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Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2,687 comments Add your comment
Ray
January 6th, 2013
2:56 pm
@bird look across the board. People that have a ton more knowledge than any of us on here rate Wren pretty high. Its your choice not to like him as its my choice to think he has done a pretty good job. He has helped keep the Braves in contention each year and has built the team to stay a contender for many years to come.
nolie
January 6th, 2013
2:58 pm
Bowman even said it…TOBF
that right there should create a ton of doubt right away
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
2:59 pm
Was Theo Epstein “available” not too long ago? Huh? Fire Wren. Almost anyone would be an upgrade. You get real.
BravePack(FreeFan)
January 6th, 2013
3:01 pm
Thanks cabravesfan that’s what I figured with more relaxed rules. If this was the Olympics though, which is the rules I was thinking by, I would want him representing our USA, where he was born.
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:02 pm
@nj, The point with Towers is we do not know what he is going to ask for Upton. @Bird no Epstein was not available. And I am getting real. I am not the one talking about getting people that are not available.
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:02 pm
Hey Ray, we haven’t won a playoff series under Wrentard. We don’t win division titles anymore? Three teams that had payrolls less than our made the playoffs last season, so don’t use payroll as an excuse. How long do you stick with Wren? In two years, we will have 0 playoff series wins? Will you still support him then? In two years, I will be telling you, I told you so,
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:05 pm
@Bird. I never once mentioned payroll. Not one time.
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:05 pm
So Epstein was traded? Hell, let’s trade for Friedman? Anyone is available for the right price. omg.
cabravesfan
January 6th, 2013
3:05 pm
BravePack-
Unless he has dual citizenship (always possible), he couldn’t rep Canada in the Olympics. They are basically the only international competition where you have to be a citizen of the country you play for
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
3:06 pm
Good read.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/justin-upton-is-not-a-park-effect-mirage/
Pretty much any west coast hitter is going to be at a disadvantage in road stats compared to an east coast hitter, due to the unbalanced schedule and the summer climate of the two sides of the U.S. The west coast is much cooler, much less humid, and is home to many of the most extreme pitchers parks in baseball. …..
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:08 pm
Since you have all of the answers and you want Friedman. I will indulge you..setting aside the little fact of Why would TB do that? lF he is available, what are you going to “trade” for to get him from TB?
dylan
January 6th, 2013
3:08 pm
nj
justin hasnt shown to be the star caliber player people on here think he is.
his home/road splits are worse than fowlers, who almost everyone is vehemently against for that very reason. id be willing to give up ahmed, one of delgado or teheran, and another minor league pitcher, but i wouldnt give up the farm for him.
check his numbers and youll see
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:09 pm
@ Ray. good because I wanted to put that out there before u decided to use it as an excuse to defend Wren. Just look as the awful contracts given out by him: Uggla, BJ Upton, Kenshin Kawakami, Derek Lowe….and Albert Belle and Mike Timlin got him fired in Baltimore…well, along with acting like an a** to Cal Ripken.
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:10 pm
it is also home to two of the most extreme hitters parks in baseball in the NL, ‘zona and ‘rado
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:12 pm
aha Birdhair is the same poster who is always lying about Wren in Baltimore, what are his other names again?
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:12 pm
Send them Delgado and $5M lol. Would turn our franchise around immediately.
ChattTownBrian
January 6th, 2013
3:13 pm
I would love having Bourn back. I just can’t see another team not giving him more than what the Braves give which would probably be the 1 year deal.
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
3:13 pm
career road OPS… .757 for BJ, .731 for Justin… and he’s the younger one. Not making 15mil AAV
dylan
January 6th, 2013
3:13 pm
@ nolie
exactly, and in light of that and j uptons splits, no way i give up the farm for him
klaus
January 6th, 2013
3:13 pm
Thanks DOB for clearing up the Wren interview stuff.
One would have to bet Boras will get his client a multiyear deal or a significant 1yr deal both of which would be outside Wren’s financial reach.
I did feel however Wren was talking up Gattis to the point of telegraphing his value to GMs versus just fans. Perhaps Gattis feels like a fortuitous trade piece for Wren versus a legit option for LF.
It would be amazing if he turned into one but I worry about the lack of OF playing time. I prefer him as a catcher but I understand the blocking issues etc.
his name is legion
January 6th, 2013
3:13 pm
his name is legion
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:14 pm
@Bird show me one GM that has not made any mistakes. Any GM would have been fired in Baltimore. One of the worst owners in all of baseball. Finally after many decades, the owner is just NOW starting to allow the baseball people make the baseball decisions and that is still not 100%. The Braves won 94 games last year, not exactly a poor performance. Has Wren been perfect of course not. Is he one of the better GM’s in my opinion he is. I am guessing you think Cashman should have been fired a long time ago. He has every resource known to man and they still don’t win WS.
kenhotlanta
January 6th, 2013
3:14 pm
Birdhair: Could be because Cal Ripken is and was an ass, especially to his teammates.
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:15 pm
How am I lying about Wren in Baltimore? He got fired by an owner who cared and couldnt tolerate seeing so many millions of dollars going down the drain. Took Baltimore years to recover from the pis* poor drafting by Wren’s buddy, Demacio and Wren’s poor spending
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:17 pm
Yeah, i do think Cashman should have been fired already. You see how many GMs in the NFL are getting fired these days? MLB should look at the NFL in this regard.
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:17 pm
I’d take him, but I sure would not give up what a lot here are willing to give.
phil
January 6th, 2013
3:17 pm
Mac and the Braves agree not to talk contract until season ends….
Code for forget it, he’s gone.
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:20 pm
I never said you were lying. Again I never used that word at all. But I also know for a fact that for many years there was no move whatsoever could be done without the owner getting too involved. Why do you think for the longest time, managers and GM’s would stay away because ownership and his sons were too involved. And as far as spending, I also know that ownership was telling GM’s who to go after and to do what ever it takes to get this player or that player.
dylan
January 6th, 2013
3:21 pm
@ nolie,
some people are just crazy. like giving up simmons for upton? why would anyone with a brain do that?
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:22 pm
the owner is the one who wanted those players that you claim got him fired, not Wren
the owner was an ass who screwed that franchise up for years with his meddling
Wren got fired over the Ripken incident because the owner was willing to put Cal above all the rest of the team even after he was less productive
that is how you are lying
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:25 pm
So Wren was a dumb puppet in Baltimore? Lol. I am just shocked at how many nolies there are out there that support someone who hasn’t won a single playoff series. It’s only going to get worse without Chipper. A lot worse.
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:25 pm
I see how realistic you are though, Delgado and 5m to TB for their GM.Yeah that should do it. Let’s just add another 5m and throw in Tyler P for Longoria. Since we are playing crazy fantasy why not. We can send Teheran to the Angels for Trout.
phil
January 6th, 2013
3:29 pm
Fire FW!!
How’s that?
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:31 pm
I have family all over Maryland, they have been O’s fans since the team came to Baltimore. a couple have worked for them over the decades. You are full of crap.
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:32 pm
Wren should have been fired 3 years ago! The nolies out there are gonna have their shoes in their mouths in 2 years when we are 0 for 7 in playoff series wins under Wren and it’s apparent that competing for a division title again is an afterthought. Mark my words.
phil
January 6th, 2013
3:33 pm
I have family all over NC….
Many of them are full of crap.
Not that it has anything to do with Baltimore.
dylan
January 6th, 2013
3:33 pm
im not the biggest wren fan, and i dont think hes done that great a job FA wise, but i think most gms now are too focused on power and name. lance berkman getting that big of a contract? on 2 bad knees? come on now
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:34 pm
The only reason Showalter took that job is if he has control. Ownership and his idiot sons called all of the shots. He tried to be like Steinbrenner and Turner. Which neither one of them really had their franchises turn around until they respectively turned the baseball decisions over to the baseball people. Read what many have said thru the years including Mazz when he was the pitching coach. It was a hot bowl of mess
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:35 pm
too bad about your family, phil. for the most part I don’t have the problem
phil
January 6th, 2013
3:37 pm
Mostly distant relatives, so who cares.
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:38 pm
What is the purpose of the GM. To make the moves to put the team in position to compete for a Championship. The manager the same thing.. put his players in position to have a chance to win. I have yet to see a single GM or Manager miss a sign, make an error, give up a home run. @Bird I guess the only GM’s that should not be fired are the ones that win a WS. Okay everyone but the Giants GM should be fired.
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:38 pm
Berkman on a 1 year $10M deal would have been a much, much better gamble than 5 years $75M on a player who has a produced an average OBP of .309 since 2009
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:40 pm
Nolie, you are right. I always crack up when I hear go get this player or that player and in this case let’s trade for a GM that is not available. Got to love the wisdom. I guess we all need comic relief.
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:40 pm
yeah his trades have been better than his FA signings for the most part
is he the best GM around? nope, but he is a pretty decent one and certainly nothing like what Birdbrain claims
nolie
January 6th, 2013
3:41 pm
my last post on the subject , have fed the troll enough
Ray
January 6th, 2013
3:43 pm
@nolie exactly. I never claimed Wren was the best GM. Is he a good one, yes. Are there better ones of course. Are there a lot worse, I can probably name about 15-20. He does seem to do better in the trade aspect than the FA side.
dylan
January 6th, 2013
3:43 pm
nolie
he just gets too anxious, imo, on FA’s, throws too much to assure a signing, then has nothing left when people really become available. like if he’d just gone 10 mil less on upton, there’d be no problem bringing bourn back into the fold
phil
January 6th, 2013
3:52 pm
To heck with Bourn…
dylan
January 6th, 2013
3:53 pm
phil
having bourn back wouldve been a huge plus. solves leadoff problem, and hes just leagues better than upton defensively
Beaky
January 6th, 2013
3:53 pm
I only know 2 native Americans and both said that the only people they know that are offended by Indian mascots are white liberals. They said some in their tribe actually take pride in the names and mascots that university and pro teams use
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
3:54 pm
Dylan, i think that’s why the nolies of the blogs like him. Because he has white hair and looks like he works hard. The pictures of him recycled by the AJC of him looking at the laptop or on his phone have these bloggers sold. He makes dumb signings quickly and that appeases the bloggers.
phil
January 6th, 2013
3:54 pm
Agreed, dylan, but he wants out. To heck with him.
Ward
January 6th, 2013
3:56 pm
Hello everyone! Birdhair = Denz too, any questions?
dylan
January 6th, 2013
3:59 pm
phil,
idk if its just that he wants out, he just wants to get paid
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
4:13 pm
I see someone was back visiting his old aliases that haven’t been used in a while
Ward
January 6th, 2013
4:14 pm
Denz – A news flash! Take your obsession, and remarks, and shove it! Try a new hobby, it might do you some good!
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
4:14 pm
I’d take Bourn back, but he would be kind of wasted in left field since so much of his value is his defense
Ward
January 6th, 2013
4:20 pm
I think by the time all this trade talk is done. You might see the Upton brothers together, or Folwer, coming to Atlanta. Both these make sense to me, and it might just take a while.
dylan
January 6th, 2013
4:20 pm
i dont care what frank told bj, id take bourn on a 1 or 2, and move bj over till bourn left.
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
4:23 pm
if he did promise cf to Upton, and it sounds like he did by some comments he made, you can’t lie like that to your free agents if you want to continue to sign good ones over the years
Ward
January 6th, 2013
4:23 pm
Don’t want Bourn back after what he did with Boras, and I doubt Bourn, will be a Brave. Rangers, or Seattle?
Ward
January 6th, 2013
4:26 pm
You guy’s, have a good One! Good talking, and Peace my friends, and talk later, and “Go!!!!!Braves!!!!!”
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
4:26 pm
don’t need to sign Bourn, just trade for Peter
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
4:27 pm
what did he do with Boras except turn down the offer, just like every other free agent did with their previous team
74bravesjersey
January 6th, 2013
4:28 pm
Was it Schuerholtz(?spell)who pulled off the trade of the ages for the “CrimeDog” for practically 3 insignificant players back in ‘93 or ‘94. Wasn’t Kevin Towers the padres GM? If he was, that’s probably why he has a hard time dealing w/ the Braves because the McGriff deal has haunted him all these years(mabey I’m wrong & someone feel free to correct me if I am). That’s probably why his price is jacked up, because he wants some kind of retribution thru the Upton deal. Surely I Jest, & far from the truth. Any of you who like to add to this, feel welcomed to.
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
4:28 pm
I’d trade you for Peter, not much else though
dylan
January 6th, 2013
4:30 pm
yeah, no bourjos for me either. rather CORY HART!!!!! or at least carlos gomez.
delgado and maholm for cory hart, then sign lohse or marcum
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
4:30 pm
The bourn talk is mind-boggling. His second half obp last season was .321! And that was in a contract season under the age of 30!
74bravesjersey
January 6th, 2013
4:33 pm
@Ward; You have a good one as well; Peace be unto you always my friend. You kinda remind me of the Dusaki’s most interesting man in the world commercial, He crack’s me up at the end when he say’s ” stay thirsty my friends” . Oh that cracks me up. “stay rested my friend’.
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
4:34 pm
If trading me to get Bourjos on the Braves is what it takes…. I could do it!
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
4:36 pm
Padres traded away both the 1992 home run leader in Crime Dog and the 1992 batting average leader in Sheff that same season. The only thing they got back from both deals that was worth anything was Trevor Hoffman. Tony Gwynn was really POed as I recall.
I might be wrong but I believe that Randy Smith was their GM that season
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
4:38 pm
that was Bourn’s 1st poor 2nd half in his career
dylan
January 6th, 2013
4:40 pm
and not to mention that “horrible” .321 obp was over 70 points higher than bj uptons….. and a good bit higher than justin uptons….
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
4:49 pm
I think Jason would be a good addition , but he is not quite a trade the farm for player.
I would not trade Minor or Medlen for instance, though I would trade Degaldo and Gilmartin plus a lower prospect or two, but I’m not all that up on their system and am not sure if they really match up with us much
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
4:51 pm
lol, Bourn .339 Career OBP has played in hitter friendly parks up until Turner, too. A .339 OBP isn’t worth $18M per
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
4:54 pm
Dylan, exactly why BJ Upton is a joke. Bloggers complain about Uggla? Wait until BJ plays everyday for us!
Horn's dad
January 6th, 2013
4:54 pm
Peter Bourjos sucks! He’s had one good year and that’s it! Wren will definitely get fired if he makes a deal for him. I think he’s just patiently waiting while the asking prices for Bourn, Fowler, and Upton continue to drop. Dbacks have too many outfielders, Rockies need pitching real bad, and Boras overestimated Bourn’s value on the free agent market….
dylan
January 6th, 2013
4:54 pm
pete
you mean justin? yeah id give delgado, ahmed, and mycal jones, but no gattis, no simmons, no minor/medlin.
rather go for hart!
or maybe my idea from earlier and get carlos santana and asdrubal cabrera for bethancourt, ahmed, mccann, delgado, and either gilmartin or spruill
dylan
January 6th, 2013
4:57 pm
birdhair
ive been vehemently against upton, so yes, i know how bad he is.
.339 i can live with because of his defense. upton brothers will have horrible obp along with horrible defense, and 160 k’s apiece
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
4:59 pm
Why not make a run at Adam Eaton of the DBacks? Obviously, he doesnt have much major league experience, but has has shown a strong ability to draw walks at AAA and also in his short stint with the major league club last season. Maybe this is where u offer up Ahmed and a pitcher. They have a plethora of OF and we have a little infield depth?
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
5:02 pm
Parks? he has only played in Houston except for 140 at bats years ago which are too small and too distant to mean anything now. the rankings for Houston are as follows, which dispute your claim that he hit is hitter friendly parks. Why bother to post if you can’t get at least something correct?
2012 20
2011 7
2010 27
2009 24
2008 14
Jake W.
January 6th, 2013
5:05 pm
A long way to go in the Was/Sea game but I think the seahawks were a little overhyped. I was surprised how many people jumped on their bandwagon this week. Had they been home it would be a different story but they are on the road. If Was wins that gives me a perfect weekend with my picks and it also means all home teams would have won. Hopefully the trend continues in the later rounds.
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
5:07 pm
Sneaky, wtf are those stats? what’s your source?
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
5:10 pm
those ate the rankings of Houston park over the last years per ESPN
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
5:15 pm
Umm, do you consider that the Houston team that been fielded there in recent past has been atrocious? That doesnt help half the stats?
Lew
January 6th, 2013
5:16 pm
Yeah, the Orioles sucked because of Wren’s incompetence. Right.
The Orioles have had five GMs since Wren left after the 98 season and until last year had losing seasons every single year and these GMs added such stalwarts Free Agents as Miguel Tejeda, Javy Lopez, Rafael Palmiero, Sammy Sosa and Vlad Guerrero. Of course, all of them were at the end of their careers and were basically over and out by that time.
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
5:19 pm
so what, you claim it is an offensive park. it is not, all parks are affected to some extent by the team that is fielded, but the rankings are also influenced by how opposing teams do when playing in that park too.
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
5:20 pm
Kevin Towers really likes Adam Eaton… doesn’t like Upton. I doubt Eaton gets moved
dylan
January 6th, 2013
5:21 pm
im with pete on this, houston is definatly a pitchers park
SNEAKY PETE
January 6th, 2013
5:21 pm
why would they move a promising prospect who has done pretty well so far and who is dirt cheap for years? oh yeah, cause we want him
Jake W.
January 6th, 2013
5:51 pm
I see Deangelo Hall still hasn’t learned to shut his mouth.
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
5:53 pm
thug… never has. Glad he’s out of Atlanta
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
6:12 pm
If the Diamondbacks don’t move one of their outfielders, look for Adam Eaton to open the season at Triple-A, according to MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert. “That’s not in a perfect world what we want to have happen,” GM Kevin Towers told Gilbert. “But we’re not going to move an outfielder in a lousy deal just to move an outfielder.”
Birdhair
January 6th, 2013
6:37 pm
Nobody thought that a top minor league prospect like Wil Myers would get dealt. Adam Eaton is not that level…no reason why he couldnt be traded?
keyLargo.
January 6th, 2013
6:39 pm
I see Deangelo Hall still hasn’t learned to shut his mouth.
I wasn’t sure that was the X-Falcon until he started running his mouth either.
Lane Kiffin
January 6th, 2013
6:45 pm
Kind of quiet on the ole blog. Good to see the Maggot here again today.
Lane Kiffin
January 6th, 2013
6:50 pm
I thought he might be busy with his popcorn empire
Thoughts On Braves New Controversial Batting Practice Hat « Uncategorized « Braves Country Beat
January 6th, 2013
7:06 pm
[...] First of all, let me start this blog by saying that I got the idea to write about the new controversial batting practice cap the Braves intend to use in the upcoming 2013 season after AJC Writer David O’Brien wrote about it in his article. It’s a really good read, and you can read it here. [...]
Raffy
January 6th, 2013
7:09 pm
RGIII should not have been in there- no mobility- hope he’s okay
TheOnlyBravesFan
January 6th, 2013
7:09 pm
Ouch RG3… ouch