Future watch: Braves lead locals in young talent (UPDATE: Heyward is No. 1 prospect)
Jason Heyward may win the right field job in spring training.
(UPDATE: Jason Heyward has been named the No. 1 prospect by Scouts Inc. and the Braves have five players listed in the top 85. See below.)
A little clarification this morning.
Last week, I suggested that the Braves needed to sign free agent outfielder Johnny Damon to fill their need for a leadoff batter. There has been a void at the top of their order since Rafael Furcal left town. That void has coincided with the Braves’ failure to make the playoffs. Go figure. For the record, Damon is still available and Frank Wren is still not taking my advice. Maybe I should send a nice email? Flowers?
Anyway, back to the clarification: At no point was it my suggestion that the Braves’ general future is doomed without Damon. In fact, there is some slight confirmation this week that their future is pretty bright.
Led by outfielder Jason Heyward, the Braves’ farm system ranks fifth in baseball in organizational talent, according to Scouts Inc.’s Keith Law (requires ESPN Insider subscription).
Loading ...The top 100 prospects is scheduled to be posted sometime Thursday and I’ll try to update this blog at that time. (UPDATE: See below.)
But in Law’s team rankings, the Braves ranked behind only Texas, Boston, Tampa Bay and Cleveland. Among teams in the National League East, the Braves ranked ahead of Florida (12), New York Mets (15), Washington (23), Philadelphia (24).
Law on the Braves:
Having Jason Heyward helps, but they have a troika of Latin American arms about to march up the system that would make a heck of a 2-3-4 behind Tommy Hanson starting in 2013 or so. They would have been higher except for a brutal draft in 2009.
Here’s a link to that 2009 draft if you’ve got a lot of time on your hand.
The rankings got me thinking. Of Atlanta’s four pro sports teams, who is best set up for the future? Right now, I’d have to say the Braves. The Falcons appear to be headed in that direction, but they’re still in transition and there are too many questions on the offensive line and on the defensive side of the ball. The Hawks are not quite as set up for the future as you might think. The Thrashers? A few nice pieces, but only a few.
I quickly ran down the rosters of the four teams and highlighted some young names. But I’ve linked all four rosters if you want to do some research. However, the rosters do not include everybody in the minor-league systems of the Braves and Thrashers. I’ve also got a poll up, but I want to read your comments.
The key here is to try to focus on players who are five years or less into their careers, and therefore potentially here for the long haul.
♦ BRAVES: Brian McCann has played only four-plus seasons. Heyward could make the team out of spring training. Jordan Schafer may not be far behind. Tommy Hanson will be at or near the top of the rotation a while. Others to feel good about include Yunel Escobar, Jair Jurrjens and Martin Prado. (Late add: thanks to “AthensMatt” for pointing out that I left out first baseman-of-the-future, Freddie Freeman.)
♦ FALCONS: They have their quarterback in Matt Ryan. Running back Michael Turner is six years into his career, the danger zone for an NFL running back, but he was a backup for the first four. Probable solid pieces for years: Roddy White, Jonathan Babineaux, Thomas DeCoud, Curtis Lofton, Harry Douglas. Defensive tackle Peria Jerry and safety William Moore, the team’s first two picks in 2o09, missed most of their rookie seasons with injuries. Tackle Sam Baker hasn’t been healthy in two seasons.
♦ HAWKS: Josh Smith and Al Horford will be staples for a long time. But after that? We don’t know yet about Jeff Teague. Marvin Williams: some good, some bad. Mike Bibby is on the downside of his career. Joe Johnson is nine years in and an unrestricted free agent this summer.
♦ THRASHERS: Kari Lehtonen was supposed to be the franchise goalie. But he has struggled with consistency and healthy. Ondrej Pavelec: still a bit unknown. Zach Bogosian, Tobias Enstrom and Evander Kane are solid young pieces. But Bryan Little seems to have fallen off a cliff and Boris Valabik is still struggling with his confidence (and now health). And yes, Ilya Kovalchuk could be gone before lunch.
So there’s your quick recap. Which team do you think is best positioned for the future?
♦
UPDATE: Scouts Inc. listed five Braves in its list of top 100 prospects. Here they are:
♦ 1. JASON HEYWARD, OF: Heyward’s ascent to the top of these rankings was swift and unimpeded, and his path to the majors appears to be much the same, as he’ll have a good chance to win the every-day right-field job this spring. Heyward will be a middle-of-the-order bat with power and patience while playing above-average defense in right with a plus arm. He has an advanced approach at the plate, something that was already in place when he was a 17-year-old high school senior, and strong, quick wrists that let him commit later to pitches while still driving the ball to all fields. He gets good leverage in his swing and has plenty of loft to eventually produce 30-plus homers a year, and so far hasn’t shown any tendency to expand the zone because he’s trying too hard to hit for power. In the field, he has outgrown center but moves extremely well in right with good reads off the bat. And you can see from all of the above that he has a high baseball IQ, with good feel and/or instincts in every area of the game, especially for someone his age. He murdered Double-A pitching at age 19 in a 200-PA sample, and his career stat line reads .318/.391/.508, nearly all of which was compiled before he turned 20 in August. His swing isn’t perfect — he does bar his front arm very briefly — but he’s so strong and has such bat speed that the minor flaw has been irrelevant at every stop of his pro career. Everything else here points to stardom.
♦ 43. ARODYS VIZCAINO, RHP: Vizcaino was the key to the Javier Vazquez trade even though he has yet to appear above short-season ball, which speaks to his potential as a front-line starter. His fastball is already 91-93 mph, flashing a little above that, with good life, and he hides the ball well to help the pitch play up. His best off-speed pitch is a hammer curveball that is plus at times with good depth and a slight two-plane break. His feel for pitching is advanced for someone his age, and while his arm action is short and repeatable he can lose his slot and start to drift downward, something he’ll have to eliminate via instruction. He has a chance to move up the Atlanta system quickly and could catch up to fellow high-upside arms Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado soon.
♦ 63. JULIO TEHERAN, RHP: Teheran was one of my picks to jump on this list last offseason, and now he’s one of my picks to jump up into the top quarter of it. Teheran, the nephew of an Atlanta scout, barely pitched in 2008 after the team took a conservative approach with his sore shoulder. But in ‘09, he showed why teams are increasingly scouting the north coast of Colombia. He’s got a huge arm already despite his rail-thin frame (6-foot-2, 150 pounds), 91-96 mph on the fastball with an above-average changeup, and his curveball also has a chance to be above-average in time. He’s a good athlete, but his arm action isn’t pretty and he has to work to stay on top of the ball if that curveball is going to be a consistent weapon for him. He has good rhythm on the mound and pitches very aggressively — he hit almost as many batters as he walked in 2009, which usually isn’t an accident — but he has to avoid telegraphing his off-speed pitches. He still has a lot of room to fill out and could easily end up a No. 1 starter or, if he doesn’t get stronger or doesn’t develop the breaking ball, an upper-echelon closer.
♦ 67. FREDDIE FREEMAN, 1B: Freeman is yet another former two-way star on this list — if you’re a legitimate prospect as both a position player and a pitcher, you’re probably a pretty good athlete and offer more upside than the typical one-way prospect. At the plate, he sets up with a wide base and doesn’t stride or really transfer his weight through his swing. So while he has good rotation to hit for power, he’s mostly hands at this point and has traded some power for high contact rates. Unlike a lot of young left-handed hitters, he shows no appreciable platoon split, and while he’s not exactly patient, he’s not a hacker. Freeman is an above-average defender at first base, and there’s some reason to expect more growth as a hitter given his youth and frame. But I still see him as a guy who’ll hit for average with doubles power, but not the high OBP or home run totals that would make him a star at first base.
♦ 85. RANDALL DELGAGO, RHP: Delgado pitched in the shadow of Julio Teheran this year, and I’d bet you could find a few scouts who rated him over Teheran even though I have Delgado second. Delgado is 6-foot-3 and has already put on a good 25 pounds since signing, with improvement in his stuff to match. His fastball is just above average and will touch 94-95, with a changeup that has improved to above-average and a chance for the curveball to be the same. He’s still looking for a consistent arm action, which is part of why he’s behind Teheran, but his upside isn’t much lower than his teammate’s. It’s to the Braves’ credit that they found two top-flight pitching prospects from outside the traditional Latin American talent markets, getting Teheran from Colombia and Delgado from Panama.
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173 comments Add your comment
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 28th, 2010
5:30 am
Yawn. First.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 28th, 2010
5:35 am
I don’t understand Law’s “brutal ‘09 draft” line though. The Braves number one draft choice will be in the bigs on opening day.
Mike S
January 28th, 2010
5:35 am
Agree Jeff, that the Braves future looks the brightest (I’m very high on their chances for success in 2010 too); but I’d say the Falcons and then Hawks are not far behind. Thrashers…..well…..um….not quite as much. Bibby’s contract is the only eyesore for the future I see for the Hawks; but I like Jeff Teague alot, so I think he can make up a lot on the performance side, but that contract’s going to be a killer at the end of it. And you have to like the direction the Falcons are headed (excited to see Smitty and TD draft again in a few months), and while the Braves don’t have a ton of elite positional prospects (outside of our Savior from Henry County), that stable of pitching prospects could be ridiculously fruitful (if not in the majors, at least as major trade chips).
Also, I don’t normally post on your blogs much (always read the posts, but hang out on the Braves/DOB blog mostly), but I do love your Countdown and Picks columns and always have. Keep up the good (and often hilarious) work.
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 28th, 2010
5:36 am
Win, place and show…
"Chef" Tim Dix
January 28th, 2010
5:38 am
OMG, I just was redirected for posting too quickly!
Whats next, slots in Vegas with pop ups stating “You’re losing money too quickly?”
Resign or Resign?
January 28th, 2010
5:43 am
Thrashers:
I care about the NHL, but not so much the Thrashers. Their ownership and management are a embarrassment to Atlanta. Any comment would concern the next NHL franchise in Hamilton.
Hawks:
NBA “future” is the next draft. Unlike MLB,( there is no minor league for future stars) & NFL (future stars sometimes ride the bench) stars START their first year. Very few ALL-NBA types sit for long. It is surprising to realize that for all their high draft picks the Hawks have only JSmith & Horford to show for it. (Please don’t even mention MWilliams to me! How many times have I read his line: 3 points & 2 rebounds in 30 minutes? This guy was the second best player available in the WORLD in Billy Knight’s opinion?)
Falcons:
This draft and the recovery of Moore & Jerry will make TD’s reputation. If Baker and those two turn out to be “busts”, the crown he was awarded for his first draft may be dulled somewhat.
Braves:
I believe they have the best young talent, with all the names mentioned above plus Freeman.
I am a huge fan of all the Atlanta teams, and wish them all success in the future.
Resign or Resign?
January 28th, 2010
5:45 am
I agree, Chef; who can possibly evaluate a MLB draft after six months?
Resign or Resign?
January 28th, 2010
5:47 am
Thrashers will be in Hamilton next year, so any comments about their embarrassing ownership and management would be superfluous.
Resign or Resign?
January 28th, 2010
5:49 am
I submitted a lenghthy comment covering each team, but it has not posted; 15 minutes of my life I’ll never get back!
Brandon
January 28th, 2010
5:58 am
Im going to go with the Falcons are best set up for the future. Obviously football doesnt have a minor leagues but with the GM and coaching staff in place and making smart decisions on the draft. Frank Wren has talent in the minors to an extent but none at third base or a true leadoff hitter and well Cox is leaving the dugout in october and depending on who is hired it may bring a new staff entirely. And well Frank Wren hasnt exactly proven he’s a great gm with his drafts or signings or trades. I have doubts about his ability to pick a manager that will be successful.
Lowcountry Bulldawg
January 28th, 2010
6:04 am
How far into the future do we need to see to vote? I mean if we are looking as far out as 2013 then it very well be the Braves, but if we are speaking of the next 2-3 seasons it is the Falcons and the Hawks, hard to type that without a little bit of a chuckle.
Francois
January 28th, 2010
7:13 am
“The Braves number one draft choice will be in the bigs on opening day.”
Uh, Mike Minor is not gonna be in the Majors this year.
And, I’m with Keith Law. (Never thought that would happen.) Our draft was terrible. Also, if memory serves me correct, we didn’t sign any international free agents either.
Bill Heller
January 28th, 2010
7:20 am
The BRAVES have the best future in Atlanta sports? I woke up in a good mood and I don’t know what the heck happened.
athensmatt
January 28th, 2010
7:21 am
“chef” — so mike minor is going to be in the bigs on opening day?
as for the braves farm system — they are well stocked in the pitching department, for starters and relievers, and i can’t wait for heyward to come up to the majors. and jeff, you left out freddie freeman, our first baseman of the future; though i know you were focusing on braves players who are already in atlanta.
i hope the braves draft or trade for a third base prospect; especially if chipper’s struggles from last year carry over into 2010. also a SS. that is all.
Mike Lum
January 28th, 2010
7:46 am
Too many think the Braves should go the way of the Yankees and Red Sox and go after free agent after free agent, forgetting that Liberty has given Wren a set budget. Gone are the days of having one of the highest payrolls in baseball. Many forget the Braves were still in the hunt on October first last year. Wren is doing the best he can, given these funds. Damon is enticing, but we already have McLouth, Melky, Schafer, Diaz, that 1B/OF from LA, and Heyward.
TommyP
January 28th, 2010
7:46 am
Well the pundits mostly agree on the Braves poor 2009 draft, including supposedly reaching on Minor. We’ll see but at this point it’s all about player development.
Spanjer-Furstenburg was apparently a nice selection as he’s ripped the cover off the ball so far. Could be a name to monitor.
TommyJack
January 28th, 2010
7:54 am
I’m with you, Shultzie. Whatever you say.
Jimbo
January 28th, 2010
7:56 am
“The top 100 prospects is scheduled to be posted sometime Thursday and I’ll try to update this blog at that time.”
Jeff: They were posted Monday…here’s the link
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/01/25/the-top-100-prospects-of-2010-1-25/
Hunter
January 28th, 2010
8:07 am
Jeff — Why was the 2009 draft considered so bad? Mike Minor is ranked #43 in the rankings below and looks like he could be ready for the big leagues in 2011. Is there something about him that you know and don’t like?
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/01/25/the-top-100-prospects-of-2010-26-100/
wayne
January 28th, 2010
8:26 am
It really doesn’t matter unless you let them play before they reach age 30 or if you trade 4-5 of them for a one year flash. Quit signing those old has beens or maybes and play the young guys. The Marlins do it every year and always seem to be competitive or at least exciting. Power, speed and young legs and young arms go a long ways towards winning.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
8:31 am
u might think the braves have upside, but once we have to pay to keep our young plkayers we will send them down the road. then they will try to get us excited about another young player then ship them out. the braves are a joke
dpelfrey
January 28th, 2010
8:32 am
Law and the BA folks didn’t like Minor as a #7 pick. The top 10 picks are typically reserved for live, possibly even raw, arms that sit in the mid to upper 90’s with potential upside. Minor is a control pitcher with a full repertoire and maxes out around 90, so I think their biggest beef with him is actually how much can he be expected to improve over what he is now. Sure, he fared well in his debut, but will he be able to improve enough to get out major league hitters.
Personally, I like him. I think he’ll make a solid back-end rotation guy. With the top-flight young arms the Braves have right now at various levels (Jurrjens, Hanson, Teheran, Delgado, Vizcaino) I think it was a solid pick and I didn’t see a lot of guys taken behind him that would provide as much value.
Tami
January 28th, 2010
8:32 am
Hopefully, Ryan can overcome the “sophomore jinx” for the 2010 season. The Falcons are emerging, although it’s really hard to get both a really good O-line & a really good D-line on the same team at the same time. I hope they’re only a few missing puzzle pieces away, and will get taken care of in this year’s draft and/or the continued development of the new talent already on the team.
The Braves….I don’t know. I love the fact that we have some great young kids down there. But, they’re only unrealized potential right now. With this mgmt regime we have, these kids could end up traded to some other team in exchange for known talent past their prime. If we as fans are being asked to be patient while the farm system is being developed (i.e., suffer through a couple of losing or mediocre seasons while we get the kids ready to go up to the big league team), then the Braves front office needs to be patient too. Instead, we’ve lost quite a few notable young talents. I hope the team can rise above it. I’m patiently waiting to see this for myself.
Haven’t really followed the Hawks or the Thrashers. I do know that the Hawks are having a little better season than the Thrashers are having, though. Neither team has really been a major factor in their respective sports in the last few years. At any rate, I don’t really have an opinion on them right now.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
January 28th, 2010
8:35 am
braves may have a great farm system but as long as liberty media is calling the shots…forget about ever getting big name free agents. if this off-season aquistions/trades are any indication of how the braves future will be, forget about it. falcons have a better shot at the SB than the braves even making a playoff run
Kashi
January 28th, 2010
8:36 am
O yeah whatever..Young Braves Talent look bright for future. Didn’t all Atlantas said this when baby braves of 2005 saved the season? Until prove, we can’t assume future is bright. Other teams put together a team for present and Braves put together a team for future. Only catcher Brian is left from the pool of bright baby braves. Get team that can compete now and not future.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
8:37 am
Tami u say the hawks have not been a factor they r going to the playoffs for the thirs year in a row and could be the 2nd seed in the east. i think they are a factor
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
January 28th, 2010
8:38 am
Tami- i agree on the Thrashers bit but the Hawks have made the playoffs 2 years in a row and appear to headed back there again this year (hopefully). Atlanta Spirit it seems got it right with the Hawks now they need to sign Kovy or the Thrashers will be bottom feeders for years to come.
dpelfrey
January 28th, 2010
8:39 am
I don’t agree with Law down-grading the Braves based on their 2009 draft. In the same way they shouldn’t come out with college football rankings until after the first 3-4 games, they shouldn’t start grading prospects until they have a chance to show what they can do.
And regardless, didn’t Danville win the championship with a bunch of players from that 2009 draft? (Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg, Mycal Jones, Christopher Masters, Corey Harrilchak, Matthew Crim, David Hale, etc.)
just wait
January 28th, 2010
8:40 am
Kashi i totally agree its the same old song. drink the cool aide the young braves are the future. but we won’t get any help for them and then get rid of them.
Get outta here
January 28th, 2010
8:41 am
How can you want Damon? You are not a Braves fan if you can say that. Damon is: overrated, at the end of his career, not fast, average at best in the field, no arm and not a NL style player. More importantly to me though than the on-the-field shortcomings of Damon is the fact that he is not someone people in ATL want to cheer for. He pimps himself out to the Sox or Yanks, he doesn’t care. The Braves shouldn’t try to be the mini-Yankees, we should continue developing our own young outfield talent. Seriously, Johnny Damon, I can only hope Frank Wren doesn’t read your articles, or if he does, he just follows the opposite of your awful advice.
Jeff
January 28th, 2010
8:42 am
What Law doesn’t say is how far that ranking falls once Heyward is gone, I believe he has said without him they’re more like in the 15-20 range. But you still have to feel good about all of the young arms.
TommyP – I’d monitor that name if I could say it, who is that guy?
Kashi
January 28th, 2010
8:45 am
Get outta here, if you don’t sing Jonny Damon then who is your lead-off hitter? Melky who is 262 life time hitter? Pants on the ground ^2.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:47 am
“Chef” — Getting bored with success? I know… so many gold medals.
Midtown
January 28th, 2010
8:47 am
Braves for sure. Things are looking so bright on so many fronts. They are playing for now yet have a farm system that appears will at least produce a few good arms down the road.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:49 am
Mike S. — Thanks for the comments. … You’re right about pitching prospects: if they develop then they’re at least great bargaining chips for trades.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
8:49 am
get ready for the dollar store team and another well atleast we were within 10 games of the playoffs season.
Nate
January 28th, 2010
8:51 am
“Personally, I like (Minor). I think he’ll make a solid back-end rotation guy.”
Guys who you think will top out at back-end rotation are not who you take with the #7 pick of the draft.
“…I didn’t see a lot of guys taken behind (Minor) that would provide as much value.”
Well, that’s only if you don’t count Jacob Turner, Tyler Matzek, Shelby Miller, Aaron Crow, Alex White, Kyle Gibson, etc…
Extremus
January 28th, 2010
8:51 am
While I agree that their minor league system shows really good promise, the problem the Braves (and every other MLB organization not named the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, or Phillies) have is that all of this young talent may last five years on our ballclub before they’re snatched away by somebody willing and able to pay them more money. Who cares if Heyward has one of the greatest careers of his generation if he spends most of that career in other uniforms?
Players, agents, and owners can call it “business” and excuse somebody being paid eight figures per year as reaching their “market value”, but the game is being killed by greed. How do they think they can sustain the way things are right now when A) the American economy is tanking (my store lost four good, tenured employees this week and they were hiring part-time, minimum-wagers to replace them less than 48 hours later; the days of full-time jobs, benefits, and abundance in our country are ENDING, folks; those jobs are being systemmatically eradicated) and people will soon be staying at home watching the games on TV because they can’t afford to come to the ballpark anymore, and B) not many people are going to have endless loyalty to those who have no loyalty in return outside of the mercenary.
I’m not asking for communism here, but the fact is we are FAR removed from the days before Curt Flood, when players couldn’t sustain themselves or their families on what they made. Now they have multiple mansions or homes and live lifestyles the vast majority of American citizens never even see, and many of them feel they’re OWED that. There’s a difference between rewarding a player with a nice contract and abandoning all common sense to sign or keep him in your city; like Sparky Anderson once said, after you’ve got that first million or so in the bank, what are you going to do, eat the rest? Problem is, these guys consider a million dollars passe, an insult to their worth.
I know this rant kind of went off of your intended discussion, Mr. Schultz, but my point is baseball, perhaps more than any other major sport, needs to change, to adapt to the times and to public opinion to keep from eventually imploding. Yes, that means cutting, not increasing, player salaries and finding ways for the organizations who invested in developing them to be able to keep them in the same uniform for their entire careers if they desire to. It doesn’t matter if the Braves get a great young core of talent they’ll never keep together for a year or two in the long run; in that sense I definitely like the situations of the Falcons and Hawks much better.
UGAFan
January 28th, 2010
8:51 am
Tami, the one who traded away young talent was John Shuerhotz. Frank Wren seems to be protecting our prospects. The reason he didn’t make the trade for Jake Peavy last year was San Diego insisted the Braves add Tommy Hansen in the deal.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:52 am
Brandon — good comments. And yes, Wren’s pick for manager will be very interesting.
Midtown
January 28th, 2010
8:53 am
WOW. Dollar Store Team? Is that what you get when your in the top 12 in baseball in payroll. In case you haven’t noticed no one in baseball (except maybe the Mets and Houston) is still trying to win on spending dollars alone, they are all putting a huge emphasis on growing young talent on the farm.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:53 am
Resign or Resign — Moore, Jerry and Baker are HUGE swings for the Falcons, in terms of their future. They were high draft picks and play key positions: S, DT, OT.
UGAFan
January 28th, 2010
8:55 am
A little early to grade the ‘09 draft. The Braves have made developing young talent an art for a long time …
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:55 am
AthensMatt — You’re right. My bad about Freddie Freeman. In fact, I’ll add him shortly and credit you, thanks.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:57 am
Tommy Jack — Thanks. I don’t get that a lot. Especially at home.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
8:58 am
midtown that sounds great but we had all of the young plkayers in 05 and now we are left with just mccann we have not been to the playoffs in 5 years i don’t think we need to spend like crazy, but we need to be able to bring in one or two legit free agents. They try to shove this we have young talent bull at us, but next year it will be just wait and the next and the next
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:58 am
Hunter — That’s a different writer/scouting service, not Keith Law of Scouts Inc.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
8:59 am
Just wait — I hope you’re wrong. And I’m sure you hope you’re wrong, too.
Midtown
January 28th, 2010
9:00 am
Braves have the same payroll as Seattle. Seattle spent big money this offseason on King Felix Hernandez, Chone Figgins along with Cliff Lee, Jack Wilson etc. Last year the Braves spent big money on Derek Lowe, Vasquez, KK etc. The braves will spend money again in the future, this is not the Royals or Florida. Heck, Philly waited until they went to a few World Series before they jacked their payroll up so much.
Midtown
January 28th, 2010
9:02 am
Just Wait: Because young talent doesn’t work out half the time. You just get as much as you can and see who turns out, sometimes the high picks are not the ones that do and guys like McCann stick.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
9:02 am
DPelfrey — Sounds like you know your stuff about baseball prospects (either that or you fake it well). But as you know, any draft is a guessing game, so we really won’t know who’s right or wrong for at least 3 years, maybe longer.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
9:03 am
Get outta here: You’re right about me not being a Braves fan. I’m a not a “fan” period. I’m a columnist. … As for Damon, I’m aware of his outfield shortcomings, primarily his arm. But tell me who on this roster would be a better leadoff hitter this season than Johnny Damon? This is about making the lineup better for this year, not next year or the year after.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
9:05 am
the teams with the real upside in atlanta are the hawks and falcons. They have good players and owners that will bring in what they need. the hawks are our best team right now. two years ago they got the 8 seed and took the celtics 7. last year they were the 4 seed and made the second round. This year we could get the 2 seed and maybe make a run at the eastern confrence.
UGAFan
January 28th, 2010
9:06 am
You’re right Extremus, except the sports and entertainment worlds are not affected by the recession. $120M for Matt Holliday, $42M buyout for Conan O’brien, one boy-actor making $50M in one witchcraft movie (names escape me), etc. It just goes on and on …..
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
9:07 am
Extremus — You make some good points. But long story short: These are all Collective Bargaining issues. Both sides signed off on the structure so apparently it works for both sides.
Nate
January 28th, 2010
9:09 am
“TommyP – I’d monitor that name if I could say it, who is that guy?”
Riann Spanjer-Furstenburg (Ryan Span-yer – First-in-burg).
Born in Pretoria, South Africa – Feb. 8, 1988
6′-2″, 235 – 1B, drafted out of Florida Atlantic Univ.
Hit .359, 8 HR, 53 RBI in 62 games with the Braves short-season A affiliate, Danville Braves.
No Clever Name
January 28th, 2010
9:14 am
I am not worried about the future. I am worried about this season. We are relying on Chipper Jones and Troy Glaus to anchor our lineup. Neither one will play 100 games, I guarantee it.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
9:19 am
No Clever Name — I agree with you. And that’s one more reason why I believe holes (like leadoff) need to be filled. … By the way: I like your name.
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
9:19 am
I like it that the braves farm system loses T.hanson (#3 overall prospect last season) to the big club and we still have a top 5 ranking. Hopefully Heyward makes his debut in ATL this summer and F.Freeman is ready to make his next year!
UGAFan
January 28th, 2010
9:21 am
Jeff, isn’t it just sad that MLB is content with a handful of teams accumulating 90% of the best talent, and leaving the rest of the league playing for nothing? I guess I’m just longing for the time when the Braves had the second highest payroll in MLB back in the day ….
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
9:26 am
I would like one of the haters on here to inform me of these “big time free agents” the Braves used to get? The Braves have never been that team, even when we did spend big (96-2000) we did it on our own talent not bringing in others. We have always survived off our farm system and supplemented with role playing veterans.
ChippersLoveChild
January 28th, 2010
9:28 am
I don’t see how the Falcons are second… You may or may not have something in Ryan…. Lofton is a good young talent… Roddy White…. where is all the other young talent you speak of with them? It certainly isn’t on that D, and I wouldn’t exactly consider Turner or Gonzalez young talent… I don’t see that much young talent on the Falcons.
ChippersLoveChild
January 28th, 2010
9:32 am
For the record, I’d put the Thrashers second… their system is rebounding nicely after years of hurting for young talent. Bogo and Kane are going to be studs, Enstrom is one of the better defensemen in the league, imo, Pavs has promise, just needs to be more consistent, and BRYAN Little is having a mini slump, but the kid still has talent. Mix in future guys like Klingberg, Postma, Morin, possibly Esposito, I like the future… especially if they can re-sign Kovalchuk, who is still young and about to enter his prime.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
9:36 am
Ncbravesfan here are the free agents in the 90s, and they were all big time: terry pendleton, fred mcgriff, marquis grissom, kenny lofton, greg maddux, and andres galarraga. I think that should be enough big names to prove my point.
Nativebird
January 28th, 2010
9:37 am
Playoffs?! Playoffs?! Let’s dispense PUUlease with all this goal setting of playoffs, Divisions “Championships” as Schuerholz likes to call them, wild card or otherwise.
The goal should be World Series win….period. Lead off hitter is not your problem. (roll eyes, sigh). The ONLY times the Braves won, or threatened to win a World Series were when they had a big RBI producing, HR hitting, All-Star calibur first basemen. and it will stay that way until they get another.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
9:38 am
o and they were not role players they produced. so i think that takes off those rose colored glasses
ryan
January 28th, 2010
9:40 am
The Falcons are impossible to predict due to the unpredictability of the NFL.
You simply can’t forecast out for ANY team two years from now. Who, two years ago, saw the Pats falling down?
The Braves do look promising, but unless something drastic happens to baseball payrolls, there is no way we’ll be able to keep most of those guys together through 2013. It’s going to cost dearly when Hanson hits arbitration.
just wait
January 28th, 2010
9:41 am
nativebird the first base point is spot on.
collegeballfan
January 28th, 2010
9:42 am
The Braves. The talent already in the organization is really strong.
The young pitchers are really strong.
El Bravo
January 28th, 2010
9:42 am
If we are talking about young talent and what the future holds then the rankings is Hawks, Braves, Falcons, Thrashers. The Hawks have a young, stablished team that will only get better with age. The Braevs are stocked with quality players in the minors. The Falcons have had two quality drafts and in a row and there is no reason to believe we won’t have a third this year. By the way, the comment about the 2009 Braves draft being brutal is just asinine. Unlike other sports you can not judge a baseball draft less than a year into it. It takes too long for players to develop and only rare talent is able to bypass the learning curve…
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
9:45 am
TP was not a big time free agent, he was aging vet who had a career year in 91.
Gallaraga was cut by the Rocks because he was old n slow, then signed by us.
Grissom, lofton, crimedog were all trades.
Maddox is the only big time free agent on your list, and times we different back then, we werent even the biggest bidder on him, he just wanted to be a Brave and win!
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
9:50 am
We didnt win in 93, 96, 97,98,99 with a BIG rbi 1st baseman, or in 2007 with Tex! Its not an easy one player fix. You have to produce talent from your system, hope the young talent starts to peak before your vets wear down too much. The recent Phils run is a great example!
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
9:51 am
Just wait/Native bird: Who would you have added this offseason if you were the Braves GM with the Liberty checkbook?
Nick n Nash
January 28th, 2010
9:56 am
Just putting it out there…Johnny Damon would be a better fit over Johnny Gomes. Sure Gomes would hit more HR’s, but he is even worse in the OF than Damon, and we need a lead-off guy. I think if Damon’s $ tag comes down to the $2M and below region, we sign him.
I honestly feel it would be in the Braves best interest to let J-Hey start the year in Gwinnett, and bring him up in late May early June (if he’s ready). In this scenerio, if he’s doing well, trade Damon away at the deadline or in early July.
I think we stick with the Melk-man, as he is young, under control for a few more seasons, and is coming to the National league. Players tend to fair better in the transition from AL pitching to NL.
Just a suggestion. Either way…Go Braves!!
Nick n Nash
January 28th, 2010
10:00 am
I also feel the next Braves manager should not come from within (unless its Eddie Perez). TP sucks and can barely do a decent job as hitting coach. Atlanta needs to go find Don Bayler and get him to be their hitting coach again. He did an awesome job with Chipper, and the other hitters on the team. If I recall, they did get to the WS that season.
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
10:06 am
Nick: I dont see Damon coming to ATL, dont think we need him either. To me its like the Hawks drafting Sheldon Williams…WHY??? Why would we need ANOTHER slow, weak armed, bad fielding, no power OF, dont we have that guy already? He is named Diaz/Cabrera/Hinske put that with Nate who isnt much different and we have…..you catch my drift. I do think we need a true leadoff guy, if wish we would have went after Scott Pods who signed with the Royals, That would be a leadoff man on the cheap! I think we start with Diaz/Nate/Melky and hope Jordan can take the CF spot from nate (moving him to LF) and Heyward can take RF, then we have Melky and Diaz as backups. Just my $0.02
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
10:12 am
I like TP as a coach but I think we need some new blood also. Wren is gonna bring in his own guy I would assume, he doesnt seem to want to follow in JS footsteps.
Richard Nieh
January 28th, 2010
10:13 am
Damon is just ok for leading off. He is not that speedy anymore and is an offensive burden. I really rather have McLouth continue to lead off. His OBP is not high but that is only because he was hitting 3rd for so long, he is young and he will improve. I don’t like Wren’s decision this offseason but I support not to go after Damon.
Educated
January 28th, 2010
10:13 am
I’m sure someone’s already pointed this out, but tell whoever puts the title links on the AJC sports main page that it should read “Whose future is brightest?”
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
10:15 am
Just wait/Native bird??? You were both full of negative posts until I asked a question about how YOU would have handled it and then you disappear. Do you only have criticism and no positive input?
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
10:16 am
Brandon, I know Jeff agrees with you for some reason, but I hope you’re not serious. Quite recently, JS the genius left us with Chuck James as our 3rd starter and gave half the farm system up for one season of an overpriced and overrated 1st baseman. Now we have perhaps the best rotation 1-5 in the majors (and much more on the way), and a lineup that has a hole or two but is at least CAPABLE of being very good without our payroll having gone up. Both of you need to drop the whole “Glavine and Smoltz should still be our 1-2 starters” and realize the right moves were made then and since.
As for the Hawks, watching Mr. Potato Head vs. Greg Popovitch last night was a total embarrassment for the franchise. Potato Head gets confused early, and it’s back to “Iso-Joe” and a run away loss to a team who’s best player is a big man with 1,500 games on his odometer. Popovitch could’ve out-coached Woody texting with one hand and eating a sandwich with the other.
Extremus
January 28th, 2010
10:16 am
Mr. Schultz, I understand the Collective Bargaining point, but the fact is the fans never signed that agreement (and if we had there would have been some very specific caveats to prevent the current situation from having happened). That means the folks whose monetary input (meaning butts in seats) is most responsible for driving the economy of MLB and their ability to sustain the increasing payrolls and excess of players and owners have been totally ignored. You can’t build a structure without an appropriate foundation to support it, and in MLB’s case that foundation is tickets, concessions, and other revenues. If the fanbase of a given city can’t keep up with the demands of the costs of those things in order to come out and support their team, they’ll either watch the games on television or simply lose interest in the sport altogether. Either way that means loss of revenues and potentially eventual doom for many sports franchises, especially smaller markets. Regardless of the quality you put out on the field, it still has to be affordable for the fans, and more and more of us are finding ourselves with less and less income nowadays. Sports and the entertainment industry ARE NOT recession-proof; eventually what affects the rest of us will affect them as well, it may just take a while longer. History is replete with empires which thought they’d last forever and who didn’t recognize the consequences of their actions until it was too late, and MLB, much like America on a larger scale, is fast becoming in danger of being the next footnote.
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
10:18 am
The positive spin I put on this Braves offseason is that Wren did not trade away or block any of our (#5 rated system) players from their progression to Turner Field. Much to the dismay of Wren haters, he did not trade for TEX in 07, in turn making the Rangers into the #1 farm system 2 years in a row. He has a vision, we may not agree with it but I am trusting him to lead us back to October! Go Braves!
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
10:22 am
The Grinch; I hate you on college football blogs but I respect you very much on the Braves. I couldnt agree more about Glavine and Smoltz! The future is here!!
SOUTH GA DAWG FAN
January 28th, 2010
10:22 am
I hope its the Falcons but I am still very leary of the Georgia Curse I mean look at the run the Braves had with only 1 championship to show for it . Could care less about Hockey (sorry) love to see the Hawks win but not to much confidence in the management, Falcons are headed in the right direction but injuries and other crap seems to get the falcons more than it does the top teams .and as always
GO DAWGS !!!!!!!!!!
Rowland Lawrence
January 28th, 2010
10:24 am
There will never be a bright future for the Falcons. They are cursed. We thought in 2003 we had the greatest team since Lombardi’s packer only find out our QB was an undiscovered felon and Arthur was a Jerry Jones wannabe. This team had a chance but they chose to let Dan Reeves go and now we have Jack Del Rio’s watewr boy running the team. We will be 3-13 next year.Book it!
Rowland Lawrence
January 28th, 2010
10:26 am
FYI, Drew Pearson was out bounds in 1980.
Dr. Phil
January 28th, 2010
10:27 am
The Braves have some very good talent, but until the organization becomes willing to spend some big money, there will be no championships and probably no post season.
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
10:31 am
NCbravesFan, there was another guy posting under my name for weeks while I was gone and did not share my tone or interests. He is no longer with us. I’m a major Dawgs fan, but I try not to be classless like some of my brethren.
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
10:38 am
Tech fan here (not the st.simons type). Nothing pisses me off more than someone typing under my name on a blog…wish there was a way to stop that
Nick n Nash
January 28th, 2010
10:39 am
NCBraves….I did not state we needed to get Damon…I was simply saying he would be a better fit over Gomes. I honestly think that Nate will have a better season as leadoff, and maybe get Melk-man some AB’s there to see if he is a fit other than the 8-hole.
I agree that Wren hasn’t blown the future by trading away prospects. In that regard, he is terrific compared to JS. Wren hearts prospects, JS hearts ready/proven ML players. For years JS traded top prospects for proven ML’s, and 2007 really killed the Braves farm system. It makes me sick to think of how awesome the braves would be now if we had Andrus, Jones, & Feliz. Salty and Harrison are injury busts.
Coach (2011 or Bust)
January 28th, 2010
10:39 am
Exactly Jeff, the Braves have had no semblance of anything resembling small ball since Furcal left. In fact, over the course of the last four seasons since he defected to the Dodgers, the Braves have averaged 58 stolen bases. Which is dead last among all thirty ML teams.
No lead off hitter indeed. This is one contentious issue where both Frank Wren and Bobby Cox have their heads up their asses. Look at the Phillies. Pitching, Defense, Power and Speed is why they are so dominant. Our Braves haven’t kept up with “Jones” so to speak nor will they in 2010 as long as Cox has his way.
PMC
January 28th, 2010
10:45 am
Right now it’s the Hawks…. but it depends on what you mean by bright future. It’s difficult to picture any of them at this juncture winning a championship. I think the Falcons are poised for relevance which is a huge step foward. The Thrashers are essentially non existant.
The Braves don’t have the players to compete with the best teams offensively especially in the playoffs.
Daniel
January 28th, 2010
10:46 am
Good article Jeff, I would like to say it is nice that 3 out of 4 pro sports teams have a bright future(sorry Thrashers). So I will be splitting hairs to rank them, because I think they are all headed in the right direction. But, hey makes for a good sports topic, so here goes:
1)Hawks: Josh and Al are potential All Stars, Marvin, Za, and Childress(?) represent a solid, young group. Joe will resign with the Hawks, Crawford is already locked up, and we have become a destination for vets (see Joe Smith). Plus, the Hawks are currently the closest to winning big.
2) Braves: Biggest stockpile of young talent, but negatives for aging 3rd and 1st base, plus a retiring HOF manager.
3) Falcons: We have the GM, Coach, and Quarterback, which in the NFL is A LOT. The rest is still shaky (like Roddy though)
4) Thrashers: Will they even be in Atlanta by the time Hanson plays in an All Star game?
nash
January 28th, 2010
10:46 am
yeah the brave have it because they are loooooadddded with pitchers ( thanks Mr. Wren ) then comes the falcons because they have a Qb and have been able to get guys that can and are ready to play the last 2 or 3 drafts. Then the hawks beacuse well they haven’t found a good point guard yet and well Teague doesn’t play until garbage time so we really don’t know what he is now or what he is going to be and then the Thrashers because they are the Thrashers
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
10:47 am
Jeff, I apologize if I sound like an @$$; normally I agree with you on most things. I just couldn’t disagree with you more about Wren. We’re still homies though, right?
If Dimitroff’s injured players (including Baker and Douglas) ever get healthy, he will have gotten a lot of top-tier talent for middle-tier prices. They’re not healthy yet, though. We shall see. Got to admit Tony G. for a 2nd rounder should have him in jail for rape, though (I meant class with respect to the Dawgs…I slip in other areas).
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
10:48 am
Nick….didnt mean to accuse you of being a Damon supporter, been alot of those around recently. I think Elvis and Feliz are the 2 that will haunt us in that deal, Having Yunel and Tommy help ease that pain a little though!
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
10:49 am
UGA Fan — Agreed. Further illustration how the baseball salary “cap” is a farce. There needs to be a higher floor and a hard ceiling for it to work.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
10:52 am
NCBravesFan — you’re right about the Braves not going free agent shopping frequently, like Yankees, Mets or Red Sox, but they did spend a lot of money to keep key players. Now they’re more likely to let a guy go. They’re also far less likely to sign a mid-range free agent, hoping to do it on the cheap instead. That’s where the budget issues come into play.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
10:53 am
Chipper — I agree in part with you on the Falcon assessment, but not to the point of dropping them behind the Hawks, if that’s where you’re going with the comment.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
10:55 am
Educated — I just checked and I can’t find the link you’re talking about. Maybe it was changed.
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
10:56 am
Agreed, NC; posting under another’s name is juvenile. I hate Tech naturally (anyone who says they root for both unless they’re playing each other is full of it), but I have much respect for Paul Johnson. I was at Ga. Southern the last year he won a NC there (when the Adrian Peterson who doesn’t fumble was the main weapon); he’s all the coach.
That’s another problem I have with Woodson; he refuses to play rookies. What little I’ve seen from Teague suggests he ought to get some more time. He’s crazy quick and unselfish, yet can drive to the hole hard when nobody’s open. Good guy to sit.
JK3
January 28th, 2010
10:57 am
MLB network also rated Jason Heyward as the overall number 1 prospect in all of the minors last night. I agree with the earlier post that a 3rd baseman will be a void soon to be filled. any thoughts? Frank is doing a great job considering what he has to deal with.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
10:58 am
Extremus — I don’t disagree with anything you just wrote. Economic times are hitting everybody. Biggest hit to sports will come when TV revenue drops, because that’s generally the lifeblood of a sports league.
Dr. Warren
January 28th, 2010
10:58 am
Sam Baker will never be a solid piece. Think about it: if he has gotten banged up so easily in his first two years, does he have a better chance of staying healthy as his body ages? No way.
Dr. Warren
January 28th, 2010
10:59 am
And Baker was injured a lot at USC, too. Trust me–I was a season ticket holder.
Jeff Schultz
January 28th, 2010
11:00 am
The Grinch — What is it about Wren that you think I think that you disagree with? (I think that came out right.)
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
11:00 am
Don’t get me wrong; I like Bibby (though he’s less of a distributor and more of a shooting guard IMO), but he’s playing like he’s wearing two knee braces now. Teague should be spelling him as well as watching.
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
11:03 am
Grinch: Growing up 45mins from athens, both sisters and many, many friends being alums, I have alot of respect for UGA also. The thing that killed me this year is that so many dawg fans seemed to have forgot the phrase “act like you have been there before” but that is for another blog…
In response to the poll: Most young talent 1. Braves 2. Hawks 3. Falcons
Who is closest to a championship in my opinion 1. Hawks 2. Falcons 3. Braves
Daniel
January 28th, 2010
11:04 am
The Grinch- I am from Atlanta, didn’t go to UGA or Tech(Brown if you must know). So I root for both, and when playing each other, I root for whomever the win helps the most. And, I am not full of it.
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
11:06 am
I was under the impression you were on Smoltz’ side (which I am strongly opposed to; I think he’s an egotistical, whiny, high maintenence jerk for nearly a dozen reasons I’ve outlined in the past), and then you seemed to agree with Brandon earlier that Wren was incapable of making good trades or decisions in general. Did I misunderstand? If so, my bad.
Dwayne
January 28th, 2010
11:07 am
Hey Schultz, Hawks just lost another game, so I’m expecting another article from you soon.
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
11:11 am
Daniel, I should amend that. Of course one can root for both teams. What I meant was, anyone who claims to be a die-hard fan of one or the other cannot. You went to neither (a kindly distance away, in fact; my mom went to Brown briefly before NYU), so if you have no dog in the hunt (pardon the pun) it doesn’t apply to you.
Daniel
January 28th, 2010
11:12 am
Grinch- explanation and apology accepted.
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
11:12 am
Grinch: It hurts to see smoltz described in that manner, but I can only agree now. If he comes to ATL dressed up like a NY Mut, I will drive down and boo him louder than I booed Glavine!
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
11:13 am
NC, some of my fellow Dawgs are an embarrassment; I apologize. It’s much the same on campus; a few ruin it for the rest reputation-wise.
Nick n Nash
January 28th, 2010
11:17 am
Do you think Smoltz will ever come back to the Braves organization after he retires? My guess is only after Frankie is gone.
Sometimes I sit back and wonder if Frankie dislikes the Braves of ‘Ol. He said goodbye in a bad way to Smoltz, cut Glavine in a dis-respectful manner, and now Bobby is on his way out (there’s no hiding they both don’t get along). We all know what’s coming next, say goodbye to Chipper.
Colonial Dawg
January 28th, 2010
11:20 am
I haven’t read all the posts so I may be repeating someone…..if so please accept my apologies…but didn’t Tommy Hanson come out of the 22nd round? You never know who is going to be great or a bust until several years after the draft. To say 2009 was terrible is quite a reach at this point.
Go Dawgs!!
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
11:22 am
My last post got lost in the filter, apparently.
Yeah, I had to boo Tommy too. Hate it, but that’s what they get for abandoning the city and fanbase that made them more money than they could ever spend just to don the uniform of the enemy for a few pennies more. The ripping on the way out (and from what I hear, he’s still doing it) makes Smoltz worse than Glavine though IMO. Glavine at least admitted it’s all about money; Smoltz tries to cover his naked greed with temper tantrums about being disrespected. He got 14 mil the previous year for not pitching, then gets offered 2.5 plus incentives coming off a surgery James Andrews even said probably wouldn’t hold and he’s insulted? Please. Go back and count the 140 mil this team already “insulted” you with.
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
11:23 am
Colonial Dawg, you are correct. Don’t know how he got lost in the shuffle.
Gotta run and get some work done; y’all behave.
Nick n Nash
January 28th, 2010
11:29 am
The Grinch….Not to defend those who make millions of dollars, but….I am anyway. I understand someone being loyal to a fan-base, and respecting an organization that you grew with. However, sometimes that organization wants to go in another route and doesn’t look at you in the same manner anymore. Is it the players fault to go somewhere where he is desired more, and would be financially rewarded for being desired more? No, it is not. In fact, I guarantee if the Joe Smo’s in La La land were to give you $100M over the $2M the Braves would give you, would you not take it? Of course you wouldn’t. It doesn’t mena you dislike or do not respect your old organization (sometimes it may depending on how it is handled), it just means you are looking out for you and your families best interests. I know for a fact that if another company were to give me a bigger/larger salary for the job I am doing now I would take it, not because I hate/dislike my company but because I was looking out for my best interest.
Now if a player were demanding more money, and refused to do anything until they got it (unresonably), then there is where you point the finger at the player.
I dunno, just my thoughts.
ChippersLoveChild
January 28th, 2010
11:32 am
I don’t think I’d drop them below the Hawks. I like Horford, but he will never dominate a game, we haven’t seen much from Teague so you can’t really get a good read on his talent. Smith is a really good player, but he isn’t great. I like what the Thrashers have, but it is really hard for me to ever give a confident vote for the future for any team that is owned by the ASG.. so maybe your view is correct after all.
NCbravesFAN
January 28th, 2010
11:32 am
I think Frank Wren has a “what have you done for me lately” attitude towards ALL Braves players. This does seem to irritate the older vets and Bobby, who is loyal till the death as we all know. I am ok with that attitude, he looked smart on Smoltz, and Glavine as they did not deserve the money they wanted. Chipper said if he under performs again he will retire. Anyone believe that?
jeffrey d
January 28th, 2010
11:47 am
The Braves number one draft choice will be in the bigs on opening day
Greg Norton was a 2nd round draft choice and he’s in the majors. The major feeling about Minor was that he doesn’t have superstar potential, which is what you should be swinging for when you have the 7th overall pick.
jeffrey d
January 28th, 2010
11:50 am
Here’s a link to that 2009 draft if you’ve got a lot of time on your hand.
Glad you’re not discriminating against amputees, Jeff.
Bravesfan101
January 28th, 2010
11:59 am
The Braves should have signed Randy Winn he could have been the lead off hitter but they let The Yankees sign him. If Frank Wren don’t find a way to get a proven lead off hitter then the Braves will struggle again at that spot.
Ken Stallings
January 28th, 2010
12:09 pm
Last night, MLB Network ranked the top 50 prospects. They put Jason Heyward number one on the list.
jeffrey d
January 28th, 2010
12:12 pm
The Braves should have signed Randy Winn he could have been the lead off hitter but they let The Yankees sign him
Randy Winn? Seriously? A 36-year old who hit .260 last year? Yeah, let’s bat him leadoff.
Egg Noggin'
January 28th, 2010
12:15 pm
Smitty should have sat Babs. If he had done that I would say Falcons. He had a great opportunity to make an example and didnt so I lost alot of confidence in him as a coach. Bobby should have retired (he single handedly lost at least 5 games for us last year (omg why is Lowe still in there? omg why is Norton up again? omg why did he pull Vasquez). Watching the Braves is self inflicted torture these days, but with the rotation we have right now Woodson is a smooth talker in interviews and has the best Hawks team ever (yes better than Nique’s team) but if we lose Joe Johnson that will change everything. I havent watched hockey in Atlanta since the Flames went to Calgary. I had cats named Boosh, Marsh, Reinhart and Clement. They are all dead now.
JabboRockefeller
January 28th, 2010
12:19 pm
The future of the Braves will largely depend on who the manager happens to be. The prospect of seeing Bobby Valentine in a Braves uni scares me to death! Bobby’s (Cox) final season is gonna be ugly… We’ll be lucky to win 80 with this present hodgepodge of injury-prone position players….
Falcons are a team on the verge of great (Super) things.
Hawks are merely teasing us again, just as they have so many times before. Not enough heart to grind it through to a championship.
Thrashers? Who cares?
LAC
January 28th, 2010
12:37 pm
Thanks to Atlanta STUPID Group, led by the Drunk idiot bruce levenson, the Thrashers will be gone after NEXT season, most likely Kansas City and the New Sprint Center, never to a dump like hamilton Ontario.
But enjoy what you can while you can as this franchise, that SHOULD be a confrence contender after TEN years falls to bits and pieces thanks to ownership clowns and THE WORST GM IN THE HISTORY OF PRO SPORTS, Liar/Stupid don waddell, the man who all by HIMSELF has destroyed hockey in this city… Again ! Thanks “don” YOU $UCK YOU FOOL !
Brett Favre
January 28th, 2010
12:38 pm
which is what you should be swinging for when you have the 7th overall pick.
Unless you don’t think you can sign that player. In which case you’ve wasted the pick altogether. At least the Braves got Minor and were able to sign him
timthebrave
January 28th, 2010
1:05 pm
1. Falcons-Headed in the right direction with a solid qb and a owner that actually cares
2. Braves-Good young talent but ownership is stagnant
3. Hawks-Really good mix of young talent and older leadership. Ownership is reason I put them below Braves
4. Thrashers-Good young talent but not signing your franchise player and having owners that could care less make it tough to turn this team around. Sad to say since I love going to hockey games
1eyedJack
January 28th, 2010
1:16 pm
Jeff, as for Frank Wren ignoring your advice …Perhaps if you apologized to the man and gave him a fruit basket, with a card depicting a misty seascape and inscribed with a sentiment. Or, perhaps, surely, a chocolate assortment has been known to warm the heart of even the most hardened misanthrope, especially if it’s a premium chocolate, imported, say, from Switzerland, or the Netherlands, or some other of the so-called “Low” countries be they Dutch or Flemish or Walloon—
Reid Adair
January 28th, 2010
1:21 pm
It doesn’t matter that Frank Wren hasn’t considered Johnny Damon. The organization has more issues than signing Damon would by itself resolve.
In my mind, the franchise of the four that is in the best situation for the future is, without a doubt, the Falcons.
Delbert D.
January 28th, 2010
1:27 pm
Jeff – Put some dog poo in a Braves’ logo paper bag, got to Wren’s house, set it on the front porch, light it, and ring the bell. Run like heck to get away.
Maybe Wren will finally get the message.
1eyedJack
January 28th, 2010
1:37 pm
Ahhh Delbert, you take me away to yesteryear and the misguided ways of my youth.
Tami
January 28th, 2010
1:48 pm
To Just Wait & Dr. Ken: Like I said…I don’t really keep up with the Hawks or Thrashers. I do know they’re doing better than the Thrashers, though. I’m aware of them doing better this season than most. I think it’s just me and my unwillingness to follow basketball. If the Hawks continue to do well, I might be convinced to be more open about the NBA though. We’ll have to see….
bvillebaron
January 28th, 2010
1:54 pm
1eyedJack:
I for one am glad that Wren chooses to ignore the “advice” of Schultz and the other gloom and doomers. If Schultz and you all are so hot to trot about Damon, I have a suggestion: instead of sending Wren a fruit basket and more unasked for and lousy “advice”, why don’t you send him like say $6M so that he can then go out and sign this overrated (especially in the NL where he would actually have to play in the field and try to throw the ball at least back to the infield) and aging player.
1eyedJack
January 28th, 2010
2:17 pm
bvillebaron, I don’t beleive I mentioned anywhere in my post anything about Johnny Damon. I was trying to suggest to Jeff how he might get back into the good graces of Mr. Wren.
Big John
January 28th, 2010
2:23 pm
Enter your comments hereHow can any of you rate the Braves first with their current owner. Any of the “prospects” can be traded at anytime and certainly wont be here long if they are succesful at the big league lvl. Unless we get new owner I’d put the Braves at 3rd. Even though I am still not sold on Ryan I’d put the Falcons first. Awesome owner and management even thought some of the draft picks have been questionable they seem to know how to run a team. Hawks are my second choice barely above the Braves.I don’t know if it’s Woodson or Joe Johnson but Joe has got to share the ball more in close games. JJ isolation does not work and they have too much talent now to run that play. Even if Joe leaves after this year Crawford is just as capable to do what he does. Teague is the key here,Woodson has to get him more playing time and let him develope. Keeping J-smoove,Horford and Teague becoming a top PG are important thought I still believe they need a true center. Thrashers are a joke and the spirit will dump them first chance they get. It’s obvious to us all their heart is in the NBA and not hockey. My honest opion is this entire blog will be mute unless ATL and all of Georgia start to embrase their teams. Without fan turnout none of the major ATL teams are going to make it.
Tremaine
January 28th, 2010
2:43 pm
I can’t believe people are still sold on the Braves. The Hawks and Falcons have a chance to win a championship. If you are considering not winning a championship a bright future then maybe the Braves. As long as the Yankees spend more money then everybody else and the Braves continue to act cheap by signing lemons and hoping they can perform then I don’t see them doing anything.
Brendan
January 28th, 2010
3:15 pm
Jeff Schultz, if you mean “best positioned” by possible changes, I’d say the Thrashers, if accountability came into play. If this team misses the playoffs, Kovy walks, along with Kubina, Afinogenov, Colby Armstrong, Moose Hedberg, Slava Kozlov, Christophe Schubert, Mark Popovic, Jim Slater, and Eric Boulton, then WHOEVER steps in as General Manager to run this club would have (1) tons of cap space, (2) the ability to hire a NEW Head Coach, (3) the ability to hire NEW scouts, (4) the ability to hire NEW medical personnel to be in charge of GROINS, (5) the chance to CONCEPTUALIZE an IDENTITY and DEVELOP IT, and (6) above all, the chance to change the minor league “Habitus” that permeates the hallways of the franchise.
Imagine it. I do. These owners know NOTHING about hockey, and defer to the judgement of Donald Waddell on matters of personnel. They couldn’t identify Alexei Zhitnik, nor Devin Setoguchi, in a police lineup. Meaning? Hire a competent GM who makes GOOD DECISIONS, and watch the fortunes of the franchise change. That’s all that’s needed. The discerning fans WILL RETURN, once “accountability” sets in, for results. This can ALL get TURNED AROUND pretty quickly, by a GM who knows what he’s doing.
What could be better, Jeff? There’s hardly anybody left under contract for next season. Who are they? On defense, there’s Toby Enstrom, Ron Hainsey, Zach Bogosian and Boris Valabik. That’s two vacancies, right there, before you consider a potential trade of Valabik or Hainsey out of town. In goal, technically, no one is signed. Pavelec and Lehtonen are RFA’s. Moose is a UFA. In terms of forwards, Evander Kane, Nik Antropov, Marty Reasoner and Todd White are under contract. Bryan Little is an RFA. Am I leaving anyone off?
Well Jeff, couldn’t a fresh, new GM perspective give this NHL club a whole new image??? I’m just asking a question.
Pitching?
January 28th, 2010
3:53 pm
‘The braves haven’t won a championship since they had a power hitting 1B’
Should read: ’since they had three HOF pitchers in their starting rotation’ (age 28, 29, and 29)
could also replace ‘need a leadoff hitter to get to the playoffs’
For example:
Maddux – 1.63 ERA
Glavine – 3.08 ERA
Smoltz – 3.18 ERA
Avery ~ 3.8
Mercker ~ 4.8
Jurrjens – 2.60
Hanson – 2.89
Hudson ~ 3.5 lifetime, 3.2 in 2008
Lowe ~ 3.7 lifetime?
Kawakami ~ 3.8 ?
Teheran, Vizcaino, Delgado, etc… Much to look forward to…..
IMO, Heyward, Schafer, Freeman, leadoff hitters, etc. are sprinkles
Will
January 28th, 2010
4:00 pm
It is no longer a question of whether or not the Thrashers can sign Kolvy but only a question of which of four NHL teams vying for him will sign him. Looks LA is the leadning contender.
With the loss of Kolvy, the coffin is nailed shut on this franchise. Attendance will further decline and the Thrashers will move further away from being a playoff team.
Among the many variables that will lead the Thrashers out of Atlanta (e.g., the lawsuit among owners that froze any spending because of worries of big payoffs if the suit was ost), Don Waddell will be near the top in running the franchise in the ground.
Hopefully we will get one more season of NHL hockey before the Thrashers are gone. At least this time, oppopsed to the loss of Flames, there will be NHL teams somewhat close by that a trip or two a year to see NHL hockey will be easily “doable”.
Brendan
January 28th, 2010
4:10 pm
Will, the Thrashers will not leave. They might get sold. But they aren’t leaving this market before 2019. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.
ugaaccountant
January 28th, 2010
4:25 pm
The Braves do have a ton of minor league talent. However until they get new ownership that is not simply paying just enough to meet their contract with MLB, I have little faith in their ability to consistently be a contender.
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
4:28 pm
Nic N Nash, once you get past a certain level of tens of millions, the “looking out for the family’s interests” argument becomes doo-doo, IMO. His family couldn’t have lived off 140 mil, they had to have 145? C’mon, man; we’d all change jobs to go from 30 grand to 50, or 80 to 120 where there actually is a lifestyle change and greater security involved. But that’s comparing apples to oranges. All I’m askin’ is, how many gold plated…no, solid gold golf carts does this butt-munch need before he feels respected? And when you set yourself up in the public eye to be a holier-than-thou Christian missionary, is the message you want to send to a 12 year old fan that worships you and wears your Braves jersey that what he ought to do is act like THAT? He’s an @$$, IMO; plain and simple.
ugaaccountant
January 28th, 2010
4:29 pm
For anyone who doesn’t like signing Damon because of their feelings about him personally, the same thinking goes for any other free agent you like. We just aren’t going to spend enough to keep up with the Phillies and Mets on a year by year basis. We couldn’t make the playoffs last year and the Mets had injuries to almost all of their major players. I imagine they will be much tougher competitors in 2010 with all those stars back.
The Grinch
January 28th, 2010
4:30 pm
NCbravesFan, Wren HAS to have a “what have you done for me lately” approach to everyone if he wants to field a competitive team with the budget he has. If he was doling out sentimental salaries to players who are far past their prime and we were winning 50 games, everyone would be calling for his head for THAT. I’d rather have a shrewd GM than a weak one.
bvillebaron
January 28th, 2010
4:43 pm
uggaaccountant:
Putting winning teams on the field is not all about spending money. The Phillies arent’ the perennially strong team that they are now simply or primarily because they spent a lot of money. The Phillies are the cream of the crop now because they followed the same blueprint that the Braves used to win those 14 straight divisional championships: build a strong nucleus via emphasis on the farm system and when there is enough of that nucleus and it has matured enough, then spend money for a couple of key pieces which is what they did by adding Lee last year and Halladay this year. The reason for the Braves being where they are now is that when the core players responsible for that 14 year run got older and a rebuilding was necessary, the Braves tried to keep the run going and thereby delayed the necessary rebuilding by trading away much of that farm system to try to find “band aids” which weren’t going to get the team where it hoped to go (the prime example being the Texeira fiasco which involved trading 4 premium prospects, two of whom are now on their way to stardom for a one year merecenary). If you think that simply spending more money while ignoring your farm system is the key to success, take a look at the New York Mess (I mean Mets). Sure the Mets had injuries to Reyes, Beltran, Delgado in particular last year. But outside of Beltran, Reyes and Wright, tell me who in their line up scares anyone. Aside from Santana and K-Rod, tell me what pitchers on their roster you would take over those currently on the Braves.
Watch the game
January 28th, 2010
4:46 pm
Schultzie,
I love your columns, think you are a great writer, but you are off base on the Thrashers. Kovy could be gone, in fact he probably is, but I take issue with your other comments. Bogosian is future captain matierial and Kane is a 30-plus goal scorer. Remember, they are 19 and 18 respectively. Also, Boris Valabik is having a career year, he is a plus player now and has set career highs in shots on goal, meaning he is having no issues whatsoever in confidence.
Also, look into prospects Jeremy Morin and Chris Carrozzi of the OHL, both of whom the Thrashers own the rights to. Morin was on the USA Worl Junior Championship team and was 2nd in the league in goals, Carrozzi was leading in Goals Against Average and shutouts.
buzz
January 28th, 2010
5:01 pm
I hate to argue but I am sick and tired of hearing how the Thrashers are young and up and coming. The franchise is a joke and the promises are empty.
Statistician
January 28th, 2010
5:04 pm
“There has been a void at the top of their order since Rafael Furcal left town. That void has coincided with the Braves’ failure to make the playoffs. Go figure. ”
Dear Mr. Schultz,
Do you have any idea what the difference bewteen causation and correlation is?
ugaaccountant
January 28th, 2010
5:28 pm
bvillebaron – way to ignore the first sentence of my post. I am fully aware of how to build a winning baseball club. The current Braves ownership has played accounting shell games to mislead us into thinking they spent well over the $85 million a year payroll committment they have with MLB. After seeing what they are actually doing is offseting major insurance reimbusements, it shows that they’ve actually only been paying maybe 90M a year.
90M Sounds like a lot but it is actually in the middle tier of teams, around 10th to 15th in spending. Only 8 teams make the playoffs so we have to get not just average results out of our minor leagues but exceptional results. We actually are pretty much getting that from the minors, but getting unlucky within our division by having a juggernaught in the Phillies.
Our long term problem is, we already do things exactly right for a mid-payroll club since the Tex deal. We do have a good mix of veterans and youngsters and a long term outlook in our farm system. We have veteran leaders and cut ties with arbitration eligible players when their pay gets higher than equivalent free agents. We really cannot expect a better mix of payroll than we do right now. We invest heavily in starting pitching and one or two key hitters, rely heavily on cheap pre-arbitration players to fill other key roles, and plug holes with cheap veterans. This is the textbook for how to compete with a modest payroll.
Problem is, doing everything right, we still have to trust to luck to actually make the playoffs. Baseball has an extremely long regular season that really does sort out the top 8 pretty well. The last several years we’ve actually been right on the mark for our predicted finish based on talent level and injury status.
I’d like to look at that top 5 minor league system and assume that it’s going to lead to some big payoff down the line. However, look at our roster. About the time Heyward and Freeman start really contributing, Chipper is retiring and you think great we’ll have some payroll free up. However we’ll have to replace his spot in the lineup and fund a major pay increase for Yunel. Then the next year what do we do with Prado? We have no prospects in our system that have a scouting report anywhere near the production of those three, so we either suck it up and pay them or regress.
In the pitching staff, as soon as we start freeing up money from Lowe/Hudson/Kawakami, it appears that JJJ and Hanson might be commanding some of the highest per season salaries in the game. Their stats to date are that dang good.
So, unless Liberty has a change of heart about the team, or sells to an ownership group more willing to spend, I don’t have high hopes that we actually will be able to meet the salary demands of all of our elite talent. And if we let some of that elite talent go, we’re back to middle of the pack again.
I’m not asking us to go out and buy an expensive free agent at every position on the field. I’m just arguing for us to keep the talent we’ve got in the organization. This offseason was very illustrative because it showed that everywhere there was a spending decision, we went with the cheaper option.
Brendan
January 29th, 2010
12:58 am
One (1) theft of a win in Philly, and suddenly the Thrashers are in sixth place. But all’s well with the franchise? Don Waddell really is a genius, after all? Or, is this just an anomaly of a year, where a team with 88 or 89-points will finish 8th? The 13th place team might finish with 87-points. That’s unusual. But it might just be the case.
Think about it. “Miss the playoffs by one (1) point, but be inside the lottery draft, too?” Shrugs. Could be.
buzz, I know the promises are empty, but if there really were a GM change, then maybe real changes would be coming? For it would mean that ownership now wants/demands some accountability. Atlanta’s prospects aren’t garbage. Truthfully, I’m afraid some of them could wind up dealt at the deadline, just to attack this 8th spot in the East.
Is getting the 8th spot in the playoff field worth losing control of the rights of your precious prospects for the future? If you said yes, that’s not the correct answer. No team becomes successful by shipping away its top prospects. Three years from now, some of Atlanta’s picks from 2006-09 will be ready to go. Ya know, they way other teams do it.
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January 29th, 2010
5:47 am
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Ex-Braves Fan
January 29th, 2010
8:42 am
Enjoy the young Braves as quickly as you can because in a few short years they will all leave for the big bucks from other teams because the crummy Braves will not be able to afford them. Welcome to becoming the Oakland A’s of the NL Braves fans. Training young players for the higher paying teams. Heyward will be a Yankee five years after he hits the majors because the Braves will trade him before he becomes a free agent. McCann is next in a couple of years when his current contract runs out.
dpelfrey
January 29th, 2010
10:18 am
Nate, January 28th, 2010,8:51 am
“Personally, I like (Minor). I think he’ll make a solid back-end rotation guy.”
Guys who you think will top out at back-end rotation are not who you take with the #7 pick of the draft.
“…I didn’t see a lot of guys taken behind (Minor) that would provide as much value.”
Well, that’s only if you don’t count Jacob Turner, Tyler Matzek, Shelby Miller, Aaron Crow, Alex White, Kyle Gibson, etc…
In response to your comments, it’s easy to challenge a point when you take it out of context. And it depends on your definition of value. I said right before that he wasn’t a typical top 10 pick. But I still like the pick because the Braves took what appears to be a sure-bet back-end rotation guy instead of a risky potential top-of-rotation guy. To me that’s value. It’s all about risk-reward with draft picks anyway. Plus he can help sooner than later since he was drafted out of college, so I don’t buy the comparison with Matzek, Turner or Miller. Those guys will be in the minors for 4-5 years, whereas Minor could be at Atlanta late this year or next year, again…value. I can see your beef about White and Crow, Minor definitely didn’t outperform them in college. But Minor also has an advantage over those guys in that he’s a lefty.
My overall point was that the Braves have a lot of high-upside top-of-rotation talent at various levels throughout their system, so I don’t think it was a bad thing to overdraft a player that doesn’t project as a potential superstar. They took a guy that they obviously felt with some conviction would help the big club within the next few years. They took the low risk, moderate reward approach this year. I’m fine with that, particularly with how unpredictable draft picks are.
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10:40 am
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Robert
January 29th, 2010
1:59 pm
The Braves are CLEARLY the Atlanta franchise best set up for future success.
This has NOTHING to do with their roster or their farm system.
It has to do with the fact that their one serious flaw has announced that he will be removing himself from the dugout after the 2010 season
That one little bit of addition by subtraction will add at LEAST 10 games to the Braves’ win totals starting in 2011
Add to that all the ruinous philosophy that young Braves players will no longer be exposed to, and you’re talking championships in the Braves’ future not long after the donkey exits the dugout
Robert
January 29th, 2010
2:03 pm
“Do you have any idea what the difference bewteen causation and correlation is?”
Think is terms of the Braves 14 year playoff run.
There was a correlation between it and Bobby Cox’s tenure as manager. But Cox’s tenure as manager was not the cause of the run
bvillebaron
January 29th, 2010
2:12 pm
ugga:
I understand your points, but, with the possible exception of Vazquez, tell me what player the Braves simply “dumped” for salary reasons this offseasons? If you or others are concerned that when the promising young players are eligible to become free agents the Braves won’t be able to afford them because of the salary constraints imposed by Liberty, I suppose that’s a fair concern. However, your comment about wanting the Braves to keep the talent that they have suggests, at least to me, that it is a foregone conclusion that this is what will happen when that time comes. I don’t think that it’s fair to say that the Braves, even under Liberty, have not kept the talent that they have developed over the years.
Your apparent conclusion that this is what is going to happen with Hanson, Jurrjens, Escobar, etc. also seems to be based upon your comment about the Braves always taking the cheaper option this offseason. In that regard, you missed my primary point which is that, at this stage of the rebuilding process, it would be counterproductive to spend money on expensive free agents, especially to multiple year contracts. What I think Wren has wisely done this offseason is avoid doing that so that he can save and/or free up money under Liberty’s budget constrainst to (1) keep the young players they are developing and (2) be in a position to spend for a key free agent down the road when the nucleus matures while also giving the Braves a chance to compete this year for at least the wild card spot given the strength of their starting rotation and some of the players they already have on the team. Finally, it’s kind of hard to argue that the Braves never spend money for big name free agents after they signed Lowe to a 4 year $60M deal last offseason. I wonder how many other posters on this board who are ripping Wren for not spending money for big name free agents this offseason are the same people who are also ripping him for “wasting” $15M on Lowe for each of the next three years
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scottbravesfan
January 30th, 2010
12:14 am
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater,
You don’t really follow sports much, do you? The Braves were in the playoff hunt last season. They were right there with the Rockies for the wild card. Reading these comments make me wonder just how much people in Atlanta actually pay attention to sports. No wonder you have the reputation as the worst sports town in America.
Iceman
January 30th, 2010
11:52 am
Falcons – Caring owner, smart GM, tough yet welcoming coach, intelligent and hard working QB. Good days are ahead for sure.
Hawks – What’s made the Hawks great is they’ve stayed together. Woodson has pretty much the same guys he had his first day on the job, and keeping them together has been key. They let go of a few flops, and the addition of Crawford has helped a TON. Keep em together, work hard and great things can happen.
Thrashers – They drafted Ilya to be the face/future of the team, their star player. I can’t believe they’d be willing to let that “future” be only 8 seasons. If they let him go, they will have doomed themselves.
Braves – Still need an owner, Liberty Media doesn’t give a rip what they do.
BigGAdawg
January 30th, 2010
3:00 pm
It is good to see the wealth of upcoming talent the Braves have, however, the current owners should sell the team to Arthur Blank it they really care about it. You cannot run a major league team in any sport on the cheap and expect to win championships.
I voted for the Falcons as the best positioned because of their record this year. Two to three games were lost this season as a result of Jason Elam going off the rails. I know he has one of the greatest careers among all kickers but this year he stunk up the joint.
Then consider the key injuries that the Falcons had to deal with. If we get those games back that kicking lost we are in the playoffs even with the injuries.
That makes me more optomistic about the Falcons immediate future than the Braves.
As for the Hawks, they have certainly improved over recent years but they are going to have to add some key players to make it to the next level and do the the league what they have done to Boston. I wish them much success–it has been a long time coming.
ctfalconsfan
January 30th, 2010
8:36 pm
The Falcons will win the Super Bowl before any of the other ATL teams will win their sports’ title and that’s the bottom line.
- Go Birds!!
Skeezix
January 31st, 2010
9:28 am
We don’t need to waste $$ on Damon.
jc_dawgs
January 31st, 2010
11:58 am
I think I agree with Jeff on this one. Braves starting rotation is very very good. I hated losing Vasquez but we still have a great starting 5. Offensively…I would really like to see a starting outfield that includes Damon, Heyward and MCclouth . Otherwise…the offense still looks better than it did 1 year ago.
The injury bug to Jerry and Moore has hurt the Falcons where on Defense it showed. However….a strong end to the season shows that things are looking up. I also anticipate that Dimitroffs draft picks will begin to produce as time goes on.
As for the Hawks….right at this moment I actually think they are the closest to winning a championship. However….when and if we lose Joe Johnson at the end of this year….that will be a mutually very bad thing for both Johnson(in terms of ever winning an NBA championship) and the Hawks as well. Oh sure….monitarily…it would be beneficial for both but say goodbye to any hopes of a Championship if it happens.
Its too bad too because the Hawks are on the rise….but only with Joe Johnson playing for us. J Crawford is terrific but we need Johnson too. Hopefully the Hawks will sit down with him and really try to keep him here. Otw…..this current season may be our best one as the team starts to get worse in years to come without Johnson. And please, if we lose Johnson….the Hawks had better replace him with 2 very good NEW offensive players OR 1 NEW elite player. You would simply be taking a MAJOR step backwards if you dont. And we are getting so close to championship caliber right now
Jim
January 31st, 2010
3:20 pm
Braves have brightest future if they get rid of Wren, otherwise the Braves have the darkest future.
Ozzie
February 1st, 2010
2:01 pm
I think too many teams around the Braves became better this off season and if that turns out to be accurate the Braves will need to win out of the gate. If they cannot do that don’t expect any moves at the deadline apart from Wren raising the white flag and selling like he did in 08.
Wren has made a several good trades (less so on the FA front apart from Ross) in his short career as GM, no doubt, but his ability to read the market is questionable and his ready, fire, aim “decisiveness” is going to get him into trouble.
The latter may also be attributed to his new scouting org/leadership b/c they are feeding him the data to make his decisions. We are going to find out pretty quickly if that new brain trust knows what the heck they are doing.
Getting Damon would provide him a legitimate shot at a wild card. Passing on Damon and hoping all his other bets pan out will likely result in another near miss at the post season.
The Phillies could potentially beat up the Braves like it was 2008. If that happens this team will be in a hole quick and short of Heyward being a 30/100 guy they lack the fire power & small ball skills to grind their way back.
We have to realize this is another team with no focus. They are not a fast team, a power team, a small ball team, etc. and they have a manager who plays to the 3r homer. Not a great cocktail.
It’s a random collection of guys swarming around a strong rotation and a potentially good pen which has essentially two 40 somethings holding down the back end.
RE: SP Pitching – one starter goes down and the season could be in trouble b/c our fall back is Medlen or JOJO.
2010 will be a tight rope walking, rabbit foot clutching roller coaster with this club as its currently assembled.
Tight budgets, overly aggressive moves early in the off season and an disinterested corporate owner will put you in these kind of situations.
I look forward to the day Liberty waves bye-bye and some billionaire takes this team to the next level.
jojatek
March 13th, 2010
1:40 pm
Amazing to me that the Hawks finish third in this poll! They are, by far, best positioned for the future (that is, if the bizarre ownership doesn’t let this team drift apart). They are unbelievably young, athletic, and talented right now… add a veteran center and this team wins a championship. The Falcons are solid, but there will always be alot of question marks with that franchise. The Braves just don’t have the budget to position themselves for the future the way they did in 1990-1991. And the Thrashers?? Who cares…