Farnsworth came up as a starter with the Cubs in 1999, but wasn’t really suited to the role and drifted into the bullpen. We was terrific as their lead setup man in 2001, awful in 2002, pretty good in 2003-04, but ran afoul of Dusty Baker and was run out of town to Detroit, for nothing much. He’s pitched very well there and took over the closing duties of late.
He might have the best arm in major league baseball. Him or Billy Wagner. He throws routinely in the 98-100 MPH range, and at times has been an excellent reliever. But he’s got a real million-dollar-head, ten-cent-brain problem. He never got along with Baker, but that’s no surprise since few do. He’s currently awaiting a seven-game suspension for a fight he provoked. He appealed it, which might have knocked his value down.
What pushed his value up is an outstanding season he’s having with the Tigers, where he’s thrown 42 2/3 innings with a 2.32 ERA, striking out 55 and walking 20. There are some park effects there: his home ERA is 1.57, his road ERA 3.20. He’s allowed only one home run this season. He’s not this good, but he’s a good pitcher.
It remains to be seen if he closes or is the eighth-inning guy. I think Reitsma has pitched too well to lose the closer job. JS says it is Bobby’s decision.
If Reitsma keeps locking it down like he has I think he keeps the job. If he gets shaky, then we flip him and Farnsworth.
I think we made the best deal at the deadline.
Definitely the best deal. I’m am psyched. This is fantastic. I thought at first they traded Jorge Sosa. Thank god they didn’t
If you were the Braves would you consider releasing Dan Kolb?
Hold onto him in case someone gets desperate for a reliever, any reliever, they can get through waivers.
No, if you’re the Braves, you keep shopping Kolb. He would definately clear wavers. Just hope for some remotely decent prospect out of it.
Either way, the combination of Farnsworth’s power and Reitsma’s off-speed stuff will have hitters swinging–and missing.
Another local boy to the roster.
Good for Schuerholz plugging the biggest hole on the club. Sorry Colon had to go.
I like the deal. Chipper must love it too because if Jose Guillen starts something The Farns will have his back.
I wrote this at the Braves Beat message boards: To all those screaming for the Braves to trade Danny Kolb for practically anything, please consider the fact that other teams are seeing the same thing we are and then ask yourself why they would want him.
I think you win playoff games when you can shorten the game. Farnsworth helps us with that. I like the analogy I read with Farnsworth’s fastball and Reitsma’s Change screwing up hitters timing. Colon looked good as a spot starter but he was never going to be that 8th or 7th inning guy that the Braves needed and Davies has more upside than Colon as a starter anyway. Kolb??? Oh well at least he won’t be the 8th inning guy anymore..Thank God!!!!!!!!!!
FWIW, his road ERA is comprised of just two outings, one in which he gae up three runs, the other four, a number of months apart. Other than that he’s allowed zero ER in his other road outings.
This is an excellent trade because it solves several problems. Not only have we added a good arm for the 8th/9th, but it allows them to put Kolb in a role where he is useful. We don’t need him for the close games now, and there is nothing wrong with using him when with a 5+ run lead or if we’re getting blown out.
I think we should try to run Kolb through waivers right now. If he clears waivers, then who cares, he owuld still be on the team. If, however, someone claims him, then we see if we can trade him. It wouldn’t hurt anything, players get put on waivers all the time and no one ever hears about it. I bet the Yankees or Red Sox might make a run at Kolb, you never know.
If somebody claims him, let them have him. That’s the great thing about waivers, you can get money for a guy you don’t want.
As someone who is not a “native” georgian but lived here for 10 + years, I am starting to get sick and tired of the obsession of having “home grown” georgia boys on the ATL Braves.
The rhetoric on call in shows, in the paper, on the broadcasts is reaching a point of nausea for me.
I could care less if the guy is from georgia, puerto rico, canada, the dominica republic, new york, japan. Get over it.
All i want are guys who can play.
SI did a ranking of the states that produced the best athletes.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/1999/states/main/
I encourage you to check out the link and get a reality check on where “Georgia” ranks.
Please stop the “I already like Kyle F cause he is from Georgia” nonsense. You sound like a redneck homer.
If he cleared waivers with some good luck maybe the Marlins or Astros would pick up Kolb.
This could be a reverse John Smotlz deal, with Colon turning into Smoltz. Nah!
I would rather pull for a guy from my hometown than a guy from Puerto Rico. Home town guys are more likely to sign cheap with the club, ala Tim Hudson. Georgiahas produced quite a few big league players over the years. Ty Cobb was from there, so it can’t be all bad.
And Rip, it’s not a coincidence that the fans have been excited by local boys playing well like Francoeur and McCann. And that excitement is good for the team on the field and in the ledgers.
But Alabama’s better for baseball players.
Danny has a question.
“From a personal standpoint, I hate to lose Roman; he’s got a great future ahead of him,” Giles said. “From a team standpoint, we need to make moves that can fit in like a piece in a puzzle. Kyle Farnsworth fits in a little better into our puzzle right now.”
I agree with Marcus absolutely.
“I agree with Marcus absolutely.”
Me too. We got a puzzle piece; we didn’t have to sacrifice the farm to get it; this acquisition will help us win games now and in the playoffs without sacrificing our future. Great move by the front office.
If locals bring more fans in the seats I’m all for it. This year has seemed to reverse a steady decline in attendence. Does anyone have a site that shows splits for minors?
“When Furcal was struggling in mid-June, the Braves were thinking about trading him and ensuring they would be getting something in return for him. But six weeks later, they’re now finding some reason to possibly re-sign him as a free agent during the offseason.” (Bowman)
I hope they keep him. Maybe if the attendance picks up.
Attendance has been way up this series. No surprise really with the Natspos, but they maintained it with the Pirates, too. The question is if they can keep it up when football starts.
The Braves are averaging 32,382 a game for the year which is 3000 a game more than last year. The crowds could easily get larger. Over 80 games
that could be a significant improvement in revenue.
I don’t get too psyched about the local angle personally, but it’s an obvious story and it’s going to get played up. This would be as true in Seattle, St. Louis, or Pittsburgh as it is here.
Starting once Marc Pisciotta led East Cobb to the Little League World Series, the area has begun to attract more and better coaches at the high school level, and their efforts are now bearing fruit at the major league level. Because of their budget constraints, it behooves the Braves to scout thoroughly at the local level, so expect to be annoyed further in the future by “local boy makes good” stories.
As for being a “homer”, well, what the heck is a fan supposed to be?
On a unrelated note (though not unrelated to the Road from Bristol…), Joe Morgan is not broadcasting tonight on Sunday night baseball with Jon Miller (don’t know where he is – I’d guess at Hall of Fame activities). So they’ve got Steve Phillips (feh!) & Steve Stone sitting in w/ Miller. I don’t know much about Steve Stone (never really been exposed to his work), but he comes right out of the box talking about the White Sox, and says that (paraphrasing here), for all the talk about small ball, they’re not really a small ball team. Yes they like to steal, but they’re 4th in the AL in HRs, and their pitching has been lights out this year, and those two items have more to do with their success than all the ‘small ball’ tactics.
I just thought it was a great contrast to the weekly jackassery of Morgan…
I like Farnsworth. He’s definitely nuts, though. It’ll be an interesting try-out. I didn’t realize Colon was 26. Did I hear that right? They may still have overpaid a little, but the upside is huge. I wonder why they couldn’t get him before. Maybe the Cubs wouldn’t do it because they were so pissed and didn’t want to do him any favors?
As for Kolb, I don’t see why someone wouldn’t want him. He’s basically Kevin Gryboski now, and Texas wanted him. They may not want all of his salary, but I really don’t see why he can’t be unloaded if it comes to that. If it doesn’t, then I suppose he could just be Kevin Gryboski for us. Now that he’s just mediocre pitcher instead of melted-down mediocre pitcher, I thought he would be the kind of guy a team would take to offset salary if they were getting good additional talent. I suppose that could still happen.
Question for anybody – Do guys on the 40-man, but not the 25-man, roster have to pass through waivers to be dealt now? Could someone with options be demoted and then traded, for instance? I have nobody in mind, I’m just wondering.
I like Steve Stone. I used to catch a ton of Cubs games on WGN in the early nineties. I always thought he was great.
Wow, that’s pretty incredible that Steve Stone said that. He doesn’t strike me as someone who would think too deeply. Wait a minute… is this the guy that had it out with Kerry Wood in Chicago and got fired, or am I thinking of someone else?
I’m from Atlanta, and I love the kids from there. Maybe I’m just a reneck homer.
No, Rob, that’s the guy. They chased out Stone, who is terrific and was Harry Caray’s longtime partner. And Chip, who… well, isn’t, but is Harry’s longtime grandson.
I heard Morgan skipped the festivities this year. Maybe he changed his mind. Or maybe it’s a vacation day for him no matter what.
I think he’s watching his daughter in some national soccer tournament finals.
That’s what they said on Baseball Tonight to excuse his absence when someone said he was skipping the Hall of Fame because of his problems with one of the inductees.
Oh, and this Steve Stone guy is 8,000 times better than Joe Morgan.
Why didn’t the Braves hire this guy instead of Chip? Well, the answer is obvious, but Pete and Steve Stone would be a hella combo.
I will echo most of the sentiments on here.
First, this was a great trade & a move we HAD to make to have a CHANCE in the Playoffs. We have now 2 clear cut end of the bullpen guys.
Second, we didn’t have to give up too much. I mean, I did see a future for Colon in the rotation but I agree that Davies has a bigger future. And we needed the bullpen help now.
Second, as someone born in Birmingham who grew up in Savannah, Ga. I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting talented local guys.
I mean, look at the reaction the city of Atlanta is having to Jeff Francouer? I agree with the assessments…it helps local interest and attendance and as someone pointed out, Tim Hudson took a bargain deal because he was a lifelong Braves fan…I mean, I remember reading an article after Hudson got dealt to us where Hudson, just like all of us, was jumping and screaming when the Braves went to the World Series in 1991…that’s the kind of player you love to see as an ace of your staff.
Farnsworth has already hinted he’d re-sign for a reasonable rate–that’s why you get “local” guys.
Clearly 2005 has been the most excited I have seen our fans since the early 1990’s. And a lot of that has to do with lots of great young lcocals up & playing great plus new fun Marketing things like the Sunday red jersies which some people may hate but they’ve brought in a ton of new revenue from excited kids.
Farnsworth has already hinted he’d re-sign for a reasonable rate
Interesting – Where’d you see that?
Rip, The article you reference seems to be for athletics in general. As far as baseball is concerned, Georgia (and especially Atlanta suburbs) is one of the most fertile areas for talent. I couldn’t find the link, but some years ago someone had Georgia ranked third after California and Texas for baseball recruiting. It’s a small sample but maybe you should check this article out http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/041020eastcobb.html to get an idea why the Braves are getting so much “home grown” talent. I personally find it exciting, good for attendance, good for the fans, and just overall great that we can root for local kids who we have watched grow up in the Atlanta area.
It’s a great trade getting Farnsworth. He could become the closer and let Reitsma go back to being the setup man.
As for being a homer, redneck or otherwise, It just makes it more interesting when the player is from somewhere that you can relate to, such as locally or where you lived growing up or went to highschool. Being that the Braves have more local talent on their team than ever before, it’s obviously bringing in more fans, not to mention these guys can play.
Every year teams send many players through waivers to set up possible deals. Was it last year that the Astros or another team (the Mets maybe) sent almost all of their players through? Also, there are more name players being DFA’d than ever before, which has added another demension to this although the Yankees have claimed several lately.
Haha. An aquisition of a reliever no one was talking about. Saw that coming. I suppose I dont like that we lost Colon, but Farnsworth should do a good job in the pen. I think he ends up as the closer.
Not to rain on everyones parade, but this trade isn’t nearly as big a deal as you all are amking it out to be. Kyle Farnsworth is a good arm who has had a very middling career. He had one good season(2001), one OK season(2003), and the rest of his career he has been terrible. His career(heading into this season) DIPS important numbers are:
8.78 K/9(very good)
4.21 BB/9(very bad)
15 HR per 100 IP(also very bad)
.348 BABIP
He is the definition of hard throwing mediocrity.
This season he has again been good. Looking at his DIPS important numbers from this year:
11.6 K/9
4.2B/9
2 HR per 100 AB
.296 BABIP
Acquiring Kyle Farnsworth wasn’t a bad deal by any means. But he isn’t a legit relief Ace, and really shouldn’t be a back of the game RP. He has explosive stuff and poor control, which is not nescassarily what Leo Mazzone has so often salvaged. It was an interesting acquisition, but lets not think we picked up John Rocker or anything.
I kinda thought we did trade for John Rocker. Hard throwing, very questionable head, lots of upside but also lots of risk 🙂
You worry that the lack of homers this year is due to his ballpark. But the homers he did give in Chigaco likely were to some extent as well. I imagine it’ll all come down to whether or not he throws strikes.
8.78 K/9(very good)
4.21 BB/9(very bad)
15 HR per 100 IP(also very bad)
.348 BABIP
He is the definition of hard throwing mediocrity.
This season he has again been good. Looking at his DIPS important numbers from this year:
11.6 K/9
4.2B/9
2 HR per 100 AB
.296 BABIP
Can anyone name a guy still in his 20’s who has his stuff and was available?
His career(heading into this season) DIPS important numbers are:
Come on who are you fooling 4.5 walks is very bad for a reliever like him. There are a multitude of pitchers with high walk ratios, among them some the best pitchers of our era. Another point is that local players are a different thing in pro sports. Many pros are only after the dollar sign. Yet, with homegrown talent some players actually take less money, play with a different mentality. The Atlanta braves can now be called the atlanta braves for real. I think thats pretty cool. Kyle isnt the best but there is no question his stuff already is amongst the best. With a great pitching coach like leo. This guy could be awesome
Isn’t control exactly what Mazzone salvages? He teaches players to take some speed off to improve location.
The biggest difference this year has been his ability to keep the ball in the park. Although his home park in Detroit is a bit of a help, I, like creynolds, would look at it the other way around. For years, the friendly confines made his HR rate worse than it actually was. He’s the worst kind of pitcher for a small park like Wrigley, and it showed. His numbers now are probably pretty close to what we can expect.
Heck, I’d be for him immediately settling his suspension so he misses the Reds series. He could be stung there badly, but he’ll be fine in a park that isn’t tiny.
He only allowed one on the road this year. Yeah, his control isn’t great, but it’s not that bad if he gets strikeouts and avoids homers.
I really like this move a lot, the more I think about it. Colon has been erratic, and it’s hard to really project how he’s going to do. He’s been hot and cold, and in these situations, it’s really best to trust the organization’s evaluation skills.
Farnsworth give the team another ace reliever of a completely different sort than Reitsma. Sure, it would be better to have a lefty, but at least Bobby has the option of a strikeout guy or a control guy in tight situations.
It will be hard to move Reitsma, as he’s done everything asked to earn the closer role, but he’d probably be better than Farnsworth putting out fires with men on base. Also, we found out last year that it’s best to not overuse Reitsma, and he’s getting up there in the innings this year.
Don’t get me wrong here. I like the fact that we are winning. The fact that we have some players from Georgia is an added bonus. I choose to root equally for all the braves. I dont root harder for Pete Orr than I do Brian McCann.
I am just sick of the media over stating the Georgia ties every chance they get. If i did not follow the braves as much and only heard it once a day, i may not be as disgruntled. i wish the media could come up with something more clever. take it a step further and answer the question why some much talent is coming from the state?
One could attribute attendance figures up to the Jumbo tron, and the sense that this run might be coming to an end and we better enjoy it while it lasts. Maybe you could also say it is the a function of the economy. Maybe it is local talent.
My point is that no one has the “Silver Bullet” as to why fans are excited and going to games. It is not a function of ONE thing. There are many factors we can point to but it is not solely local kids.
Last year attendance rose 10% from 2003, what do you attribute that to? Not local talent, it is ALL speculation but i feel the overriding point is that fans do not want to see the NL East title streak to end.
You root all Braves equally? Really?
Come on. We all have our favorites.
Baseball Cube doesn’t have his minor league HR number, but his HR rate on the road from 2002-2004 was 12 in 91 innings, which is still damn poor.
He has pitched great this season. His FIP is 2.30 so his ERA is earned. I just wouldn’t nescassarily expect him to be our savior. The notion that he is what is going to save us in the postseason is silly as well, because over 5 IP(the most he would get in a 5 game series) the difference between a 2.3 ERA pitcher and a 4.3 ERA pitcher is 1 run. This is a very minor move.
1) I think the key of farnsworth is whether he and Mazzone have good chemistry. With a young guy coming up through the braves system, naturally he will have easy access to Mazzone’ good side. There seems to be a crowd of new pitchers buzzing around there, which makes the young ones excited, and the grizzled veterans (Mazzone and Bobby included) get a contact high. Sort of like grand- parents being around several young children again. Just by being “behaved”, (I mean they do what they they are told to do, and do it well) they will naturally get more PATIENCE to work out of their mistakes. Farnsworth will be sort of an outsider, and let’s hope he makes a good first impression. His walk rate is kind of scary. Kolb doesn’t have the same walk rate but hits and walks amount to the same problem.
2) Speaking of Kolb, I’m glad you guys are not athletes on my team..I know there are some who talk like they’re jocks on this list… Team is Team, and even beyond. Major leaguers have all gone through what Kolb is going through…no one can be inside Kolb’s mind but the guys on the team come closest…Patience and support for his confidence, and opportunities for success are what he needs. Mazzone, however, may become distracted with all the kids and Farnsworth to give hardly any more opportunites for the guy..that would be too bad. JS is a reasonable judge of talent,they got Kolb because they saw the talent there..his arrival wasn’t an act of desparation or charity.
3)Finally, Have any of you “home grown people” driven through northeast Atlanta? How many home grown residents do you find there? Homegrown is purely circumstancial, and from the statistics I read in a NYT article, it doesn’t last very long, it isn’t healthy state of mind to remain in. …reminds me of Daughters of the Confederacy
4) the playoffs. No one knows how these kids will do in that situation…I can’t feel good eventually going against the Cardinals
If Mazzone can do half the job with Farnsworth that he did with Sosa, we’ll have ourselves a dynamite closer or setup man.
I’m back from Boston. Did anyone notice I was gone? 😉 I’m still trying to get back in the loop, so if I say something totally stupid, please forgive me.
I really like getting Farnsworth because I think he’s already a great pitcher and whatever’s wrong with him, Leo can fix. You can’t teach a guy 100 mph. That said, he seems like kind of a head case, so all the electric fans in the clubhouse should be removed and put in the Witness Protection Program along with Winston. I don’t see how a road ERA of 3.20 is so bad, given what KolBB has shown us (not much). I’m excited about this deal. I’m not even sure we needed to make any deals, but we didn’t do anything stupid.
I toured Fenway Park yesterday. It was amazing! I got to use the press box bathroom! 😉 And Bronson Arroyo walked within 2 feet of me coming out of the player parking lot, looking like he’d just rolled out of bed. That was exciting. Everyone, love or hate the Red Sox, should go see Fenway.
That’s great Jenny. Glad you had a good time.
Why are people bashing the press for hyping up the local boys? Around 2000 JS decided to start bringing in kids from local areas and if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be where we are now. these guys grew up as Braves fans and are living the dream that we all have wanted to live. Plus, they may resign cheap. Trust me, the fans are going to see the local kids, not the ne “jumbo tron.”
When there are good crowds for the Pirates series then you know something is drawing the crowds. The fact that there has been a relitavely recent spike can be attributed to the fact that the Braves have brought up so many local kids.
Did anyone else see this??? http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=insidedishbravesmadepitc&prov=tsn&type=lgns
The Braves were trying to get Soriano?
That seems extremely unlikely. Soriano’s probably a better hitter than Marcus, but the defensive difference is huge.
Andy, I hardly trust anything Ken Rosenthal reports. Nobody ever reported about a possible Farnsworth trade should teach us not to trust any Braves-related rumors. Besides, if we were unwilling to give up Marcus for Hudson, why would we want to dump Marcus for Soriano? I am sure we asked about Mench, but I would never believe we were interested in Soriano.
I was thinking the same thing, mostly I was wondering if anybody else had hear that particular one.
Here’s a thing on MLB.com about the Waiver process (I know someone was asking about it earlier)
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050731&content_id=1152738&vkey=trade2005&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
and Kolb is mentioned on the list.
Being fans is different than being atheletes on the same team. We don’t have to support any player who is hurting the team. Look at New York, Philadelphia, and Boston’s fans. While I wish Kolb well, my trust in him is shot. While JS has a good sense of talent it should be noted that he gambled with Tom Martin and lost, with Mondesi, and Kolb too. What kept them here longer wasn’t so much patience but more a reluctance to eat their salaries.
Andy…do i know you? or is this another andy?
In additon to being a much, much superior filder Marcus is a better hitter than Soriano. I can prove it if you’d all like.
Andy, your URL was cut off, so it doesn’t work.
I think this is the article you were trying to link.
I’d be interested in hearing your arguement, JPMouton.
Mike, I don’t know you, as far as I know of.
JP yep that was the article that I was trying to link to. Not sure why mine didn’t work but oh well.
And arguments as to whether Giles is better than Soriano? No arguments on that, I just couldn’t believe that, that particlar trade rumor was even mentioned. As kc mentioned earlier if they didn’t trade him for Hudson, I really wouldn’t see them trading at all.
It’s not that complex. Just choose any semi-advanced metric. Shall we start in 2003?
OPS+
2003:
Giles-140
Soriano-128
2004:
Giles-112
Soriano-98
EQA:
2003:
Soriano-.288
Giles-.309
2004:
Soriano-.260
Giles-.287
2005:
Soriano-.277
Giles-.285
BRAA
2003:
Soriano-24
Giles-37
2004:
Soriano-0
Giles-26
2005:
Soriano-9
Giles-23
Finally, WARP
2003:
Giles-10.0
Soriano-7.5
2004:
Giles-5.3
Soriano-3.7
2005:
Giles 6.3
Soriano-2.8
Giles is basically twice the player Soriano is, and cheaper.
The notion that he is what is going to save us in the postseason is silly as well, because over 5 IP(the most he would get in a 5 game series) the difference between a 2.3 ERA pitcher and a 4.3 ERA pitcher is 1 run. This is a very minor move.
Hate to break it to you JP, but one run in a post season series is a big deal. You’re attempt to wet blanket the situation is strange. The upgrade from Kolb to Farnsworth in the eighth inning is huge. Probably as big an upgrade as any team will make this season. That we got him for two nothings is just icing on the cake.
I’m not saying it wasn’t a good(or even that it wasn’t nescassary) deal. I am saying that whatever we would have won without him is the same thing we will win with him. He isn’t as good as he’s been pitching this season, and he will pitch a low amount of innings, and the impact just isn’t that big. Kyle Farnsworth isn’t a closer in the sense that he is a relief ace. And people think he is and that he is going to save the franchise, which I just don’t see as true.
And 1 run in a postseason series means the exact same thing as it does in the regular season. Next to nothing. Last year, in the 3 games we lost, we were outscored 29-11. If it’s 28-11 then we still lose the series I think.
If you look at kolb’s bad outings for the year and Farnsworth’s bad outings I think you will see a big difference. Kolb has badly lost his confidence. I lost faith in Kolb when he said it didn’t matter if he walked the 1st batter because a doubleplay would take care of him….O.K.
And people think he is and that he is going to save the franchise
Yeah because that’s what everyone is saying. He’s a rental, nothing more.
Farnsworth will be pitching in very high leverage situations in the post season where the difference between allowing one run and none could mean the series. The fact that it wouldn’t have last season is meaningless.
The real benefit of having Farnsworth around is that it will hopefully allow Reitsma to make it to October without Bobby pitching his arm off because he’s the only one he can trust.
Like I said, I like the deal. Getting Farnsworth is important because he eats innings in the regular season, keeping both himself and other relievers more rested so to speak. But people are acting as if he is the savior. More than one person on here has described him as “ace reliever”, “closer”, “great pitcher”, and other similar statements. I just think people should tone down the expectations. Farnsworth is likely to give us 25-30 innings of 3.5-4 ERA ball, which is good. What he isn’t going to do is come in and save the bullpen.
There isn’t any one player, or even two or five, that would guarantee playoff success. Too much luck involved. Besides, the Braves have to get to the postseason first. The division race is far from over, and Farnsworth makes the team better over the short run.
Though I’m fairly high on Colon, this was probably a deal the Braves needed to make. Bullpen depth was clearly a weak spot.
But people are acting as if he is the savior. More than one person on here has described him as “ace reliever”, “closer”, “great pitcher”
Yeah those are too strong, but after watching four months of Kolb, Grybo, Brower, and the cast of clowns we’ve used, Farnsworth looks like a great pitcher by comparison.
If we still feel the need to plunk Jose Guillen the next time the Nats show up, we just got the guy for the job. I would pay pay-per-view type money (and between Extra Innings and MLB.TV, I have) to see a Guillen-Farnsworth rumble. Crazy vs Crazy – everybody wins.
JPMouton, do you think Kolb’s ERA would still be at 5.0 if he is pitching against the Cardinals? He will come in and give up a game winning homerun to David Eckstein…
But people are acting as if he is the savior. More than one person on here has described him as “ace reliever”, “closer”, “great pitcher”
I don’t believe that he will be a savior, but I also don’t believe the Braves need one. He will help contribute to an already successful team in an area that can use improvement. As long as he doesn’t go insane, he can make us better and really, that is the whole purpose of making this type of deal
In case anyone is still wondering, the media harps on the locals because of Big M, Marketing. We are working on an article on corporate culture as it relates to branding so don’t get me started. Ultimately, the more a**es in the seats, the better the chances to repeat (apologies to Johnny Cochran).This is as good a deal as was available at this point in the season. Who knows, we may get a body off of waivers or something else that will help us in the post season. I’m encouraged that we are still building to win this year. It really seems like everyone is vulnerable in some aspect this year and we have a better than usual chance of taking it all. I’d love to see us and the A’s meet again in the W.S. Heck, us v. Sox for that matter.GO BRAVES!!
I think I’m most worried about the ‘stros at this point in the season. Things really seem to be falling into place for them. Although the Cards series next weekend will tell us a lot about the status of our team.
I am worried about the Astros as well. That’s why I am pulling for the Marlins to win the wild card.
The Cardinals pitching is actually do that good (except for Carpenter and Isringhausen), they are just beating on the weak Central division. If our pitching holds up against the Cardinals’ lineup, I like our chance.
I think Farnsworth is an excellent pickup. My reasoning is he will be pitching the innings that Kolb (and gang) were pitching, usually resulting in some sort of blown lead. Farnsworth might have his flaws — too many homeruns or walks allowed — but considering what the Braves options were, and what was available, they did a fantastic job.
F-A-R-N-S-W-O-R-T-H
Fabulous!
Atlanta’s
Risking
Nothing!
Something
Wonderful —
Outs!!!
Reap
The
Homefield (advantage)
Ok, that was the best i could do at 5 am.
The Braves organization has a reputation for its “zero tolerance” policy, so I don’t expect any nutcase antics out of Farnsworth, though, like nyb, I wouldn’t mind seeing him go mano a mano with Guillen.
I think it’s great that fans are filling the stands, especially since Atlanta is such a corporate city: people move there for a job, and then they move on to something better in a couple of years (e.g., telecom industry), leaving them very little time to put down roots, much less take an interest in a baseball team, never mind that it’s one with a long string of division titles. Since Atlanta won its Olympic bid, the city has become populated with folks from other regions of the country, which needed to happen if Atlanta was ever to become an international city; but at the same time Atlanta natives have become scarce, forced out by high property values, etc., so my guess is that, while the “local boys” angle has been played up a bit too much, it has galvanized a small core community of native Atlantans who are willing to drive in from the suburbs to see a game, and who are likely to do so several times throughout a season. Those are the fans you want to fill the seats because they aren’t as likely to be the fair weather variety. The others will jump on the bandwagon too, which is fine, but they tend to disappear once the free corporate seats run out.
Well, regardless of everyone’s opinion on the Farnsworth trade, we should at least celebrate we are not seeing Mercker for the third time!!!
I agree generally with David’s assessment, though I think people are more likely to stay in Atlanta than move on once they arrive here. It’s still the main destination in the region for those with big-city aspirations. Just look at the housing market — it’s cooling in many places but remains hot here, because the first law of economics still applies.
Also, the fan base for Braves games has always been suburban. Here are 2004 population estimates for NL “city limits” (US rank in parentheses):
New York — 8,104,079 (1)
Los Angeles — 3,845,541 (2)
Chicago — 2,862,244 (3)
Houston — 2,012,626 (4)
Philadelphia — 1,470,151 (5)
Phoenix — 1,418,041 (6)
San Diego — 1,263,756 (7)
San Francisco — 744,230 (14)
Milwaukee — 583,624 (22)
Denver — 556,835 (25)
Washington DC — 553,523 (27)
Atlanta — 419,122 (42)
Miami — 379,724 (46)
Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis are not in the top 50.
The Braves have allowed fewer runs than any team in either the National or American League. Here’s to pitching and defense!
Braves over Angels in seven…
Farnsworth strikes out Vlad to end Game 7…
We started the season with:
7th – Gryboski
8th – Reitsma
9th – KolBeer
We finish with:
7th – Sosa
8th – Reitsma
9th – Farnsworth
I like our chances a whole lot better now.
“Have any of you “home grown people” driven through northeast Atlanta? How many home grown residents do you find there? Homegrown is purely circumstancial, and from the statistics I read in a NYT article, it doesn’t last very long, it isn’t healthy state of mind to remain in. …reminds me of Daughters of the Confederacy”
Having moved from the North when I was six and lived here for about twenty years, I will explain the “local boys” phenomenon. This is not a homegrown redneck thing. Atlanta is a diverse city with people from all over, I don’t think people are getting this excited about something as simple as geographic proximity. The real reason people are excited about the locals starts back in 1991. The excitement generated by the local boys is not that they are from a neighboring high school, which is a a small part of it. It’s the fact that many of them were glued to their t.v.’s for weeks at a time during the first world series run. All of them were screaming, at the same moment as us, when Sid slid across home. It’s that shared sense of reverence and respect. And it’s exciting because it takes the concept of team to a different level. These guys are playing for and with their heros (Bobby, Leo, Smoltzy, Chipper, yes…Jordan too). And as long as they’re talented I would much rather someone with that sense of our tradition to inheret the legacy. Nobody cares whether they were born in Dothan, Alabama or Winchester, Virginia, if they are talented Braves fans that grew up during The Run, then they’re local boys worth getting excited about.
Not as sure about this trade as most of you. I like farnsworth as a setup man but I liked Colon as a middle of the rotation starter for the next 4-5 years. I wonder if the short term improvement is enough to make us a WS team this year. I give our GM the benefit of the doubt though, he always seems to know when to fish and when to cut bait with our pitching prospects.
8th – Reitsma
9th – Farnsworth
Reitsma has earned the right to continue pitching the ninth inning, so I expect the above to be reversed.
Rafael Palmeiro has been suspended for steroid use. What a surprise!