Injures mounting early | Braves | ajc.com
Maybe they just have too many muscles or something. Anyway, Eli Marrero is back with the team, and there’s a good chance he’ll start in right field Wednesday. They have a couple days to determine if Mike Hessman will be sent down or if someone’s going on the DL.
Hey, at least DeWayne Wise isn’t leading off. Oh yeah, you already covered that. Sorry.
All these injuries are really bringing to light the glairing defficiency that is our Bench. Eli Marrerro’s return will be much welcomed, mainly because it will send Mike Hessman on his way back to richmond. I’d like it if we had a major league caliber Utility infielder to replace Jesse Garcia(who has done alright) and a productive left handed bat to replace Wise, these guys just aren’t going to be enough. With so many inexperienced starters we need veterans on the bench.
Garcia is a “veteran” on the bench and he still stinks. Blanco was a “veteran” last year, and we all know how bad he was. What we need are some good players on the bench, not more veterans.
In all due respect james, you are an idiot. I did not merely state that we needed to acquire “veterans” but said we needed a “major league caliber Utility infielder” and a “productive left handed bat to replace Wise.” You make it sound as if I said “anyone over 28 will be a good replacement for these inadequate players.” Furthermore ” Garcia a “veteran” “?!! A minor league veteran perhaps. I wouldn’t call a player who headed into this season with 122 AB under his belt a veteran.
The frustrating thing is, the Braves have the makings of a fine bench:
1) Demote Wise once Marrero is activated.
2) Demote Garcia and bring up Betemit.
3) Demote Hessman and bring up Branyan.
Step 1 is assured–the only question is whether Wise or Hessman will be sent down. I believe it’s sink-or-swim time for Betemit. If I were Cox, I’d install him at 3B–at the very least you can showcase him for a trade.
Branyan can contribute in a platoon role (although he has a rather extreme reverse split, which I didn’t realize until this writing) if he can hit even .250.
Suddenly, the Braves have a bench of:
Franco or LaRoche
Marrero
Eddie Perez
2 from the group of Betemit, DeRosa, and Branyan
Voila. One of the deepest benches in the league, and at the very questionable expense of a few DeRosa at bats. Is it me, or is this just too obvious?
walter dude,
You said: With so many inexperienced starters we need veterans on the bench.
I agree with your post and didn’t mean to upset you, I’m just simply saying that we need good players and they may not necessarily be veterans.
If we had all 24 year olds who could hit some, that would be fine with me.
“In all due respect james, you are an idiot.”
Definitely the quote of the day! I love it when people say “With all due respect..” and then say something ignorant and disrespectful! James, you are an idiot (for reasons I do not understand, seems to have something to do with commenting on Walter’s contradictory post) but don’t worry man, because Walter respects the hell out of you.
Branyan hitting .250 is like Andruw learning how to not strike out. Isn’t gonna happen.
I’d like it if we had a major league caliber Utility infielder to replace Jesse Garcia
We do. He just happens to be starting at third base…
You’re right, Branyan probably won’t hit .250. In fact, I’ll take back what I said about him yesterday. I was relying on Baseball Prospectus’ raves about our signing him, along with their rants about his demotion.
But looking at the numbers, Branyan has seemed to settle into the role of a slightly-below-average offensive player who fields three positions badly, and whose taste in hatwear tends toward the golden sombrero.
Hessman is the same type of player, but a couple of years younger, so why not keep him. I’ll stand by Betemit, though. Once Marte is ready there will be no place for Betemit to play, so now is the time. It’s a joke that Jesse Garcia is starting at SS while Furcal is hurt. (By the way, Garcia is 30 years old and in his 12th year of organized baseball–he’s a veteran)
Well, Hessman hits righty and Branyan lefty. If nothing else, swapping them would get rid of the Wise rationale.
True–that’s what I was thinking at first. But then I looked at Branyan’s platoon splits. Despite batting lefty, his 2001-2003 OPS v LHP is 937, v RHP is 752.
Not bad numbers all in all, and you could definitely make a case for having him on the ML roster. But he’s been trending downward somewhat, and has old-player skills. I guess my position now is that Cox’s philosophy on roster makeup (read: Eddie Perez or Alfonseca), precludes Branyan joining the team.
I think Branyan will be with the club by June 1. It is reported that his contract states he’s either with the big club by June 1 or he can make himself a FA (something like Glynn’s contract last year).
I thought the Branyan signing was a good one and I end to like stat heads, but if the folks over at BP think that the Braves sent the next Jimmy Foxx down to Richmond, they need to get their heads straight.
Branyan is probably a better option than Hessman. He probably doesn’t field as well as Hessman, but that’s not what Branyan is about. He’d be a nice LH bat off the bench who could play four positions in a double switch (1B, 3B, LF, RF). I think thrusting him into a platoon role would pretty much be lunacy, which is not to say that DeRosa is the answer either.
I always liked Hessman’s potential and held out the greatest of hopes for him, but it appears he isn’t going to pan out in Atlanta.
I don’t have any trouble with Wise. In fact, I think he’s an upgrade from Bragg. If there’s a problem here, it’s that both Garcia and Wise are limited and on a short bench, you probably need a bit more diversity. It would be better if one of these guys were “really good” at something as opposed to being merely adequate bench guys.
We can’t leave discussion of Franco (as much as I love him) out of this either. On a short bench, it’s really hard to have a guy (other than the back-up catcher) who can only play one position. Franco is worthy of being with the club, but his lack of versatility makes the task of bringing increased quality to the bench that much more difficult.
I agree with the suggestion that we should play Betemit at third. I can’t imagine what another year in the minors will do for him and his trade value is too low. Obviously, the point about Marte is valid as well. I think we should gamble with him, what’s the worst that could happen?