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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
968 comments Add your comment
O'Brien
October 2nd, 2009
8:05 am
While I am excited about the Braves for next year (assuming Wren gets a power bat), anything can happen next year, regardless of how good they’ve been since the all star break.
Case in point: Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays went 97-65, winning the AL East division, and making it to the world series. Most of the baseball world thought they would still be very competitive this season. They added Pat Burrel, had the phenom David Price, etc.
But this year, the Rays record is 82-77.
Next year, the Phillies should be just as good (especially if they address the closer situation), the Mets (if healthy) should be better, and the Marlins will be competitive again.
CallUpHeyward
October 2nd, 2009
8:17 am
This is what I had hoped the Braves wouldn’t do. They have hung tough all year when it looked bleak. Now that they’re eliminated, I hope they will hang in there and finish strong. I still give huge applause to this team for what they have done this season.
Jeff R
October 2nd, 2009
8:18 am
Could be that DOB is giving us a hint. Perhaps, just perhaps, management is considering moving Lowe for a power bat. Not a bad move, considering Lowe is easily the number 4 starter on the staff (behind Jurrjens, Vazquez and Hanson).
If the Braves could clear his contract, that would make room for Hudson, I suppose.
Jeff R
October 2nd, 2009
8:19 am
The Bravos went streaky on us again – at the wrong time.
Robert
October 2nd, 2009
8:20 am
360-some days until the misery ends. Go Braves in 2011
37YrBravesFan
October 2nd, 2009
8:31 am
Wait til next year!
GO FALCONS!!
One Trick Pony
October 2nd, 2009
8:31 am
360-some days until the misery ends. Go Braves in 2011
What will you post about?
Thrillhouse44
October 2nd, 2009
9:02 am
Man, talk about the silence in the morning. Who thinks Loaf already has his bags packed?
Shamus Thacker
October 2nd, 2009
9:05 am
Jurrjens4NLCY: No. The only stupid Braves fans are the ones that go on a blog at midnight and pretend to be characters from a 40 year old TV show…”"
I’d planned on pretending to be Beaver Cleaver this morning. Folks must really get a kick outa raining on my parades….
Salamander
October 2nd, 2009
9:08 am
I hope someome has the balls to go after David Letterman. He has made a fortune on other people’s misfortune. I’d love to see a skit with the George W Bush impersonator asking CBS employees if they had sex with Letterman (or something to that effect).
I didn’t realize some old guy’s sex life was worthy of eating up airtime on our esteemed media outlets… Oh wait, this is America.
Gossip > the real world
Rock On......
October 2nd, 2009
9:10 am
Jeff R…..I can make a strong case that Lowe is our #5 starter in reality. It also isn’t hard to project Hudson as a #5 starter on our staff if he does stay in Atlanta. Thus I still see no good argument for moving Vazquez for a bat and acquire Hudson’s services. I am not sold on Huddy’s future post-TJ at least not enough to make me feel good about losing Vazquez.
Don’t get me wrong I like Hudson and willing to keep him with a cheaper extension and as a #4-5 type starter knowing anything better than a 4-5 starter would be a bonus.
I think we can get a bat more than sufficient to fill the 4 slot for either KK or Lowe along with some combination of players. Wren has proven he can make some solid moves so I trust the right ones will be made this year as well. I would still make moving Lowe’s contract top priority although granted that will be hard-real hard.
John
October 2nd, 2009
9:10 am
Football season is in full swing but I have a question. Why did the Braves run Frenchie out of town. Chipper hits 10 pts less and leads the league in errors at third. Jones had great years but he needs to go. Give him a small bonus so he can hire an english teacher.
Gamec0ckBrave
October 2nd, 2009
9:22 am
Why does this remind me of a recent ending to Sunny? “Why aren’t the brakes working?” “‘Cause I cut the brakes! Wild Card B!tches!”
Jersey Gil
October 2nd, 2009
9:26 am
Well This Blog is Dead…Here some Important Days for next Season:
Dec 1, 2009 – Last day for Former Club Offer Arbitration
Dec 7-10 2009 – Winter Meeting in Indianapolis
Dec 10, 2009 – Rules 5 Draft
Dec 12, 2009 – Tender Deadline
Well Happy Thanksgiving, Marry Xmas & Happy New Year Guy..”Hasta La Vista”…And 2010 GO BRAVOS…
Master of Karate and Friendship
October 2nd, 2009
9:27 am
DOB.. I gotta think there’s approximately a 1000% chance Mac is getting the day off today despite having success against Hernandez in the past. Si?
Mitchie-san
October 2nd, 2009
9:29 am
It amazes me that everyone can rip on Kawakami all darn year and then think we can trade him for a solid bat…I thought he sucked and is our worst pitcher and deserves to be in the bullpen and is paid waaay too much and needs to go back to Japan. But he has trade value?
( I am NOT busting on you Rock on… just a coincidence. This has been on my mind )
Don
October 2nd, 2009
9:40 am
Is there a Braves fan anywhere who would have continued to hit Chipper 3rd in the order throughout his prolonged slump? How can the AJC writers just ignore this. (And this is just one small example of his continous blunders and terrible actions, and lack of actions. Has there ever been a manager who would make the same mistakes over, and over, and over. Relating the 3rd spot in the order situation on Chipper – The last three losses taking the Braves out of the race were all 1 run losses – with Cox continuing to keep Chipper in the 3rd batting order slot and him going hitless in each game — and the AJC writers just ignore it.
jeffrey d
October 2nd, 2009
9:49 am
1000% that’s pretty likely.
David
October 2nd, 2009
9:51 am
The biggest trick for the Braves will be finding an outfielder with some power. Bay and Holliday will likely sign long-term with their current teams. I doubt the Braves spend more than a few million to sign any veteran free agents, which will exclude guys like Dye, Abreu, Vlad, etc. It’ll have to happen on the trade front, but that could be tricky too looking at the likely candidates being from the 2011 free agent class, which is very weak. The only decent player without an option is Jayson Werth, who I don’t think is a legitimate power hitter if you take him out of the Philly bandbox.
I honestly don’t see any way for Wren to improve the offense via free agency or the trade market. There’s just not many options out there. It won’t be a good offseason for finding guys with power.
Ony two options…pick up another veteran and hope for a pleasant surprise…or throw Heyward out there. I just hope they don’t overpay for someone or trade away key prospects.
jeffrey d
October 2nd, 2009
9:53 am
It amazes me that everyone can rip on Kawakami all darn year and then think we can trade him for a solid bat
I know! Derek Lowe too.
Lowe/KK is pitching today?? BALLGAME!!! They won’t make it out of the 2nd and Booby Cox is an EEEEEDIOT!”
then during the offseason
I’ll bet we can get a good RH power bat for Lowe or KK. KK was pretty good down the stretch and Lowe has been a reliable starter for years! Aheeyuck!”
DAP
October 2nd, 2009
10:00 am
braveheartI actually paid attention to how that all played out last offseason, did you? Garret was all he had available to him at the time.
i think youre wrong on this one. i paid attention to how it played out to, and what i saw was wren having tunnel vision about the pitching staff. he was focused on it, and i understand, i suppose, but having a “dream of an impact bat” was not why he missed out on swisher (because swisher is one) or didnt sign juan rivera or bobby abreu…he didnt get these guys because he was focused on the pitching staff until too late. wren could have had juan rivera (which many of us were clamoring for him to do) for about a mil more than he paid anderson, and on a shrt contract too. juan rivera is a righty posting an .802 OPS with 24 homers. whoops!
David O'Brien
October 2nd, 2009
10:04 am
DOB and others,I would like to know why is it that you would rather trade Javy and keep Huddy? — JJ
I didn’t say anything even remotely like that.
David O'Brien
October 2nd, 2009
10:11 am
uga-brave: I can’t imagine the 40-Watt ever being better than it is now, as far as a music-listening venue. It’s outstanding. Plenty big, but still intimate, with good acoustics. (And there’s a great diner adjacent to it, with a cool Elvis Presley poster in back.)
David O'Brien
October 2nd, 2009
10:12 am
Master of Karate: I have no idea if Mac’s in lineup today. But I’ll let you know when it’s posted in five or six hours.
Lew
October 2nd, 2009
10:16 am
“360 days until the misery ends.”
You mean Robert is retiring along with Bobby Cox?
Jeff R
October 2nd, 2009
10:16 am
Rock On…… I’m with you.
Reason why some of us discuss the possibility of using Kawakami to acquire a decent power bat is that a lot of other staffs would see him as more than a number 5 starting pitcher. His value is likely higher with teams that have holes in their rotation or are pitching thin.
Now, I think Kawakami would have to be part of a package to get a better than decent power bat. Don’t have a guess what that package would be.
Hillbilly
October 2nd, 2009
10:16 am
Damn, I wasn’t here lastnight for the Maxwell’s Silver Hammer reference. I always miss the good stuff.
Thrillhouse44
October 2nd, 2009
10:17 am
But I’ll let you know when it’s posted in five or six hours.
Some things just don’t change.
Any chance we can trade for Carl Crawford?
ncscoots
October 2nd, 2009
10:19 am
Any chance we can trade for Carl Crawford?
Or Rocco Baldelli, or Ryan Freel, or Chone Figgins?
I just wanted to get out of the way, all at once, all the names that make my head explode, LOL. DAP has me close to adding Mike Cameron to the list, but, I’ll hold off for now.
ncscoots
October 2nd, 2009
10:22 am
Braveheart was smokin’ the blog last night; read the previous pages, if only to view those posts. The usual excellent work.
DAP
October 2nd, 2009
10:22 am
John Why did the Braves run Frenchie out of town. Chipper hits 10 pts less and leads the league in errors at third.
hm…. well chipper actually leads frenchie by over 100 points in OPS, this is after a surprising turn around for jeff, and arguably chipper’s worst season ever.
ncscoots
October 2nd, 2009
10:27 am
Chipper said this afternoon: “Prado’s probably our team MVP. He’s the guy who’s really surprised everyone.”
No bleep, LOL. You mean, I’m not the only one?
Efrim
October 2nd, 2009
10:29 am
Buster Olney has a great blog on potential free agents that will have Type A status. He polled 6 front office executives to see if the current team would offer their player arbitration. Here is what they had to say on Soriano:
Rafael Soriano, Braves — $6.1 million salary. Four of six predicted that the Braves will not offer him arbitration. Said an AL GM: “It will go back to whether they think there are health issues. But if they offer it, they would have to know there’s a pretty good chance he’ll accept it.”
And Gonzalez:
Mike Gonzalez, Braves — $3.45 million salary. Four of six predict the Braves will offer Gonzalez arbitration. “A lot of it depends on what the Braves think his health is,” said a GM. “If they think he’s healthy, why not? He’s pitched pretty well for them, hasn’t he?” Gonzalez has a 2.42 ERA, with 90 strikeouts in and 33 walks in 79 games. “The worst-case scenario would be that you would get a pretty productive pitcher for $5 million or $6 million through arbitration,” said one official. “And that’s probably what would happen, because given his injury history, it’s hard to see a lot of teams being interested in signing him to a long-term deal and giving up the draft picks.”
Personally, I think it’s a no brainer to offer it to Gonzo. One thing Buster fails to point out is that there might be teams picking in the 1-15 range that would jump all over Mike Gonzalez or Rafael Soriano, even if they did have to give up a draft pick. Because the draft pick they would give up is a second rounder(Braves would also get a compensation draft pick in the Supplemental round, after the first round).
Earlier in the season, I felt that they had to offer arbitration to both players. But after looking over the teams that are actually going to address the closer situation, and the availability of so many late inning relief options, there is a good chance that Soriano would accept arbitration and net a one year deal at 8 or 9 million.
Braveheart
October 2nd, 2009
10:34 am
DAP, I think you’re wrong about him having tunnel vision about only looking for an arm. It did seem that way, but the tunnel vision was really about finding impact, whether that was an arm or a bat. Juan Rivera, Bobby Abreu, Nick Swisher are not impact bats. They’re nice complimentary pieces. None of them are the leadoff hitter or 3, 4, 5 impact hitters you need. That’s the kind of impact Wren was looking for. He was looking for top of the rotation arms and heart of the order bats, and was only gonna settle for less once he had purchased the impact arms or bats he needed.
Seriously, oops on Juan Rivera? Will never understand the undying blog love for Juan Rivera. Nice little player, but in 2007 and 2008 combined he had a Francoerish OPS of .722 while Frenchy had a .720 OPS over those two seasons. But, if you believe the blog, Wren was a fool for not acquiring Frenchy’s Latino brother while Wren was also a fool for not getting rid of Frenchy last offseason? It’s nice that Rivera put up an .802 OPS this season, but Frenchy also put up an .824 OPS for the Mets this season. If we’re gonna cry about not getting Rivera, shouldn’t we then also cry about trading away Frenchy?
wjones
October 2nd, 2009
10:40 am
Any chance we can trade for Carl Crawford?
“Or Rocco Baldelli, or Ryan Freel, or Chone Figgins?
I just wanted to get out of the way, all at once, all the names that make my head explode, LOL. DAP has me close to adding Mike Cameron to the list, but, I’ll hold off for now. ”
I wanted to get some of the greatest blog posts out of the way, too:
1. Why is Chipper playing? He is KILLING US!
2. Why is Chipper not in the lineup? What a wimp!
3. When is Bobby going to rest McCann? He is killing him!
4. Why is McCann out of the lineup? Do we want to win?
5. Why is Soriano not in the game? We have a 4-run lead!
6. Why is Soriano in the game? Ballgame!
7. Once again, our starter was left in the game too long!
8. Once again, we took our starter out too early, to kill the bullpen again!
9. Why are we only using Moylan, Gonzo, and MFIKY?
10. Oh, no! Not Acosta! Are we trying to win the game?
11. Another loss! Bobby Cox is the worst manager in the history of the world, and must be destroyed!
12. Thank God we won, despite all the idiotic moves Bobby Cox made! He is worst manager in the history of the world, and must be destroyed!
13. I can’t believe Cox put Norton in again. He is the sole reason we lost the game!
14. I can’t beleive Cox put Norton in again. He would have been the sole reason we lost the game, if we hadn’t have won.
15. We MUST trade Chipper (who has just signed a long-term contract, and as a 10-5 player, must approve any trade).
16. We MUST get rid of Lowe, but we can’t eat any of his contract.
17. We gave up three minor leaguers to get Javy Vazquez, but we can get (insert name of great, powerful slugger) for him if we trade him.
18. Adam LaRoche is a free agent, but he would come back for (insert your lowball salary number here).
19. Why is Kelly Johnson on the team? He SUCKS! He is worthless! Where is Conrad?
20. We need to trade Kelly Johnson for (insert name of competent player you would accept for the worthless Kelly Johnson).
There are more, but those are just my favorites. Admitted dramatic license on a couple.
Jeff R
October 2nd, 2009
10:43 am
Chipper versus Francouer. Chipper plays third, Francouer doesn’t. Makes Chipper more valuable to the Braves even if his numbers are down.
Plus, though Francouer’s average is up (and in some other categories), he isn’t hitting with much power or driving in many runs.
Francouer is a young guy with a power loss; Chipper is an older player whose power may be fading. Big difference.
Jim
October 2nd, 2009
10:44 am
I guess all this fantasy baseball talk is fun but do you really think the Braves will sign anyone that would block Heyward or Schafer? I personally want to see both those guys in there next year to give us some power and speed. The other reason I think that the Braves signing a big bat for the outfield is fantasy is after they resign Hudson and LaRoche there will not be enough money for a high priced free agent.
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
10:44 am
Uga-Brave .261 in the cleanup hole with zero power.
Zero power…I know, right? He only leads the team in homers. 21 homers from your catcher…gyah! No power at all.
Obviously his AVG is not where it should be, and odds are he’d be the first to say as much. Like Joe said last night, BMac’s not gonna be happy that he hit .280 this year.
well everyone is gonna say macc is not a four hole hitter right?
He’s obviously not, that’s the point. His best hitting comes from the five/six holes. Think we all know that by now…
all those walks were because macc hit behind him. macc hit what .210 against lefthanders.
.222…but who’s counting?
I did a survey thingy a while back that hasn’t been finished…but at the time I did it, BMac was hitting like, .600ish when Chipper was intentionally walked in front of him. Teams don’t quite give BMac the respect a four-time All-Star might deserve (obviously Chipper’s been around more and deserves more respect than BMac), and it has cost them at times. I like what Braveheart said…
Anyway, yeah, so BMac hasn’t been a “picture perfect” cleanup hitter this year, he still leads the team in homers, RBI, and extra-base hits (he’s got 57, LaRoche has 62, but Adam’s only hit 24 as a Brave). He did lead the team in doubles, but then Prado went on a doubles binge and BMac forgot how to hit them…now Prado’s got one more than BMac.
35 doubles for BMac after hitting 42 last year.
Too big of a drop-off for me…but then again, I set my expectations to high, I s’pose.
wjones 3. When is Bobby going to rest McCann? He is killing him!…4. Why is McCann out of the lineup? Do we want to win?
ncscoots
October 2nd, 2009
10:45 am
It did seem that way [too focused on pitching], but [Wren's] tunnel vision was really about finding impact, whether that was an arm or a bat.
Agreed. And several posters here (and I credit TennPaul as an early source) opined that there wasn’t enough gas in the backhoe to fill every hole on the team in a single offseason. That turned out to be correct, and availability of a prime bat (or lack thereof) played more of a role in that outcome than Wren’s focus. It’s not as if he hasn’t tried to fill the offensive void (if you believe the trade rumors about Bay and others), but, he has refrained from moving just to be shaking. That’s OK with me; better the right move later than the wrong move at any other time.
He’s made the moves he could, kept plenty of minor league currency, and built some surplus strength on his ML squad. That’s a pretty good portfolio to have in hand when he gets ready to invest this offseason.
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
10:46 am
Meant I agree with what Braveheart said…”liking” what someone said doesn’t always prove anything…
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
10:46 am
Tough way to end this season, 2 close games that just didn’t go our way in the end. I’m pretty excited about next year. Hopefully we can somehow keep Huddy and Javy, add a bat, and salvage our bullpen.
Not sure the $ is available for all of that but it’d be nice if it were.
Great 2nd half of the season, really fun watching this team grow into a competitive team. 13 games over .500 not too shabby after all our early struggles.
brent a.
October 2nd, 2009
10:50 am
“I honestly don’t see any way for Wren to improve the offense via free agency or the trade market.”
That is a pretty limited perspective.
Dorothy Davis
October 2nd, 2009
10:50 am
Enter your comments hereIF ONLY BOBBY COX WAS SMART ENOUGH TO REALIZE WHAT PLAYERS CANNOT HIT AT HOME (NATE) AND WHICH ONES CAN (DIAZ) AND EVEN I SAW WHAT A GREAT LEAD-OFF HITTER DIAZ WAS. WHEN ARE THE BRAVES GOING TO GET A COACH THAT ACTUALLY KNOWS HIS PLAYERS, INSTEAD OF BEING STUCK ON A LINE-UP, BECAUSE HE CANNOT REMEMBER WHO HITS BEST WHERE? SO HE JUST CONTINUES TO USE A LINE-UP THAT LOSES GAMES. ALSO WHY ON EARTH WAS CHIPPER LEFT IN THE 3 HOLE, AFTER NOT HITTING THERE AN ENTIRE SEASON? PLEASE WREN, GIVE US A COACH!
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
10:54 am
Hopefully the lineup improvement is more of an Adam Dunn like player and not a Garret Anderson type player. Got to get some more power. Can’t have your catcher carrying the power load. Maybe moving McLouth down in the order may be a good idea. Solo shots only go so far…hard to hit anything but them when you are batting first in the order.
Fence Buster
October 2nd, 2009
10:59 am
Enter your comments here
Would someone please tell Braves Management to move the RF fence in about 10 ft. 390 to the power alley is ridiculus especially with the absence of steroids.
DAP
October 2nd, 2009
10:59 am
braveheart
what impact bats were available? wren had opportunities to get some of the best bats available, and ended up with garret anderson. that tells me he had tunnel vision. even when he was scrambling for a bat finally, bobby abreu was still avialable, and so was adam dunn.
Juan Rivera, Bobby Abreu, Nick Swisher are not impact bats. They’re nice complimentary pieces. None of them are the leadoff hitter or 3, 4, 5 impact hitters you need.
im not sure what your talking about…abreu is basically a career #3 hitter, and this season has a .835 OPS with 15 homers and over 100 RBIs. Nick swisher has 29 homers and an .870 OPS, and everyone knew juan rivera just needed to be healthy to have a good year. all three of these guys are middle of the order hitters, and thats a fact. considering we have had garret anderson batting 3 4 5 this year, i think one of these guys would have been nice.
i love the job wren did for this team, but i really do think he messed up by not getting a better hitter, and i think it happened because he was so focused on pitching.
Bat Masterson
October 2nd, 2009
11:01 am
Jim
October 2nd, 2009
10:44 am
So the Braves have an outfield of Schafer, Heyward and McClouth, then resign LaRoche, If you do the and nothing else you have 5 lefties, 2 righties and a switch hitter.
DawgDad
October 2nd, 2009
11:01 am
Unfortunately I was at the Nolasco-Jones-Diaz fiasco game. Pitiful performance by the Braves offense this week. What’s wrong at home? Well, start by looking at the fences. The Braves are overloaded with hitters with no better than warning track power in this park, and they do not possess the team speed to manufacture runs. They do precious little offensively to stir up the home crowd and put pressure on the opposition.
You want to know why the Braves didn’t make the playoffs? Start at the top of the payroll and work down to the first player on the list, Chipper Jones. He’s brutal right now. Love him for the work he’s done in the past, but he has been HURTING the club over the last half-season. Braves are getting way sub-par production from the 3-4-5 hitters on a consistent basis. Can’t make the playoffs like that.
I fear we have seen the best this group has to offer: Get close then choke, repeatedly (Cincinnati, Florida). Looking ahead, who on this team can we expect any significant IMPROVEMENT from next year? No one, really, unless you bank on Kelly Johnson as a comeback player. Heyward could help, but then, he would have helped THIS year, and can you bank on a rookie to be a productive 3-4-5 hitter? There are relatively big question marks hanging on a lot of key players: Jones, Lowe, Vazquez, Hudson, Kawakami, Anderson(he has to go, or be relegated to Norton’s job), LaRoche, Gonzalez, Soriano, and the manager. Can we expect the same level of quality starting pitching next year? Will we even have a bullpen next year, beyond Peter Moylan? Will the GM have sense enough to dump a .130 pinch-hitter before he screws up another season? This is a team that needs to be busted up and rebuilt Marlins-style, otherwise it will be a long and trying decade upcoming.
Herb in Charleston
October 2nd, 2009
11:04 am
Enter your comments here Maybe there is something about the braves playing at home. I think Francouer has played much better in New York. Whats changed from 5 or 6 years ago and during the strech when we allways won about 2/3 of our home games? Perhaps there is alot more pressure to win the home games.
Jeff R
October 2nd, 2009
11:07 am
DAP… That pitching carried the Braves through the season. I think Wren was correct to focus mostly on building the pitching staff. Got to have that and defense as your building blocks. And in any given season, there are only so many dollars to go around.
Now, I think the general consensus is that Wren needs to first turn his attentions to bucking up the offense – a power bat, in other words.
And he’ll have some important decisions to make about the rotation and the bullpen.
Here’s a question out of the blue: Does Smoltz have enough left to return to the Bravos bullpen next season? Would he?
Efrim
October 2nd, 2009
11:12 am
You want to know why the Braves didn’t make the playoffs? Start at the top of the payroll and work down to the first player on the list, Chipper Jones
Right, that’s why they didn’t make the playoffs. The guy with the .390 OBP.
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
11:15 am
The Braves didn’t make the playoffs because of a combination of things. To start with Chipper is pretty dumb.
6-4-3
October 2nd, 2009
11:16 am
I say roll the dice on Nady.
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
11:17 am
I never understand the Jordan Schafer talk. He proved nothing at the MLB level and he was hurt all year long in the minors, at best we can expect him to have the same type of results he did this year at the beginning of next year. He might be a great leadoff hitter for the Braves, but he was pretty much relegated to whiffing in the 8th spot when he was up with the club. Its a huge jump from 8th spot to 1st spot in one injury-filled season.
dmack2027
October 2nd, 2009
11:18 am
Here is the thing about Vazquez. His stock will never be higher than it is right now. Aside from Hallady, he will be the best pitcher on the market (if the Braves go that route). I think you have to consider it if you can get an OF bat, preferably young and cheap. That said, the Braves need to figure where Jordan Schafer fits into their plans. However, like the free agent pitching market, the hitting market is weak as well.
They also need to determine who will be closing games next year. I assume they will try to resign either Sori or Gonzo, but maybe not.
Then there is the Adam LaRoche quandry. What would Barbaro Canizares do with a full season in the big leagues? His minor league numbers are comparable to Kendry Morales, and he has done a more than adequate job replacing Tex in Los Angeles.
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
11:18 am
Today’s Calvin and Hobbes is so fitting for the Braves it’s almost scary…
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
11:20 am
Starting with Chipper, isn’t exactly dumb when he is the highest paid player and had very poor results hitting and fielding. Yeh KJ, Frenchy, Loaf, Schafer, etc sucked, but they also weren’t getting the kind of contract Chipper was.
I like Chipper, but he was a part of the problem, and his salary makes him even a big part of the problem this season.
Bat Masterson
October 2nd, 2009
11:31 am
I will be very interested in what happens with Schafer over the winter. Here you have a guy that was suspended for 50 games last year, gets back on track and makes the big club in spring training. He gets injured right off the bat and tries to play through it, not hurt mind you, but injured, big difference and gets send down. So now he has had surgery on his wrist, and what do you have. This guy is supposed to be the Braves center fielder for the next decade, if his wrist has healed it would be nice to see him get so AB’s somewhere this winter.
Jeff R
October 2nd, 2009
11:35 am
dmack2027… “What would Barbaro Canizares do with a full season in the big leagues?” Probably strike out a lot. He’s a lug.
You’re right about Vazquez’s value on the trade market, but I think he has more value in the rotation. Counterintuitive here, but if I were Wren, and decided to offer Vazquez, I wouldn’t trade him for just a power. I’d look for a package (2,3) of top prospects, including a power bat.
wjones
October 2nd, 2009
11:35 am
“Starting with Chipper, isn’t exactly dumb when he is the highest paid player and had very poor results hitting and fielding. Yeh KJ, Frenchy, Loaf, Schafer, etc sucked, but they also weren’t getting the kind of contract Chipper was.
I like Chipper, but he was a part of the problem, and his salary makes him even a big part of the problem this season.”
Only thing is that Chipper isn’t the highest paid player. Not even after signing the new deal, which does not go into effect until next year. Lowe is the highest paid player. Will be unless we sign someone more expensive or get rid of him. But Chipper is second now with his new deal. Thanks for playing!
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
11:36 am
NL ERA Leaders
Tommy Hanson (if he qualified) 2.89
4) Jair 2.61
6) Javy 2.87
40th of 48) Derek Lowe 4.55 (OUCH!)
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
11:38 am
wjones – player not pitcher….he is by far the highest paid hitter and it isn’t even close. McCann is at 3.7mil, Chipper at 10, and for LaRoche’s 2nd half we paid…somewhere in the 2-4mil range, can’t remember.
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
11:42 am
Anyone know of a good baseball contract site? The one’s I’m finding aren’t very good…
Vinings Jim
October 2nd, 2009
11:43 am
wjones – excellent morning posts!
RHR
October 2nd, 2009
11:45 am
McFann – my mom just came back from their place in gulf shores and the epa or some group like that was behind their house with a nest of sea turtle eggs. The mom dug a hole and left the eggs and the epa people dug out a tunnel in the sand from the nest to the ocean so they would find their way. The epa ppl told them they were going to be born anytime and they had someone staying with them around the clock and wouldnt let any of the houses in the vicinity turn on their outside lights at night. They hatched monday night and mom
and her friends got to see the last of them going out to sea. How neat is that? I’m jealous I didnt get to see.
HoCoJo
October 2nd, 2009
11:47 am
Ted Williams in the news, again.
Daybed Wagmoe
October 2nd, 2009
11:50 am
DOB has piqued my interest regarding the lack of attractive free agent SPs this offseason, thus making the Braves’ starting pitchers more attractive for trade possibilities. This got me wondering, what other starting pitchers might be available via trade? Well, a whole bunch of them, but I specifically wondered which ones will be free agents AFTER the 2010 season, and thus making them more of an option to be traded. Here’s a list of those pitchers:
Josh Beckett
Joe Blanton
Jorge De La Rosa
Roy Halladay
Tim Hudson
Cliff Lee
Ted Lilly
Noah Lowry
Kevin Millwood
Javier Vazquez
The SP trade market may be very active this offseason. That’s 10 SPs that could be traded this offseason in an effort to get something of value in return for them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Red Sox sign Beckett to an extension, though — with their payroll, they can afford to sign him long-term. There are a couple dozen other SP in the 2011 free agent class, but these are the “good” ones, the ones I would think a team could trade and get some good pieces in return.
Efrim
October 2nd, 2009
11:51 am
Anyone know of a good baseball contract site? The one’s I’m finding aren’t very good…
Google “Baseball contracts site” and select the first one…..
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
11:54 am
RHR–
That is SO cool! Thanks for telling me! I’ve always wanted to see baby sea turtles…they’re so cute!
they had someone staying with them around the clock and wouldnt let any of the houses in the vicinity turn on their outside lights at night.
I’ve heard of people doing that…that’s really nice. Those poor babies cann run into a lot of trouble on their way out to sea.
Glad those people protect them!
HAL
October 2nd, 2009
11:54 am
Enter your comments here read the post above about loaf with interest seems those stats say he wasnt all that proffesional a hiiter and as for defence and hustle the word totally embarrasing comes to mind if hes a major league ball player so am i and im ancient then again hes been ancient for about the last 5 years i watched him in calif wrens worst move by far realease him eliminate that move even with a diaz church platoon and were a contender next year that joke must have cost us 6-10 games with poor base running and no defence plus his lack of hustle had to rub off on some of the younger guys
ncscoots
October 2nd, 2009
11:56 am
bat, I think Schafer would have to be a fast healer and a great rehabber to get even 50 ABs this winter. Other than facing game speed, I’m not sure what the upside of that few hacks would be. I know he needs plate appearances after a wasted year, but, I kinda lean toward him just waiting it out until ST. Schafer may not think that way, LOL.
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
11:57 am
Lowe – $15,000,000
Jones – $13,000,000
Hudson, if picked up – $12,000,000
Vazquez – 11,500,000
Kawakami – 6,667,000
McCann – 5,500,000
McLouth – $4,500,000
Infante – $2,225,000
Ross – $1,600,000
______________
72,000,000
Jurrjens, Medlen, Schafer, Escobar, Prado and Hanson all at around 500,000
75,000,000
You got LaRoche, Gonzo, Soriano and others
Payroll this year was 94 million.
Something has got to give…
wjones
October 2nd, 2009
11:57 am
HAL, dude, spelling & punctuation–meet it, embrace it.
Also, Anderson is a free agent. No need to release him. Just don’t offer him a contract, don’t offer arb, and he goes away.
RHR
October 2nd, 2009
11:59 am
McFann – she said there were like 200 of them! And they were silver dollar size. Cute!
MFin04
October 2nd, 2009
12:00 pm
Efrim – I didn’t like that one. But now I see there is a spreadsheet you can download..hmm…not sure why they didn’t just have that on the front page of the Braves site…
Daslied
October 2nd, 2009
12:01 pm
MFin04 – You know it’s harder to hit in the 8th spot, right? In front of the pitcher you’re going to get nothing to hit. If you’re batting leadoff they’re not going to unintentionally-intentionally walk you, so you’re going to get pitches to hit.
And enough with the “Schafer hasn’t proven anything” stuff – the guy played, what, 50 games at 22 years old? It’s laughable to make a judgment based on that tiny sample size.
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
12:01 pm
RHR–
200 babies?? Wow! And so tiny…that is too fun!
Efrim
October 2nd, 2009
12:02 pm
Daybed, good post, but I really don’t see Beckett, Blanton, De La Rosa, Lee, Lilly or Millwood being traded this offseason. It probably wouldn’t be worth it for those players current teams to dangle them, because they have more value to their team than they do on the trade market. Unless of course they are filling a specific need. But among those teams, I’m not sure the Phillies. Red Sox, Rockies, Cubs or Rangers really can afford to trade away one of those guys. Perhaps the Rockies with De La Rosa(selling high), but I’d think they need to keep him based off of his solid performance.
Sgt. Pepper
October 2nd, 2009
12:04 pm
DOB –
Excellent Beatles reference at 9:41 yesterday. I’m just getting caught up on reading so sorry for the delayed reaction.
Lou Vales
October 2nd, 2009
12:06 pm
I have reconsidered. I have been too harsh on 2 Marlin players who will soon be available.
I think Jeremy Hermida would be a wonderful choice for the Braves. Playing close to home may revitalize his career. His swing is just too smooth to ignore. As he grows older he will develop more power and become a legitimate 40 HR a year guy. His outfield defense will improve under the tutelage of Braves coaching. Jeremy will fit in very well as an EVERYDAY player. SIGN Hermida!!
Dan Uggla is another. You must just throw out the .207 average with runners in scoring position. That is just a 3 year aberration. At the very young age of 30 he is just starting to move into his prime. He can learn to become more of a situational hitter under the steady guidance of Braves hitting instructor. Even though his range factor shows him to be a tremendous defensive liability I can vouch for the fact IF the ball is hit right at him he fields it and 90% of the time he can make the throw to 1B. It must be viewed as an accident that 85% of his HR’s are solo shots. I can assume this has nothing to do with that ridiculous clutch hitting stuff, After all how many base runners could he have had on when he only followed a NL Batting Champion, Cantu and a possible Rookie of the Year. Sure he doesn’t steal bases and tends to actually clog the bases but how can you ignore those 31 homers. SIGN Uggla!!
I hope I have made convincing arguments as to why these 2 offensive threats should be part of the Braves continued ascent to an elite power in the NL East.
Efrim
October 2nd, 2009
12:08 pm
And as Braveheart pointed out yesterday, where is Vazquez going in a trade? Milwaukee? Detroit? Minnesota? St. Louis? Houston? With his no trade clause to AL/NL West teams, his reputation with New York and Chicago, and the lack of available funds or need for a starter making 11.5 million on a one year deal, where is the guy going in a trade? I don’t think it’s as easy as some may think. And among those five teams, I’m not really sure I see a match.
CB
October 2nd, 2009
12:17 pm
VJ, saw you were having fun on the old blog last night.Wow. I think it is a no-brainer with a no on arbitration with Soriano,yes with Gonzo. Now if we want to take a chance on a 3yr -16-18m with Gonzo I am for that. Moylan could be a co-closer,would need a new set-up man which could be KK or trade KKfor a setup guy.
Kashi
October 2nd, 2009
12:27 pm
Where we would be today if JAKE PAVEY deal that included YUNEL ESCOBAR were done?
David O'Brien
October 2nd, 2009
12:27 pm
DawgDad: The Nolasco Fiasco. I like it.
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
12:28 pm
One more thing about those babies–hopefully they’ll all grow up to be Rally Turtles!
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
12:29 pm
The Nolasco Fiasco. I like it.
I didn’t.
DAP
October 2nd, 2009
12:29 pm
jeff rThat pitching carried the Braves through the season. I think Wren was correct to focus mostly on building the pitching staff.
i agree that the pitching carried us and im glad wren did it, but he didnt have to sacrifice getting a bat the way he did. and that bat, in the end, could have been why we fell short this year. its just my opinion on the subject. i feel confident that wren is going to rectify that this off season.
MFin04, maybe you should say “position player” to avoid confusion. because pitchers are baseball players too.
Efrim
October 2nd, 2009
12:29 pm
Pretty shocking that not one Rome Brave made Baseball America’s Top 20 prospects for the Sally league. Not one. Really expected to see Randall Delgado and/or J.J. Hoover there. Knew Minor wouldn’t qualify because he had only pitched like 17 innings, but again, very surprised.
Braveheart
October 2nd, 2009
12:34 pm
One more thing about those babies–hopefully they’ll all grow up to be Rally Turtles!
I hope not because then they’d spent their entire adult lives being cussed out by me for jinxing my team
CB
October 2nd, 2009
12:42 pm
I think an outfield next year of Heyward,McLouth,Schafer,Diaz and Church would be the way I would like to see the Braves go. This would mean we would need to load up with a power hitting 1st baseman who could be an Adrian Gonzalez type hitter.
rico43
October 2nd, 2009
12:44 pm
efrim, remember that it is a 16-team league and the Braves had two No. 1s in short-season Class A.
monty
October 2nd, 2009
12:45 pm
In the end, the team just refused to hit. What was a potent run scoring juggernaut reverted back to early season form and couldn’t scratch out enough runs to support good pitching aside from Javy’s last performance. A timely hit here or there would have kept us undefeated this week. The Rockies seem to be a team of destiny. Everytime this week when the other team tied them or took the lead and the pressure was on they just kept coming back, playing inspired ball, refusing to lose. Don’t get me wrong the Braves had a nice run but just didn’t have that little something extra like the Rockies seem to have. The losses this week didn’t really matter because the Rockies weren’t about to lose it at the end. We were in need of them shooting themselves in the foot and they refused.
Braveheart
October 2nd, 2009
12:49 pm
DAP, what you’re basically saying is that you’d have rather had Abreu & JoJo Reyes over Garret & Kawakami.
Efrim
October 2nd, 2009
12:54 pm
remember that it is a 16-team league and the Braves had two No. 1s in short-season Class A.
Yup, but why does that matter?
DAP
October 2nd, 2009
12:57 pm
Braveheart, no, im not. i see your point though.
jeffrey d
October 2nd, 2009
1:02 pm
Remember that fan in Washington who went for a fly ball and flipped over the seat, sending a purse flying and Joe and Boog made fun of him? That was #1 on the “Not Top 10″ plays.
I thought for sure Pete Orr’s spike would make it on there.
P. W. Hjort
October 2nd, 2009
1:06 pm
Braveheart -
Nah, PWH, no one told me anything and no one insulted my intelligence until you just did.
Excuse me? How on earth did I insult your intelligence?
I actually paid attention to how that all played out last offseason, did you?
Uhhhhhh, yeah buddy. I did.
Garret was all he had available to him at the time. Crisp and Swisher were dealt early in the offseason when they still had dreams of an impact bat, and two or three impactful arms. The asking price for Ludwick was Kelly Johnson, and you’re not gonna trade away a guy who was one of the five best second baseman in the NL at the time for an outfielder coming off a flash in the pan career year. So, none of those guys you mentioned were really ever realistic or reasonable options. You’re not gonna tie yourself down early in the offseason when you have limited financial and labor resources trading away your labor and tying up your money in marginal hitters before you get the arms and bat you desperately need, especially not when there were so many marginal outfielders available on the free agency market. By the time they got done trading for and signing the arms they needed, Garret was all that was reasonable available considering the labor and monetary resources at their disposal.
First of all, Swisher was still available after the Yankees traded for him. Secondly, just because the off-season played out like it did doesn’t mean it had to. Yeah, by the time the Braves signed Garret Anderson he was the best thing available. But Frank Wren put himself in that position. There were plenty of opportunities to pull the trigger on a competent OF’er and Wren passed on all of them. Don’t you think this team would be better if he’d pulled the trigger on one of them?
Soph
October 2nd, 2009
1:06 pm
Poor guy. He looked so embarassed when it happened. Boog said he would be on Sportscenter.
McFann Ô
October 2nd, 2009
1:19 pm
Oh man, they’re doing the “Not Top 10″ still? That used to be on Saturday mornings…always got a kick outta that.
I watched the replay on line a couple days ago…when it first happened, I didn’t notice that he had that purse hooked to his foot (Boog pointed it out later in the game).
dmack2027
October 2nd, 2009
1:22 pm
One more thing to consider re: keepnig Vazquez. His contract is good through next year. After that he is a free agent. What it basically comes down to is whether you would rather extend Huddy or extend Javy.
If it were my money and I was forced to choose, I would extend Hudson. Over the years, he has been the better pitcher. Also, given that he is coming off an injury, you might be able to get a discount.