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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,545 comments Add your comment
AtlYnkHtr
July 18th, 2011
1:11 pm
cabravesfan, I think for some reason Freddie would get more of a pass, not a total pass, but a little more. Probably has to do with expectations and hype. For some reason Freddie’s expectations, it seems, were always tempered whereas Jason started so fast and with such a bang, it got kinda out of control. I remember the comparisons to some of the greats in terms of OBP and such.
ncscoots
July 18th, 2011
1:12 pm
Will people be demanding we find a new first baseman next season?
Yes, Freeman obviously has not thought ahead to what he has let himself in for, by having a good rookie year. Do it once, and they expect you to do it every year.
Tommy T
July 18th, 2011
1:13 pm
cabravesfan -
Not that anything said in this blog even remotely pertains to reality or reason.
cabravesfan
July 18th, 2011
1:13 pm
ncscoots-
dumb kid
He should know better…
N8
July 18th, 2011
1:15 pm
Lew is dead on people. Christian Martinez would be the “gap” starter for the rest of the year, with Teheran and Minor getting spot starts here and there to rest guys. Don’t understimate the casual way in which the team announced Vizcaino moving to the bullpen to save his innings as well. Wouldn’t surprise me if they did the same with Teheran, with each of them getting a September callup to help out. Provided we need the help. Wildcard might be wrapped up a tad earlier than last year if we keep playing like this.
But either way, Lowe’s departure opens the door for Minor to start next season in the rotation and if Minor or Beachy are part of a trade (either now or over the Winter), Teheran is in line to at least get called up at some point for good in 2012. Not much more for the kid to prove at AAA other than that he can pile up innings.
Regardless of what Coach says, because of the arms in our system (Martinez, Minor, Teheran), Lowe is expendable and if Wren can move him he will. Just not so sure that he “can” yet, despite all the rumors.
But I’m also with Lew. If DOB is not only NOT shooting this down, but adding to the conversation and speculation it has legs (at least for now).
MikeInFl
July 18th, 2011
1:16 pm
nah, 75% is a non-starter, to me.
cabravesfan
July 18th, 2011
1:17 pm
New blog is up…I promise. DOB just tweeted the link
braveslifer
July 18th, 2011
1:17 pm
“Prado’s BA/OBP gap is about right for him, historically. A little low, but not all that much. Maybe that’s part of it. Both of them are putting more balls in play this season, it would seem.”
Last year Heyward had an OBP that was 116 points higher then his BA. This year his OBP is 95 points higher. Heyward just has an incrediable eye for the ball. Once his BA picks up you will start to see OBP close to .400.
David O'Brien
July 18th, 2011
1:18 pm
NEW BLOGGAGE
cabravesfan
July 18th, 2011
1:18 pm
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2011/07/18/reasons-to-trade-lowe-and-reasons-not-to/
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
July 18th, 2011
1:19 pm
some of you people really over analyze the game ….
Lew
July 18th, 2011
1:19 pm
If the Braves were to pay 75% of Lowe’s salary, the return in players better be excellent. However, I really don’t see them eating more than 1/3 – if that much.
ncscoots
July 18th, 2011
1:19 pm
cab, even I didn’t know better at 21. I think you have to be at least 25 before you’re allowed to even consider the remote possibility that life may not always be ice cream and bunny rabbits.
I think Freeman had a quote about just having some fun, when someone mentioned playing beyond his age. In other words, “Dude, don’t harsh my mellow here.”
Peter
July 18th, 2011
1:19 pm
I would trade Derek Lowe for an everyday outfielder with speed.
MikeInFl
July 18th, 2011
1:21 pm
Well, maybe MLBTR will help us out. They list potentially available pitchers by SIERA, which makes Lowe look pretty good.
I love a stat that says that, among all pitchers with 80 IP, Derek Lowe is the 36th best pitcher in baseball and Jair Jurrjens is the 86th best.
Ronald Millsaps
July 18th, 2011
1:22 pm
I wouldn’t make a trade. Lowe has struggled, indeed, and no, he hasn’t earned his salary in terms of production, but he is a strong pitcher when he’s on, and I’d be more concerned with helping him regain his control/fixinig any problems.
The team right now has highly-strong chemistry, which a trade could hinder—- even if the player(s) in question do well. Also, who are we going to acquire? A centerfielder? Jordan Schafer has played very well defensively and is blossoming nicely offensively. Is he where he could be? No, but he is indeed progressing respectably.
I wouldn’t do it.
Lew
July 18th, 2011
1:22 pm
Peter- If they trade Lowe to the Tigers, who want to continue to contend, the won’t have an everyday outfielder with speed to trade to us. Any return in players will be prospects from the Tigers – but remember where Jair Jurrjens came from.
Shaun
July 18th, 2011
1:24 pm
Probably has to do with expectations and hype. For some reason Freddie’s expectations, it seems, were always tempered whereas Jason started so fast and with such a bang, it got kinda out of control. I remember the comparisons to some of the greats in terms of OBP and such.
AtlYnkHtr, we keep hearing this kind of stuff but no one ever really quotes anyone who actual compared Heyward to all-time greats. Saying a guy’s OBP and such are as good as [insert Hall of Famer] is not really comparing him to all-time greats or Hall of Famers, per se. It just points to the kind of skills Heyward has and indicates he probably will be a very good player for a long time. But most realize that odds are against any player, no matter how much promise, eventually making it into the Hall. I honestly don’t know of anyone who put Heyward into the Hall of Fame before he came up, during the 2010 season or after the 2010 season. People who point out “out of control” comparisons and hype are overstating things a bit.
I think Freddie had lower expectations because there were more red flags in his game than Heyward’s, namely Freddie’s command of the strikezone. The only true red flag with Heyward, coming out of the minors, was health.
Lew
July 18th, 2011
1:25 pm
Here’s a proposal, too, for next year. Suppose they DO decide to keep Schafer (still have heard nothing- even from Chipper on the broadcast the other day, that indicates they are dissatisfied with him), maybe they get a corner outfielder with pop and put Martin at SS next year?
Granted playing short isn’t giving Schuerholz financial advice or playing stadium organ, but I’ll bet Martin could do it.
Shaun
July 18th, 2011
1:37 pm
Lew, I don’t know that Prado would be a very good shortstop. I’m sure he could do it but I don’t know if I’d want him there everyday. That’s not a knock on Prado. Shortstop in the majors, especially these days, is just tough.
Kendell Jones
July 18th, 2011
1:41 pm
Being fair to JJ, let us remember that he only had pitched for two thirds of an inning in the All Star game, and no activity as far as playing for almost a week. Any pitcher who goes that long without very much activity would give up as many or perhaps more runs than JJ did.
Shaun
July 18th, 2011
1:42 pm
Ronald Millsaps, a .297 OBP is considered blossoming nicely?
I just don’t see why anyone is mildly excited about Schafer. Maybe someone could explain the few folks who comment who say things like this. I can accept Schafer playing regularly, especially with Prado and now Chipper out. But putting him in the leadoff spot and stating that he’s progressing nicely and things of that sort? I just don’t get it. Maybe someone can explain the appeal.
Lew
July 18th, 2011
1:44 pm
Shaun – Yep, he’s only played there on e game in the minors and two at the MLB level, but this IS Martin we’re talking about here.
Not really a serious proposal, though.
Lew
July 18th, 2011
1:47 pm
The appeal of Schafer? I don’t know, maybe they like the fact he’s stolen 12 bases and only been thrown out 4 times and he keeps scoring runs? They sure don’t claim anything other than satisfaction with him, though. Smokescreen for the potential trade partners? Maybe. Who knows?
Shaun
July 18th, 2011
1:49 pm
MikeInFl, SIERRA is essentially based on strikeout rate, walk rate and groundball rate. This explains why Jurrjens ranks lower than Lowe (no pun intended).
It’s fairly obvious Jurrjens has been fortunate with batted balls in play. He has a .267 batting average allowed on such batted balls this season compared to a .280 average for his career.
Jurrjens is clearly a very good pitcher because his control is good, his strikeout rate is far from extremely low and he gets groundballs. But he was/is destined to regress some.
Bayou Brave
July 18th, 2011
1:50 pm
Over his last 17 games, Dan Uggla is batting .246/.361/.557 with five home runs and four doubles. The slump seems to be busted, and the Braves are 12-5 over that span. — Ben Duronio: Capital Avenue Club
Shaun
July 18th, 2011
1:54 pm
Lew, could be. I don’t know any organization that would blatantly express dissatisfaction with one of their players, for a number of reasons. Hard to say if they are planning to include him in a trade. It certainly would make sense. He’s the type of player that is worth taking a chance on if you are a team going nowhere anytime soon. He’s still young, he can play center, he’s shown some skills in the past. If you’re a team with nothing to lose, he certainly would look somewhat appealing. I hope he goes somewhere and develops into a star. I just don’t see it. And I wish the Braves would pick up a better option to play center or to back up McLouth there and back up in the corner outfield.
MikeInFl
July 18th, 2011
2:06 pm
I know all that, Shaun (and of course JJ with a sub-2 era is due to regress. Same would be true if Roy Halladay had a sub-2).
My point is that any stat that somehow values Derek Lowe far above Jair Jurrjens is of limited use.
Bill
July 18th, 2011
2:15 pm
Make the TRADE..get out of that contract ..
Runnin With The Dawgs
July 18th, 2011
2:35 pm
He’s had his chance with the Braves. Let him go on down the road to the school of hard knocks.
Bobby's chauffeur
July 18th, 2011
6:01 pm
Bringing back memories……. Best buddies Mccann and Frenchy. Frenchy was supposed to be the super star. Didn’t turn out that way…. Now we have Jason and Freeman.. Jason got most of the hype and up to now it looks like Freddy will be the better value
Braveone
July 19th, 2011
11:42 am
From the previous blog which had 909 comments, JoeBrave led the way with 104 posts. There were 132 different poster names. Here are the Top 25:
Rank Poster Frequency
1 JoeBrave 104
2 Tomahawkin 62
3 Mixxo 60
4 katherine 54
5 bravesgrl4lifeeeeeeeee 43
6 cabravesfan 33
7 JasonInFL 22
8 Ward 21
9 Tomas 20
10 VaBravesFan 20
11 McFann :Ô: :Ô: 18
12 Bravefaninok 15
13 Lew 15
14 njbraves 15
15 CB 13
16 Venice Jim 13
17 fred 13
18 Carroll Rogers 12
19 Nova Scotia Steve 12
20 George 11
21 Snotboogie 11
22 Kat 10
23 TB bravesfan 10
24 cricket 10
25 ChrisfromSacramento,Ca 9
ISH
July 19th, 2011
7:08 pm
Man I miss me some Matty D
WORD… AND Omar.
ISH
July 19th, 2011
10:31 pm
:v
ISH
July 19th, 2011
10:35 pm
ISH
July 19th, 2011
10:35 pm
ISH
July 19th, 2011
10:39 pm
:->
ISH
July 19th, 2011
10:52 pm
ISH
July 19th, 2011
11:54 pm
:8O:
ISH
July 19th, 2011
11:55 pm
:80:
ISH
July 19th, 2011
11:57 pm
:8O
ISH
July 19th, 2011
11:58 pm
ISH
July 20th, 2011
12:05 am
:devil:
Links Roundup, Twitter Edition «
July 20th, 2011
2:53 pm
[...] is “very low.” This comes after Carrol Rodgers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a few days ago on Lowe cracking jokes when asked about the possibility that the Dearborn native could end up in [...]
Detroit Tigers Links: Why was Charlie Furbush pitching in Triple-A yesterday? | mlbvideo.net
July 24th, 2011
8:56 pm
[...] • Atlanta Braves pitcher and Dearborn native Derek Lowe speaks about the trade talks involving him possibly going to his hometown Tigers. It does seems that another starting pitcher is going to show up in Detroit, but between Lowe, Ubaldo Jimenez and Hiroki Kuroda it’s still anyone’s guess. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution] [...]