Gotay In, Thorman Out

March 28, 2008 – 6:15 pm

Our least favorite backup, Scott Thorman, cleared waivers this afternoon and has been assigned to AAA Richmond.  Thorman had a bit of a disappointing spring and apparently had no value to any other team.  At all.  He was out there for free today and nobody wanted him.  So what are we still doing with him?

In other news, much to the chagrin of our Mets friends over at The ‘Ropolitans and MetsMerized, we picked up Ruben Gotay off the waiver wire.  He’s a switch hitting infielder with experience at 2B, SS, and 3B.  Now I’m not sure why we picked him up as we have Prado, Lillibridge, and Infante as possible backups in the infield, but his versatility and offensive potential probably led the Braves to believe he’ll be a better backup then, say, Infante.

Jair Jurrjens has been appointed the starter for Wednesday’s game against the Pirates, but he hasn’t been told he’s made the team yet officially.  Jair, I think it’s safe to say you’re on the team.

Speaking of Jair, I’m off to watch him pitch tonight’s exhibition game against the Indians.  More after the game.


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Posted in Roster Moves | 2 Comments »

Trade Rumors Circle Optionless Players

March 25, 2008 – 10:19 am

Frank Wren let loose this past weekend with a couple interesting tidbits regarding roster options heading into the season.  Firstly, there are trade talks surrounding many of the out of options players.  Secondly, the Braves have the payroll flexibility to add a player with a $3-4 million if necessary.  This puts us in a good position as Bobby and Frank finalize the 25-man roster.

Wren has said that teh Braves will take whatever player is the best fit for the team, and shop the other players around.  If the Braves don’t trade their out of options players, they’ll likely lose them on the waiver wire with no compensation.  What do other teams want with our leftovers?  Let’s break it down by player:

Brayan Pena

Corky Miller looks to be the favorite to win the backup catcher position, leaving Pena without a place.  He’s a switch hitter and can play first and third as well as outfield, which will make him in demand and valuable to other organizations.

Scott Thorman

Thorman has at times shown power potential that is interesting to some teams.  I’m really not sure what we’d be able to get for him - he’s not been very successful (putting it lightly) in his time in the big leagues, not to mention this spring.  He’s hitting .140 this spring.

The bullpen is congested - seven spots are available, but five of them appear to be spoken for.  Soriano, Moylan, Acosta, Bennett, and Ohman appear to be locks.  This leaves Blaine Boyer, Royce Ring, Chris Resop, and Tyler Yates competing for two spots.  Ridgway will likely get sent to AAA as he still has options left.  Boyer and Resop have been impressive and likely are the leaders for the last two spots (Resop has averaged a strikeout per inning, and Boyer has a 2.25 ERA in seven outings).  This leaves Yates and Ring.

Tyler Yates

Yates has been unimpressive so far this spring.  He’s walked 10 in 7 innings.  He’s also given up 7 hits.  But he’s a steady arm and will likely settle down once the season is moving.  For a team that needs depth in the bullpen, he could be an important addition.

Royce Ring

Royce Ring has immediate value to many bullpens because he’s a lefty, and left-handed specialists are in short supply.  This is the same reason the Braves may keep him - if they want another lefty to join Ohman, they may not want to wait for Mike Gonzalez to get healthy mid-season.  We’ll see what happens - he’d be useful to a lot of teams out there.

For one, I appreciate that the Braves are leaving enough room in their finances to be able to spend money going into the season.  I also appreciate that Wren isn’t just going to ship our guys through waivers and hope they make it to the minors.  We won’t know the magnitude of the goings on until the trigger is pulled on the trades, but as we hear it, we’ll report it.


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Posted in Roster Moves, Speculation | 4 Comments »

Yunel Slams Braves Past Phils, 9-1

March 14, 2008 – 5:31 pm

Royce Ring took the hill for the Braves today after a rain-threatened game caused Bobby Cox to pull Tim Hudson from the starting role.  To prevent Hudson from losing pitching time after rain shortened batting practice, Cox instead scheduled him to pitch a simulated game.  Ring pitched two innings, giving up a run on a solo home run to Greg Dobbs.  Five other Braves pitchers finished off the game, only allowing the Phillies a combined 3 hits.  Peter Moylan pitched a hitless inning and continues to look strong while easing back into the bullpen lineup.

The Braves got on the board early and strongly in the game.  With two outs and the bases loaded in the 2nd inning, Yunel Escobar continued his hot-hitting preseason with a grand slam, his first home run of the preseason.  Scott Thorman added a 3-run home run of his own in the third inning to top off the Braves scoring for the day.  Neither team touched the scoreboard after the 3rd inning.

Some quick notes from the game:  Escobar is now batting .516 on the preseason (16-31).  Brent Lillibridge was hit by two pitches.  Brandon Jones added 2 RBIs to his preseason total with a 2nd inning single.

The Braves face off with the Astros and the Rays in a split-squad pair tomorrow.  John Smoltz will make his preseason debut for the Braves in the home matchup against the Rays and is expected to pitch 5 innings.  Closer Rafael Soriano will make his first preseason as well against the Rays.  Jair Jurrjens will start the road game versus the Astros.


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Posted in Game Analysis | 1 Comment »

Braves Down Cardinals 12-5

March 9, 2008 – 10:01 pm

Tim Hudson was strong in his start today against the St. Louis Cardinals.  Though he gave up two unearned runs, he only gave up 3 hits in four innings.  Scott Thorman led the offensive charge with 4 RBIs and a three run homer.  Matt Diaz helped out as well with three hits in three at-bats, with 1 RBI.  Josh Anderson, fighting for an outfield slot, helped his case with a two for five effort, knocking in three runs and tacking on a stolen base.

Backing up Hudson, Peter Moylan pitched an inning to test out his elbow soreness - and did a great job, striking out one in a perfect inning.  Manny Acosta closed the game out with a scoreless inning, and Chris Resop contributed two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, giving up two hits.

We’ll continue our Yunel Escobar soapbox by mentioning his 1-3 effort with one run scored.  That leaves him at a petty .520 batting average this preseason.  Another one of our favorite infield prospects, Brent Lillibridge, continued to impress with  one hit and an RBI after taking over for Chipper at third base.  If you don’t know about Lillibridge, look him up.  He came to Atlanta, along with Mike Gonzalez, from the Pirates in exchange for Adam LaRoche, and he’s a good prospect at that.

Next up is the Cardinals again - with Jair Jurrjens hoping to continue his very impressive start.  We’ll keep a close eye on the game and keep you updated.


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Posted in Game Analysis | 1 Comment »

Mailbag: On Scott Thorman

February 27, 2008 – 8:13 am

Lisa wrote the mailbag and asked:

I just read on mlb.com that Scott Thorman has to fight for his roster spot this year. Who could beat him for the position? I realize Teixeira would start but what about the back up?

There are a couple issues at play here, Lisa. First off, Thorman is out of options - this means that the Braves can’t send him straight to the minors. He would have to clear waivers first, where any team could claim him. But that’s only an issue if he can’t make the team straight out of spring training.

He’s certainly the leading candidate for the position, and the only candidate with big league experience. I think it’s a long-shot that he won’t take the backup role, personally, and I’ll explain why by mentioning some of the other alternatives.

Carlos Mendez - AAA Richmond, 33 years old. Played in 82 games in 2007, batted .278 with 6 HRs and 35 RBIs.

Graham Koonce - AAA Richmond, 32 years old. Played in 58 games in 2007, batted .224 with 10 HRs and 42 RBIs.

Barbaro Canizares - AAA Richmond, 27 years old. Played in 49 games in 2007, batting .344 with 3 HRs and 34 RBIs in 163 at-bats.

As you can see, none of these three guys are blowing pitchers away. You’ve also never heard of them, unless you’re from Richmond or in their extended family. That should tell you something - they’re not the biggest prospects in the Braves organization.

As our staff discussed the options today, we can’t see anyone but Thorman backing up Teixeira this year. There aren’t any better alternatives, Thorman has no options left and we doubt he’d clear waivers. Add in the fact that Thorman has some pretty decent big league experience, and we think he’s the man for the job. His qualifications beat out anyone else soundly.

Unless we want to re-sign the ageless Julio Franco.


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Posted in Mailbag | 3 Comments »

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