Schafer Demoted, Blanco Called Up

The Braves sent the struggling Jordan Schafer to the minors today, calling up Gregor Blanco to take his place as the Braves’ center fielder. Schafer is hitting just .204 with 63 strikeouts in 167 at-bats – considerably slowed after a hot start. That’s a lot of striking out this year. The Braves tried to give Schafer a chance, but it’s been almost a month since his last game with more than one hit.

Gregor Blanco will start tonight against the Cubs. He’s hitting .384 in the past two weeks in Gwinnett. The Braves need more offensive production and hope that Blanco can provide some pop and a spark for the team. Jonathan is thrilled – he’s a huge Blanco fan and will enjoy watching him play tonight. Drop by the front row of 435 if you’re at the ballpark to find Jonathan and chat if you want.

Schafer still has potential as an outfielder in the big leagues – he just needs some more seasoning. We’ll see if he can turn it around in Gwinnett hitting off lesser pitchers.

What are your thoughts on the move? Good or bad for Schafer? Should we have traded Josh Anderson in hindsight?

The Issues From The Nats Series

Fans at Turner Field definitely got their money’s worth this weekend during the Braves 2009 opening series versus the Washington Nationals. From torrential downpours, hail and extra innings to watching our favorites hit in run after run, the Braves definitely left many of us feeling a little better after a topsy-turvy off-season. However, I don’t want to talk about Frenchie’s two triples, or Kelly Johnson’s home run, or a standard Chipper Jones RBI or two. These are things that should be expected from the names that front the Braves organization. After all, constructive criticism is what facilitates positive change – so let’s look at where we fell short.

First point of discussion: should the Braves have expected to sweep the Nationals? Or is it more a taste of what is to come for the remainder of the season? Are we just getting warmed up, or are we the type of team that just squeaks on by? Or did we more than squeak by?

Second point: should we keep our lineup the way that it is? During games, I do regular score-keeping. I scored the Friday and Saturday games and noticed that at a certain point in the batting order, we tend to leave runners on base. Francoeur did a wonderful job today showing us what we used to love about him – two triples, but let’s look at the big picture. Yes, he hit that homer in Philadelphia, but Frenchy’s OBP is only 0.269, and on Saturday, he was 0-4 with a walk.

Matt Diaz is more impressive than we’re giving him credit for. He’s not turning out incredible stats, but keep your eyes on him. He has a higher on base percentage than Francoeur, and has dropped some of those extra pounds so is showing a lot more speed. Jordan Schafer is living up to his hype and was beyond impressive on Saturday night in my book. Anyone complaining about his strikeouts better not claim that makes him inferior to his predecessor, Andruw Jones, or less of a young attribute than Jeff Francoeur. So far, the Braves’ weak spots are not what anyone would have expected. Statistically speaking, Francoeur, McCann, and Kotchman are where we see those LOB stats add up, with the lowest on-base percentages. Do we break that up, move it around, keep it, change it? Or is it too early to tell?

As an armchair GM, what changes would you propose? Would you change the lineup? Where are we falling short? What should we be noticing but aren’t praising?

The Good News and the Bad News From Philly

Well, that sucked, didn’t it?! Sure, the Braves achieved their goal of winning the series in Philly. Still… that Wednesday loss stings. Badly. It was punch to the gut. No… that’s not strong enough. It was a kick to the groin. With a size-15 steel-toed boot.

This was a disgusting loss. Sickening. It was all I could do not to throw the remote through the living room window. Part of me feels that Blaine Boyer and Jorge Campillo should take turns beating the #$@%^ out of each other just to make peace with the universe after that pathetic display. (Moylan must be forgiven, under the circumstances. It was, after all, his very first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery).

That’s the bad news.

But despite the physical illness all Braves fans no doubt share after Wednesday’s bullpen meltdown, there is good news to report after this opening series. A LOT of good news, actually.

Here are some things Braves fans can take away from this opening series in Phili:

• Derek Lowe looks like he’s up for the challenge of being the new Atlanta “Ace”.
• Jair Jurrjens was very good in his start, and Javier Vazquez was solid against a tough lineup in a hitter’s park. 
• Though he got off to shaky start, Mike Gonzalez settled in and closed the door in game one. He then breezed his way through hitters in game two. And Rafeal Soriano was excellent in his first appearance of the season on Tuesday. Back end of the pen looks solid. 
• Brian McCann appears to be locked in, and could be headed toward a big season. 
• Chipper Jones looks like he’s ready to make good on his promise to hit a few more into the seats this year (that is, when he’s in the lineup). 
• How about that KID?!! There’s a long way to go, but Jordan Schafer has given us reason to think he might turn out to be a legitimate Rookie of the Year Award candidate. 
• Yunel Escobar (who may have been robbed of a homerun on Tuesday) is showing some nice pop in his bat early. 
• Jeff Francoeur’s game-one homer, and solid RBI single up the middle on Wednesday provide further evidence that he’s back on track. 

The Braves’ offensive depth and balance was on display, proving that there are no coffee breaks in this lineup for opposing pitchers. Every single member of this lineup is a quality, professional hitter – with at least moderate power – who can hurt you. I’m not sure there’s another lineup in the league that can say the same.

And oh yeah… I suppose it is good news that the Braves did, after all, win the series on the road, even if they did throw away a sweep that was all but in their pocket.

And there’s more good news for the Braves… in the form of bad news for the Phillies. It is quite clear that the defending champs have starting pitching problems. There is a lack of depth in the Philadelphia rotation that will go from apparent to neon-lights if Cole Hamels misses any more time this season.

But the Phils aren’t alone. There is also some doubt surrounding the depth and quality of the New York Mets’ rotation, after Johan Santana. Doubts that Mets’ #2 starter, Mike Pelfrey, did nothing to alleviate Wednesday night with a lackluster performance in Cincinnati.

There are no perfect teams in the NL East. Each team has potential problems areas. Many expected offense to be a weak link in Atlanta’s game. But after getting a live look at this Braves lineup; after seeing the kinds of swings Jeff Francoeur is putting on the ball; after seeing the kind of talent (offensive and defensive) they now have roaming Center Field; and after seeing the depth and balance of this lineup… I’m not buying the notion that Atlanta is offensively challenged. I think this lineup is going to be a strength for the Braves. And decidedly so.

The offense looks good. The back end of the bullpen looks good. And unlike their two most talked about division rivals, the Braves appear rich – or at least reasonably well off – when it comes to starting pitching. That leaves middle-relief as the only apparent pothole on the post-season highway.

My point is this: If the Braves do indeed have a middle-relief problem… then they have a better problem than the one potentially facing the Mets and/or Phillies.

A middle-relief sized crack in the hull is a helluva lot easier to repair than a starting pitching sized gorge. And the Braves certainly have the trading chips, should they find it necessary to bolster the middle of their ‘pen. Also, it should be noted that, in addition to the Mets’ starting pitching challenges, they too have unanswered questions where their middle-relief is concerned. 

In short, despite a game-three finish that drove me into a frenzied fit of profanity reminiscent of the furnace-fighting scene in A Christmas Story, I’ve seen enough to earnestly say… “I like the Braves chances this year.”

How about you? Good news? Bad news? Whaddya think of this team after watching them play the champs up in Philly?

Braves Baseball Is Back!

It’s far too late for me to write a game recap (forgive me, I was in Phoenix last night watching the game from a crappy hotel room) – but I do want to throw together some thoughts I had last night during the game. Please feel free to add your own, argue with mine, or just sit there and read this complacently before moving on to another website.

Derek Lowe Is Solid

He’s not going to wow us every night with heaters – he’s not the typical power pitcher ace most people think of – but he’s a very solid, methodical pitcher who is going to give us quality start after quality start. And when he’s on – like he was last night – he can be very, very good.

Francoeur Will Be Back

You saw Francoeur’s line drive home run last night – he’s going to hit the ball hard night after night this year. Once he gets more used to his stance, we’ll see more power forthcoming – but I’ll take the Francoeur we saw last night. That said, he needs to work on his throw from the right field corner to third. He’s got a reputation to keep.

Jordan Schafer Is Fast

Did you see how fast he cleared the bases after his homerun? What about when he almost ran over Kelly Johnson who was taking a couple steps back to field a fly ball in short right center? The guy has legs. What a night for his first game – a single, an intentional walk and finally a strikeout that made him look silly. I think we’ll see some good stuff from Jordan this year – I’m certainly looking forward to it.

The Braves Looked Good

Lowe pitched well. Schafer showed us a little bit of what he can do. Francoeur looks good. But let’s not forget Chipper – who did what Chipper does – stroking balls comfortably the other way. Yunel almost knocked a homer of his own. Kotchman showed us some defense. McCann crushed a ball that almost landed in another state. Gonzo came out of the bullpen with (a little too much) energy – but once he gets that under control he’ll be the dominant closer he is. When all was said and done, Lowe had an 8 inning, two-hit performance and the Braves beat the Phillies 4-1.

For the first time this season, New York Mets fans cheered for the Braves. And when the Mets played today, Braves fans cheered for the Reds. It’s baseball season, folks. It’s back, and so are the Braves. Now we just have to prove that to the rest of the baseball.

Braves Have Added More Than You Think

There has been plenty of buzz this spring about the new faces the Braves have added by way of trade and free agency. And rightly so. Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami, Javier Vazquez, and Garrett Anderson, among others, signify a major upgrade to last year’s injury depleted squad. But if you think these four players represent the only substantial improvements to the Atlanta roster… think again.

Unable to help the Braves much, if at all, in 2007 (because of injury, underperformance, or having not yet arrived in the big leagues), there are several bats and arms in the Braves’ camp that could have a substantial impact on the ‘09 season.

EACH OF THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS COULD PROVE TO BE THE EQUIVALENT OF A SIGNIFICANT FREE AGENT SIGNING:

Rafael Soriano: Having spent the majority of last season on the disabled list with discomfort in his pitching elbow, Soriano now appears healthy and ready to help anchor the back end of the bullpen. Since moving to the ‘pen in his sophomore season with the Mariners, Soriano has a career ERA of about 2.50. When healthy, the hard-throwing righty is one of the top setup men in the game.

Peter Moylan: The submarine-tossing ‘Ausie’ posted the third best ERA (1.80) in baseball in 2007, over 90 innings pitched. After missing most of last season recovering from “Tommy John” surgery, Moylan’s rehabilitation is ahead of schedule, and he is expected to be ready on opening day. The return of Peter Moylan could give the Braves another dominant late-inning reliever to go with Soriano and closer, Mike Gonzalez.

Tom Glavine: The legendary lefty’s rehabilitation from off-season surgery (to repair his pitching arm) is on track, and Glavine is expected to make his first start, on schedule, in late April. In 2007, Glavine was fifth in the NL in quality starts with 23, and not coincidentally, he finished the season with 13 wins. If healthy enough to regain his ‘07 form, baseball’s only active 300-game winner could once again notch double-digit wins for the Braves.

Tommy Hanson: Considered by many to be the top overall pitching prospect in baseball, Hanson this spring has given the Braves all the more reason to believe he’s ready to record outs in the big leagues. With an already fully staffed starting rotation, it appears that an injury to a Braves starter would be the only immediate path to the Atlanta’s 25-man roster. However, while not particularly likely, it is conceivable that the Braves might consider trading one of their starting pitchers at some point during the season, creating a Major League job opening for Hanson in ‘09.

Tim Hudson: The Braves ace is currently ‘rehabbing’ from “Tommy John” surgery, and is believe to be on track for a late August or early September return. While the Braves certainly are not counting on Hudson in any way for the upcoming season, he could give this Braves team one more considerable weapon down the stretch.

Jeff Francoeur: After experiencing a season-long slump in ‘08 that saw him hit just .239 with only 11 homeruns, “Frenchy” is on a mission to (at least) regain his pre-2008 form. So far, so good. As of this writing, he is hitting .350 for the spring. He has just 1 strikeout in 40 at-bats, to go with 6 walks and 9 RBI. He is driving the ball to all fields and has shown nothing of his prior tendency (even in his better seasons) to swing at pitches well out of the strikezone. Replacing the ‘08 model of Jeff Francoeur with the ‘07 version – or better- would be tantamount to having inked a big free agent slugger over the winter.

Matt Diaz: Diaz lost much of his ‘08 season to a knee injury after getting off to a slow start as the Braves everyday left-fielder. But it should not be forgotten that he hit .333 in 655 combined at-bats in ‘06 and ‘07. While the addition of Garrett Anderson undoubtedly represents an upgrade to the Atlanta outfield, the return of a healthy and sharp Matt Diaz may prove every bit as valuable. Diaz is currently batting around .400 with 5 extra-base hits and 11 RBI in just over 40 at-bats this spring.

Jordan Schafer: One of the most heralded prospects in the Braves organization, Schafer appears ready to contribute at the Major League level. Despite frequent strikeouts, Schafer has hit nearly .400 so far this spring, and has demonstrated why he is considered a “5-tool” top-quality prospect. For a variety of reasons (NOT related to his spring performance), he may start the season at AAA, but don’t be surprised if Schafer makes a big league splash in 2009.

If the afore mentioned players are healthy and performing well (and so far this spring, all systems are “go”) the Braves will have essentially added the following for the 2009 season:

4 quality starting pitchers, including a #1 starter… 2 dominant late-inning relievers… 1 big middle-of-the-order bat, and at least 2 other quality hitters.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Braves expect better things from Mike Gonzalez (who is now entirely healthy/rested and back at “100%”), and Blaine Boyer, who won’t be overworked or prematurely thrust into late-inning duties, as he was last year. What’s more, Braves officials feel we haven’t seen the best of Yunnel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, or Casey Kotchman.

When you put it all together, we are looking at a Braves team that could surprise a great many people in 2009.  How do you feel about this team? What do you think about the pieces the Braves have added, both from without and within the organization?

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.

Young Bats Produce, Braves Fall

The Braves kicked off the Grapefruit League season this afternoon with a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers.  Jair Jurrjens made the start for the Braves and allowed 2 earned runs in 2 innings of work on 4 hits.  He escaped potential further damage by getting Carlos Guillen to ground into a double-play to end the first inning.  Not the greatest start for Jurrjens, but it’s still early in the preseason and not much to worry about at this point.  Reyes, O’Flaherty and Perez each allowed an earned run while Acosta and Marek both tacked on an inning of scoreless work.

Trailing 3-0 in the top of the fifth, the Braves proceeded to put 3 unearned runs on the board to tie up the game.  Future first baseman prospect, Freddie Freeman, brought two runs in with a two-out single and Brian McCann also added an RBI in the inning, plating Jordan Schafer.  Jordan also cracked the board later in the game with a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh.

Everyone anxious to see Jeff Francoeur at the plate today will still have to wait to see some performance out of him.  Jeff went 0-for-4, but it’s only the first game.  Most will say you can’t count on much that happened today to be telling as to how the season will go.  These early Spring Training games are where we really should be looking toward the young guys and seeing what they can do.

The Braves open up their home Grapefruit League season at Wide World of Sports tomorrow against the Astros at 1:05pm EST.  Jorge Campillo will take the hill for the Braves, making his campaign for a long relief spot in the bullpen.  Catch the game on ESPN.  So one Spring Training game closer to the season, what’s the good news of the day?

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?

Heyward, Prospects Invited to Camp

We got this mailbag question from Brandon today – figured it meshed well with the Braves inviting the top prospects to camp. We’re slapping it into one article and calling it… well… an article on Jason Heyward and other prospects.

I was just recently looking around and came across some top prospects and saw a RF named Jason Heyward. Who is this and how far is he away from the majors?

We need to become familiar with Jason Heyward. MLB.com ranked him as the third best prospect in all of baseball after just one season with the Braves last year.  The 18 year old 6′4″, 230 lb Georgia native played at Class A Rome last year. He batted .323 with 52 RBIs, an .871 OPS and 11 HRs before moving on to Myrtle Beach, where he only played 7 games. He’s pinned as an All-Star and has drawn comparisons to Dave Parker and Willie McCovey. He runs the bases well, covers ground well in the outfield and has a great arm. He’s probably 2-3 years away, but he’s going to be a star in the outfield, if all goes according to plan.

Heyward was invited to Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Also invited were our friend Jordan Schafer, promising Class A first baseman Freddie Freeman and top pitching prospects Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen.  These are the top 5 prospects for the Braves this spring.  There’s a possibility that we see Schafer and Hanson on the roster coming out of spring training, but Schafer may start the year at AAA with Hanson. I think we’ll see Hanson on the roster before the year’s end – don’t know about Schafer with the crowded outfield picture still not completely clear, but we could easily see him as well.

Hope that gives ya some more information on Heyward, Brandon. We’ll see them in spring training and look forward to watching them grow.  We’ll hopefully be pulling in some interviews sooner rather than later with at least one of the guys that got invited to camp. We’ve got a few surprises up our sleeves.

Remaining Roster Needs

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!

Braves Atop Peavy Heap

The New York Post is reporting that the Braves are atop the Peavy pile and that currently many expect we’ll have Peavy pitching for us next season.

“The Jake Peavy sweepstakes will proceed concurrently with the World Series, and the expectation of major league executives polled over the past two days is that the Braves are going to end up with the Padre right-hander… The Braves…have the base from which to make a deal and a history of packaging youngsters to get veterans they crave such as Mark Teixeira and Tim Hudson. They also are willing to move quickly, as exhibited by the Oct. 29 deal made last year in which they obtained Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez from Detroit for Edgar Renteria, the first major trade of the past offseason. And the Braves appear more motivated than the Cardinals, Cubs or Dodgers to jump out for Peavy.”

That’s what I like to hear. Only question now is how many prospects we have to get rid of to land Peavy for four years.  Yunel Escobar or Kelly Johnson (or both) will likely have to go.  Other names mentioned include Jo-Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton, possibly Tommy Hanson, and even Jordan Schafer.  Who knows what the Braves will be willing to part with, but there are hints they are going to try and keep the carnage as insignificant as possible.  The bottom line with any of the pitching prospects is that we hope they turn into someone like Peavy, and getting Peavy for four years is a pretty good return on a prospect that may not be that good for that long.

Chipper Jones has described Peavy as the “perfect fit” according to the AJC, and also would love to see the Braves go after A.J. Burnet, who will be a free agent.

How you like us now, NL East?

Center Field Options

When the Braves consider next year’s starting outfield, they have a bevy of players from which to choose.  It’s just the first year the Braves will be plagued with this problem as they have tons of promising young outfielders in their farm system.  Today we’ll look at some of the options in center field.

Mark Kotsay – The Incumbant CF

Kotsay’s contract expires at the end of the 2008 season and he may or may not be resigned.  Kotsay has been effective in Atlanta, batting .299 with 37 RBIs, 6 HRs, and a .346 on-base percentage in 83 games.  He’s been on the DL with back issues (he had back surgery in Oakland that knocked him out for most of last season) but for the most part has been healthy.

Gregor Blanco – The Rookie

Gregor Blanco has played the most time of the young Braves’ outfield prospects, batting .258 with 27 RBI, 11 stolen bases, and a .371 on base percentage.  Blanco is speedy – he’s currently ranked second in the NL in bunt hits with 14.  Blanco has been slowed recently by a bone spur in his ankle, which is growing worse as the season progresses.  He’s doing a pretty good job batting leadoff and has impressed with his time in Atlanta.

Josh Anderson – Rising Star

Anderson has played most of the year in Richmond, but is absolutely tearing up the baseball there. He’s batting .316 with 37 RBIs, a .361 on base percentage, and a whopping 40 stolen bases.  He’s cutting down on strikeouts when compared to years past, and and should definitely be considered when the Braves look at their outfield after the season.  It’d be great to see some speed come back to Atlanta, where we have a history of speedy outfielders.

Jordan Schafer – Once The Future King

Schafer was once heralded as a sure lock for the Braves’ starting center field spot in 2009, but a run in with an HGH suspension (he says there’s a side to the story that hasn’t been told) has limited his playing time and knocked him back a step or two.  He’s batting .269  with 46 RBIs and 9 HRs in just 71 games and has an OBP of .371.  I’d be surprised to see him make the jump from AA ball to the big leagues, but it’s not impossible.  He still has a future with the Braves organization, I’m just not sure it involves a role in center field in 2009.

Who do you think the center fielder should be next year?  Kotsay or one of the youngsters?  I’m excited about Josh Anderson and want to see him in the bigs next year for the Braves, be it in Center or Left.  But with potentially Kotsay, Anderson, Blanco, Brandon Jones, and Matt Diaz competing for three outfield slots, it’s going to be competitive – and fun to watch.