There is no reason to think that this is going to happen, except that the Braves are always supposed to be interested in Scott Sullivan, and they trade with the Royals a lot:
Braves get Scott Sullivan, Matt Stairs
Royals get Wilson Betemit, Kelly Johnson, Buddy Hernandez
What do you think?
Can someone please explain something to me? What’s the deal with Russ Branyan??? He was a brave for a while and they let him go!!! Come on, man. Branyan is good enough to be our everyday OF, especially in a homer-lacking lineup. Russ Branyan is a STUD and this could be the most serious mistake the Braves ever made…the Brew Crew put him in clean up…now watch Branyan hit 20 dingers the rest of this season!!! JS is dumb dumb dumb
even better…Branyan plays 1B, 3B and OF….are u kidding me??? He is DEFINETELY better than la roche and franco
Why would we want Matt Stairs?
For that matter, why would we want Scott Sullivan? He might be a marginal improvement over Reitsma, but then again, he might not.
And you’re overpaying. The Royals are desperate for corner outfielders; Johnson and Hernandez ought to be enough.
Sullivan and Stairs aren’t much these days, but it’s basically three guys we will never use for a couple of guys who might be useful. I guess it would be ok.
In a heartbeat.
Sounds good to me. Pop for the bench and a replacement for Gryboski (oh well it is nice to wish)
I think Buddy could outpitch Sullivan and needs a shot. I think Betemit’s ISO has taken a nice jump this year so there may yet be hope. I think we already have a stairs, aka julio. not similar power clearly, but similar rate stats this year. Hopefully they move on to something better.
Where are MY posts??
MS, if you aren’t signed into TypeKey, I have to approve the comments, and I was in transit. Again, I don’t like it, but I’ve deleted a couple hundred pieces of spam the last week and really don’t want to have deal with it.
The question isn’t if Stairs can outhit Julio, it’s if he can outdo LaRoche. The latter’s been doing better lately but he’s still not great. And even if he can’t, Stairs would give them a much-needed lefty bat for the bench.
Sullivan would be a whole lot better than Gryboski.
As for Hernandez, the Braves obviously have no intention of ever giving him a shot. Hey, they’ve exposed him to the Rule 5 draft two years running. The Royals have shown signs of wanting to play Moneyball, and if they don’t they have those A’s connections. Remember, the A’s drafted Buddy two years ago, and they have bullpen problems.
I’m aware of the problem with Buddy, I just wish they would give him a shot. at the very least to show why he can’t do the big leagues so I can shut up.
As for the julio comparison, I was just looking at his splits this year. He’s done quite well against the right side this year. But yeah, I made a mistake. Still don’t find much interest in Stairs at his age. It might be the only thing they can do with the salary situation.
A lot of people were ready to toss Andruw over the side in the proposed Ordonez deal. Those people look really dumb right about now.
Andruw will probably wind up with the same numbers he always does. And he’ll frustrate us all the way. He’s eerily consistent despite all the inconsistency.
Trading Andruw (as has been suggested) while trying to win this year makes no sense. Among all ML CFs, Andruw is 6th in OPS:
Edmonds 1007
Burnitz 974
Beltran 916
Damon 874
Griffey 862
Andruw 855
Kotsay 847
Finley 844
Of those above him, Griffey will never be rid of his hamstring problems, Burnitz is a brutal defensive CF with an 800 road OPS (an even better gauge of performance, as it minimizes park factors), and Damon’s road OPS is 834. Andruw’s road OPS is 900, and then of course there’s his defense, which is superior to Kotsay (road OPS 773, lifetime OPS 765). Finley is 39.
So what you have in Andruw is the third best CF in baseball. I admit that his caught stealings and DPs bring his value down a bit. But I don’t understand the perception that he loafs. Yes, I’ve seen him run at less than full speed on routine plays to first, but I see A LOT of players do that. Who leaves his feet to make a play in the outfield more often than Andruw? And his performance with runners in scoring position is not as bad as is often claimed (804 OPS).
If someone said your center fielder would bat .260 this year, you’d say so what? Guys like that grow on trees. But then add that he would hit (projected) 47 doubles, 7 triples, 26 home runs, and play Gold Glove center field, and don’t you think you could win with a guy like that?
Except for tonight with the bases loaded and one out with that little dribbler to third. There’s certainly enough statistical evidence to support that he’s a dangerous hitter, but my eyes keep telling me otherwise. I’d be supportive of trading Andruw in the offseason to get prospects and someone like Corey Patterson who would offer minimal offensive drop-off. What you get in return is about $11 million to invest in more bullpen arms since Smoltz is not likely to stick around or more money to re-sign J.D. who is probably the more valuable of the two. Andruw’s just not the game-breaker that his salary suggests. Come playoff time, what you get from Andruw and Patterson would really be about the same. Andruw has a way of inflating his stats with streaky play and hitting well against lesser pitchers in low-pressure situations. When the games really count and the stud pitchers are towing the rubber, players like Andruw (and Branyan for that matter) become easy outs.
I’ll let JS worry about what moves need to be made for now. I’m not convinced that he’s quite the idiot he’s often made out to be.
D’oh! I was meaning to start my last post with this excerpt:
his performance with runners in scoring position is not as bad as is often claimed (804 OPS).
Come playoff time, what you get from Andruw and Patterson would really be about the same. Andruw has a way of inflating his stats with streaky play and hitting well against lesser pitchers in low-pressure situations. When the games really count and the stud pitchers are towing the rubber, players like Andruw (and Branyan for that matter) become easy outs.
And not a single shread of evidence to back up any of these assertions. It’s just weird the way people have turned on Andruw. He’s one of the best CF in baseball and is paid like it. He’s part of the solution, not the problem.
I agree with Boyd. I’m not a stat freak so maybe it’s true there is no statistical evidence. It’s certainly my impression that Andruw is the guy the other team wants to pitch to in critical situations because they know he will swing at bad pitches and get himself out. I wouldn’t mind his streakiness if it was six weeks on and six weeks off, but it’s generally more like a 3 games red hot and two weeks with nothing. Someone mentioned the other day, why have Estrada hitting in front of Andruw. I think it’s because Andruw is a better hitter when he is farther down in the order and has less pressure to produce. I continue to stress that Andruw is being paid, not like one of the best CFs in baseball, but as one of the best PLAYERS in baseball and he is NOT. He takes up too much payroll for a seventh place hitter. I’m not saying he is a bad player, but he is getting paid like a superstar which he is not. And this affects the team’s ability to improve.
nyb, I see your point. It would be lot easier to support my argument with verifiable facts rather than opinion and speculation which is what most of that was. But as someone who has watched and rooted for Andruw since his debut (he was the first MLB player that was actually younger than me, btw) I’ve just gotten used to the idea that he’s not going to become a much better player than he already is. And he is a fine player, mind you. Here’s the stat that concerns me though: of all the CFs listed in sansho’s post, Andruw is the highest paid…by a good $3.2 million! How much will he be worth when he finally has his “breakout” year? And when was the last time any of those other guys’ managers–not their batting coaches–had to pull them aside for a special hitting clinic? Right now I’m just one of those who thinks that we can get more for him and from his salary than we are currently getting from him.
Andruw is the highest paid…by a good $3.2 million! How much will he be worth when he finally has his “breakout” year?
I certainly see your point. I don’t agree with it, but I understand what your getting at. Here are the relavent numbers for me:
Year GP OPS+
1998 159 114
1999 162 118
2000 161 126
2001 161 96
2002 154 129
2003 156 121
So you got a guy who plays a premium position at a very high level, rarely if ever misses a game, and whose offense is a real good bet to be at least 20 percent better than league average. To me, that’s a guy worth paying a premium for.
Two things make Andruw more valuable than you might think. The first is that he has been exceptionally healthy, so the Braves never get stuck running out a Darren Bragg clone to play CF for thirty games a year. The second is – even though he looks like a free swinger up there – he will take a walk. The fact that he is on pace to draw 86 walks this year would seem to refute your idea that pitchers don’t mind pitching to him.