Late July may be too late, guys.
The Braves lost again, and are six games below .500 for the first time since 1990. They were held to four hits. They were down 5-0 after four innings. When it looked like they might have a chance to at least put some runs on the board with two out in the ninth, Bobby sent Hessman up to pinch-hit. Guess what? He struck out on a curveball in the left-handed batter’s box. Again!
Offensively, there was none. Starting pitching? None. The relief wasn’t so bad for once, Cruz pitching two scoreless innings and Travis Smith somehow going 1 1/3 without giving up a homer. The Braves have two long relievers, by the way. What does that tell you about their current situation?
John Thomson gave up five runs in four innings, all scoring via the longball — solo shots in each of the first two and a three-run backbreaker in the fourth. His ERA is creeping towards five.
Bright side, bright side… Well, Cruz, I guess, though he gave up three hits. He did strike out two. Julio, Andruw, and Marrero all had one hit and one walk. I guess that’s something.
I still can’t get confirmation, but DeWayne Wise was apparently put on the DL. Charles Thomas was supposed to start in left, but didn’t arrive by the start of the game.
Check the Atlanta transactions page on MLB.com.
My name is Johnny and I’m a spoiled Braves fan. Just thought I’d start my chant for Used to a Championship Caliber Team Anonymous.
So, if you are John Schuerholz, do you look at your core and try to build on it or do you blow up the team and start over? The Braves don’t have a history paying parts of contracts to dump salary so I think that Smoltz, Chip and Andruw are virtually untradeable in this market. So that leaves Ortiz, Drew, Furcal and Wright as our most tradeable players. If Schuerholz is smart he’ll recognize Giles as untouchable.
I’m trying very hard to be the glass is 1/10th full guy now. Team wide offensive slumps happen, but part of me says that by the time the bats wake up we’ll be out of it.
Charles Thomas?
I doubt that JS will just tear the team down. I think he will try to get younger and cheaper, although, as Johnny points out, they have a lot of guys that will be hard to trade. If they are 8-10 games out by the All-Star break, I think someone will go. They would like to get rid of Hampton but that’s not going to happen unless JS has some incriminating photos of another GM. I still think Smoltz is the one guy who can bring real value and, while the Braves don’t typically assume contracts, they might have no choice in this case. On the other hand, because of the availability of the wild card, if the Braves can stay on the fringe of contention, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him bring someone here, although it’s not likely to be a major deal, given the financial constraints.