Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
262 comments Add your comment
BrandonLee49
July 13th, 2012
12:08 pm
Mike Minor and R. Delgado have already shown us us some very Excellent Pitching, Problem comes into light that our Coaching Staff is Abysmal in it’s Lack of Fine Tuning whatever adjustments either Minor or Delgado need to make during a Game Situation. Ben Sheets is a Question mark on whether he can deliver the same Excellent Results as Delgado and Minor have Already Provided… Players might as well have the Internet avail. or iphones to make a Call to Someone with any Idea as to what Professional prognosis can help these Braves be a More Consistent Team. The Current Coaching Staff is Intellectually Absent 99Percent of the time.
Yogi Berra
July 13th, 2012
12:12 pm
“so it is” Brandon
Beachdawg
July 13th, 2012
12:15 pm
Don’t know the ages of you who say the Texiera trade is the worst ever….There are those of us who can STILL hear the crying when the Braves traded Brett Butler to Cleveland for Len Barker!!!! Now THERE’S a bad trade!!!!
Chipmunk
July 13th, 2012
12:21 pm
“Sheets was 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in two starts for the M-Braves. In 10-2/3 innings he allowed 12 hits, seven runs (six earned) with 10 strikeouts and one walk.”
This is who we are bringing in???
MiaBchBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
12:21 pm
This could be the ultimate feel-good story of the second half of the 2012 season!
PS – DO NOT MAKE ANY TRADES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STAND PAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON’T TRADE ANY OF THE YOUNG ARMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
monty
July 13th, 2012
12:21 pm
Wow, slow day on the blog. 8 posts from 11-12. Where are all the regulars? On vacation or is there a hidden blog somewhere?
Yogi Berra
July 13th, 2012
12:23 pm
Yes Brett Butler was bad…Like I said before we got thousands of signatures on petition to bring Butler back…that was fun and funny. We knew they won’t trade him back.
Brett was Special and so is Prado and Bourn.
MiaBchBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
12:24 pm
Chipmunk, remember that JJ was stinking it up at Gwin. and look at what he’s doing now. MLB starters pitching in the minors use that time to work on pitches, whether they get hit or not. Don’t let that faze you. Sunday will be the real test – and I have a good feeling that he’ll do just fine.
George
July 13th, 2012
12:35 pm
We are still kicking it around,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “We’ve got a couple options in Triple-A that we could call up. We are going to keep weighing those options.”
******************************
FREDI knows not of what he speaks. On another note, Start Sheets? He has a 5.06 ERA against AA kids. Is FREDI for real?
Shaun
July 13th, 2012
12:36 pm
I’m sure many of your read this: http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/07/12/braves-undecided-about-shortstop-following-injury-to-simmons/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog
Seems to me like a trade could very well be in the works.
Tech Troll 13
July 13th, 2012
12:37 pm
Everyone who has tickets for Sunday should demand their money back.
10 innings in AA in the last two years and you get a major league start?
Why then is spring training 5 weeks long?
George
July 13th, 2012
12:42 pm
Hope so for a SS, but don’t trade MARTIN.
George
July 13th, 2012
12:43 pm
Need to trade for SS.
Shaun
July 13th, 2012
12:59 pm
If no trade, it has to be Pastornicky or Josh Wilson getting the call. Greg Paiml is an org player, so I think the other two are the only options.
If no trade I’d probably rather see Pastornicky than Josh Wilson, with Jack Wilson getting the bulk of the playing time. The Braves have a few options but no really good options. So I think they’ll try hard to make a trade.
I’d probably rather see them go after Scutaro than Brendan Ryan, but either would be fine with me. With Ryan his value is only in his defense at short. He can’t really provide much value filling in anywhere else because he doesn’t hit enough and he’s not going to make the defensive impact playing anywhere but short. With Scutaro you get a bench player when Simmons is back healthy who can play all over the infield and has some potential to provide some offense off the bench (though he hasn’t hit so far this season).
JoeFan
July 13th, 2012
1:00 pm
First the Braves need to upgrade their bench. Next add another viable arm in the bullpen, Lastly add a starting pitcher only if it doesn’t cost the Braves multiple prospects and tie them to an unrealistic contract. They need the financial flexibility to add players in LF, CF and 3B depending on what they do with Prado and Bourn. Also wouldn’t mind seeing them move Uggla and replace him with someone that has more range, a stronger arm and can hit at least .280
Jeff R
July 13th, 2012
1:05 pm
“Scrap-heap” Sheets… Who knows? Maybe Sheets still has some magic left?
Jeff R
July 13th, 2012
1:06 pm
PS – DO NOT MAKE ANY TRADES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STAND PAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DON’T TRADE ANY OF THE YOUNG ARMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your creative use of exclamation points is particularly impressive.
VaBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:07 pm
Hopefully Sheets can come and give us some quality starts. Wouldn’t expect great things but it’s not hard to do better than Minor and Delgado have done up to this point.
Patrick
July 13th, 2012
1:10 pm
For Justin Upton.
I’d trade anyone expect Teheran and Simmons
Jeff R
July 13th, 2012
1:11 pm
I watch Minor pitch, and some innings, I’m saying to myself: “This guy’s just about to turn a corner and really perform well.”
And then he gets blown out in an inning or two.
I think Minor is close to getting his act together. How close, though, is the question.
Jeff R
July 13th, 2012
1:15 pm
For Justin Upton.
From everything I read and hear, Wren is focusing on improving the pitching. Unless Upton can toe the rubber…
raleighbravefan
July 13th, 2012
1:15 pm
George – Take a deep breath, buddy. I know you hate Fredi and all (You sound just like Robert Re Bobby).
In this case, I’m betting the decision to start Sheets is above Fredi’s pay grade. You can’t blame everything on him, even though you wish to so badly.
BTW, I say, give Sheets a shot.
Jeff R
July 13th, 2012
1:21 pm
Need to trade for SS.
Rather than Justin Upton… or is it Justin Bieber?
VaBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:25 pm
Justin Upton could be a offseason target if he isn’t moved during the season.
For next season I much rather the Braves move Prado to 3rd, let Bourn walk and get draft picks, and make a trade for Justin Upton and put him in LF.
Upton only makes 9.75 mil in 2013, 14.25 mil in 2014, 14.50 mil in 2015. Which is only a a investment of 3 years 38.5 million which is much less than what it would take to keep Bourn.
We’d only have to trade a package to get him but it only make sense for the offseason, not right now.
Jeff R
July 13th, 2012
1:29 pm
For next season I much rather the Braves move Prado to 3rd, let Bourn walk and get draft picks, and make a trade for Justin Upton and put him in LF.
Upton only makes 9.75 mil in 2013, 14.25 mil in 2014, 14.50 mil in 2015. Which is only a a investment of 3 years 38.5 million which is much less than what it would take to keep Bourn.
I think Bourn is gone, anyway.
Acquiring Upton in the off-season – if he’s available – sounds good. Of course, it’s a question of what the Braves would be required to give up to get him.
Threadkiller
July 13th, 2012
1:37 pm
Talked to an old friend last night, who was at Sheet’s bullpen session yesterday.His exact quote: “Sheet’s curve ball was unbelievable”! I’m looking forward to Sunday…
VaBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:39 pm
3 years of Justin Upton at ages 25-28 at 38.5 million
for
Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Nick Ahmed
or
Mike Minor, JR Graham, Edward Salcedo, Nick Ahmed
I would be open to make those deals. Were talking about adding a young talented impact player who won’t be a free agent until 2016. This is the type of player I would consider moving Teheran for.
MiaBchBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:39 pm
Jeff R: I was just trying to excitedly make a point.
PDOG
July 13th, 2012
1:40 pm
Trade I would like to see, Minor and the Terd for Hammels. Go and get it done FW.
Threadkiller
July 13th, 2012
1:41 pm
VaBraves..Or JJ & Pastor…for Upton. I would do that in a heart beat!
Memphis
July 13th, 2012
1:42 pm
It would take a lot more than Minor and Terdoslavich for Hamels. Probably like 4 or 5 guys.
MiaBchBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:44 pm
3 years of Justin Upton at ages 25-28 at 38.5 million
for
Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Nick Ahmed
or
Mike Minor, JR Graham, Edward Salcedo, Nick Ahmed
You’d trade those players for a known clubhouse cancer???
I’m sure glad you’re not the GM.
MiaBchBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:45 pm
Trade I would like to see, Minor and the Terd for Hammels. Go and get it done FW.
Frank Wren is perfectly capable of making a stupid trade on his own. Mike Minor for 1/2 a season of Hammels??? wow.
southgabrave
July 13th, 2012
1:46 pm
Look guys, there is no way to compare bourn to Upton or Prado. I will give credit where credit is due. Upton has all the tools and POTENTIAL in the world. He has not put it on the field. He is a cancer in the clubhouse. Look t the stats for the last 4 yrs and compare bourn to Upton, compare Prado to Upton. Bourn has gotten better every year. Prado except for an injury plagued last year, s hit at or above 300. Plays hard 100% of the time, as does Bourn. Upton takes games off when he plays. Based on potential yes it is Upton, but based on performance it is Prado. I would rather put my money into Bourn than Upton and not trade Prado for Upton. Prado plays 4 positions and can bat in any position in the order except 4th or 5th. Upton strikesout way too much! Do you think Kirk Gibson would want to trade Upton if he had come close to fulfilling his potential? We don’t need his attitude in the clubhouse with all the young guys we have. Come on guys look at the big picture and stats, not the name. If this was his brother maybe we try to get him.
Give me Scutaro to fill in for Simmons and he can upgrade the bench when Simmons come back.
Disgusted
July 13th, 2012
1:46 pm
“Prado is a great but at 3B he needs to be a 100 RBI guy with power and that is not him. He would not hold a candle to Chipper in his prime at 3B (offensively) and we need that type of production from 3B going forward”
@Klaus — Getting a 30 HR 100 plus RBI guy who plays a good third is easier said than done. I’d rather have Prado over what would be available like Headley, Prado is a better player.
We have to upgrade for LF, and keep Prado at third until you get a big bopper (one will not be available in trade so they have to develop him, thats yrs away. .
I hope the Braves do not trade for Headley and move Prado somewhere. Headley is just an average player. Not enough HRS and RBI’s or extra base hits.
DS1
July 13th, 2012
1:47 pm
I’d like to propose a trade. I’ll trade places with anybody on here today. I’ll do whatever you’re doing and you can do this stupid online safe driving thingy I’m required to do for the next hour………….
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
VaBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:49 pm
MiaBch
Clubhouse cancer? Upton is one of the most talented players in baseball at 24 years old with 3 years of control left.
I’m open to trade our top prospects for players we’ll have control of for a few years. Upton is on a whole other planet in terms of talent compared to Bourn. You can’t offer a handful of so-so minor league players and land Upton.
You have to trade talent to receive talent…
MiaBchBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:49 pm
It would take a lot more than Minor and Terdoslavich for Hamels. Probably like 4 or 5 guys.
Oh, like the Teixeira trade??? I know it’s Friday the 13th and all, but have we all collectivelty lost our minds on the blog today??? What is wrong with standing pat? If Sheets can be a competent 4-5 and Delgado can move to the bullpen just this season to help Venters get the team to Kimbrel in the 9th, why do we need to trade our valuable young arms for a 1/2 season rental?
C’mon, folks, we’re smarter than that.
Disgusted
July 13th, 2012
1:50 pm
Scutaro makes sense if you do not have to give up the farm for him.
Its crazy what some seem to want to give up for a guy who is prolly a rental player.
Minor has shown me enough as of late to stay with him. For now anyway.
PDOG
July 13th, 2012
1:50 pm
Hammels is a free agent and has already said that he is going to test the market you would have to be a fool to give up much more then that. That being said I would throw in Ahmed if thats what it takes. The Braves have no need for Upton, they should concentrate on sighning Bourne with the thought that Cunningham or Gattis will play left field next year. The key to the Braves chances of winning a world series this year is acquiring an ace pitcher and a lefty should be the priority when you look ahead and think that you might have to playing the Yanks or Rangers.
Disgusted
July 13th, 2012
1:52 pm
I would rather stay away from Upton and commit my best offer to Bourn.
If the Braves do move Bourn, I am afraid it will be for the kind of rubbish we got for Texiera in the Angels deal, and that would be tragic for this franchise.
MiaBchBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:52 pm
If Wren can just get a solid defensive SS for a bag of used balls and a fungo bat, and not make any other trades, thus keeping all of our young arms, I would consider it a watershed moment for the former idiot. If Sheets pans out, I would actually consider Wren to be intellectually on the mend.
VaBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:53 pm
Upton is 24 flippin years old. He was in 4th place for the NL MVP last season. To say he has all the tools and potential…. What does a player have to do? He’s already won a silver slugger and been to 2 All Star games. The dude is only gonna get better.
Braves face questions at shortstop, New York Mets to open second half | Atlanta Braves
July 13th, 2012
1:55 pm
[...] Tommy Hanson facing R.A. Dickey on Saturday, whom many felt should start the All-Star game, and Ben Sheets making his return to the majors Sunday against Johan Santana. Santana was originally scheduled to pitch Friday but had [...]
VaBravesFan
July 13th, 2012
1:55 pm
So yall would rather commit 60+ million to Bourn who will be 30 years old instead of trading unproven prospects for 3 years of Justin Upton? Also this is only for the offseason. Not before the deadline.
Carroll Rogers
July 13th, 2012
1:56 pm
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/07/13/braves-face-questions-at-shortstop-new-york-mets-to-open-second-half/
new blog is up!
southgabrave
July 13th, 2012
1:57 pm
Prado doesn’t need to hit a lot of HR’s or drive in a lot. He gets on and scores a lot. We have plenty of bats in the line-up, Heyward, Freeman, McCann, and Uggla. Boggs was never a HR hitter either that worked out well for him. Prado will hit 10-15 HRs and for #2 hitter that is good. Prado is a pretty good defensive glove over there too. The Cardinals under Whitey Herzog didnt have a lot of HR hitters at all. One year they went to the WS with the leading HR hitter having 15. It is all about scoring runs, not how you do it. If we get the pitching that we should, we dont need to score 6 to 10 runs a game.
PDOG
July 13th, 2012
1:59 pm
Miabchbravesfan
What do you plan to do with all the young arms in the minors in the next year or two, let them rut in AAA. Betwwen Delgado, Tehran, Gilmartin, Hale, Zeke and the three studs who are pitching lights out at high A you need to trade some of them. That is not to mention the two pitchers they picked with there first two draft picks next year. The Braves have not had a true Ace since the Maddox, Smoltz, Glavine days, you are not winning a world series with a bunch or 2nd and 3rd rotation pitchers.
Mike Brave
July 13th, 2012
2:00 pm
Go Sheets and get Dempster…
southgabrave
July 13th, 2012
2:00 pm
I would give Bourn 12-15 mill before I would give Upton 7-10 mil. I would use those 3 prospect to aquire pitching. I would never trade Prado straight up for Upton and especially not include prospects.
southgabrave
July 13th, 2012
2:05 pm
This is how I would use my prospects:
Trade thoughts:
1) Trade JJ and Minor and prospect from a list of 5 for Greinke. Greinke must first sign an extention.
2) Trade Teheran or Delgado (not both) and a prospect for Liriano
3) Trade Gilmartin and a prospect for Willie Bloomquist.
4) Trade Fransisco and/or prospects for Scutaro
Rotation of Greinke, Hudson, Hanson, Liriano and Sheets/Delgado
Hudson is due for a new contract next year and the Braves can use that money and some of Chippers to help sign Greinke. Prado could move to 3rd next year and Bloomquist int LF or CF (hopefully Bourn resigns.
Line-up now:
cf Bourn
lf Prado
3b Chipper
rf Heyward
1b Freeman
c McCann
2b Uggla
ss Simmons
BENCH:
Scutaro (when Simmons comes back)
Bloomquist
Ross
Diaz
Hinski
Scutaro can play SS or 2B
Bloomquist any OF
Hinski back-up 1B (like to replace Hinski but…)
hmmmm.........
July 13th, 2012
2:19 pm
Trade Minor while u still can!
southgabrave
July 13th, 2012
2:28 pm
Prado and Upton have virtually the same number of at bats over the last 4 years, here are some stats for you. Prado avg-.297 Upton-.273 k’s Prado-277 Upton- 647 HR’s Prado-47 Upton-98 runs scored Prado-323 Upton-385 . In most catagories Upton slightly leads, except avg and k’s. They are 2 different hitters, Prado a contact and #2 hitter and Upton a strikeout and power with speed. I will give you all that. Upton can play OF and Prado LF 1b 2b and 3b. I would say they are fairly close. Yep Upton has more potential but so far he does overly outshine Prado.
Now the big difference, Prado is a great team mate and club house guy. Upton was in Gibsons doghouse most of last year and was hitting 7th at one point. Gibson even took his “SUPERSTAR” and bench him for 3 games. Upton is making 7 mil this year and Prado 4.6 mil.
southgabrave
July 13th, 2012
2:29 pm
does not out shine Prado
southgabrave
July 13th, 2012
2:31 pm
really doesn’t matter we are not GM’s are we? Wren will do what he will do
milesarcher33
July 13th, 2012
2:42 pm
Trade Freeman, McCann and Bourn now!! Let Hinske play LF put Diaz in RF, Move Hayward to CF, Put Prado at 1B, Let Ross catch and call up Pastornicky.
milesarcher33
July 13th, 2012
2:42 pm
Trade Freeman, McCann and Bourn now!! Let Hinske play LF put Diaz in RF, Move Hayward to CF, Put Prado at 1B, Let Ross catch and call up Pastornicky.
milesarcher33
July 13th, 2012
2:42 pm
Trade Freeman, McCann and Bourn now!! Let Hinske play LF put Diaz in RF, Move Hayward to CF, Put Prado at 1B, Let Ross catch and call up Pastornicky.
Jeff R
July 13th, 2012
3:39 pm
MiaBchBravesFan… Ah!
jose wales
July 13th, 2012
3:52 pm
If Sheets has such an unbelievable curve ball then why is it that the kids in AA were able to score 5.06 runs per game off him?
kral
July 13th, 2012
4:39 pm
Love you to yeller pizz..in a fraternal sort of way
Who Should Sheets Replace? « Brave Decisions
July 14th, 2012
11:39 am
[...] only two starts in Double-A Mississippi, the Braves are ready to welcome Ben Sheets to the major league rotation. In those starts, he compiled a line of 10.2 IP, 12H, 6ER, 1BB, [...]