Braves Down Yanks In Game 1

Written by Jonathan on June 23, 2009 – 10:51 pm

Tommy Hanson improved his record to 3-0 since being called up to the bigs and the Braves recorded their second shutout in a row tonight against the visiting New York Yankees.

Sparked by a 3-run third inning with a 2-RBI double from Garret Anderson and a solo home run from Brian McCann in the 8th, the Braves shut down the Yankees 4-0, issuing only 4 hits.

The game wasn’t without tense moments however, with Tommy Hanson and Peter Moylan both working out of some jams with runners in scoring position.  Let’s hope this is a good sign for the Braves when the Yankees series continues tomorrow and we can put together a much-needed win streak.

Tags: New York Yankees, Tommy Hanson
Posted in Game Analysis | 12746 Comments »http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/06/23/braves-down-yanks-in-game-1/Braves+Down+Yanks+In+Game+12009-06-24+03%3A51%3A53Jonathan

Abreu or Dunn? (Or Swisher/Nady?)

Written by Colin on February 3, 2009 – 9:02 am

Whom should the Braves pursue and sign? Adam Dunn or Bobby Abreu?

Both would fit in well and fill the need (a bat providing a little bit of power in the outfield). That said, there are a couple of other options – being Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher, both of whom we’d have to trade for (and send people to the Yankees, no less). And you ask, what about Andruw Jones? Is he still an option? Today I attempt to answer all of those questions (and more).

Overall, I think that Abreu fits the bill best. What’s the bill? An outfielder with a powerful bat that can play one season in our outfield before we’re absolutely swamped with the next wave of young Braves prospects to the point where we’d be stupid to pay someone else to play outfield. Abreu is older – he can fill the need without costing too much – and he’s most likely to be cool with a one year contract.

Dunn flat out costs too much. He’s asking $14M, and though some people think he could be grabbed for $10M/year, I think he’s more likely to get a multi-year deal. Sure, he’s more powerful (40 HR his last 5 seasons),  but we flat out don’t have the money for Dunn. Dunn and Done. I just am not going to give him any more consideration – even at $10M we can’t afford him.

Nady just signed a one year, $6.55M deal with the Yankees – so the Braves would have to trade for him AND pay his salary – something I don’t see us doing with an outfielder like Abreu on the free agent market. For a little less money than Nady, we can get someone with very comparable numbers – a couple more homers and doubles, sure, but fewer RBIs. Nady would give us a little bit of flexibility as he plays first base too, but we’re not looking for a first baseman.

Nick Swisher comes with a more long-term commitment than the Braves are looking for right now. He makes $5.3M this year, $6.75M next, and $9M in 2011. Why do that when in three years we could have potentially an outfield of Francoeur, Schafer, and Heyward? I just don’t see us trading for a player that would be around that long – not to mention Swisher is coming off a season where he hit .219 with 25 HRs. Yikes – we don’t need another Andruw Jones.

Similarly, we don’t need Andruw Jones himself. Andruw won’t take a minor league contract, both he and Boras have indicated – and even if we give him a minimum salary contract, there’s no guarantee we’ll see him fight his way onto the roster. I’d point out that bringing him back this year seems like it’d be a lot like bringing back Javy Lopez last year. May bring more people out to Spring Training games, but is that really the point?

I think that we’re most likely to see Abreu in Atlanta, but what do I know? Argue me wrong

Tags: Adam Dunn, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Braves outfield rumors, Bobby Abreu, New York Yankees, Nick Swisher, Xavier Nady
Posted in Speculation | 61645 Comments »http://www.bravesblast.com/2009/02/03/abreu-or-dunn-swisher-nady/Abreu+or+Dunn%3F+%28Or+Swisher%2FNady%3F%292009-02-03+14%3A02%3A25Colin

Burnett To Yankees…Now What?

Written by Jonathan on December 12, 2008 – 8:03 pm

It seems that Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and the Yankees have it out for the Braves this offseason.  As part of their $243.5 million thus-far shopping spree, the Yankees have now added AJ Burnett to their rotation, just shortly after signing CC Sabathia.  Burnett and the Yankees agreed to terms on a five-year, $82.5 million offer, pending a physical and some other small terms.

The real question is, where does this leave the Braves in the pursuit to find pitching this offseason.  So far, extended discussions for a trade with the Padres for Jake Peavy have not panned out.  Then the Yankees outbid us for the services of Burnett.  So what do we do about an ace at this point?  I can’t even begin to figure out what the 2009 rotation looks like at this point in time.

It appears the next logical pursuit for Frank Wren would be Derek Lowe.  But wait, the Yankees have apparently moved on to pursue Lowe now as well.  Maybe I’m the only one that thinks the Yankees just have too much money to throw at players…..actually, no I’m not.  Everyone that’s not a Yankees fan thinks that.

I was planning on using this evening to put together a recap post about Winter Meetings but I think this news story pretty much sums it up.  The Braves need starting pitching….badly….the end.  So where do we go from here, Braves fans?  Things are starting to look a little grim on the 2009 front and it’s still December.

Tags: A.J. Burnett, Derek Lowe, Jake Peavy, New York Yankees, Winter Meetings, Yankees Suck
Posted in General | 4587 Comments »http://www.bravesblast.com/2008/12/12/burnett-to-yankeesnow-what/Burnett+To+Yankees...Now+What%3F2008-12-13+00%3A03%3A41Jonathan