Garret Anderson Is A Bitch

Yeah, you just read that. Garret Anderson is a bitch.

If you missed it, Garret Anderson turned down a minor league rehab assignment (as is his right) and I think we as fans have every right to be pissed off about it.

Before I rant, the official position is that Anderson has every right to turn down said assignment. He doesn’t feel he’s missed enough time to warrant a trip to the minors for a rehab stint. The Braves are believed to be surprised with the decision. Anderson is currently missing time nursing a calf injury after originally missing time with the same injury.

That said, the man pisses me off. Haven’t missed enough time to warrant a rehab stint? How about you look at it the other way, Garret? You haven’t played enough to warrant a stint in the big leagues. 25 at-bats. Seriously. And when you HAVE played, let’s be honest – you’ve only batted .231 with 3 runs scored. No homers. No RBIs. Those are minor league stats. And it’s not like we’d have shipped you off to Mississippi or anything – you’d have to drive 45 minutes north to Gwinnett to play with the Triple A ballclub.

Get a life, Anderson. You’re not the Braves’ star player. You’re not even a fan favorite working his way to stardom. You’re an injured veteran who needs to prove he can contribute to the team. You haven’t PLAYED the time necessary to demand time in the majors – when you have played, it’s been sub-par, and don’t even get me started on easy pop flies into foul territory. I didn’t even know you could be charged with errors on foul balls until you managed to figure out how to do so. Prove you care about the Braves – put that ego away, go to Gwinnett, play with Tommy Hanson and the boys, and stop whining.

Quit being a little bitch. Heal up fast, too. We didn’t pay you to sit on the bench – we’ve got plenty of talent to do that.

Sincerely,

Braves fans everywhere

Anderson to DL, Braves In Cincy

After a couple of days of nursing his reaggravated left quad, Garret Anderson is headed to the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 20th.  Brandon Jones has been called up from AAA Gwinnett to take his spot on the roster.  It’s unknown when Anderson will be ready to return as he has been nagged with this injury off and on since early March.  I’m sure we’ll have more updates over the next few days.

Today is Chipper Jones’ 37th birthday.  In his career on his birthday, Chipper has a .500 average (18 for 37) with 4 HR, 8 RBI and 10 R.  Let’s hope he can keep that up tonight.  Brian McCann was also a late scratch for the game with further eye issues.  David Ross will take his spot in the lineup.  Here’s to trying to get a win streak started tonight as the Braves kick off the last series of the road trip in Cincinnati.

Stay with us for in-game updates, looks like great weather in Cincinnati for baseball.  Javier Vazquez brings his solid season performance, averaging 12.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, to face off against Edison Volquez.  Volquez is 2-1 on the season, but showing a 6.46 ERA.  Hopefully the Braves offense can show up for the game tonight and help Javy out.

Spring Training Continues, Mets Pester Braves

Spring Training Update:

The Braves continue to prepare for the season in Lake Buena Vista. Even with McCann still playing for Team USA and Chipper still recovering from a strained oblique, the Braves have compiled a great record in grapefruit league play. They’ve won 10 out of their last 11 games, including yesterday’s game where Jair Jurrjens pitched six innings with six strikeouts and only four hits allowed. It should be noted that the Braves’ starting pitching has compiled a great 2.09 ERA during the last 11 games – continuing their stellar performance this spring.

It should be noted that the Braves’ record in spring training doesn’t mean anything. After all, while the Braves are missing Chipper and McCann, other teams are missing their star players. One good thing is that with McCann gone, the Braves’ pitchers are getting used to the backup catcher, Dave Ross.

In injury news, Garret Anderson was cleared to run after sitting out 12 days with a strained right calf. Chipper is back with the team and aggressively treating the oblique issue he’s facing. Chipper is optimistic about the injury not lasting all season and hindering his playing time. I’m just a little concerned, though, because he’s had similar issues in the past. Are you concerned about Chipper?

World Baseball Classic thoughts:

Team USA advanced to the semifinals to play Venezuela after beating Puerto Rico yesterday on David Wright’s bottom of the ninth heroics, but the real story is the cronyism here. Note that Carlos Beltran robbed Brian McCann of a home run earlier in the game, and that that home run would have made David Wright’s heroics unnecessary. Now note that David Wright and Carlos Beltran play for the same team – the Braves’ division rival Mets, and I believe the cronyism I referenced previously has been established. We’ll get you back soon, Mets.

Anderson, Schafer, Freeman Injured

Garret Anderson has only been a Brave for two weeks but he’s already been bitten by the injury bug.  During pregame warmups on Friday, Anderson strained his right calf muscle while jogging.  They’re still not certain on the extent of the injury and he is listed with a day-to-day status.  Both Anderson and Bobby Cox understand however that the injury could take more than a week to fully heal.  We should hopefully get some more news this week as to how his recovery is going.  I think it’s a pretty safe statement however that some of our young talent will get the chance to fill in in the majors this  year during injury times.

The prospects aren’t immune to injury either, however.  Jordan Schafer is sidelined with a strained right shoulder that he sustained while attempting a diving catch in Saturday’s game.  He’s currently expected to miss four games with the injury, but it will likely take a toll on his chances of beating out Josh Anderson to be the starting center fielder for the Braves this season.

Freddie Freeman has been bothered by a strained quad since the first days of camp, but has continued to play.  He is, however, expected to miss the next few games while trying to rest the muscle and get back out there.  Freeman doesn’t have a chance at making the squad out of Spring Training this year, but has made a huge impression on everyone in camp.

The biggest concern out of all of this is the injury to Anderson.  Muscle strains in the legs are the types of injuries that go on to nag a player all season, much like they have with Chipper in the past.  And at age 36, Anderson won’t bounce back quite as quickly as his younger teammates.  It will be interesting to see how this evolves and hopefully it’s only a minor strain as the Braves as a whole are still thin in the outfield.  I look for Schafer and Brandon Jones to get some chances throughout the season to fill in in outfield roles however.  Should we be terribly worried about Garret getting hurt?  Only time will tell.

Garret Anderson Signed

After a few weeks of us speculating as to how good of a fit Garret Anderson would be for the Braves, it looks like the deal has been made.  The Braves have reportedly finalized a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the free agent and expect for the announcement to be made tomorrow.  Anderson is en route to Florida to join the squad at Wide World of Sports for Spring Training.

Anderson will likely take on the clean-up role for the Braves, a position in the lineup that he’s quite familiar with.  He had a .293 average last season with 15 homers and 84 RBI; 14 of his 15 home runs came against right-handed pitching.  This may lend itself to the platoon in left field with Matt Diaz that Braves fans have become familiar with over the past couple of seasons.  Anderson has spent all 15 seasons of his career with the Angels.

He could provided some much needed pop to the Braves’ lineup with runners in scoring position, a spot that has struggled in the past.  Last season, he batted .338 with runners in scoring position and .356 in those situations with two outs.  These are the type of moments that make a difference in the one-run losses that Braves fans became brutally familiar with throughout 2008.

I’m still not 100% sure on this decision as just a couple days ago, the front office indicated that they would let the young talent give the outfield a shot, but the deal has been done and we’re ready to add some much needed power to the outfield.  Is it the right decision for the Braves at this point?  Let us know what you think.

No Griffey….Now What?

We’ve finally settled on it, Griffey’s out of the picture. Where do the Braves go from here? Let’s take a look at the 5 possible left field options (that we’re aware of), counting down in order of likelihood:

5 – Xavier Nady: From a performance standpoint, Nady would be the perfect answer to Atlanta’s need for right-handed power. He hit .305 last season with 25 homers and 97 RBI for the Pirates and Yankees. However, his price tag (both in terms of salary, and talent to be surrendered via trade), a contract that expires at season’s end, and his notoriously hard-driving agent (someone named Boras), make Nady the least likely candidate to fill the Braves Left Field job opening.

4 – Nick Swisher: Swisher is a switch-hitting Yankees slugger who the Braves’ believe could nicely address their outfield power deficiency. Before the Griffey rumors began to percolate, Swisher, who is under contract through 2012, appeared to be the Braves top target. However, it was rumored that they wanted the Yanks to assume 2 million dollars of his annual salary (roughly 5.5 million dollars for 2009).
The Yankees are open to Atlanta’s request, but would require “higher quality prospects” in return, which the Braves are reluctant to yield. Given Atlanta’s recently stated commitment to guarding their best young minor league talent, it doesn’t seem likely that the Braves will meet the Yankees’ asking price for Swisher.

3 – Jim Edmonds: The now 38-year-old Edmonds showed Cubs fans last year that he can still club right-handed pitching. His 19 homers and 54 RBI in 292 at-bats against RHP made his humble .250 batting average VS. righties forgivable. On the flipside, he’s a dollar short of worthless against lefties. In 48 at-bats VS. LHP, he hit .146, with 1 homer and 1 RBI. But his ability to slug against right-handed hurlers makes him a viable platoon partner for the right-handed hitting Matt Diaz. He could also serve as a quality back-up Center-fielder.

I think Edmonds makes a fair amount of sense for Atlanta, and he should fit their budget. That said, there hasn’t been so much as a whisper of Edmonds’ name in connection to the Braves, which causes me to think such a marriage is improbable, but that could change at any moment.

2 – Garret Anderson: The longtime Angels outfielder is likely to play baseball without an “A” on his cap for the first time in 15 years. Or is he?Anderson has lost much of his once considerable power, but he is still a solid big league hitter. With the exception of a modest on-base percentage, Anderson’s 2008 numbers compare very favorably to Griffey’s. He hit .293 last season with 15 homers and 84 RBI.

The left-handed hitting Anderson handles lefties well (.290 vs. lefties last season), however, all but one of his homers came at the expense of right-handed pitching, which makes him another excellent (and affordable) candidate to platoon with Matt Diaz in Left.  We’ve covered more details earlier in the offseason.

1 – Let the kids play: If the Braves aren’t attracted to the remaining external outfield options, it would seem that they’re prepared to play their current hand, and reassess the outfield situation a couple of months into the season. The most likely existing candidates for the two available outfield jobs are left-hand hitting center-fielders, Josh Anderson, and Jordan Schafer.

Josh Anderson is out of minor league options, which means the Braves will either have to add him to the Major League roster, or trade him. If the Braves do not import another outfielder, Anderson will battle Jordan Schafer for the starting Center Field role this spring. The speedy Gregor Blanco may also compete for the job. If Anderson fails to win the full-time position in center, he will likely share playing time with Matt Diaz in Left Field. In 203 big league at-bats (2007/2008), Anderson has a .315 batting average, a .364 on-base percentage, and 11 steals in 13 tries.

Jordan Schafer was once considered the Braves top position prospect before a 50-game suspension for alleged “HGH” use last year, however, his star has not fallen. The Braves sill think quite well of the talented “5-tool prospect”, and reviews of his early work at the Braves Spring Training facilities have been positive.

Whether the Braves ink a free agent outfielder, such as G. Anderson or Edmonds, or let youth movement have a go, Matt Diaz is likely to see the majority of his playing time against left-handed pitching. Over the past three seasons, Diaz has hit .319, .338, and .327 against lefty hurlers.

So… if Frank Wren were to call and ask your advice, what would you tell him? Trade away? Sign an inexpensive veteran? Or let the kids play?

Outfield Update

Thanks to Grant McAuley for the article suggestion. Check out Grant’s excellent blog “A ‘Braves’ New World” when you have time.

Bobby Abreu was recently snatched up by the Angels. Dunn was signed yesterday by the Nationals. Apparently Ken Griffey Jr. is nearing a contract with Seattle, and the Braves remain looking for an outfielder. Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal says that the Braves are looking into Garret Anderson, Luis Gonzalez and Jim Edmonds (Jr. was also mentioned, but best bet for him is Seattle at this point). Rosenthal also says a trade with Swisher is still a possibility, but less likely than a free agent signing.

We’ve already talked about what we think about Garret Anderson. He would knock in some runs but I don’t think he’d provide an incremental amount of power that’d set him above our current outfielder platoon options. Some people may disagree, and that’s fine.

Luis Gonzalez seems like a horrible fit. We wanted power. We need a cleanup hitter. Under 75 RBIs and an average of less than 15 home runs over the last three years? I just don’t see him as a fit. I’d rather watch Diaz/Jones. Jim Edmonds seems to be a better fit with an average of more than 15 HRs the last three years – still under 75 RBIs though – which we’ll forgive as he played with San Diego some of last year. Still not cleanup material with around a .250ish average. We could expect him to play in 110-115 games.

Xavier Nady hasn’t been mentioned much recently – I think that we’re probably shying away from the one-year-rental mentality that comes with trading for Nady. Swisher has a lot of $ attached to him and a three year commitment, but he could potentially cover first if the outfield got too crowded. I like Swisher for this year best, but long-term I’m not sure where he’d fit in.

I’d like to see us wait a little bit and see how the youngsters Schafer, Jones, Blanco, Diaz, and Anderson do in spring training before bringing in someone that’s going to bat middle of the order. If we bring someone in, Swisher sounds like the best fit if we’re willing to spend a little bit of money. Let the same comments flow that have been bouncing around the last few weeks Just had to update everyone on the potential outfield options.

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Why Not Garret Anderson?

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So – Why not Garret Anderson?  It’s no secret that the Braves are looking for a little extra pop in the outfield – specifically left field. The Braves are rumored to be considering Bobby Abreu, Nick Swisher, or Xavier Nady. But why not consider Garret Anderson, the Angels outfielder that’s on the market?  Good question – let’s take a look.

Garret Anderson is a lifetime .296 hitter with an average of 92 RBIs and 19.4 home runs. He has had some pop, and he can play great defense in the outfield. He’s played his entire career with the Angels and has been their outfield power bat since the late ’90s. He’s yet unsigned, and even though he made $12.6M last year and has Scott Boras as his agent, he could possibly be signed for significantly less than that this year. So – why aren’t the Braves looking at Anderson?

I’d think that the first thing is the amount of power that Anderson brings to the table. In the last five years, he’s averaged only just above 15 homeruns. Why would the Braves go sign him for a chunk of change when they could just as easily have Matt Diaz platoon with someone? Matt Diaz knocked 12 homers out of the park in 2007, the last time he was healthy for a full season. Augment that with Brandon Jones or Gregor Blanco and we could have a duo that’d exceed what Anderson could do. Anderson is a good bat – he batted .293 last season with 15 HRs and 84 RBIs – but is he better than what we’ve got right now? Will 15 homers cut it when we could probably produce 20-25 with an outfield duo already on roster? I just don’t know.

I’d say Anderson, while a good, quality, consistent player, isn’t a great fit for the Braves right now. And that’s why we’re not pursuing him, if I had to venture a guess.