First base is Braves’ most fixable problem: Adrian Gonzalez
Here's Adrian Gonzalez after he scored during Padres' 10-run fourth-inning against Braves. Oops.
A rumor popped up a few days ago that the Braves might have some interest in San Diego first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, which is interesting because I proposed the same thing in November.
As I wrote then, the Padres need to trim payroll and there is absolutely no downside to the Braves pursuing a trade for Gonzalez: 1) He gives them a dependable power hitter and run producer; 2) He fills the great black hole that always seems to exist at first base in Turner Field; 3) He has a favorable contract ($4.75 million and $5.5 million this season and in 2011, respectively); 4) His name isn’t Troy Glaus.
Would Braves general manager Frank Wren have to deal some prospects for Gonzalez? Yes. Do the Braves still feel somewhat burned by the Mark Teixeira trade? Probably. But there comes a time when a franchise has to push the button on a deal, and the Braves can’t afford to drop too far out of the race and potentially miss the playoffs for the fifth straight season.
Now, back to Glaus. There is no shortage of problems in the lineup. We can start at leadoff, where the Braves are batting a sickly .091 — last in the majors by a longshot. Texas is next lowest at .138. The major league average is .252.
Detroit, which is led by would-be Brave Johnny Damon’s .323, is hitting .313 at leadoff. Sorry, just had to throw that in.
Chances are the Braves will have to deal with the leadoff issue all season. Their hope is that Nate McLouth or another player eventually gets hot (or even tepid) in that role. Or that Jordan Schafer can be brought back up and he takes it over. There just aren’t a lot of great leadoff hitters around.
The Glaus situation is different. The worst news is not that he stinks (.186 batting average, 17 strikeouts in 59 at-bats; slugging percentage of .305, even worse than Omar Infante’s .346). The worst news is that he might not get better. Consider that Glaus’ career stats show that his best months are April and May. In other words, this might be as good as it gets.
The career splits:
March: .250.
April: .276.
May: .270.
June: .233
July: .242
August: .252
September: .258
October: .151.
For what it’s worth, here are Gonzalez’ current statistics: .317, 6 homers, 14 RBI, .667 slugging, .429 on-base percentage, 1.095 OPS.
So the question is: How long can Wren afford to wait before pursuing a deal? And since some of you will bring up Freddie Freeman, here’s my view: Freeman can stay in the minors one more season. He’s not ready yet. Next year is next year, and that issue can be dealt with then. It’s about making something of this season.
♦
Earlier posts today
♦ Grading Falcons’ drafts, from Roddy (A) to Jimmy (ugh)
♦ Draft report card: Graders get an F, Falcons get 3 to 5 years
♦
Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC and on Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
389 comments Add your comment
robdawg08
April 26th, 2010
11:10 pm
Escobar fouling off pitches
robdawg08
April 26th, 2010
11:11 pm
Escobar base hit
Crockett
April 26th, 2010
11:11 pm
How was this team ever 8-5 HA.
urm...
April 26th, 2010
11:12 pm
wow the hawks lost again…. why can’t Atlanta get good coaches? Ball game…
robdawg08
April 26th, 2010
11:12 pm
Prado ground ball out 2B. Game over.
gcs
April 26th, 2010
11:12 pm
Fire Wren & Cox
robdawg08
April 26th, 2010
11:13 pm
I blame this loss totally on Cox managing. Adios everyone. I’m outta heah !
awesomeo
April 26th, 2010
11:22 pm
wer not getting gonzo. this is stupid article to get people to read ur sorry writing
PMC
April 26th, 2010
11:23 pm
It would be silly at this point to try and bolster a team that is this bad. They can’t win with the pieces they have. They need help at 1st, 3rd, LF, CF at the very least and they need an actual leadoff man. The ownership has proven already that they are unwilling to pay for it so until young players develop anemic offense and flat out terrible defense are the norm from here on out. Chipper might as well retire now before he tears anything else.
awesomeo
April 26th, 2010
11:23 pm
what are u complaining about the hawks for they still have the lead and guess what it wasnt long ago they sucked balls
theyll win the series dont worry
Braves One
April 27th, 2010
12:03 am
With the signing of Ryan Howard to ridiculous money, I think the signing of Adrian Gonzalez is not about to happen. The Braves cannnot, and should not, get into paying Gonzalez or anyone $20+M
per year. The Braves should look forward to perhaps this summer and surely 2011 having some young talent leading the way. The youngsters come cheap for awhile and the millions can be spent on players worth having in the Braves everyday lineup.
Possible lineup by mid summer or fall, most likely starting off 2011…
LF Jordan Schafer
2B Martin Prado
3B Chipper Jones
C Brain McCann
RF Jason Heyward
1B Freddie Freeman
SS Yunel Escobar
CF Nate McLouth
SP Pitcher
urm...
April 27th, 2010
12:22 am
still have the lead?? its tied 2-2 to the bucks!……..
Mitchell
April 27th, 2010
12:28 am
“The Braves can’t afford to miss the playoffs for a fifth straight year”? Sure they can. Doesn’t cost anything. Nobody’s lost their jobs over the last four years. It’s all good. It can easily happen.
Forget about this year. Don’t give anybody away for Gonzalez just to desperately try to make the playoffs. Next year is our year. New manager. New third baseman.
Could be ‘91 all over again.
Mitchell
April 27th, 2010
12:31 am
Ideally though, if they were to attempt to repeat ‘91 you’d like it if they actually won the World Series instead of losing it in the most excruciating fashion and agan the next year and over a roughly ten year period.
Bobby Cox sucks.
Najeh Davenpoop
April 27th, 2010
12:42 am
Mid-level payroll teams can’t afford to trade away their entire farm system for one-year rentals. The Teixeira trade was a mistake and this would be too.
coach smith
April 27th, 2010
12:49 am
Najeh Davenpoop
who in that TEX trade would be starting for the Braves?
Andrus? We have Yunel whcarried the Braves last year
Salty? we have 4 time all star McCann
Harrison? we have Hanson, Jurjens and so many young pitchers and veterns we can’t have them all here at one time
you people who keep bringing up the TEX deal need to get a life! None of those players would be starting here!!!!!!!!!
Phil
April 27th, 2010
7:41 am
This season was doomed over a year ago when Wren announced that Cox would be coming back for one more year. And for what? A farewell tour? Last place? If Cox had any decency, he would go ahead and bow out now instead of dragging the team through a season like this.
ronaldh
April 27th, 2010
8:12 am
Isn’t it about time that someone who writes for the Atlanta papers starts to suggest that it is time for the over-the-hill-legend at third base to retire?
Doug
April 27th, 2010
9:13 am
I have been a Braves fan since they arrived in 1966. I don’t ever recall feeling this bad about the team, even when they were at their worst. As Looney Clooney said in “Brother, Wherefore Art Thou?”, “Damn, we’re in a tight spot”.
Cracker!
April 27th, 2010
10:39 am
Jeff, you’re a joke. You’re first paragraph is a snarky attempt to claim that you somehow are the brains behind this potential acquisition, like you thought of it first and the rest of these knuckleheads needed months to catch up with you. To be honest, if you read any credible Braves blog or news source, this was discussed last year at the AS break, when other teams inquired about A-Gon only to find that the asking price was astronomical.
How soon do you forget what the padres were asking for in the Peavy deal. There’s a new GM in town in San Diego, but that doesn’t change the fact that A-Gon is the most attractive potential trade target in the MLB this year, that asking price, on a player that is exponentially more valuable than Peavy was last year is going to be extremely high. The Braves would have to give up top pitching prospects and a lot of them (they do not need Freddie Freeman, they have Kyle Blanks ready to play 1B), and throw in an everyday young player that can play for the Fathers right now (Escobar).
Do you really want to give that up for a little under 2 seasons of Adrian Gonzalez? Do you think he won’t jet for Red Sox money at the end of his Braves’ stint? The Braves don’t have a benevolent owner as they did in the Turner days, they have an ownership that owns the team as a tax write-off. Can they offer a Ryan Howards like contract to Philly? No.
So stop with these wet dreams, the Braves are not going to mortgage those cost controlled pieces for a little under 2 seasons of A-Gonzalez. Not with so many other holes in this team. Let’s start by getting a lead-off hitter, that was the most fixable problem going into the year, but Wren chose not to address it. If the most fixable problem can be fixed by trading away your top prospects and a young star, then the Braves got big f’ing problems.
Honestly, I usually go easy on AJC contributors, but really, your stupidity and snarky opening was just too much for me to ignore. Try reading an informative blog like TalkingChop or Bravesheart, and try to stay in touch with reality.
james
April 27th, 2010
10:57 am
dumb idea. sure would like to have elvis andrus and neftali feliz – but we gave them away for a year of tex. itd be nice to get gonzo – but not for the same type of prospect haul it took for the texas deal.
james
April 27th, 2010
11:00 am
or in other words… what “Cracker!” said. well done Cracker. could not agree more.
Jim Staudt
April 27th, 2010
11:08 am
You don’t even mention the biggest, most perplexing question of all — why on earth Bobby Cox continues to put his latest “pet”, Melky Cabrera, in the damn lineup! Cabrera was no better than a 4th or 5th outfielder with the Yankees, and he is no better than a 4th or 5th “automatic out” OF with the Braves. I SCREAMED with rage when they let Vasquez go for such a crummy player, but at least Vasquez has proved to be a one-hit wonder and is stinking it up for NY just like he did the last time around.
Doug
April 27th, 2010
11:47 am
On no quality lead off hitters who were up for grabs I say Baloney… Juan Pierre (sp) was cut loose by the Dodgers and is now doing well with the White Sox. All he does is hit .300, play solid defense and oh ya steal bases. He would have been a great stop gap until more youth came throgh the farm system.
I know makeing trades and dealing with agents must be a pain but the Braves Brass had all winter to get some hitting. It is not as if this just happened, the pitching is pretty solid but Atlanta is not the Early 60’s Dodgers…. not going to win alot of games scoreing 3 or less runs a game.
Hatfield Geoff
April 27th, 2010
11:53 am
This sounds good, the only problem being that the Braves are in such desperate straits that the asking price will be even higher than normal. And not getting Johnny Damon was a big mistake particularly since the asking price wasn’t as high as thought. Imagine having someone hitting .323 at leadoff, that creates momentum that probably would have pulled the Sub-Medoza Line starters out of their slumps. By the way how old is Mendoza .200 is looking pretty good in this lineup.
Old Pro
April 27th, 2010
11:54 am
If you can lock up Gonzo to long term deal, 5-6 years then yes, give up Freeman and a couple of pitchers (Jo Jo and someone else maybe). You are getting a proven major league power hitter and giving up “potential”. Proven is better than “potential”. Freeman could “potentially” flop just as easy. If you are going to mortgage the future for a 1 year rent-a-player (ala Texiera) then absolutely not. You made your bed now sleep in it.
Old Pro
April 27th, 2010
11:59 am
Coach Smith- you maybe correct but at the very least you would have some more players to leverage trades since Tex left. Instead of trading 5 players for 1 maybe they could’ve traded 2 for 1 and 3 for 1 and addressed more needs. Very stupid trade they made, especially since they knew they wouldn’t be able to resign him.
Lionel Porta
April 27th, 2010
12:28 pm
Would not bring any hitter to Atlanta as long as Pendleton is the hitting coach. Adrian Gonzalez’s numbers would nosedive if Pendleton even told him hello
Braves offense: To panic or not to panic? « control+ATL+delete
April 27th, 2010
2:49 pm
[...] is it too early to panic? Jeff Schultz thinks so. His proposal, a trade for Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez, wreaks of desperation. While I agree with [...]
Michael M.
April 27th, 2010
4:07 pm
Nice dream but a problem;
1. After Ryan Howard signed his deal do you really believe we can sign Adrian?
2. I proposed this move at a Braves website and one guy responded with “no thanks, we rebuilt the Rangers getting Teixeira and I am not interested in rebuilding the Padres.”
I thought it over and the guy is right. The best way to view Glaus is to hope he does better and view him as a stop gap until Freeman is ready, hoping it is sooner than later. You can also platoon Hinske with Glaus if it gets too bad.
Drive Monkey Drive
April 27th, 2010
6:47 pm
You are correct in saying that Liberty Media is the root of the problem. Frank Wren will ruin us just like he did the Orioles, and Terry Pendleton will be the politically correct move that will finally sink the ship. Bobby Cox was a winner because he was given talent with a desire to win. The money is not the issue. Tampa and Florida are perfect examples of teams that have put a winning product on the field despite spending limits. Corporate ownership, poor management, and bad player investments have this team looking eerily like a preview to a sequel to the Bad News Bears and Major League. The only difference is the Bears and Tribe won in the first movies. This team will flop on their own comedy of errors.
longtime braves fan
April 27th, 2010
11:35 pm
One problem with the whole discussion on aquiring Adrian Gon. Smart teams trade prospects for one key player when they are contenders or looking to go deep in October. The Braves are no longer contenders. It is time for a rebuilding process and giving away the farm again will only open up holes in other areas. Wren needs to look long term and get rid of the high priced, aging players. Build around Jurjens, Hanson, Hayward, McCann, Prado and Yunel. Gonzo would be a temporary boost, but just like Tex, the Braves needs are far too deep for one man to solve. I say rebuild after this year.
Braves in midst of downward spiral « Ace of Braves
April 28th, 2010
10:16 am
[...] about to throw out some stats, but I caution, these numbers are not for the faint of [...]
chief pitchanono
April 28th, 2010
11:58 am
Nooooooo! Don’t do it! One big time bat will not be enough to fix this team’s problems. The only thing you can do in this situation is wait it out and hope for the best. Sometimes you just have to chalk it up to fate or bad carma, whatever you want to call it, but you cannot trade away the future (the farm) to try to correct bad luck. They have to prove that this is just a slump and that most of lineup can play as expected before you can even consider making a trade. They have the talent right now to be a very good team once a few guys get going. They just have to right the ship and soon before they get too far behind and only then could you possibly consider a trade. If this happens to be down years for several players at the same time,(which would be hard to believe) then you just have to suck it up and look to next year.
Philip Alber
April 28th, 2010
2:29 pm
IF, and that is a big if, Adrian Gonzalez is traded it won’t be until the Pads cool off or the July trading deadline. He will then go directly to Fenway Park and play 1st Base/DH for the Red Sox. The REd Sox have too many “desired” players to trade. The Braves will never land Gonzalez.
Don Irvin
April 29th, 2010
7:01 am
It’s getting late,get Gonzales now. Chipper is 38 and could be productive this year and next if he had another threat in the batting order. This situation hurst McCann and the other guys. I would be tempted to move Prado to leadoff,Yunel second and because he walks and hits with power J-Hey third. We gotta do something!
Paddy O
April 29th, 2010
11:55 am
Jeff, other writers: YOU CAN NOT AFFORD TO SIGN ADRIAN GONZALEZ – you thought you could sign Texeira, gave away 3 AL ML starters. Thought you could sign JD Drew – gave away Cy Young Candidate & GA native Wainwright. YOu could have traded Vazquez for $$$, signe LaRoche & Damon and most of your problems would be OK. Wren MAKES BAD DECISIONS. My suggestion: BOYCOTT THE BRAVES HOME GAMES (except free Friday Fireworks) until management acts like they care if the team wins or loses.
icecold2010
May 9th, 2010
3:04 pm
The Braves needed to move Bobby to the front office when they had the chance(before Wren).They have been on a downward crash course since.Everybody wants to talk about Pendelton but who is he going to coach up?Chipper(the all aAmarican american?)Glaus(the great unknown?)or Cabrera(mr.world champ with them dam Yanks?).Now those are the BLACK HOLES in the lineup.There has to be a player in the minors who can hit 250 in the leadoff spot.With that you would have a major league line up to throw out there every day.
Troy Glaus
July 13th, 2010
3:21 pm
Suck it Schultz.