Moves The Braves Won’t Make

Written by Colin on January 17, 2009 – 12:46 pm

We’ve gotten a lot of comments and suggestions over the past few days on the Braves’ next move(s). Here’s a few that have been suggested that I don’t see happening. I could always be wrong, but I don’t see these moves fitting into the Braves’ plans.

Sign Ben Sheets / Jon Garland

Why? Why do we need another pitcher? We have Lowe, Kawakami, Jurrjens, Vazquez, Campillo, Morton, and Reyes. Yes, Buddy Carlyle is still on the 40 man roster. Sheets and Garland would be great, but we need to promote some youth within the organization. That means Morton and prospect Tommy Hanson need somewhere to pitch and need to eventually get into the rotation. If we sign Sheets or Garland, where are the young guys going to pitch?

Sign Manny Ramirez

This would be fun (I suggested it originally), but there’s NO WAY the Braves sign a self-centered personality like Ramirez to a long-term contract with the kind of outfield prospects we’ve got lined up. That’s Jordan Schafer, Matt Diaz, Josh Anderson, Brandon Jones, Gregor Blanco, Gorkeys Hernandez, and Jason Heyward. Why sign Manny?

Sign Barry Bonds

I floated this last year just to get a reaction. It got a reaction, all right. Still, NO WAY IN HELL.

Move Kelly Johnson to LF

I don’t see this happening. They’ve spent a lot of time and money training KJ at second. He’s coming along. He’s not as horrible defensively as people think. We’ve actually got our chief KJ fan, Akshay, working on a post about him as we speak (or sometime soon). I think KJ stays at second because the Braves need a power bat. They’re not going to sign a power hitting second baseman. Plus the Braves don’t need more outfielders.

Those are the moves I think the Braves won’t make. We’ll see what happens with regards to Andruw Jones, other outfield bats, and Tom Glavine. What do you think? Am I way off base?

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Posted in General | 8 Comments »

Vazquez: Good or Bad?

Written by Rue on December 3, 2008 – 12:34 am

Watch out, Braves fans, here comes another sub-standard, past-his-prime, DL-bound pitcher to the Braves lineup.  At first, I was excited when I was told about the Javier Vazquez news because I thought it meant we were getting rid of Jo-Jo Reyes once and for all and maybe getting a bit of a veteran. Then I read Vazquez’s stats for the past two seasons and found out that Jo-Jo was, in fact, staying (for now). To say the least, I am not excited – not even a little bit.

Maybe I’m just let down by Vazquez’s 12 and 16 (4.67 ERA) in 2008 and  15-8 (3.74 ERA) in 2007 with recent Peavy and Burnett talks, and the fact that he has been getting progressively worse (and older) over the past few years.  Some chalk it up to the White Sox’s hitter-friendly field, but that is not an acceptable excuse when the decline seems somewhat, well, linear.  Is Javier Vazquez worth Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore, and Santos Rodriguez? Yes. Is he worth Jo-Jo? Heck, I’ll give you Jo-Jo for less than the Calgary Vipers accepted as a trade for John Odom. But here is my point: is Vazquez worth catching prospect Tyler Flowers? Nope, not with those numbers, and not with the past few years’ decrease in performance. I am not convinced that we have made a good decision on this one.

Peavy in Atlanta would raise some eyebrows and some hopes, but Cub’s pitcher Ryan Dempster trumps Peavy in my book and I wouldn’t mind seeing him step onto Turner Field time and time again.  Additionally, shelling out some money for C.C. Sabathia gives us a strong and consistent arm, including a pretty decent bat.  Heck, what about Brewer’s pitcher Ben Sheets? With Winter Meetings less than a week away, it’s time to get creative, optimistic, and make some good decisions for the club as a whole. Our needs are obvious, and it’s time for us to step up to the plate.


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Posted in Roster Moves | 25 Comments »

Braves Updates

Written by Colin on August 3, 2008 – 7:58 am

Well we’ve seen a bunch of Braves news lately, so we’ll hit it real fast for ya:

  • Morton pitched well yesterday – one hit through seven innings, but he gave up a home run to Prince Fielder, and the Braves fell 4-2.
  • C.C. Sabathia showed us yesterday why we need to sign him in the offseason.  8 1/3 innings of four-hit ball.  He’s insane.
  • Tim Hudson is going ahead with Tommy John surgery – Dr. James Andrews (the recognized expert in this area) will perform the surgery.  Hudson will have a 12 month rehab time before he is expected back with the team.
  • Chipper is expecting to be back in the lineup Friday, the first day he’s eligible off the DL.  He says that “everything feels great” and he’s no longer having trouble with either his hamstring or his quad.
  • Brian McCann should be expected back in the starting lineup Monday – he’s nearly done recovering from his concussion.  He may pinch hit today.
  • Casey Kotchman is off to a slow start in the NL – only 2 for 16 – with 1 RBI.  Yes, it’s only been four games, but he’s not on fire.
  • Royce Ring has been designated for assignment after a really ugly stretch where his ERA jumped 5 runs.  That’s not big league ball stuff.  Vladimir Nunez is expected to replace him.  Ring, according to the AJC, has the “distinction of the worst statistical season of any reliever in the history of the franchise since the 1870s, among those who appeared in as many games as he did.”  That didn’t work out well – he’s a specialist and shouldn’t be pitching as much as he did.

Well there ya have it – maybe we’ll see you at the Stadium today.  Ben Sheets is going against Jorge Campillo.  Go Braves!


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Posted in General, Injuries | 3 Comments »

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