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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
312 comments Add your comment
DaveFromDallas(NC)
December 9th, 2010
8:51 am
I like the George Sherrill signing. Sometimes you have to take a chance on a player who has a bad year. Atlanta has traditionally done this and in a lot of cases it has worked out well. Sherrill was the closer in Baltimore. He’s not the only player to go to the LA Dodgers and be a complete bust. He’ll be trying to prove himself once again, so he will work extra hard at regaining the performance level of two years ago.
Fols
December 9th, 2010
8:53 am
Too many suggestions moving Chipper down the batting order…..they guy gets on base, he should be batting 2nd.
Prado
Jones
Heyward
Uggla
B-Mac
Nate
Freeman
Gonzo
stew
December 9th, 2010
9:01 am
I am also a NY BRAVES FAN and if Ellsbury does the same things that Crawford does and is under control why would the Sox go out and give Crawford 20 mill a year. Didn’t he play all of 18 games last year? He has to prove that he’s healthy. I’d rather see either Upton/McCutchen/Rasmus/Cain/Braun and he doesn’t have to be a leadoff hitter. Prado proved last year to be more than capable in tat role. In fact, we took off when he started batting leadoff and we regressed when he began batting third.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
9:03 am
Some of you are right. We need to get Andruw for a backup OF. And Posednik. And a couple of others. Sign Bill Hall. And at least two backup SS’s. Mabye toss in a few relievers while we’re at it.
Just as soon as the rosters are increased to 50. And the Braves payroll is upped to $150M.
Sidenote to DOB – I see you picked up on the Glum reference from a couple of days ago and ran with it. Nice placement. “It’s not gonna work…we’re all gonna die.”
wow
December 9th, 2010
9:07 am
guys prados injury is a serious one- what would we do if hes not ready to go?
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
9:12 am
Not sure where you are getting your info, wow. DOB’s article on Schafer from a couple of days ago mentioned that Prado was working out with him in Orlando and projects to be 100% by start of ST
Tyler
December 9th, 2010
9:14 am
Bullpen:
Venter – LHP – Set-up/Closer
Kimbrel – RHP – Set-up/Closer
Moylan – RHP – Specialist
Sherill – LHP – Specialist
Linebrink – RHP
O’Flar – LHP
Proctor – RHP – Signed for decent money, so he’s got to be on the 25 man.
Q: Who is your long guy?
McClouth
Prado
Jones
Uggla
McCann
Heyward
Freeman
Gonzalez
Rotation:
Hudson
Lowe
Hanson
Jurrgens
Beachy/Minor
Bench:
Hinski – LF – 1B
Ross – C
Mathers 1B/3B/OF
Shafer/Young – OF
Doiry – need someone who can play SS
Where does Chisthian Martinez or odd man out with Beachy/Minor fit in? I’m assuming it will be a battle between Shafer/Young/Mathers or either Proctor/Martinez.
Jack Lill
December 9th, 2010
9:14 am
Wren drafts a minoe leaguer from the Cardinals and cut Diaz. How dumb can you be. As long as Wren is the GM the Braves can forget it.
Bobby's Cleats
December 9th, 2010
9:17 am
Am I the only one that heard FG say to Buck yesterday he plans on hitting McClouth 2nd, and Heyward 6th???? Are you frigging kidding me??
Uncle Azzwiper
December 9th, 2010
9:18 am
The broke Braves just sit back and watch the Nats (Werth) and Sox (Crawford) snatch up all the OF talent. Did anybody tell the Nats & Red Sox we were in a recession ? Wow ! I’d hate to see how much players would get in a booming economy.
Uncle Azzwiper
December 9th, 2010
9:20 am
Yeah real smart to get McOut 5 at bats per game and Heyward only 4. I already dislike his managing.
NY BRAVES FAN
December 9th, 2010
9:20 am
As much as I loved Diaz , he really was not good
jarvis
December 9th, 2010
9:22 am
Sorry for Francoer. Nice guy, and the road to baseball Pergatory runs through KC.
He’ll be part of the local media in 2 years.
J T at Capital
December 9th, 2010
9:22 am
We want Andrum back he deserve to finish his career as a Brave best centerfielder in Braves history
Uncle Azzwiper
December 9th, 2010
9:23 am
“Players like McLouth usually get sent back to the minors when they hit .190 and in a few years quit baseball period. But the Braves give him a starting spot. Unfathomable. In life or baseball opportunities should be earned not given. Mclouth has not earned a starting CF position.”
I couldn’t have said it any better.
kdbanks01
December 9th, 2010
9:24 am
I think its time that we call up Greinke from the Triple A affilliate. Come on Frank!
Uncle Azzwiper
December 9th, 2010
9:26 am
Yeah, and bring in David DeJesus as well. Heck, bring in Billy Butler too. These guys along with Grienke are a waste in Siberia, I meant KC.
Uncle Azzwiper
December 9th, 2010
9:28 am
What about KK,McOut,Beachy,and D.Hernandez for Grienke,DeJesus,B.Butler,and Alex Gordon ? I’d do it.
jarvis
December 9th, 2010
9:28 am
McLouth situation says volumes about how broke the Braves’ ownership is.
Bravos have to start a lousy CF because he is going to be paid $7.5 million.
My guess is $7.5 million is in the bottom third for salaries for starting CF.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
9:29 am
The Twins selected Scott Diamond from the Braves in the Rule 5 Draft
Now back to ignoring the trolls
Uncle Azzwiper
December 9th, 2010
9:32 am
Its like McOut is the 900 pound gorilla in the room. I had a new card once (like McOut) that drove well for half a year then it tore up. The engine blew up (like McOut’s bat). I traded it for pretty much nothing anhd got a new truck. I lost a bunch of money but got rid of a headache that I couldn’t depend on… Hmm…
jarvis
December 9th, 2010
9:33 am
Azzwiper, we can can’t get anyone to take KK even with the Braves offering to pay the majority of his salary.
He and McLouth are dead weight…why would anyone want all of that?
Bridge Troll Sir Sarcrove
December 9th, 2010
9:33 am
I just crawled out. What’s going on Phillies fans ?
Azzwiper
December 9th, 2010
9:37 am
Do you realize that speaks volumes ? The Royals don’t want McOut period but Braves are going to start him in CF ?
jarvis
December 9th, 2010
9:39 am
You and I are on the same page with that one.
dap01
December 9th, 2010
9:41 am
CF is obviouly our biggest weakness. I hope Wren can get creative enough to help us out. McLouth may come back but it would be best not to have to expect either offense or defense from him.
You can have a no offense cf if he can play defense. But last year he could not even make a throw.
Jim
December 9th, 2010
9:48 am
Braves strength is their pitching–with new manager I think a little more emphasis will be on speed to manufacture runs. Jones does not fit this profile. Unless they can get a speed type center fielder without giving up front line pitching I think they should give the guys they have a shot. Young may surprise you.
1234
December 9th, 2010
9:48 am
Crawford to Red Sox…now you may have a shot at Ellsbury…
The Red Sox have now become the Yankees..man they’re loaded.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
9:52 am
Jarvis, there are not a lot of teams that can afford to arbitrarily pay a back up player over $7M. He has not been handed the starting job. It’s his job to lose. He could lose it. They have Schafer and Young who could wind up with the job. It’s not as bleak as so many on here think.
And don’t bother responding to Uncle or whatever he changes his name to. He’s a troll who has been posting the same junk on here for a few days now. shamrock or uncle or whatever. Still a troll.
Tyler
December 9th, 2010
9:52 am
The Braves will not go after Ellsbury. Guy was basically out last year and Schafer is about the same player with more pop.
It’s done. If any other moves are made it will be for Utility Man, but I can bet with the minor league moves the Braves have made they will let those guys compete with Diory.
My only Q is who is the long guy?
1234
December 9th, 2010
9:58 am
Never put nothing pass Wren. Its not over till its over and FW is always looking for a deal. There will be more players available in Jan.
bobbymahlon
December 9th, 2010
10:02 am
I can understand when Wren says we are stuck with McLouth because nobody wants him but I don’t understand why we have to jeopardize our whole season because we have to play him. If he could only throw we could put him in for defense in the late innings but we can’t even do that. The only thing he could be used for is pinch ruuning which he is a very godd base runner. So lets get Ellsbury and have a winning team.
chip off the ol block
December 9th, 2010
10:06 am
Tyler: my guess the long man could be one of Minor/Beachy whoever doesnt win their spot in the rotation
JeanE
December 9th, 2010
10:07 am
Take that Hinske, MattE rightfully got a better longer deal than you did, so there!!!!! Pirates gain, Braves HUGE loss. So glad we signed that new “situational” lefty. Frank Wren, you are an idiot.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
10:08 am
Hmmm a $7M pinch runner. Sure. The Braves can afford that.
coach smith
December 9th, 2010
10:08 am
Andruw Jones would be so cheap, what is the downside? he hit more HRs last year than any current Braves outfielder AND he only played in 121 games!
Do it! There is NO DOWNSIDE
Dumb Braves Fan
December 9th, 2010
10:10 am
Ramblingman,
We pay 15 million for a 3rd baseman that plays 40 games (Exaggerating) why not pay 7 million for a pinchrunner.
Chipper is not Jeter, you pay him as long as he wants to play with the Braves.
Dumb Braves Fan
December 9th, 2010
10:10 am
oops Chipper is “like” Jeter
Dumb Braves Fan
December 9th, 2010
10:14 am
I find it funny that last year and during the season
People were calling for Derek Lowe to be traded instead of JV… lol
Chuck M.
December 9th, 2010
10:20 am
For all of you to say the tastless things about Andrew Jones,The man put his heart and soul for the Braves when he played here.Now that he is older and can not play center field the way he did in the past,he is worthless? No one is saying he will be the everyday center fielder just off the beanch. He hit 19 dingers fot the Sox last year, and made 500k. I am sure the Brave can give him 800k or a mill for one year.That would be a bargain.You would have a right hand bopper off the beanch with power.They pay Nate 6 mill, so why not?
bobbymahlon
December 9th, 2010
10:21 am
Ramblingman : If we only use him as a pinch runner he will help us but if we are forced to play him full time we are hurting.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
10:21 am
a. The Braves are counting on Chipper playing more than 40 games
b. following your logic, why didn’t they pay $10 to Sherrill?
Jesse Stone
December 9th, 2010
10:25 am
Crawford plays LF, not CF. The RedSox will hang on to Ellsbury
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
10:26 am
I give up. It’s beyond me that people are actually thinking the Braves have some magical endless supply of money growing on some tree somewhere outside Wren’s office.
Of course, these are mostly the same people who forever want to dump any player after a strikeout and go after the player du jour. Fantasy baseball has made some people completely nuts.
bobbymahlon
December 9th, 2010
10:26 am
I can’t understand why so many people like Ramblingman are so sarcastic on these blogs.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
10:32 am
It mostly comes from reading comments that are totally absurd, like making McLouth into solely a pinch runner
Dumb Braves Fan
December 9th, 2010
10:32 am
But people on these blogs are COMPLETE idiots
Some people type insane trade proposals
Curt
December 9th, 2010
10:38 am
it is difficult to be patient when the same suggestions and questions keep coming up on this board without a shed of understanding of baseball economics and the overall game of baseball. As such, it is easy to understand why ramblingman and others would be percieved as somewhat sarcastic.
ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
10:38 am
Good info DOB, what do you think about the Carl Crawford move? This Mather guy is has pop to his bat, but can he make contact on a regular basis? Andruw would be a nice bench addition & can give some postseason pointers to the young guys. I still think we should get some base stealing help on this team. If we don’t add one more pure hitter (pending Chippers return) or power bat our only choice is speed, we gotta get these guy LOB moving some how.
Cool Dude
December 9th, 2010
10:40 am
Two question marks….McClouth and Chipper. If Chipper bounces back and McClouth plays like he did in his All-Star year, we will be unstoppable. I have faith in McClouth. I, too, am encouraged by his stats after call-up late last year. Good pitching negates bad defense. We could be in for a great year.
STRETCH
December 9th, 2010
10:41 am
Pirates Close To Deal For Kawakami?
By Tim Dierkes [December 9 at 9:35am CST]
THURSDAY, 9:35am: The Pirates seem to be close to a deal for Kawakami, tweets Biertempfel. He says money is one issue, as is the possibility of the Pirates moving Paul Maholm.
STRETCH
December 9th, 2010
10:45 am
I just dont understand why management cant see what billions of people see…the fact that Chipper is NOT going to play 140, heck probably NOT gonna play 120 games.
They have pitching depth up to their necks. They need another bopper somehow….Hope the pickups can subsitute when Chip’s on the DL next year.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
10:48 am
It’s not billions, it’s a few dozen at best, and given what other things they are saying, most people take their comments with a pound of salt
Curt
December 9th, 2010
10:48 am
I think the Braves have many more than two questions. Aside from Chipper and McClouth, there is the fact that both Freeman and Heyward are young players. No one really knows how well Freeman will do at the plate and know one knows if Heyward will have a sophomore slump. On the pitching sde, the Braves don’t know if JJ will bounce back or not (he was not great after coming back from injury), they really dont know who their 5th starter will be and they dont know who will be the closer (though there are some great options and they dont have to have only one)
There are always unknowns going into every season no matter who is on your team. We can all hope and we can all speculate and the Braves staff can build for contingency but until the season starts, everything is an unknown.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
10:49 am
I find it strange that the Pirates are still in on KK after signing two starters. They must really want him deep down. Could be turned to the Braves advantage.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
10:50 am
well said, Curt
Cool Dude
December 9th, 2010
10:55 am
Curt,
I agree with you completely. I am not feeling too comfortable with Freeman as a full-time starter. I guess I am just very optimistic with him. I do see Hinske getting more starts at 1st than people might think.I am not very worried about Heyward though. Didn’t Gonzales say that he was making all players go through a conditioning plan in the off-season? If so, I expect nagging injuries, like JJ’s and Prado’s, to be non-factors.
ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
10:56 am
Hey if this true about KK to the Pirates, cross your fingers Braves fans we need to get them back for one the worst trades in our history. Even if it it is only salary relief, who cares let’s get what we can & move forward!
Cmon Man
December 9th, 2010
11:16 am
Is anyone else sick of McLouth never trying to throw a runner out at the plate? He just holds the ball and watches the runner score. Does anyone else notice that? That annoys me just as much as his terrible offense.
Tyler
December 9th, 2010
11:20 am
I sure hope that Baltimore is in the picture still with KK.
KK will come back and haunt the Braves. Guy is easily a .500% w/l pitcher with better run support. If he’s at .500% or better, he’s got more confidence like he showed slaying Halladay and Santana.
I do think the our current 5 are much better options, but don’t want to give him the chance for Braves dumping him and making him look bad.
wjones
December 9th, 2010
11:22 am
“ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
10:56 am
Hey if this true about KK to the Pirates, cross your fingers Braves fans we need to get them back for one the worst trades in our history. Even if it it is only salary relief, who cares let’s get what we can & move forward!”
What trade are you talking about? Surely not the McLouth trade? We were the ones who approached the Pirates, and believe it or not, the players the Pirates got have performed much worse than McLouth.
bobbymahlon
December 9th, 2010
11:24 am
Cmon Man : My sentiments exactly, you could of not said it better.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
11:25 am
Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?
Pearl Harbor?
Forget it, he’s on a roll.
TB
December 9th, 2010
11:26 am
Andruw Jones will never come back to the Braves b/c he wouldn’t (or couldn’t) do what he was supposed to the first time around. I remember Pendleton saying he did everything right in practice (hittting), but in the game he did everything wrong. And I wish people would read, before they say something stupid. Nate’s going nowhere b/c of his contract. Ditto Chipper.
ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
11:50 am
@ wjones Granted it may not have worked out for both teams but given what we have gotten from McLouth we should not have even made any trade. So I still consider it our worst trade ever, because we would have still gotten better play from what we had or waiting for free agency.
Fish Bisch
December 9th, 2010
11:50 am
Sad day, my favourite player, Melk Man, signed, with the Royals.
NY BRAVES FAN
December 9th, 2010
11:50 am
I saw David Dejesus’s name mentioned on this blog as a trade piece from the Royals. Just to let you guys know that deal is not possible since Dejesus is on The Oakland Athletics
Booby's Blunders
December 9th, 2010
11:56 am
“The Center Field job is Mclouth’s to lose”??????? What more could he have done to lose it than what he has done in the last 2 years.
What reason is there to think that this is going to change? — Unless Pendleton was truly the worst hitting coach in the history of the game.
Fish Bisch
December 9th, 2010
12:00 pm
Why no breaking news about Melky Cabrabera going to the Royals? He will be sorely missed and hard to replace.
don
December 9th, 2010
12:02 pm
Give Andruw a shot. He could be the best move the Braves have made in several years.
He is certainly a better move than are the others being considered.
wjones
December 9th, 2010
12:06 pm
“ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
11:50 am
@ wjones Granted it may not have worked out for both teams but given what we have gotten from McLouth we should not have even made any trade. So I still consider it our worst trade ever, because we would have still gotten better play from what we had or waiting for free agency.”
Well, we made the trade due to Schafer’s slump/injury, so we didn’t have someone ready to take CF. And McLouth certainly performed above what Schafer was doing, and we didn’t have depth at the time to take the job. No reasonable person could have expected McLouth’s horrible slump during 2010, and once he went down and worked out his problems he came back and was much more productive. I believe you will find that the players we gave up have not done well at all in Pittsburgh. No one would be talking about his contract, had we performed close to the level of his last year in Pittsburgh, and regardless of how he does this year, that money will be coming off the books for 2011, which hopefully will coincide with Schafer getting back to 100%, if he doesn’t get there sometime THIS year. Slumps and injuries are things we can’t plan on, unless you are counting on someone old or injury prone or coming off a prolonged period of inadequate play, and that was not the case with this deal.
ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
12:08 pm
Hey I’m not a Pendleton fan or hater but the truth is players like Chipper, McCann, & Prado all still hit for average under him. Even J-Hey who had some struggles did not drop into an abyss, no matter who we bring in the bottom line is guys need to step up in the clutch. San Francisco’s lineup is no more imposing than ours if we perform up to our capabilities.
wjones
December 9th, 2010
12:08 pm
“Fish Bisch
December 9th, 2010
12:00 pm
Why no breaking news about Melky Cabrabera going to the Royals? He will be sorely missed and hard to replace.”
Dude, turn off your sarcasm meter. He was replaced already. Go back and find out about all the Marlins signings and get back to us.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
12:12 pm
ahh, I see blunder is not finished trolling
Curt
December 9th, 2010
12:15 pm
I think many are deluding themselves when it comes to Andruw Jones. In truth, Andruw had more bad years at the plate than good ones with the Braves and, I think if you really look at the times he was succesful, very few of them were in the clutch.
I for one do not want to see Andruw coming to the plate with runners in scoring position and flailing at pitches out of the zone as he has done soo mant times in the past.
There are many options other than Andruw and for me, I would rather see a young player with potential rather than a has been (or never was) on the downside of their career.
ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
12:16 pm
@ wjones that is one huge sticking point for me, the amount of money for McClouth. We were not a powerhouse that year, so that is why I felt like platooning guys, picking up a utility guy, or just waiting til the offseason would have worked in our favor. Wren dove in head first & got bit, hindsight is 20/20. There are no mulligans in baseball, but why did Pittsburgh trade an all-star & fan favorite in a bad market city, so easily?
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
12:18 pm
Curt, I think that the people clamoring for Andruw are just reinforcing that a player who is really good can have a bad stretch for a couple of years and come back strong.
Oops, I think they just described Nate McLouth.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
12:19 pm
Reddjonn, they did it for the same reason they have traded every single player who gets too good and makes a lot of money for the last two decades or so in Pittsburgh.
ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
12:28 pm
Hey ramblingman that may be true, but even though they call it a ” poor market city “. The Steelers & Penguins continue to make revenue, because they hold on to fan favorites. Even in the tough years we never thought of trading Dale Murphy or any of our best players!
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
12:31 pm
Apples and oranges. The Steelers, Penguins and Pirates have different owners and different situations.
Dale Murphy is a bad example to bring up of players not being traded.
Curt
December 9th, 2010
12:32 pm
ramblingman. My point is that I am not sure that Andrew was ever as good at the plate as many people seem to recall. A couple of good years can be an aberration, not the norm. To your point about Nate, a bad year can also be the aberation.
While Andruw was with the Braves, as many kept saying he was a hall of famer and that he was the best defensive CF ever, I kept countering with his poor swing and the fact that he took balls away from the other outfielders that they could have gotten to easilly thereby inflating his stats. This is not to say that Andruw was not a great outfielder because I do think he was.
In my opinion, I would rather have an average (major league) CF who can hit great than a great CF fielder who can not and I think Andruw is and was a below average hitter
gainer
December 9th, 2010
12:37 pm
You consider the McLouth trade the worst in history? Do you remember that little trade with texas last year where gave up 5 prospects (2 great ones in Andrus and Feliz) for Texeira? But you think the McLouth trade is worse when all we gave up was gorkys hernandez and he’s done nothing? I would consider the Jermaine Dye for keith lockhart and michael tucker worse. I also think trading grissoma dn justice to cleveland for kenny lofton would be worse.
sportsmandh
December 9th, 2010
12:38 pm
Well I will admit I was wrong. After the season I was speculating Crawford wouldn’t get 20 Mil per year. I predicted 15-16 mil per year. I think he should send the Nationals and Jason Werth a BIG thank you card for inflating the market.
Jesse Stone
December 9th, 2010
12:41 pm
It will be intersting to see the Angels fallback plan. They may very well overpay, either free agent or trade.
Wes
December 9th, 2010
12:43 pm
Infante was a singles hitting .300 hitter who wasn’t too good in the field. Trading that for .275 and 30 hrs was more than worth it. Lose the hard on for Infante.
Blue
December 9th, 2010
12:44 pm
and while the Sox add Gonzalez and Crawford, the Braves take a might step forward with Sherrill (did I spell that right, or is it Cheryl).
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
12:44 pm
Curt, your point is taken. Druw’s swing was something to marvel at sometimes, and not in a good way. I think a great hitting light fielding OF and a light hitting great fielding OF can offset each other as long as they are not too terrible one way or the other. People don’t place enough emphasis on defense in my mind.
I was basically backing up your point when I was saying that they should not be clamoring for Andruw when Nate could wind up being just as valuable to the team.
Sportsman – correct on the thank you card. Crawford is deserving but I agree he got a bump after the Werth signing.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
12:46 pm
blue, you just changed your name from the other one that posted that earlier today and got no response. Okay so here is your response.
Please go troll somewhere else
Not Blue
December 9th, 2010
12:52 pm
ramblinman- sheriff of all blogs.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
12:53 pm
whatever you say, pyle/blue/whatever. Run along and play, now
Not Blue
December 9th, 2010
12:53 pm
Death, Taxes, and ramblinman spending all day on the blogs.
Not Blue
December 9th, 2010
12:58 pm
…I wonder if he has a big cape with an “R” on it and a keyboard emblazoned on his chest? Beware original thoughts…..ramblinman is here!!!
Blue
December 9th, 2010
12:59 pm
J-Man December 9th, 2010 12:40 am “only about 7 teams capable of winning a Championship.”.
Although I agree with you in principle about not having a cap (and it will NEVER change), you shouldn’t try to support your argument with a statement that is so…wrong. Since 1995 (in 16 years), 11 different teams have won the series, with the Yankees and Red Sox as only repeaters. That includes six different teams in the last 6 years. Numbers don’t support your assertion.
Ben
December 9th, 2010
1:01 pm
Im going to place my practical opinion aside for a brief comment, replace it with my fervent braves ball cap and say…
Rest all worries for the braves CF job. We need not rely on Nate Mclouth. Jordan Schafer is once again healthy and is having another spring like 2009. More so, kid has been humbled by his recent hardships and will return with a sounder mind, steadfast work ethic, leading to a Gold-Glove quality CF with an incredible arm! (= to Rick Ankiel) and will lead-off in game 1after the Allstar break. Im betting sooner.
Just hope FreGO has the presence of mind to forgo Bobbys stapled lineup and change things around. Hopefully starting out our lineup looks like…
Prado
C. Jones
Uggla
Heyward
Bmac
A Gon
Freeman
Mclouth/Schafer
then turns to
Schafer
Jones
Prado
Uggla
Heyward
BMac
Agon
Freeman
and we trade a surging Mclouth midseason for highend OF prospects.
ramblingman
December 9th, 2010
1:07 pm
Ben, it’s refreshing to see some actual optimism on here. I wonder about batting Chipper second, though. I just don’t see it. If he leaves the 3 hole, I think he would be better suited for the 5 or 6 slot. With Schafer in your lineup, I would like Prado in the second slot – someone who can bunt and/or move that runner over and play situational baseball.
(and no I am not going to respond to the little darling who has proven he can actually type…how cute)
ReddJonn68
December 9th, 2010
1:12 pm
These monopolies in baseball are the reason you have the term “small market teams”. These salaries are crazy & Bud Selig is the Sheriff who is always out of town. I wish we could have gotten either Werth or Crawford, but at those prices WTF. Selig is gonna be asking for salary reductions in a couple of years & he can thank New York & Boston for it.
b
December 9th, 2010
1:14 pm
cmonman,yes we’ve noticed that Nate the carnival act is afraid to throw the ball. In all my years of watching baseball, over 50, I’ve never seen a stranger and worse season than Nate put together.
I’m afraid something is really bothering him mentally.
I mean you couldn’t play worse if you tried. I just can’t believe the Braves continued to play him.
Ben
December 9th, 2010
1:16 pm
Fair enough, Like bobby I still hold allegiance to Chipper Jones, therefore cant imagine the top 3 with out the switch hitter. Not looking at his stats and discounting his speed, Chipper Jones is a great number 2 hitter. He need not bunt, but place the ball on sides of the Field with runners on. He won the batting title a few years ago if not mistaken with this mentality. How many times did the #2 hitter bunt in past seasons. Only doubt I really have is his tendency to ground into double plays which seemingly increased dramatically the past season.
Navigator
December 9th, 2010
1:16 pm
There will be a time when the Braves will say, Matt Diaz used to play with Braves before coming an allstar. Hey the Braves dumped Infante already and he was an all star. Remember the now famous Forrest Gump saying: “stupid is as stupid does”, and the Braves have been famous for living in.
Daniel
December 9th, 2010
1:19 pm
Dave- I am chomping at the bit to start debating something of importance…. our year end music lists!!!!