZR makes me think about Uzis. I had an Uzi water gun as a kid. That thing was awesome.)
KLB
April 20th, 2009
4:45 pm
Barton was a Rule 5 Draft pick by the Cardinals last year and played in 82 games for them. Here’s an interview with him this year by BP – http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8670
The long Blaine Boyer nightmare is now over
April 20th, 2009
4:45 pm
How come in the AJC article they don’t mention the word “goo”? Not even once. Is that fair and balanced reporting?
Chop Chop
April 20th, 2009
4:46 pm
I think we could get high with Brian Barton, dudes.
VAN the MAN
April 20th, 2009
4:47 pm
Anybody hear about the trade of Boyer to the Cardinals for an outfielder?
Renegator
April 20th, 2009
4:47 pm
Are the Cardinals hurting for relief pitching so much that they actually want Boyer?
Wow, just wow.
The long Blaine Boyer nightmare is now over
April 20th, 2009
4:47 pm
Sad. Brian Barton may be a promising ballplayer and a wonderful human being but he will be forever tainted by goo.
AndyC
April 20th, 2009
4:48 pm
I googled Brian Barton’s name and he looks like a pretty solid prospect. Good job Wren on getting something for nothing! He will have to get a haircut though. LOL!
The Patron Saint of the Lost Art
April 20th, 2009
4:49 pm
April 20, 2009. Brian Barton receives the insult of a lifetime.
The long Blaine Boyer nightmare is now over
April 20th, 2009
4:50 pm
Brian Barton should wear number 60.
“60″ is close to “600″ which is close to “goo”.
bravos2249
April 20th, 2009
4:50 pm
WOW
Could you imagine Boyer pitching in Busch, Minute Maid, Great American Small Park, and Wrigley. Like 2/3 of the season!
Either this outfield ain’t that good or the Cards are A) desperate or B) stupid
Run Heap Run
April 20th, 2009
4:50 pm
Krotchy’s “speed” just baffles me. Corky Miller watches him and says “dang, that boy is slow!”
He appears to be a long legged guy who is in shape, even thought the roster lists him at 20 lbs heavier than Chipper I don’t believe that for a minute. Maybe those are Chippers stats from his rookie year and they’ve never changed them. Anyway, in baseball, I thought only short fat guys ran that slow…guess not.
*bravesfan*
April 20th, 2009
4:51 pm
According to Bill Shanks, Blaine Boyer has been traded to St. Louis for outfielder Brian Barton.
Il Cattivo
April 20th, 2009
4:51 pm
Anyone willing to bet Boyer will do a lot better over there? I dont think he will go the Macay McBride route. He might actually do well for himself, like Tyler Yates. There is something about being in the braves bullpen – okay one year (sometimes even liked by the blog) and then run out of town the next. Villareal, Yates. I am going to go ahead and predict that Campillo will suffer the same fate as Villareal by opening day 2010.
As for Barton, he did come up last year and wasnt too bad in a platoon role. Might be a half decent trade.
Anders
April 20th, 2009
4:53 pm
bravos2249 -The Yankee game wasn’t ppd because of rain. Apparently they’re out of baseballs after that series with the Indians. They expect a shipment tomorrow.
ncscoots
April 20th, 2009
4:54 pm
Chop, I’m still ambivalent on UZR, and only less so on plus/minus. I might have been coming around to UZR (Braveheart has had some good analyses on it here), but the stat showed Elvis Andrus to be just short of horrible in his league last year. That tends to fly in the face of everything I saw from the kid, even as raw and underaged as he was in his first couple of years.
I don’t rely totally on anecdotal observation for evaluation, but, a stat that can be so diametrically opposed to observation in its evaluation of a player tends to make me step back and ponder a while longer. That’s just the dinosaur in me.
bravos2249
April 20th, 2009
4:54 pm
I remember that guy Barton…he played a little againt us…he’s like having another Josh Anderson IMO…but with GA having all these injuries it’s not bad to have him.
Efrim
April 20th, 2009
4:54 pm
I think that is a pretty solid trade. Barton ain’t too bad. Has a good idea at the plate. Nice job Frank Wren.
Big Easy
April 20th, 2009
4:54 pm
Barton has some nice sock stylings. I remember seeing him last year in spring training with the Cards wearing the old-school striped socks (think they were faux-stirrups, so no extra points).
I remember him to be kinda speedy, but don’t know how he will fit for us in the big picture.
~E~
TnBrian
April 20th, 2009
4:55 pm
Chop Chop, Holy Sh* you ain’t kiddin. That guy looks like Cheech’s black, long lost half brother. You know, he’s the one that wears the srtiped socks. That’ll go, plus the dreads if he actually plays in MLB under Cox this year.
trend trader
April 20th, 2009
4:55 pm
“Anyone willing to bet Boyer will do a lot better over there?”
Me. I’ll take that bet. The trend is your friend: the statistical evidence says Boyer will not succeed.
(Maybe the yen needs a change of pace. If it goes somewhere else for a while it will do better against the dollar.)
Loaf Garret on a blackberry from somewhere in DC
April 20th, 2009
4:55 pm
An outfielder? What do we need with an outfielder?
Efrim
April 20th, 2009
4:56 pm
Barton has shown an ability to get on base in the minors. I don’t really remember seeing that from Josh Anderson.
McFann =Ô=
April 20th, 2009
4:56 pm
Howdy, folks! This is McFann (and Rally McTurtle) Blogging to you live from Daddy’s work!
JButler–
Yeah, it does kinda look like a fly.
I’m trying to keep up the good thoughts. Yeah, he’ll prob’ly be mcfine…all this worrying for nothing…
But that would be OK with me!
Bay Area Steve–
You’re welcome! Since my first few months, I’ve been less sesitive, learning to take things the way they’re meant to be taken. You Bloggers helped with that!
Thanks for the 4:36, Random!
dj Brave
April 20th, 2009
4:56 pm
Brian Barton: original member of the Wu Tang clan.
Anders
April 20th, 2009
4:56 pm
Larussa and Duncan have a pretty good track record on pitching reclamation projects. Not saying they make stars out of them but they usually make them servicable and then use them in a fairly effective way. – just sayin.
monty
April 20th, 2009
4:56 pm
Here’s a prediction. Boyer will at some point pitch against the Braves and do well. Not that it’s what I want, just thinking about the Willie Harris and Wes Helms syndrome.
vabravesfan
April 20th, 2009
4:57 pm
I know everybody thinks Boyer is garbage but Barton is hitting .107 right now in AAA
mbatl
April 20th, 2009
4:58 pm
“but the stat showed Elvis Andrus to be just short of horrible in his league last year. That tends to fly in the face of everything I saw from the kid,” – ncscoots
Well, Elvis did make 32 errors at Frisco last year. That’ll tend to drive down the stats, I would guess.
Nothing For Nothing
April 20th, 2009
4:58 pm
It doesn’t matter if Barton is the best or a bust, Boyer is gone and that’s what is important.
Maybe Boyer will find his head and legs in St. Louis. He wasn’t going to find them with the Braves. The Cox-McDowell combination didn’t provide any answers for Boyer. I’m of the opinion that there may not be any answers for Boyer from anyone!
On the other hand, Frenchy and Andruw seemed to find some answers from Rudy Jarimillio that Terry Pendleton couldn’t provide for either of them.
Whatever, just glad Boyer is gone. He was pitching like a head case and as long as he remained on the staff, Bobby was going to keep running him out there.
ncscoots
April 20th, 2009
4:59 pm
Too bad Blaine couldn’t pack up the goo boy (and all his noms be blog) in his kit and take HIS azz packing, too.
Threadkiller
April 20th, 2009
4:59 pm
It will be interesting to see how Boyer does with Dave Duncan! Wouldn’t that be something if he becomes lights out??
bravos2249
April 20th, 2009
5:00 pm
Anders
true, but the Cards did have the most blown saves last season
Run Heap Run
April 20th, 2009
5:00 pm
hitting .107 right now in AAA > 40.45 ERA
String Theorist
April 20th, 2009
5:01 pm
“Here’s a prediction. Boyer will at some point pitch against the Braves and do well.”
Yes in this eleven dimensional space-time continuum there are an infinite number of parallel universes. In some of them, Blaine Boyer does quite well.
Those also happen to be universes in which Chipper Jones is a Senator from Michigan and Bobby Cox owns a toy store in downtown Savannah.
monty
April 20th, 2009
5:02 pm
WOW! BArton batting .107 looks like a fair deal based on recent results, but not on last years performance. EIther we took something rather than nothing, or scouts must see potential in the young man. Which is it?
ncscoots
April 20th, 2009
5:02 pm
mbatl, probably so, re Andrus. He might have been playing in a rock garden, for all I know, LOL. Errors notwithstanding, that glove is golden, unless he’s had complete hand transplants in the last year.
ABravesFan
April 20th, 2009
5:03 pm
I recall reading an article about how Brian Barton wants to be an astronaut (and how unlikely since one of his knee had undergoes major surgery).
Anders
April 20th, 2009
5:03 pm
Oh yeah, the Mets are winging to St. Louis right now. Looking forward to facing Boyer. Thanks FW.
Duncan should have Boyer fixed by the time your fellas hit St Louis later in the month. Sweet.
TnBrian
April 20th, 2009
5:03 pm
Ya’ll have to admit that Wren has made some good trades so far. Getting something, anything for Boyer isn’t bad at all. Barton is alright.
RC
April 20th, 2009
5:05 pm
Here’s a report on Barton from last year’s Baseball Prospectus book, “The Cardinals made Barton the best position player taken this winter’s Rule 5 draft. Based on his age and skill set, the resulting big-league promotion should simply accelerate what should be a pretty nice career as a bench outfielder. Barton is among the smartest people in the game; he completed a degree in aerospace engineering at Miami, but turned down a high-paying job with Boeing to give this baseball thing a shot. There were some whispered concerns about Barton’s makeup during the year, but they amounted to little more than an ugly reminder that, even more than half a century after Jackie Robinson, there remains a small segment of the baseball community that is unable to accept intelligent black players.”
Yeah, the guy is an aerospace engineer and the first two comments I see on the board are about him needing a haircut and how he probably smokes weed. Awesome job folks.
Il Cattivo
April 20th, 2009
5:05 pm
Hey trend trader, great analogy with the currency trends etc. Sure, that’s exactly how humans work, up – down buy sell. Works for fantasy baseball, but St.Louis has a history of trying out struggling pitchers and getting something good out of them (every once in a while but not rare enough for you to use a blind squirrel analogy). Heck they even tried out Royce Ring (of the Mcbride – Ledezma – Ring tragedy).
Anders
April 20th, 2009
5:06 pm
ESPN has Barton’s salary listed at $0. Now I understand what Wren saw in him.
Instinctively Wren asked the Cardinals to pick up half of the salary.
Steve from OH
April 20th, 2009
5:06 pm
monty, you didn’t happen to notice Barton’s career .314/.413/.475 line in 1600 career minor league plate appearances, did you?
TnBrian
April 20th, 2009
5:06 pm
Anders, you’re probably right on Duncan. He IS better than McDowell, but Boyer needed to go for himself and the team. He seems like a good Christian guy and I do wish him luck in St.Louis.
vabravesfan
April 20th, 2009
5:07 pm
he went 4-5 with 2 rbis against us last year. He only had 13 rbis for the whole year
Blaine Boyer is below average
April 20th, 2009
5:07 pm
The Braves net about 100 total IQ points in the swap of Boyer for Barton.
supa
April 20th, 2009
5:08 pm
Barton had 11 pinch hits last year. Not too shabby. Mostly a left-fielder. Maybe this means someone goes on the DL (Anderson?). If I’m not mistaken, Rule 5 player means he can’t be sent down to minors with risk of losing him.
mbatl
April 20th, 2009
5:08 pm
’scoots, yeah, I’m not arguing that he’s not a good defender (note double negative; what I meant to say was, “I agree he’s a good defender.” – at least from all I’ve heard). A lot of guys have lots of errors in the minors… too many beer bottles laying around the infield, or something.
He’s had pretty much the same number 3 years running, though, and he does have a couple already in 10 games this year (which, coincidentally, is a pace for … 32!)
Il Cattivo
April 20th, 2009
5:08 pm
RC – I understand where you are coming from and those remarks were completely based on prejudice but you do know Aerospace Engineers also need haircuts and smoke weed, right.
flange1
April 20th, 2009
5:09 pm
I for one think that Boyer will succeed in St Louis. The addition of a decent slider that he can control will be helpful.
Anders is right, LaRussa + Duncan = lots of pitching success…..
Carroll Rogers
April 20th, 2009
5:09 pm
here’s the quickie I filed on Blaine, more to come.
By CARROLL ROGERS
crogers@ajc.com
The Braves traded reliever Blaine Boyer to the St. Louis Cardinals Monday for outfielder Brian Barton.
Boyer, a Marietta native who had spent nine years with the Braves organization, had been designated for assignment Saturday after he struggled out of the gate this season. He will be assigned to the Cardinals’ major league roster.
Boyer had allowed six runs in 1 1/3 innings over three games for a 40.50 ERA and had struggled since the middle of last summer. He had a 14.43 ERA in 25 appearances since last July 26.
For him, the Braves acquired the 27-year-old Barton, a corner outfielder who will be assigned to AAA Gwinnett. He made his major league debut for the Cardinals last year after he was taken in the Rule 5 draft in December 2007 from the Indians.
Barton has hit .310 in 383 minor league games from 2005-2009. He hit .268 in 82 games for the Cardinals last year, with two homers and 13 RBIs.
vabravesfan
April 20th, 2009
5:10 pm
supa he is going straight to AAA. Rule 5 meant had to stay with Cards last season now that he is in AAA we can send him there without fear of losing him
Steve from OH
April 20th, 2009
5:10 pm
I can say without a shred of prejudice that yes, Barton could probably use a haircut.
Nothing For Nothing
April 20th, 2009
5:10 pm
Mcbride-Ledezma
McBride wasn’t getting it done for the Braves and Will wasn’t for the Tigers. It was a case of throwing a flying……at a rolling donut.
Didn’t work out for either team but both teams wanted to shed their property even if it meant no return.
If Barton has a career ending injury tomorrow, the Braves aren’t really out anything. They were willing to let Boyer walk for nothing if need be. It was obvious their position on Boyer when Cox said Saturday, in a rare moment of candor, soon after Boyer was DFA’ed, that “sometimes a change of scenary is the best thing for a player.”
Closest I’ve ever heard Cox say “bye bye” to ANYONE before they even had a chance to clear waivers.
Two things about the Cardinal pickup of Boyer. It either proves that an organization can be so impressed with a guys arm that they will overlook that he has a 10 cent head OR they are truly desperate for bullpen arms.
Blaine Boyer was not the brightest bulb
April 20th, 2009
5:11 pm
Bobby beat Boyer at chess all the time. Now he’ll have a more challenging opponent on those long flights.
blausy
April 20th, 2009
5:11 pm
Are they going to go ahead and try to get the game in, Carroll?
RC
April 20th, 2009
5:11 pm
Really, the only downside I see in Barton is that he likely will never get a full-time shot with the Braves, since you’ve got Francouer, Schafer, Diaz, B. Jones, and Blanco in front of him, as well as Heyward, Gorkys, and others coming up quick behind him. Just the same, can’t hurt to add what appears to be a good character guy with some legit upside to your AAA team.
King521
April 20th, 2009
5:12 pm
I will miss all the Blaine Boyer spottings in Chop Talk….haha
RC
April 20th, 2009
5:13 pm
Il Cattivo,
Very fair point. I think I went to school with a few of those engineers
.
Carroll Rogers
April 20th, 2009
5:13 pm
Barton will be assigned to Gwinnett. Rule 5 was in December 2007 so I don’t think that applies now.
Brian McCann has a scheduled visit to the eye doctor at 8 a.m. TOMORROW. so no updates there.
Bobby thinks they’ll be able to get the game in, based on what he’s being told, so we shall see.
Blaine Boyer was a three sport star in high school
April 20th, 2009
5:14 pm
baseball, pie eating, and watermelon seed spitting…
vabravesfan
April 20th, 2009
5:14 pm
So im assuming that means no McCann tonight in the lineup then?
Frankie Knuckles
April 20th, 2009
5:15 pm
Has anyone seen Barton play?
Jeff321
April 20th, 2009
5:16 pm
If Barton doesn’t work out, we could always trade him for someone else.. (Because I’m pretty damn sure he’s worth more than Blaine Boyer at this point.)
The Blaine Boyer trade is BIG news
April 20th, 2009
5:16 pm
This will probably be the lead story on Sports Center tonight.
RC
April 20th, 2009
5:18 pm
Based on the comments on mlb.com’s blogs, Cardinals fans are not too happy about acquiring Boyer….can’t say I blame them. One poster even brought up Royce Ring. Yikes.
TommyP
April 20th, 2009
5:19 pm
In my limited amount of times seeing Barton last year, I liked him. He seems to have pretty good speed and a little pop.
If he ever does get to the majors as a bench player for us, it’ll be nice to have someone with the ability to both steal a base and hit a home run.
Not a bad get for Wren. Boyer was done here.
Mekons
April 20th, 2009
5:20 pm
Barton is a marginal major leaguer. He was in St. Louis only because he was a Rule 5 pick. On the other hand, he’s actually a rocket scientist! From a story last year:
Baseball ain’t rocket science. But if it were, that wouldn’t stop rookie St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Brian Barton.
Cards GM John Mozeliak on Brian Barton: “We liked his offensive ability, his ability to get on base and his ability to run.”
Subject(s):
Brian Barton, rocket science, baseball, scholar athletes, University of Miami, St. Louis Cardinals, Rule 5 Draft
He’s pretty good at both.
The 26-year-old Los Angeles native attended the University of Miami on an academic scholarship paid for by Boeing and majored in aerospace engineering. Barton, who has one semester of coursework remaining before he completes his degree, walked on to the university’s elite baseball program and eventually led the Hurricanes squad to an eighth-place finish in the College World Series his junior year and batted a team-high .371 as a senior.
Now in his first season in the big leagues, Barton has seen his popularity with St. Louis fans skyrocket thanks to his broad grin, flowing dreadlocks and seemingly effortless speed on the base paths. After seeing scant playing time early in the season, he has begun to find his way into the starting lineup with increasing regularity.
Hurricane Corky
April 20th, 2009
5:20 pm
The stadium TV’s are probably on C-SPAN/C-SPAN2 because they double as MASN/MASN 2 when the Nats or O’s play.
What can you say bout Blaine Boyer (he gives Carroll Rogers writers block)
April 20th, 2009
5:20 pm
“…I’m pretty damn sure he’s worth more than Blaine Boyer at this point.”
One one point Wren considered trading him for Barton Fink. But then he decided to see if any other Bartons were available.
mbatl
April 20th, 2009
5:21 pm
Nice to have a RH OF with some major league experience at AAA, in case Diaz or Francouer get hurt.
brian
April 20th, 2009
5:21 pm
welcome back carroll. It was more fun to think of DOB complaining of a bad hair day though