No Griffey….Now What?

Written by Kent on February 20, 2009 – 8:00 am

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?


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Outfield Update

Written by Colin on February 12, 2009 – 12:47 pm

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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Odds and Ends

Written by Colin on February 11, 2009 – 8:42 am

Time for an odds n’ ends post – kind of a an overview of what’s going on in the Braves’ world.

Bobby Abreu appears to be near a deal with the Angels and the Braves are now rumored to be looking more seriously at either Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady. Yes, we’d need to trade for them, but the Braves need an outfielder, and that may be necessary. Swisher may be the leading candidate due to his longer contract, actually, as well as his ability to play first as well as all outfield positions. His contract is worth somewhere north of $22M over 3 seasons, though. Some players are reported to feel Nady is the better fit, though he’d be a one-year rental. This could go either way.

Jordan Schafer reported to spring training yesterday, according to our very own Rue Grant, who has been keeping in touch with Schafer recently. Jordan is eager to prove he belongs on the big league team and I think we’ll see a good show from Schafer – I wouldn’t be surprised to see him starting some this spring.

Tom Glavine and the Braves meet today and Glav hopes that the Braves increase their offer – said to be $1.5M +some incentives. I don’t think we’ll see that number change much, though it may change a little bit. Rumor has it that Glavine would like to make $5-6M after incentives, and I don’t see that happening, especially when our priority still seems to be a power bat in the outfield.

Tim Hudson is two months into a throwing program and all is going well. He hopes to return to the team in August. He’s cautious about pushing his limits, but he’s also optimistic about returning in August with no problems.

Obviously there’s more info on everything out there except Schafer going to camp, so go read up if you want to find out more. More to come as we hear it – here’s hoping we get a power bat in left field soon!


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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 :)


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