From bevy of Baby Braves, McCann is last standing

From what I’ve seen and read, this is my take as to why the Phils traded Lee for Halladay.

Lee did not want to sign an extension before free agency, whereas Halladay was willing to do so (hence the reported 3 yr, $60 mil with vesting options).

Also, with Happ and Hamels being left handers, the Phils prefer a right handed Ace. And looking at the numbers Halladay put up against the Red Sox and Yankees, now he gets to face the Marlins/Braves/Mets/Nationals, which I think should help his numbers.

And if you had to pay 1 pitcher $20 mil, would you prefer to pay Cliff Lee that money, or Roy Halladay?

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KL

sorry, that response was from me. I jumped on the laptop a few minutes ago without noticing that Moby had used it earlier. Sorry for any confusion.

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with the better pitchers off of the market now i wonder how much longer it will take for the Braves to make yet another splash?
I’m hoping fairly soon, LAA seems like a good destination for Lowe, but of course there are more, there were a good bit of teams going after John, and Roy, time for plan B so hopefully the Braves can get the best out of the deal, Frank has done just that so far, time to do it again.

with Lowe’s stock risen now that the better pitchers are gone, now is a good of time as any to trade him for the max value

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Brandon Jones will be our LF and Matt Diaz will be out RF to start the season. Infante at 2B, Prado at 1st.

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After reading the blog about the baby Braves; I thought I’d post Talking Chop’s 2010 Community Top-25 Braves Prospects:

1.Jason Heyward, OF
2.Freddie Freeman, 1B
3.Julio Teheran, RHSP
4.Mike Minor, LHSP
5.Craig Kimbrel, RHRP
6.Christian Bethancourt, C
7.Randall Delgado, RHSP
8.Zeke Spruill, RHSP
9.Cody Johnson, OF
10.J.J. Hoover, RHSP
11.Adam Milligan, OF
12.Brett DeVall, LHSP
13.Dimaster Delgado, LHSP
14.Jose Ortegano, LHSP
15.Cory Gearrin, RHRP
16.Cole Rohrbough, LHSP
17.Brandon Hicks, SS
18.Jacob Thompson, RHSP
19.Brett Oberholtzer, LHSP
20.David Hale, RHRP
21.Robinson Lopez, RHSP
22.Scott Diamond, LHSP
23.Tyler Stovall, LHSP
24.Andy Otero, LHSP
25.Benino Pruneda, RHRP

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Brandon Jones will be our LF and Matt Diaz will be out RF to start the season. Infante at 2B, Prado at 1st.

Thank you for trying.

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Nick- “Brandon Jones will be our LF and Matt Diaz will be out RF to start the season. Infante at 2B, Prado at 1st.”

I’m willing to eat my shoe if this happens.

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I think FW is on the phone with Reagins right now… (:

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Just noticed this in Buster’s blog today:

Funny, that was the first thing I noticed. It took most all of my restraint not to run over here and post it for the weejun clan. Plus, I was kinda busy at work today.

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McFann, Y is for yikes!

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Reagin is the Angels GM.

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Braves Next Power Hitter that was to you.

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As soon as we get it, my ‘?’ is gonna be his name so =]!

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1 week until New Orleans……. woo hoo… so excited and I never get excited

fillies are serious again getting Doc…. we need some big bat help

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The claim that the Braves’ offense was statistically better in the second half than in the first half may be true, but it hides some less encouraging data: In the first half the Braves won 7 of 9 games played against the Phils, in the second half they went 3 – 6, largely because the offense was shut down by the Phillie staff. The Braves also lost 4 of the last 7 games against the Marlins. Individually, Chipper did noticeably worse in the second half than in the first half, McCann did better in the first half after the first month than in the second half after he tired noticeably. Escobar was pretty consistent all year, but his ave with runners in scoring position tailed off during the second half. McLouth came over in May and did not play any better during the second half. The second half surge was fueled mainly by Prado, a Diaz hot streak, and LaRoche (who may no longer be a Brave next year). The Braves were not the only team to have key players either under perform or get hurt. Rollins was hitting in the same neighborhood as KJ even after KJ was replaced in the starting line up.

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I agree. I like Bay but hes unrealistic. To me Nady is the best FA with the most upside. That the Braves can afford that is.

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any truth the what im earing about boston in talks with camron?

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Paul the Baseball God who knows it all.

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I know the braves are unlikely to get Rivera but MLBTR has an update that says the Angels are the favs to get Lowe and could offer up Rivera. Dont shoot the messenger.

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I say dump Lowe’s salary for prospects…

Then make a run at OF Jason Bay…

Heyman on MLB network says its down to the Angels and Mets for Jason Bay. The METS w/the inside track. Says a “MYSTERY TEAM” has offered 5 years…

Gosh, I wish that “Mystery Team” was the Braves…

BUT, Frank Wren and the Braves are CHEAP…

We will get an injured Xavier Nady who’s a year away from baseball

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Why are seemingly half the bloggers on here convinced that the Angels will be hot for Lowe. They have three high quality front line starters and a 4th coming off a bad year who won 16 games 2 of the previous 3 seasons.

And all 4 ar 28 or younger.

They also have at least 2 solid options for the 5th spot.

There are several free agent possibilities who may not be quite as good as Lowe, but considering they can be signed for maybe half his salary and won’t cost the Angels anything in return, why would they be looking to deal for an aging pitcher with $45 mil left on his contract?

I know it’s hard for a lot of folks on here to accept, but the Braves are not going to be able to get rid of Lowe’s contract without eating at least a third of his contract, maybe more. And on top of that, they will get little to nothing in return.

However, they might be able to get something of value in return for Kawakami and still have just about enough money left to add starters at 1B or LF/RF.

Anyone counting on Heyward to be the starter in RF from opening day is making a foolish bet. He may be as good as the scouts say he is, but how likely is it that he’s ready to step into a starting role at this stage? Maybe for the Royals, Pirates or Nationals. Not for a presumed contender.

My challenge to those who love proposing fantasy trades that are about as grounded in reality as your daily Glenn Beck rant:

Cite any and all teams that really need a starting pitcher, have the resources to take on Lowe’s salary and would prefer him over Bedard, Washburn, Marquis, Pineiro, Padilla, etc.

The Braves will be better off keeping Lowe and his contract as opposed to unloading him and paying a sizeable percentage of it. They may eventually have to do that, but might be a whole lot better off if they explore any trade options regarding Kawakami.

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Lifer,

Is Schafer no longer elligible to be considered a Prospect in your listing, or is this an indication of how far his star has fallen?

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Paul Lentz: With the five recent signings/trades of Starting Pitchers below what is your opinion on where Lowe fits in talent wise amongst this group? I mean when I look at the other figures I see that Lowe’s salary is starting to get more and more justifiable.

Roy Halladay- 3yr $60MM + 2010 $15.75MM= 4yr $75.75MM
John Lacky= 5yr $85MM
Randy Wolf= 3yr $30M (Rounded)
Kevin Millwood= 1yr $9M
Rich Harden= 1yr $6.5M with $2.5M in performance bonuses; option year $11.5M with a $1M buyout

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You know if you don’t have a point (except on the top of your head), the fallback is always to attack someone using homophobia or sexism (someone is a “faggo” or a “sissy”).

Some of you folks must really be a joy to be around.

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Man I cant believe the hate for Nady on this blog. A few years ago it seemed like everyone loved him. Now hes hated. I just don’t understand it. Its amazing how an injury will change peoples minds about you. Kind of like because he had a surgery hes no good anymore. Makes no sense to me.

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Angels, Hideki Matsui Reach Agreement
By Tim Dierkes [December 14 at 6:12pm CST]

6:12pm: Tyler Keppner of the New York Times has received confirmation that the two sides have reached an agreement (via Twitter).+

The Lowe-Rivera trade seems to be closer.

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Lentz…. to me Lowe is right there in between Wolf and Lackey. His stuff isn’t as good as Lackeys anymore but hes so durable. Lowe is a workhorse and when his sinker is on, hes nasty.

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Update: “Angels, Hideki Matsui Reach Agreement”

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that was of course a joke

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mr baseball…………well put 7:12pm posting.

However, it went WAY OVER the heads of the majority of the MORONS who feel that the Braves can dump Lowe’s contract either by eating $3 mil a year or less of his contract………or by not eating any of it at all.

You are preaching against a choir of ignorance when it comes to realistic hopes of trading Lowe.

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With the signing of Matsui and the departure of Lackey and the trade of Halliday I NOW think that the Angles-Braves trade of Riveria for Lowe seems like a REAL possibility.

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Braves Lifer…….I feel that all the pitchers listed in your 7:13pm posting are better than Derek Lowe. Hands down.

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P’cola Brave- I agree with your assesment and would like to claim it as my own. Lacky averages $17M per and got five years. Wolf averages about $10M per and got three years. The Braves are on the hook for three more years at $15M per. IMO the money we eat will come down to Frank Wren’s ability to sell a team as to if Lowe is closer to Lacky or Wolf.

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If money is the sticking point….ATL should kick in some $ to get Rivera so that the Angels can replace him with Bay….allowing Matsui to be the DH.

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Paul Lentz- “Braves Lifer…….I feel that all the pitchers listed in your 7:13pm posting are better than Derek Lowe. Hands down.”

That’s the most illogical statement I’ve every seen you make. Please say someone signed in for you.

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“Its amazing how an injury will change peoples minds about you. Kind of like because he had a surgery hes no good anymore.” P’Cola Brave

Yup. Just ask Tim Hudson. I’ll be the first to admit, When Tim Hudson was supposed to be our Ace, and he had his poor year, I was all over him. Braves were paying him well to lead the staff.

But in reality, he has literaly been the same pitcher in terms of innings, ERA and team victories as Vazquez and Lowe have been, and Wren signed him for almost 20 million less than Lowe will be paid in the next 3 years, and people want to act like Hudson is the 2nd coming of Dave Dravecky and marking their calendar for the date that his arm will fall off.

I get that there is risk. I also get that this offense might need a really big power bat, (though imo, the fan base needs it more). Adding a guy like Nady, if he’s healthy, is EXACTLY what this team needs. Solid bat, decent speed (not SB speed, but 1st to 3rd speed, and defensive speed in OF), and above average defense. Add to that he’s RH. Hell, to me the injury is a blessing in disguise if he’s deemed healthy, because it will be cheaper to get him.

Is he Jason Bay? Nope. But we also won’t be worried about having to trade a 16-20 million dollar guy in 5 years either. Short term bridge and worst case scenario, platoon partner with Schafer, or everyday player, leaving Diaz to platoon with Schafer.

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“… that giant sucking sound from up north is the Phillies winning yet another NL pennant.” Pete

Thanks for the clarification. I just assumed it was the Mets. Sounds can be deceiving though.

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Brandon, no i dont think you are crazy, i think the Braves have a better rotation top to bottom, but the phils have a the true Ace in Roy, but if i had to choose a pitching staff, its the Braves

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Brandon from Warner Robins, Nope. Not crazy at all.

1-5 with either Lowe or Vazquez, our rotation kicks their ass. Unfortunately the 2-4 spots in their batting order have more “umph” than our entire lineup does, so it’s a wash.

I’m with DOB, adding Halladay to that rotation while keeping Lee? Yeah. That would have sucked. Trading Halladay for Lee? Not much difference. An ace is an ace is an ace.

I mean, had we traded Greg Maddux in 1995 for Pedro Martinez, would have have been better, worse or the same? That’s all the Phillies did today.

For those of you looking to make the argument that Halladay’s “track record” warrants that he’s the better pitcher than Lee, rather than basing it all on Lee’s performace last year and the year before. Watch yourself. You’ll be treading in to dangerous “double standard” waters. IE: Javier Vazquez.

I think Halladay is the better pitcher. So if I’m a Phillies fan, I’m excited about the deal. But lets be honest here. They were going to be the favorite in the NL East in 2010 with either Lee or Halladay in their rotation.

Just the same as the Braves rotation will be very solid and possibly the league’s best 1-5 rotation with either Lowe or Vazquez in it.

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Lowe+Schafer for Rivera would be a bad trade for us IMO. And that’s coming from someone who thinks Rivera would be a damn good pickup for this team.

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Brandon from Warner Robins

December 14th, 2009
7:26 pm
Am I crazy to believe that the Braves starting rotation is better than the Phillies even with Halladay?

Not crazy at all. In fact the Phils improved marginally getting Halliday and I love Halliday. Is Halliday going to pitch better than Lee did last year for the Phils? I doubt it. If they added Lee with Halliday then I would say thats a problem.

Paul saying that Millwood and Harden are better than Lowe is just stupid. Fonz I think you just jumped the shark wih that one.

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N8 – you make a good argument. So, I’m passing it along to a Philly fan who says I’ve lost my mind. Appreciate It.

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Even though Halladay could be considered the best pitcher in baseball, he’s mortal and beatable. Him going to Phillies means nothing in the overall picture. Unless they go out and get another starter that is good, nothing to worry about really.

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Simple folks, the Phils have great pitching AND great hitting

Braves have great pitching and TERRIBLE hitting

End of debate

N8, you are correct, that “sucking” sound is the Phils swallowing up another pennant….the Mets? The just plain suck….:)

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MLBTR is saying Cameron would play RF for Red Sox. What happened/happens to JD Drew?

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James Cameron discussing the motion-capture technology updated for the movie AVATAR

if we had put the same energy into creating a human as we put into creating the Na’vi,, it would have been 100% indistinguishable from reality….Let’s say Clint Eastwood wanted to make one last DIRTY HARRY movie looking the way he did in 1975,he could absolutely do it now.and that would be cool

can we bring Hank,Dale and Chipper back as youngsters to help next year?

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Haha chop anyway we can get a 50 dollar gift card I really think we are underestimating Lowes value by not getting the $50 card.

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BravesFanChris 25…. Hilarious stuff right there…just a downright knee slapper……………

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We got a “Shyster” at 6:32!

Take a drink, LOL.

Too bad I didn’t see the offer of a wager before BASteve took it, since Dentz wanted one of his “harshest critics” to take the bet. And, son, on that characterization, I’m your huckleberry. I can’t begin to tell you how much delight I get, from the hair on my head to my tippy-tippy-toes, just laying into your nimrod dimwit numbletard self. There’s just something about it that I can’t explain, LOL. I’m normally a polite and genteel Southern gentleman. But, you, you dolt, bring me to the point of defending the city against the barbarian hordes: no surrender…no quarter.

I guess it’s because I have never, in any walk of life, forum, or conversation, come across someone so irritatingly obtuse, so stubbornly stupid, and so hell-bent on displaying such to the world at large. In truth, I should feel sympathy for the life I suspect you lead, but I’d rather heap contumely on your pencil-necked ill-informed azz.

Guess I’m not the fine human I like to think I aspire to be. So be it, because, bubba, until the day comes when I can put your idiot mind in the blog’s rearview mirror, I’ll be on you with the whip, the rope, and the gun.

Figuratively, of course.

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