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.

Kotsay, Schafer Back Hanson’s No-Hitter

While on his rehab assignment in double A ball, Mark Kotsay got to see something pretty special—a no hitter. Tommy Hanson threw the Mississippi Braves’ first no-hitter and struck out 14 in what became a career night for the young prospect. Hanson pitched the gem against the Birmingham Barons—the Chicago White Sox’s double A affiliate.

Hanson saw some trouble in the first inning when he had the bases loaded after a walk, a hit batsman and another walk. Hanson got the next hitter to pop out and saw calm seas after that. Hanson allowed just one base runner after the first inning, that coming on a walk. Hanson struck out the side in the second inning, fifth inning and again in the seventh for nine of his 14 total strikeouts.

Mark Kotsay and prospect Jordan Schafer helped in the effort with their offense. Kotsay had two hits and scored a run, while Shafer’s bases-loaded triple drove in three more.

Obviously, Hanson’s no hitter was the story of the evening. Hanson (4-3, 4.32 ERA) went 3-1 with a 0.90 ERA in seven games in A-ball at Myrtle Beach. He has struggled in just two of his nine starts, but those have been the cause of his inflated ERA.

Hanson is a guy that could be a trading chip for the Braves this year or next year. With the rotation set up the way it is, it looks solid from Hudson at the top to Morton at the bottom.

There’s still about a month left till the trade deadline, so we’ll see how Hanson’s no hitter affects his trade value.

- Akshay

Summer Hot Stove Heating Up - Trade Rumors

The Braves are playing amazing baseball at home, but not performing so great on the road. They’re also 2-14 in one-run games, a number that should improve once Smoltz, Soriano, and Gonzalez are all active in the bullpen (I shamelessly stole that line from Jayson Stark). But with the Braves moving John Smoltz from the rotation to the ‘pen, they’re short a starting pitcher. And even though Jo-Jo Reyes and Jorge Campillo are standing in admirably (Campillo more so than Reyes), the Braves are reportedly looking for a starting pitcher.

There are a couple rumors here - one mentioned by the announcers during today’s game involved the highest profile free agent on the team. Reportedly the Braves would send Mark Teixeira to the Cleveland Indians for starting pitcher C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia would provide the depth to the rotation the Braves need (he’s won an average of 15.3 games each of the last three seasons), but the Braves would lose Teixeira and much of the needed protection behind Chipper, who is powering the offense. Sabathia is only 28 and would possibly be harder to resign at season’s end than Teixeira will be - and we can’t count that out. Plus, who would play first? Other rumors include either a top pitching prospect or Jordan Schafer for Sabathia - neither of which make sense for a pitcher with under a year left on his contract.  Don’t forget that if we trade Tex, we have nearly no chance of re-signing him.

The most popular rumor has Greg Maddux coming to Atlanta - something that I don’t think will happen. Frank Wren was very adamant pre-season that he wasn’t looking for a reunion tour of the big three. Now Maddux would be a very popular choice, but he’s older and may not be available for re-signing at the end of the year (no telling when he hangs up the cleats).

Jayson Stark offered his opinion on this earlier today:

“Clubs that have spoken with the Braves say they’re more focused on trying to find a younger starting pitcher they can hang onto for [more than] just the last few months of this season. So think more along the lines of the non-free agents who could pop onto the market…”

Stark goes on to mention Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Bronson Arroyo, and Jeremy Bonderman - but stresses the Braves could be after any pitcher in this category.

I think that the Maddux thing is a bit of a pipe dream as opposed to reality. He’d offer us a good fifth arm in the rotation if Reyes isn’t working out, but I think we’d have to give up too much to get him. I’d much rather see us trade a younger prospect for a pitcher with plenty left in the tank and a few years on his contract. It’s time we start stacking our rotation for tomorrow.

Who would you like to see come to the Braves? Chime in with your opinion and comment below.

Other tidbits: East Coast Bias had a great article today on the Braves one-third of the way through the season. Take a look - very good read.

Schafer, Glavine, and Hampton Updates

A Jordan Schafer Update
Reports are now mentioning that Schafer was busted through the new MLB tip line to report players using performance enhancing drugs.  Apparently someone reported Schafer and then the MLB investigators found the allegations to be true.  There are a couple issues I have with a line like this - one being that people with personal vendettas can theoretically try and nail their enemies by planting something like HGH - which is untraceable in tests.  I’m not saying that’s what happened to Schafer, but it’s not impossible.  Schafer wants to tell his side of the story - and it’ll come out soon I’m sure, but the real verdict will never be reached unless the MLB investigation is released and we can find out what was found.

Glavine Likely to Pitch Saturday
Tom Glavine threw off a mound yesterday and was throwing pretty hard without pain.  Assuming no complications or bad feedback from his hamstring, we should see him pitch Saturday against the Dodgers.  We’ll hope he comes back effectively and doesn’t have any negative feedback.

Hampton Throws Off Mound
Mike Hampton threw off a mound yesterday and apparently felt no pain, so we should see him make a rehab start or two before being back at the big league level.  No word yet on where or when those rehab starts may be.  We’ll hope (yet once again) that he can stay healthy.

Rue Grant Defends Jordan Schafer

Scenario 2:  Schafer never used HGH. Rumors are nasty things. I spent a week in high school in the principal’s office for something I never did but someone claimed they saw me do - in a locker room nonetheless. Subsequent monitorings made me look suspicious and guilty, but only because people were looking for something in particular, and oftentimes suddenly normal actions seem extremely unusual. Same thing for Schafer. He was being monitored all through spring training apparently. Maybe growing suspicion just made him seem guilty at the time - and allegations were blown out of proportion.

Scenario 3: He did it, he knew, and now he’s covering his ass. I’m not really thinking this is a valid speculation though, because who would be stupid enough to go ahead and do that after watching the struggles Roger Clemens has gone through day after day recently? I’ve met Jordan Schafer and he doesn’t seem to be that naive.

So where are we? We wait. Will we forgive him regardless? We can only hope that the Braves community will accept whatever comes of this - and if the allegations prove to be innacurate, then my greatest hope is that he does not lose the credibility and hype that he has worked so hard for.  If the truth ends up hurting us all, then hopefully someone down the road  will learn from Schafer learning the hard way.

For now, I’m standing by Schafer for the following reasons:

1. Schafer’s father wants to speak out so badly, but is waiting on his son. Seems that something that needs to be said is not out in the open yet. I anticipate that revelation.
2. If he used it pre-2005, I have absolutely NO issue with it.
3. Not all allegations end up being true. There has got to be more to this than meets the eye.
4. Tom Glavine said that being a great player is about being respected as much for your character as for your stats and numbers. I think that Schafer has had the spotlight on him a lot recently, and was making an effort to be one of those venerated, respected players before moving into the bigs. He had the spotlight on him, was turning heads, making people smile, and impressing everyone who interviewed him. Would he go out of his way NOW to ruin everything he’d worked for? Absolutely not.
5.  He’s offered up far too many samples, has failed to test positive for what he’s being accused for taking, and is obviously very disgrunted about this whole situation.
6. The Braves haven’t thrown him under the bus yet. He’s going to Orlando to keep training with other minor league players who aren’t playing official games. If it were as intense and serious as everyone was making it out to be, the Braves would have cut and run. They haven’t, and show no signs of doing so.

So, for now, I will stand by Schafer.  And I’m one of the harder ones to get to take sides.

Schafer Suspended for HGH Use

The Braves’ star prospect Jordan Schafer, who had a decent spring, was suspended for 50 games after it was revealed he violated the league’s substance abuse policy. Apparently Schafer tested positive for HGH, not something good to see from a young player who is supposedly the future face of the franchise.

Everywhere you read about this guy and his supposed maturity, but I’m not sold on him yet.  Just because you can play ball (apparently with the help of HGH) doesn’t mean you have the composure and maturity you need to be a major league player and the potential face of the franchise.  You can’t convince me he’s ready for the big league level for at least a year or two.

As for his placeholder, Mark Kotsay, the guy has been great so far.  Solid hitter, great arm, and he does his best to cover ground.  Heck, we haven’t even had to add a single point to our “Andruw would have gotten that” counter.

Schafer is going to need to come back from this suspension with some sincere remorse and work hard to make up for this significant shortcoming.  Not only does it cast doubt on his strong spring, but it shows character flaws and immaturity.  I think Schafer has bought into the hype surrounding his rising star career way too much - and has passed way over the line between confident and cocky.  One has to be worried about seeing someone like Schafer go down this path.  The truly good players - character wise - are the Jeff Francoeurs and Brian McCanns.  They keep their mouths shut and play baseball - don’t dig into anything suspect or suspicious, and let their numbers back up the hype surrounding their careers.

Schafer has a long way to go - good thing we have those extra outfielders now, isn’t it?  Josh Anderson next season, anyone?

Second Round of Cuts, Javy Retires

The Braves cut Javy Lopez and six other players today from their Spring Training roster, prompting Javy to announce his retirement and end his comeback bid.  Bobby Cox revealed that Javy lost the battle for the backup catcher position because his arm wasn’t strong enough.  Cox spoke with the catcher about starting the season in the minors, but Javy decided against it and announced his retirement.

Fans will be disappointed to see Javy go - his seasons in the late 90s with Atlanta will be remembered as his prime, when he consistently made the All Star team and put together a reputation based on his offensive firepower.  He’ll retire with a .287 average, 260 home runs, and 864 RBIs.  Javy, thanks for the great seasons from 1992 through 2003.

Also cut from the roster today were outfield prospect Jordan Schafer, Brandon Jones, Ryan Drese, Jorge Campillo, Francisley Bueno, and of course the woeful Jo-Jo Reyes.  None of these are very surprising - they all need more work before they can compete at the big league level.  We’ll hope the bad spring won’t discourage Jo-Jo Reyes, who has potential but cannot for the life of him put together a decent string of outings.  We’ll see Schafer here next year (or towards the end of the year) for sure.  Brandon Jones is talented but needs more patience at the plate before he’s ready.

On we move through spring training - we’ll have more on cuts as they come.

Jurrjens, Smoltz Hit Hard Saturday

The split-squad games aren’t turning out so well for the Braves thus far. Saturday half the team faced the Tampa Bay Rays in Smoltz’s spring debut. The other half faced the Houston Astros.

vs. Rays:

Smoltz started the game - his first this spring - in fine form, keeping the Rays scoreless over four innings. Then things got weird. He gave up five runs in the fifth inning. The Braves answered with three in the 7th, but gave up five more in the 8th. Despite a 7 run 8th inning for the Braves, the Rays scored another run to top the Braves 11-10.  Rafael Soriano also had his spring debut in this game, allowing two singles to start the sixth and then retiring the side.  Corky Miller contributed a grand-slam from the offensive side of things.

vs. Astros:

Jair Jurrjens, our favorite #5 pitcher, came out yesterday and showed us he’s human.  After a 1.00 ERA before his start, he gave up four hits and four runs in 2 2/3s innings.  The rest of the game wasn’t much to write home about either, as Drese gave up five runs in two innings and Jorge Campillo gave up six in just two-thirds of an inning’s work.  Offensively Javy contributed two RBIs and Jordan Schafer put one RBI up, but they were 1-3 and 1-5, respectively.

Next Up:

Tom Glavine starts for Atlanta against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday at 1:05 PM.  Here’s hoping he stays out of first-inning trouble.

Braves Beat Cards 3-1

The Braves beat the Cardinals Monday behind a very strong outing by Jair Jurrjens, who gave up one hit in four scoreless innings. He walked one, struck out one, and continued to keep most of his pitches low in the zone on his way to his second win of the preseason.  And the hit he gave up?  He immediately picked the runner off first. The Braves didn’t have a particularly strong offensive day, but in the first, Jordan Schafer doubled and Mark Kotsay singled him in for an RBI to get the Braves on the board early.

The rest of the afternoon was semi-uneventful.  Royce Ring and Ryan Drese each had a scoreless outing, and Matt DeSalvo gave up an earned run in the 8th.  Brian McCann added an RBI of his own in the bottom of the first.

Jordan Schafer looks good this spring - his .389 average shows his consistency and ability to bat.  On the other hand, Javy Lopez had a good day - hitting a solo home run in his only at-bat.  He’s had some issues - hitting only .214 so far this preseason.  I read earlier today on AJC that he’s showing up around 7 AM to take early batting practice and says he’s thinking too much.  I think we’ll see Javy make some adjustments in the next week or so.

Cox offered some praise for Jurrjens after the game with the following comment:

“He’s very impressive. For his age and his limited amount of experience, he’s a professional pitcher out there.”

Next up, we have Tom Glavine pitching against the Nationals tomorrow night at 7:05 PM.  Moylan plans to pitch an inning as well.

Braves Drop Split-Squad Pair

The Braves fell in both games of their split-squad pair Saturday to the Astros and the Reds.  The Astros downed the Braves 7-4 while the Reds issued a 13-8 beating as well.  Here are quick recaps of both games that saw a few highlights and exposed a few issues for the Braves:

Game 1 - Braves 4, Astros 7
Jo-Jo Reyes tooks the mound in the first half of the split-squad pair, fighting to earn a spot in the Atlanta rotation.  At quick glance, his numbers on the day weren’t too bad.  Pitched 2 innings of no-hit ball and struck out 4 (striking out the side in the 2nd inning).  But Reyes also issued 5 walks and brought a run home on a bases-loaded balk that saw him tripping on the mound and, while falling, delivering the ball only about halfway to the plate.

Blain Boyer continued to impress, pitching scoreless 3rd and 4th innings, while giving up only 1 hit.  The Braves gave up an additional 3 runs in the top of the 9th, bringing the score to 7-2.  The 2 runs scored in the bottom of 9th, on a Brandon Hicks homerun, weren’t enough to overcome the deficit and the Braves fell 7-4.  In a highlight however, Yunel Escobar continued his amazing hitting of the preseason, going 2-3 with his 3rd double of the preseason.  He’s now batting .545 (12-22) with 15 total bases.  Chipper Jones also went 2-3 in his 4th preseason appearance, extending his preseason average to .600 (6-10).

Game 2 - Braves 8, Reds 13
The Reds continually beat up on the Braves in the second game of the split-squad pair, posting runs in 5 of the 8 innings in which they came to the plate.  Additionally, the Braves didn’t help themselves too much in this matchup, donating 5 unearned runs to the Reds.

Buddy Carlyle made the start for the Braves, still fighting at an outside shot of a starting rotation job though I think we’ll see him in a long reliever role instead.  The Reds jumped on Carlyle, who had previously retired all 12 batters he had faced in the preseason, early on, chalking 3 runs on the board in the 1st inning.  Carlyle also gave up a solo homerun to Brandon Phillips in the 3rd, ending his day pitching 3 innings, striking out 3 and giving up 6 hits and 4 runs.  With the help of a Diory Hernandez two-run homer in the top of the 4th, however, the Braves led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the 4th.

Jeff Bennett took over on the hill from Carlyle, giving up 5 runs on 3 hits over the next two innings, giving him the loss for the day.  Charlie Morton came on to give up 4 runs [on 1 hit] in the 6th before Phil Stockman and Vladimir Nunez each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the game.  The Braves offense tried to keep up, with the help of 2 RBIs from both Jordan Schafer and Martin Prado, but it was not enough to make up for the 5 unearned runs and the Braves fell 13-8.

Next up, Tim Hudson kicks off a 4-game preseason homestand for the Braves, facing off against the Cardinals.  Look to see last season’s dominant setup man, Peter Moylan, make an appearance to test the soreness in his right elbow.

Braves Fall to Mets in 10

It’s painful to write, but the Braves lost to the Mets in 10 innings earlier today.  Atlanta rallied and tied the game 2-2 in the 8th, but New York scored in the bottom of the 10th to take it.  Some quick highlights from the game:

• Charlie Morton and Blaine Boyer both looked strong, each pitching two innings.  They each gave up one hit and struck out one.  Morton walked two, but neither pitcher gave up a run.
• Jo-Jo Reyes gave up 2 hits (both in the first inning), allowing Angel Pagan to score on a Ramon Castro stand-up triple.
• Jordan Schafer had two hits and scored a run (off of a Matt Diaz single) to put the Braves on the scoreboard in the 4th inning.  He also hit a sacrifice fly in the 8th to tie the game at 2 runs a piece.  Schafer’s now batting .444 in the preseason.
• Mets starting pitcher, Mike Pelfrey pitched 3 scoreless innings to start the game, allowing only 2 hits.
• Matt DeSalvo pitched hitless 8th and 9th innings for the Braves to allow the game to go into extra innings.

So there you have it.  Not a powerful offensive showing by either team, but a good chance to look through the pitching staff to see what we have coming down the pipeline.  A hard-fought game into extra innings, despite being a loss, lets us know that baseball season is truly on its way.