Pitchers & Catchers Report!

Written by Colin on February 14, 2009 – 12:43 pm

Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s baseball season. Pitchers and catchers report today and begin their official workouts tomorrow. Several players have already been around working out and throwing – Brian McCann, Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez and Kenshin Kawakami among them.

Kawakami is followed, of course, by the Japanese media as he was one of Japan’s star pitchers. It’ll be interesting to see how he adjusts to American baseball as other Japenese pitchers have had mixed results switching leagues. Javier Vazquez will also be switching leagues – though only from the AL to the NL.

It’s not yet known if Tom Glavine will be the fifth starter or on the roster at all, but his talks with the Braves recently resulted in an increased amount of deferred money, bringing his offer to $1M this year and $3M in incentives that would be paid over the next few years. I think this is more along the lines of what Glavine was looking for and we’re likely to see him sign soon. Keep in mind that’s my opinion.

Brian McCann is in camp ready to take the first pitch as workouts begin tomorrow. Dave Ross, the Braves’ new backup catcher, and Clint Sammons will battle it out for the backup spot, but Ross will almost certainly land the slot barring something unforseen.

The rest of the squad starts spring training Wednesday, but to me, this is the first day of the baseball season. Go Braves – let’s take no prisoners and grind out a great season!

Tags: Brian McCann, Clint Sammons, Dave Ross, Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, Kenshin Kawakami, Pitchers and Catchers report, Tom Glavine
Posted in General | 6876 Comments »http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/02/14/pitchers-catchers-report/Pitchers+%26+Catchers+Report%212009-02-14+17%3A43%3A41Colin

Remaining Roster Needs

Written by Colin on January 14, 2009 – 9:18 pm

The Braves went into the offseason with several needs:

Two Starting Pitchers

We’ve acquired three. Ace-to-be Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami signed as free agents. The third, Javier Vazquez, was acquired via trade from the White Sox. The three pitchers will augment the Braves’ Jair Jurrjens as the four regular starters (all can eat innings), and we’ll likely see Jorge Campillo, Charlie Morton, and perhaps Tommy Hanson fight for the fifth rotation spot. Now that we’ve got a stable rotation, look for the Braves not to rush Hanson to the big leagues, though he’ll be ready in a year or two to start regularly. When Tim Hudson comes back from Tommy John surgery late in the season, he’ll provide the Braves with one of the best rotations late in the season, if he’s true to form. The Braves’ rotation won’t be something to sneeze at, even though it’s not going to be the best rotation in the history of baseball.

An Outfield Bat

I’d imagine the Braves are still looking to fill this need. Even though we’ve got Jeff Francoeur, Matt Diaz, Josh Anderson, Gregor Blanco, Brandon Jones, and Jordan Schafer as options, we need a bat to help replace the hole left by Teixeira’s departure and to protect Chipper in the lineup. If the Braves do sign someone, it will only be for a year or two, because in addition to the players I already listed, Gorkeys Hernandez and Jason Heyward are outfield prospects in the minor league system, just two-three years away. Maybe Heyward switches to first, but there’s still a glut of good prospects waiting to play outfield for the Braves. I don’t know if we fill this or go with young talent, but if we want to compete in the NL East, we probably need another bat somewhere in the lineup. Left field is a logical position for that bat to play. If I were Wren, I’d look at Bobby Abreu for this role.

Extending Chipper’s Contract

Please, Braves, do this now. Smoltz didn’t retire here, but Chipper needs to. We’re starting to get a reputation for getting the best years out of our players, making this their home, and sending them elsewhere to die. See Aaron, Murphy, Justice, Maddux, Glavine (though he left of his own free will), and now Smoltz. Don’t let it happen to Chipper.

A Backup Catcher

Done. It flew under the radar, but the Braves signed Dave Ross to a two-year deal to back up Brian McCann early in December. He’ll make ~$1.5M each year he’s here. The Braves have been resting McCann once a week or so to try and save his knees, so we’ll see some time out of Ross. Ross hit .225 with 3 HRs and 13 RBI last year for Cincinnati and Boston in 142 at-bats in 60 games.

Summary

The Braves will now turn to signing a bat for the outfield, extending Chipper’s contract, and re-signing Will Ohman. Once that’s done, I’d say we’re set for this offseason. I don’t think we’ll see the Braves sign any more starting pitchers. Setup arms in the ‘pen will come via Campillo and our farm system. Think I missed anything? Made bad assumptions? Make a comment and we’ll have some discussion about it.

Ignoring The Bad

By the way, I’m ignoring everything that didn’t go right. Rather not talk about it – no reason to dwell on it!

Tags: Bobby Abreu, Brandon Jones, Braves 2009 Additions, Braves Offseason Goals, Braves Trade Rumors, Charlie Morton, Chipper Jones, Dave Ross, Derek Lowe, Gorkeys Hernandez, Gregor Blanco, Jair Jurrjens, Jason Heyward, Javier Vazquez, Jeff Francoeur, Jordan Schafer, Josh Anderson, Kenshin Kawakami, Matt Diaz, Tommy Hanson, Will Ohman
Posted in General, Roster Moves, Speculation | 51053 Comments »http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/01/14/remaining-roster-needs/Remaining+Roster+Needs2009-01-15+01%3A18%3A55Colin