Braves sign utility infielder Pena

Angel Eyes…. I’m not saying we should be shooting for 94 wins and there is no guarantee that would put us in 3rd place either. We should be shooting to put the best team on the field to give us the best chance to win the most games and be set up well for a post season. I think the Phillies way overpaid for Revere and so do most analysts. They will regret not having Worley as the summer wears on. It’s not likely that all three of Halladay, Hamels and Lee will go the entire season without a DL Stint or two. Their team is getting older and they lose Ruiz for 25 games to start the year. The Phillies haven’t replaced Victorino and Pence and Utley and Howard are a year older and slower. Utley has had a history of injuries and Polanco is a free agent. They aren’t the same team they were 2 years ago so I don’t see how they win more than 94 games. Who else in the division will win more than 94 games besides the Nats to put the Braves in 3rd place if they were to win the same # of games as last year?

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J. Johnson
B. Morrow
M. Buehrle
R. Romero
J. Happ

Add R. A. Dickey to that staff and they are (Blue Jays) are good!

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BravesFaninNashville. Maybe Braves win 94 games maybe not. My personal opinion-not. No Chipper no Bourn. No Ross, No Mccann until July No Beachy.. I really don’t think we got anyone to replace them. Upton is OK but no Born. Prado a star but can only play one position at a time. When Phillies got well last year, they really finished strong. They got better. 95 wins-2nd Nationals- very very much better 100 wins or more-1st. Braves no improvement. Got worse 90 wins at most 3rd place. IMO need to get this team some help. They are young. They are good. Need leadership. Upton is not the answer. Need a leadoff man. A good LF. Whatever it costs. Do that Braves win division and might win it all. If you have to trade pitcher, do it. Have plenty of young arms to replace them. Try it . they might like it.

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Dylan, you say that about BJ Upton but you would like Atlanta to trade for Peter Bourjeous? Look at Bourjeous’ stats.

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According to MLBTraderumors, Atlanta is targeting Dexter Fowler. The post went on to say that there had been no discussions with Colorado this weekend. Wasn’t it said that Atlanta is targeting Mark Trumbo? They sure have a lot of targets for Frank Wren to be sitting with his hands folded. No?

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Whats everybody’s take on kimbrel pitching for the US in the World class tournament. Dang, if he comes in sore armed, shoulder, etc… or any problems in this season, ya’ll remember he’s taxing out his elbow try’n to blow 98′ to 100′ mph by hitters in a tournament that doesn’t have anything at stake compared to the Braves season. I think he’s risking injury when he needs to prep up exercising, on schedule in spring training, w/ everybody else, so he can remain strong for the next 6 months after. Hope it won’t be regrettable, his competitiveness may overtake his preparation. We’re sunk if he goes down, & that high comodity will digress.

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@wigwam, sorry, but I never said I wanted bourjous. I’ve been crying Cory hart this whole time…

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the difference in kimbrel is that he has pride for his country. He wants to play for the United States team. Sounds like the way Americans used to feel. Now they only care about their pockets

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@74

Exactly. Second half medlen minor reminded me of maddux glavine.

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@El Oso Blanco Great idea, But you have to wake-up Wren first. Good luck

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Wren, make the move for Peter Bourjos. This guy is about as legit a leadoff hitter you are going to find in this market. Not to mention his potential is through the roof. Might even be a little better than Bourn. Seriously. Maybe a little less speed, obviously. Not many guys are as fast as Michael Bourn. But this dude is a burner and plays GREAT D.
Teheran⇔Bourjos straight up. G.

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in other words if the Braves get an outfielder to hit lead off he needs to be a really high OPB guy because he will probably have little pop and therefor not a strong RBI man. (Remember the leadoff hitter comes up often later in the game with runners on base) so we are taking those at bats away from Francisco who would be respected for his power. I think unless Wren can get a leadoff hitter that has an OBP of .350 or better he’s better off to let Prado or Simmons lead off and keep Francisco’s bat in the line-up. If we had to go into a postseason series with this team as is I’d feel confident that we could play with anyone.

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Lobo it doesn’t take a genius to find better moves for the braves. Fist, don’t spend 75 million on a clubhouse cancer who has a worse obp than uggla. For that amount they should’ve just resigned bourn. Should’ve waited until Hamilton and greinke signed before doing the angels deal, if he’d waited he could’ve used Hanson and prospects together in a package for trumbo, who without uptons K’s in our lineup, would be a great fit.

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did you hear what wren had to give up to get trumbo
?

prado,francisco and delgado
personally i think thery mugged him analy assaulted =im and bludgeoned him too

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lets say theres a national carry law where all adults over the age of 17 and medically sane are given 6 months of gun training and a gun, we aint talking about no tragedy then
not to mention all the money that could be saved when 90 % of useless protectors and servers are severed

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i mean come on lets us those noggins for something else other than hatracks.whose gonna try and rob someone knowing everyone on the scenne is carrying? sure there will still be crimes of passion, but even if you take away the guns you dont think there will be a need for more window instALLERS LIKE CHUCK MORTON

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One word can sum up this off-season for me, that word being BORING.. I am about as disinterested in this team than I have ever been. After losing the Braves Icon Chipper Jones to retirement, the best leadoff hitter since Furcal, and the best CF this team has seen since Andruw Jones in Michael Bourn, the fan favorite and one hell of a catcher in Rossy, and only getting a CF who is not as good as Bourn, a backup to the backup SS in Rivera, and the trade of Hanson, no way this team will win 90+ games next year. I really thought with having all that money to spend that the Braves would bend over backwards to get at least 2 guys in here to make fans want to come to the stadium. Fans only came out last season because it was their last chance to watch Chipper play. I will bet anything attendance is way down next year. Who wants to watch a high priced free agent strikeout all the time? Not this guy. Unless Wren pulls a horseshoe out of his ass, this off-season is going to go down as a huge disappointment.

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Will everyone stop comparing us to the Angels and Dodgers? We aren’t them, don’t have the TV deal to spend 20+ million on every free agent. Wren will make a deal to make us better before the Spring (two months from now) starts. If we trade for Trumbo everyone will cry about the K’s and overlook the 30+ HR’s and 100+ RBI’s. You fair weather fans drive us real fans crazy! It’s the middle of December, take a friggen chill pill

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again even IF we get Trumbo which is a BIG IF because the Angels have stated they don’t want to trade him there is no guarantee he’d hit 30HRs and drive in 100Runs. Then if the Braves did trade for him we’d certainly have to give up at least one of Delgado/Teheran or Minor or Medlen. We could get similar production out of Francisco so why give up a good pitcher for Trumbo? The cost just doesn’t make sense. The ONLY trade that makes sense is if we get a true leadoff hitter with a high OBP but then why not just re-sign Bourn? The reason is he’d cost too much so we can’t afford him. I believe Wren made the right move with Upton because at the time it was believed that Bourn would cost over $100Million and he’s not worth anywhere near that. I like this team and would rather have Francisco and ALL of our pitchers in tact with money to spend at the trade deadline than Trumbo and be down a good pitcher and no flex at the deadline..

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I would say that most teams/fans in MLB envy what we have here in Atl. We all want the present day “big” names but we already have them in the making. When you look at Heyward, Prado, Freeman, Simmons, Mac, Medlen, Kimbrel. Holy smokes! Most teams dont have 5 or 6 names to mention as possible 2013 All-star canidates. Sure is nice to only worry about LF, when 98% of all the other teams are worrying about multiple positions right now. Lets be jacked at where we are!

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Do you think we could get Trumbo or Gordon for Delgado and Minor?I think I would trade these two before I would give up Medlen and Teheran.If Wren insists on a true lead off hitter I suppose Fowler’s name will continue to be mentioned. Just waiting for Wren to make a move.

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All the ridiculous cheap shots at Wren and The Braves would be more meaningful if The Braves had not won 94 games and made the playoffs in 2012. Saying stupid things does not make a point stronger, it just makes the person who said it look less intelligent. GO BRAVES!

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The division is getting better? I would like to see your facts on that, steve. Now the Nats are getting better no doubt. But the Phils are getting old, the once feared pitching staff they had is no longer feared and there postion players are on the back end of there careers. Mets have David Wright and are shopping Dickey (they were a two player team last year). Marlins are selling out. The Braves are loaded with young talent and big bats with defensive skills. I mean we are spoiled in having multiple guys that can drop 30+ bombs a year but that comes with a cost at having lots of strikeouts. Thats just the numbers on all big bats around the league. Also, NO WAY you give up Delgado and Minor for a position player when your somewhat limited in starting pitching due to age and inexperience. Minor was our best pitcher down the stretch besides Medlen, while Delgado will be a productive #5 pitcher for us in 2013. Maybe a Teheran and Venters package but not two starters.

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I didn’t mention the strike out machines at second and the new centerfielder, who hit under .250 last year.

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Good luck to all you Brave fans who are happy with your 500 ball club. Losers again.

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Fans have been told the limited budget is the problem with acquiring quality players. This year, millions have been freed up due to contracts rolling off the books. What will be the new excuse?

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I personally think Constanza could be a good lead-off hitter if given the opportunity, and I think Francisco could hit 30 HRs if given the opportunity, and I like Gattis. Why rade a prospect for a player that isnt gonna be that much better than these guys and I doubt Dexter Fowler will do better playing in Atlanta than he did hitting in Denver, and he only had 12 HRs and didnt steal bases all that much. Trumbo has upside but the Angles want a Proven starter and unless we give them Hudson or Medlen they aint gonna part with him. I think we should roll with the Gattis, Francisco, Constanza trio and if Uggla sucks again we can move Prado to 2nd base and allow another member of the trio to play. But lets save the money and use it to extend Prdo, Medlen, and Hudson.

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But you cant listen to “analyst”. All they do is love on the Greinke’s and Pujols of MLB. When was the last time an “analyst” praised a team for bringing up a player through there organization and keeping him through his trials and tribulations til he succeeded??

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Steve would you have rather had Victorino for $13 Million per year for 3 years? That’s what the Red Sox paid him. Remember the Phillies let him go and could have bid on him but chose not to the Phillies did however bid on Upton. There just aren’t deals out there on power hitting outfielders. Willingham’s contract is attractive but the trade price to acquire that contract is really high and now that the Twins have traded Span and Revere they won’t trade Willingham.

What’s interesting is if Wren had not bid on Upton and someone else signed him especially the Phillies or the Nats this blog would be all over Wren for not spending the money he had to spend and on and on. Now that he’s acquired a 28 year old coming into his prime that plays plus defense with a plus, plus arm that has a legit chance to be a 30/30 player most of you are saying he way overpaid for him and will be a clubhouse cancer when every teammate of his I heard interviewed since he signed with the Braves have said he’ll be missed in Tampa and he’s a great teammate. They all said he has so much natural talent and that his long strides can make it look like he’s not putting out max effort when he’s running down a ball but he is and he gets to many baseballs that most outfielders have no chance to catch. People just be happy we have such a bright future and that Wren has managed to keep our coveted pitchers together.

Young high quality pitching like Beachy, Medlen, Minor, Delgado and Teheran that are under team control for several years are of HUGE value. Don’t believe it just look at what Grienke and Sanchez signed for. They make Upton look like a deal. Wren is doing this the right way. This team will be really good next year. Kudos to Frank for not giving in to the D’Backs and trading Simmons for Upton. We are a much better team with Simmons and our pitchers than we would be without Simmons and one or more of our good young pitchers and Justin.

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Bravesfan that’s a flat out lie. Maybe you missed where he stopped giving any sort of effort on the field and longoria got in his face and bj started trying to pull his best zambrano right in the dugout? Not a single person down there will miss bj. Not for his glove, his sub .250 avg, or his 160k’s.

Some people need to stop falling in love with the home run. 30 home runs doesn’t make a .240 avg OK. It means more than 7 times out of 10 you are a liability at the plate

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Joe 12-Pack. Wren added Walden to the bullpen and traded Hanson’s contract at the same time. Picked up a power arm to pitch the 6th or 7th inning and got rid of $4 Million worth of liability in Hanson who is in serious decline and can’t hold runners. This also allows us to promote one of Delgado or Teheran because it’s almost certain they can will 12 games for us to replace Hanson’s production for league minimum. He also added a really good CF in Upton who will impact games with his bat and glove and speed.

Personally I’d rather have Upton over Bourn even if they are paid the same money. The overwhelming word from the baseball professionals is that Bourn would get the biggest contract of all the position players out there. Upton can end a game with one swing and he can steal a base when we need it most. Bourn didn’t seem to run when the game was on the line very often. Also Bourn’s second half 2 years in a row is not a good sign. It was hard to tell the difference between Bourn and Constanza in September last year and he didn’t look like a $100 Million player to me at all.

I believe Wren really tried to engage in trades with KC for Myers or Gordon but the Royals liked the package they got from Tampa because they wanted Shields. That’s just the way it goes sometimes because Wren didn’t want to trade Minor and I respect that. Time will tell if Tampa got a future star in Myers or not. They probably did and the trade will probably look really good for the Rays in 2 or 3 years but KC chose them over us. I don’t think that’s Wrens fault. Just like Upton chose us over other cities, you win some you lose some.

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dylan….. before you call people liars maybe you should ask what interviews they’ve heard? One was with Wade Davis the day after BJ signed and he was interviewed on MLB channel XM radio. He gave a glowing review of BJ. Didn’t have one bad word to say about him and said the felt like the last half of the year something clicked in BJ and in Wade’s words “he figured it out” his strikeouts started coming down as he started laying off more pitches and he was driving the ball with authority because he was being more selective and thus swinging at better pitches.

Didn’t we watch the same transformation in Heyward? Once he started to lay off more pitches and exercised better strike zone recognition he started to drive the ball and his OBP went up too. I think Jason and Freeman will be good for BJ to be around. The other interview I heard was with James Shields. He said he loved having BJ playing behind him because he saved him a lot of runs with his defense. Ironically both Davis and Shields are now Royals but those interviews were soon after the BJ signing while they were still with Tampa…

Dylan lighten up… it’s only baseball..

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dylan….. c’mon are you saying the other 23 players didn’t like BJ. just because they weren’t interviewed? Also where have you been dude? The Rays model is to keep payroll really low and develop young players who are cheap but talented so signing BJ doesn’t fit their model at all. I know your going to say what about Longoria but he gave them serious discounts because he wants to be a lifetime Ray. His first extension was similar to McCann’s for the Braves. He could have been paid a lot more if he went out onto the open market like Crawford did.

Why do you think the Rays traded Shields and Davis for Myers and others? Because the Rays won’t be able to pay Shields or Davis when they become free agents and they have control of Myers for 6 years. That’s the Rays way of doing business. They didn’t sign Crawfrod and they didn’t sign Upton just like they wouldn’t sign Shields and won’t sign Price when it’s time.

Poor argument. Next….

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i didnt say all 23 of the rest didnt like him, but i guarantee more didn’t like him than did. you know longoria for 1. and yes, i know the rays model, its almost identical to the a’s, but that doesnt change the fact that, regardless of longoria giving a chipper discount, he still got a huge contract, as will david price. the fact is, longoria got that contract because he is a game changer. if bj were as good as you purport him to be, they would’ve at least thrown an offer out there. the facts are he has a lot of potential, but has never produced the way he should. he has a horrible attitude, strikes out a lot, doesn’t hit 30+ hrs, or hit for any sort of average, and he doesn’t walk.

it’s not like hes new to the league, he’s been around for 8 seasons man. hes just a headcase. you can keep arguing all you want about how great he his, but the facts are hes just never going to live up to his massive potential. in football terms hes a bust

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Dylan…. I’m not claiming that BJ is great. Bourn wasn’t great but is going to get “great money”. It’s just how the game is now and that’s a little disappointing as a fan. I think BJ was a better choice than Victorino or Bourn or Swisher or Pagan but I don’t consider any of them to be great either. We need a solid defender in CF and he has a speed and power component to his game that should be of value too.

By the way Price will not sign with the Rays. I agree he’ll get a big contract but it won’t be in Tampa. The Rays simply cannot have almost 1/2 their payroll committed to 2 players with what Longoria will be due and Price will certainly eclipse the Grienke contract it’s not a fit in Tampa.

There are too many teams willing to pay him huge money like Texas, both LA teams the Nats, Cubs, Red Sox and others. How are you privy to be able to guarantee what the other 23 Rays would say. Longoria had a beef with him for sure but are you certain they didn’t’ mend the fence? Maybe that woke BJ up a little and actually helped him. I remember Chipper calling out Heyward a couple of times last year and who knows that might have actually helped Jason in the end.

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i know theyre working on a budget, and thats fine, but you have to make smart choices when youre budgeting. upping the phils offer an extra 20 mill to get bj upton was just not smart, when patience wouldve rewarded you with better options and cheaper to acquire options. getting hamilton here was nothing more than wishful thinking, as he really didnt fit this club to begin with.

greinke was very gettable until they dropped 75 mill on bj upton. as ive been saying for a while now, they shouldve resigned bourn with the money they dropped on bj, although on a 2 year deal (probably a 2 year, 25 mill) and then go after cory hart from the brew crew, who we could realistically get for a top tier pitching prospect (delgado before teheran). or if they didnt resign bourn they could up that package to be hart and carlos gomez and add in maholm, delgado, and another top prospect, maybe mejia or joey t.

then with the extra money we have left over, turn around and grab shaun marcum with a 2 year deal, maybe worth 15 mill with a player option for a third year

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ncgary,

Not sure what you’re trying to achieve here on a blog reserved for Atlanta Braves discussions.

I will add just this and move back to the theme of this blog.

I am a life member of the NRA and the NRA would never support any law requiring the ownership or possession of firearms. The NRA simply wants to preservation of liberty to choose!

In short, the policy of the NRA is to preserve liberty for all citizens except those who choose to abuse their liberties through violation of law. For those few, society should reserve strict and harsh prosecutions. Some call that a “law and order” mentaliy. I choose to call it preservation of liberty for all citizens who cherish such liberty with morality and responsibility, and removing from ability to harm society those few who are deemed by competent authority to be a threat to society.

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@angel eyes

im not trying to be a dick here, just trying to show that just because they are a gm doesn’t mean they know whats best or make the best moves. there are still plenty of options left to turn this offseason into a decent one, but wren needs to make smart moves the rest of the way in order for the braves to have a better product than last year. you can’t replace chipper jones, and i do think fransisco can be a decent replacement if he follows what the coaches ask, but it doesn’t matter who they get for 3rd, he will always live in the shadow of chipper for those who had the good fortune of watching chippers entire career.

instead of people looking to find a replacement for chipper, the braves instead need to look to solidifying the outfield and covering those holes. if we finally solidify our outfield and turn our outfield into one of the most solid out there, the hole at 3rd base won’t seem quite so big. thats why i keep saying get cory hart. he fills a lot of the holes the braves have left. while not great at anything, hes good at everything, and a perfect complement to heyward and freeman. hes a RH bat with good power, while still being able to hit somewhere around .285 and hit you 25-30 (on the high side) hrs, drive in 75-85 rbi, and play solid defense while being able to hit anywhere from the 2 hole to the 7 hole. yes he’ll be a free agent next offseason, but he’s not represented by boras if i remember correctly, and seems like the type of player who will resign with this team. he’s 30 years old, but has shown no signs of decline, and is actually a very good leadoff hitter; a lot faster than you’d think coming from a 6′6 guy (had the fastest 60 yard dash of any brewer, including rickie weeks), and is almost as versatile as martin prado

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Hahaha! Sounds like dylan has talked to Longoria on the reg, along with the rest of the team. What a reliable source you are. You definitely missed your calling as a GM! Absolutely a baseball wizard! I had no idea that soley 30+ homeruns doesnt make a .240 hitter. Wow you missed your calling!

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Chipper played in 112 games hit 14 hrs and had 62 RBI. In less than 1/2 Chippers at bats Francisco had 9 Hrs and 32 RBI. Chippers production the last 2 years is not hard to replace. His leadership will be replaced by players who are producing like Heyward and Freeman. Last year was Chippers final season so out of respect for that players like Heyward , Freeman and McCann didn’t step forward. Now that Chippers gone others can and will step up.

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bravesfan, MY ideas suck? youre touting bj upton at 5 years 75 million as a great signing! trying to tell everyone hes a great player just entering his prime! are you serious? get out of here with that. anyone who watches baseball knows bj upton is as overrated as they come. and as of right now, YES bourn could be enticed to sign a 1 or 2 year deal because, guess what? THE MARKET ISN’T PAYING WHAT HE THOUGHT. now thanks to wren blowing his load too quick, there isn’t enough money to even explore that possibility.

please explain how my ideas suck or “don’t add up”, because if you knew anything at all about the game, you’d see that they do. upton is NOT the RH “power bat” that our of needed. in fact, the only stat he has better than cory hart is steals, which won’t matter in the slightest because the braves are not a high volume running team. and why is that? wait for it…..BECAUSE THEY STRIKEOUT SO MUCH. so you tell me how adding another 160 strikeouts next to the 160 of uggla, 150 of heyward and freeman, and the probable 150 of fransisco, along with uptons career .255 avg and career .336 obp to go along with ugglas sub .240 avg does this team any good? oh and he isn’t even a power bat, seeing as he hasn’t hit a single homerun against the top 1/3 pitchers in the al. oh, and upton doesn’t bat leadoff, and is quite possibly the worst brave for the 2 hole spot, which leaves him where?

compare that to hart with his career .277 avg, and the fact that hart plays more positions, and can legitimately bat leadoff, and is a legit 2-7 hole hitter, while being cheaper and much better in the clubhouse and PLEASE explain how my idea doesn’t add up?

what does bj offer that the braves currently don’t have? the zambrano effect?

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Angel Eyes … Wren will make a trade when it benefits the Braves. I would NEVER agree with trading Minor for Fowler. Big mistake! We have lots of pitching and as we’ve seen with Hudson, Medlen , Beachy , JJ and Hanson who’ve all been on the DL (3 of them for a year with TJ surgery) you need depth at pitching .. That’s an Atlanta Braves recipe and it works. How many times have we heard the best of the best say when you think you have enough pitching get some more?

Next summer Wren will look like a genius when has has a pitcher to trade or to call up in case of an injury. He won 94 games as a GM last year how about you?

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Dylan .. I never said Cory Hart was a bad idea. I like him! I said Bourn would not have signed for $25 Million for 2 yrs. because I said your idea about that doesn’t add up to me doesn’t mean I think your ideas suck. You’re putting words out there I didn’t say.

Look none of us has a crystal ball and we can’t predict what will happen for sure. Lots of people thought the Giants, Phillies and Nats were going to make a big push for Bourn. They all choose other options which means they didn’t value him as much as Boras thought . His best option might turn out to be the offer he passed on from the Braves? Who knows maybe the Cubs , Rangers or Mariners will get in on him and he’ll get his money after all. Last year everyone was stunned by Prince Fielders deal with the Tigers.

Dude it’s just baseball we can talk and even disagree without being nasty!

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As long as he hold on to the pitching, The Braves will not make the deals they need B.J. (strikeout upton was not the answer. Francisco is not the answer. Pena is not the answer. Laird not the answer. No leadership’ Mccann, Heyward, Freeman are NOT leaders. Yea they won 94 games. Where did that get them. No where. They relied on the pitcher to throw a shutout. You saw what happened. This team has been weakened. No Chipper, No Bourn No Ross, They are done unless get some help. Piching is not the answer. 81 wins at most and no playoffs unless you get some HELP.

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you got nasty first man, but ok. all i pointed out at first is that tampa obviously wasn’t sorry to see the back of him, based on the fact that they didn’t even speak to him about an extension before the season was over. even if teams know the player is going to test the waters, they will usually talk extension first, if just to show the fanbase that they tried. i don’t blame teams for not paying 100 mill for bourn, that was an outlandish number to begin with, and i believe teams are just tired of dealing with boras. but i would much rather given bourn the contract we gave upton because hes a much better fit for this particular team than bj upton.

honestly i would’ve preferred to let bourn walk, not sign bj, and try work a trade with mil for hart and gomez. would’ve filled all three spots the braves needed most, and would most likely have been cheaper.

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Never said Chipper was going to be easy to replace. I said his production the last two years could be replaced. There’s a big difference! Chippers HOF career numbers might never be replaced. He had more RBI than any 3b in history so that’s obviously not easy to replace. Wren needs to replace and improve upon last years team that won 94 games. We are in the very fortunate position to be bringing back most of that team. It won’t be hard to replace Bourns second half production, Hanson’s contribution or JJ’s and we have Medlen and Hudson all season this year.

We’re in better shape than all of this negative talk suggests.

Dylan I would never boil Chippers career down to an unfortunate error at the end. I simply stated that he wasn’t Chipper in his prime at the end and that’s a fact. Replacing the Chipper of the last few years is far more doable than his MVP calibar years.

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Dylan .. It’s not nasty to say someone’s ideas don’t add up to me .. It is nasty to call people moran’s.

There’s a difference!

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bravesfan

i agree chipper’s numbers the past 2 years, in and of themselves aren’t irreplaceable, but even declined as much as he was, he was still the only brave i would want to see with the game on the line. chipper’s numbers weren’t as important as the leadership and stability he provided. he really was a player coach. that clutch gene is just one youre born with, and i don’t see that in any braves hitter yet, though jhey and ff may prove me wrong in the next couple years

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Some things we agree on is teams are growing tired of Boras and that Bourn is not worth $100 Million.

I can’t agree that I would want Bourn back for the same money as Upton. He disappeared at the end of the year and if he’s not on base he’s next to worthless because he has very little power. Upton is still on the upswing of his career and Bourn is not. It’s ok to disagree and still root for the same team!

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bravesfan

agreed, i wouldn’t have even wanted to give that much to bourn, i just think he’s a better fit with the braves. upton will give you more hrs, but bourn gives you a much higher avg, and much better defense. either way, i don;t think either are worth that money at this point, i just feel upton is a horrible fit for this team, other than hes RH

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