The Baseball Analysts: What Went Wrong in the Playoffs (NL Edition)
You’ve heard me on most of this, though I didn’t harp on the can’t-score-without-homers as much as I might have. Also, bloggers for the Astros (boo!), Cards, and Padres share their thoughts. If the Cards are looking for a young outfield hitter or two, think they’d give us Wainwright back for Kelly Johnson?
Anyone else find it interesting that when asked to name a regular season LVP, the Astros blogger went for Jeff Bagwell, who barely played? Why not one of the guys who’s killed you all year, like ADAM EVERETT?!
Well, if you’ve got a past-his-prime player taking up a big chunk of your payroll and he can’t play much, and when he plays he doesn’t help you, then I think that qualifies as an LVP-type performance.
Yeah, atleast Adam Everett could get better. I would have to say Bagwell was the LVP of the entire league. I like Bagwell though, and it stinks to see him like this…
Bagwell needs to hang it up. At this point, I wouldnt take Larry Andersen over Bagwell, and he’s 55 years old.
Yeah, atleast Adam Everett could get better.
And he put up a Gold Glove-caliber defensive performance. I have a feeling we’re going to become intimately familiar with good-glove no-hit shortstops next year, so maybe it’s something we could learn to appreciate.
OK, here’s a question:
With our current team, would you go for a good-glove no-hit shortstop or a average-hitting average-fielding shortstop?
Depends how good the glove and how bad the bat.
Bagwell needs to hang it up. At this point, I wouldnt take Larry Andersen over Bagwell, and he’s 55 years old.
Now THAT’S funny!
Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think I’m all too familiar with no-hit good-field shortstops, like Jeff Treadway, Raffy Belliard, and Walt Weiss, and the ones the Braves rented, like Rey Sanchez, Ozzie Guillen, and Mike Bordick. They suck. Suck, suck, suck.
Jeff Treadway played second
Did Wainwright have a good year?
I wonder how our one year rental of JD Drew will look in 2 years.
And he was a good-hit, bad-glove guy, until he stopped hitting…
A couple things.
(1) treadway was a 2b, sometimes 3b, never a shortstop
(2) Mike bordick never played for the braves.
(3) there’s a third option that is ultra deadly, no hit + no field shortstop, lets call this hypothetical player, Andres Thomas 2.0.
I like this idea of trading Giles for a closer and sticking Betemit at 2nd and Chipper to frist and keeping Furcal. Or just moving Marte to second, but the first thought seems more likely.
Wainwright was in AAA most of the last two years and was hurt for a good part of that time. I saw him pitch in Memphis one night. He is one of those typical “get ground balls because that’s what Maddux does,” guys.
If we cant sign furcal, I wouldnt mind taking a flyer on Nomar. 2 year deal, heavy on incentives. Since we arent going to get power from anywhere besides maybe CF, RF, 3b, we might want to take a bat over a glove. If nothing else, we could try him in left and have him as an insurance policy for betemit. yes, i know, i just described Nomas Playaparra as an “insurance policy”. It just might be crazy enough to work. Chicago hasnt been the new start he hoped and he once attended a Trade School in Atlanta for a few years.
I will now curl into the fetal position and prepare for the rain of pain.
Smitty, are you a Memphis guy, or were you just in town and happened to see Wainwright pitch for the Redbirds?
Taking a flyer on Nomar isn’t that bad an idea, although a 1-yr deal would be preferable. Local ties help marketing, his name still has some cachet with the general public, if he stays healthy he still contributes on offense, you have Betemeit in the wings for the inevitable groin strain. I’d rather do this than bring in Niefi or someone similar.
Nomar isn’t really a shortstop any more, sadly.
Nomar will require to much money just to be an insurance policy. I think he still has several good years in him, but he isnt worth what others will pay!
I was saying he’d be an insurance policy at short, but would likely do better in Left. I think he’s still capable of .330/25/100. I’m not sure how many teams will overpay. I think at most he’s gonna bring in 14-16 million over two years. Thats highballing it.
1) Giles
2) Nomar
3) Chipper
4) Andrux
5) Minny Murph
6) LaDouche
7) McCann
8) Betemit
That is a payroll friendly lineup.
How far away is Escobar from the major league level. Will he be ready in a year or two?
This post at Cub Town on Baseball Toaster is on point re: Nomar, Neifi, and Furcal: http://cubtown.baseballtoaster.com/archives/284645.html
LaRoche was robbed for the LVP! Robbed I tell you! UZR (which at least has a good theory behind it if nothing else) pegged LaRoche as the worst defensive firstbaseman in the NL this season.* Add that to his offensive “contributions” and you’ve really got something.
*Daryle Ward was rated the best defensive firstbaseman in the NL by UZR. This is, of course, ridiculous as he’s barely average on a good day.
Tennessee Brave,
I lived in Memphis two summers ago and did an internship out there. It is one of my favorite cities in America. I however live in Chattanooga. Where are you from?
SO what ever came of the Padre trade?
He was up against Danny. I’m sorry, that’s just like Pujols having to deal with Bonds 2003-04.
Re: Padres, the fans I’ve talked to over the past day who actually live there think it was a play for Wily Mo Pena, but the Reds pulled out of negotiations until they get their ownership situation sorted out. The Cincy fans I know are too excited about the ownership switch to think about anything else (plus, like the Cincy front office all last year, these Reds fans refuse to consider trading any of their bats unless they get the world in return).
I still wouldn’t be surprised to see Marcus wind up in San Diego by ’07, if the Padres re-sign Brian.
Maybe something happens, maybe it gets carried over to the winter meetings. At this point I’m expecting some small trade, an anticlimax of the “Matt Lawton the outfielder everyone cares about” type.
Mac,
Your blog is worth $87,503.70.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20051102&content_id=1263836&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
Andruw was named MLB Player of the Year, NL’s Outstanding Player, and won a Gold Glove!!
Next will be MVP! This wouldn’t be bad for one season….
Thank you, doubledawg for bringing up Andres Thomas. It’s the vision of him that I always use to overcome any negative feeling I have about any of today’s Braves. Willie Stargell was a coach with the Braves when Andres came up and said he was going to be another Dave Concepcion. We all got excited but then watched him play and realized that either Willie needed glasses or had an early case of dementia.
For those who do remember, could there have been anything worse than the left side of our infield with Andres at SS and Jim Presley at 3B. It was like a sieve.
Mac, will there be some sort of preview for the winter meetings? Where are they this year?
That is if you don’t sell the blog!
Taking an empty milk jug, filling it with beer at The Outpost, and sitting in the outfield and passing the jug around among the Mechanicsville residents who had come to the ballpark definitely made watching the Braves easier during the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Speaking of Matt Lawton isnt he a free agent this year.
Salty was picked as one of two catchers for the U.S. Olympic team that’s competing in qualifiers soon.
The candidates were restricted to players not on their parent club’s 25-man rosters as of Aug. 31.
AtlantaBraves.com has this as a heading on a recent story about Furcal.
Braves make their pitch to Furcal.
Shortstop expected to receive lucrative multiyear deal.
If that is the case, than hey maybe he might stay, all things point to though if he does decide to stay, it is bobby’s doing.
How about these comments from Burnett:
“I’m so impressed with the front office here and J.P and the people I’ve met,” he said. “It’s night and day from what I’m used to (in Florida). They’re all good people and it’s been great so far.
“(Having Brad) helps, but I want to go somewhere where I (can) win,” Burnett said.
“I want to go somewhere where the fans want to win as much as I want to win and the club wants to win as much as I want to win and they’ve showed me that so far.”
Guys he is talking about the Toronto Blue Jays. Do you think he could say “I” one more time. Good luck being successful in Toronto where you get to play against the Yanks and the Sox. You only thought it was bad in Florida. Oh yeah and there you have to face 9 batters not eight…Good luck to you!
Smitty,
I am from rural west Tennessee, but I have been living in Memphis for the past 2+ years while I am in law school. Autozone Park is awesome, and going to Redbirds games is one of the best things to do in this city.
drew, that’s incredible. Thanks for posting that info.
Does it really, really tick off anyone else that one of the best hitting SS prospects in the NL is Andy F-ing LaRoche. Not to mention he was about the 800th pick a few years ago. So we take on J.D. Drew’s lesser talented sibling, we’ll trade for Mike Glavine, but we couldnt waste a late rounder on a little brother of one of our (cough) Star Prospects). Sometimes, I think this is more than coincidence. I think God is punishing Ted Turner for having married Jane Fonda.
I was under the impression the he plays third base.
Andy play third I think
TN Brave
I lived with a buddy of mine in who is in law school out there while I did an internship with Auto Zone corp HQ. Auto Zone gave me tickets to like 20 diffrent games, so I spent a few nights out there. It has to be the best minor league park in baseball. Hell it is better than half of the big league parks!
that will help me sleep better. we dont need any more 3b prospects to clog up richmond
Any word on that short stop we signed this year from Cuba maybe?
there seems to be an inordinate number of lawyers and law students on this board, all pining to be the next Stan Kasten.
Check this out. A prosports GM that can’t read or write. This all come out at a party for his book release. How did he write a book if he is illiterate?
Check this out. A prosports GM that can’t read or write. This all come out at a party for his book release. How did he write a book if he is illiterate?
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/hockey/nhl/11/03/demers/index.html
Does anyone know anything about this guy:
Eric Campbell plays for the Danville Braves
66 games
262 AB’S
26 AB
2 3B
18 HR
.313 AVG
634 SLG
I believe he is either a 3rd baseman or a SS
I thought super stud Escovar was at Danville now playing short.
In the funniest article I’ve read all day, some random minor league team in Massachusetts has offered Epstein their GM job, with a yearly payroll of $87,000.
I did some quick pay scale calculations and figured out that, using proportions of Red Sox player per diem salaries to the GM salary and translating that to the minor league team, his daily pay would be $8.09.
Campbell was our first overall pick in 2004, a second-rounder out of an Indiana high school (we lost our first-rounder to Texas from the Thomson signing, I think).
If he’s at SS I wonder why he hasnt begun to move up. Its not like we are that talented in the minors at short!
I think Epstein is way overrated. He’s worth more than $8/day, but not much more than $87K.
How hard can it be to GM when your owners have the fiscal restraint of a Super Market Sweep finalist in the meat and vitamin aisles. The one career defining move he could have made was A-rod, and he blew it, only to have his team stuck with Manny. Now the Hype-sox are in the same boat as the yankees. Overpay, overpay, overpay, while getting older each year.
Campbell is a high school SS who is being moved to 3b now. Why do we have to keep hearing all this boring crap about Theo?
Theo/Manny its all getting old by now…Lets move on!
doubledawg, the thing about Andres is that he looked so good while playing so bad.
An extraordinary number of major league hitters played shortstop at some time in their high school careers, usually because they were the best athletes on the team. For that matter, Aaron, Mantle, and Mays were all infielders in the minors.
Along the Escobar line as well, I was under the impression we used a second round pick on him because he was nearly major-league ready, i think he’s 23 already as well..so basically wondering why he is supposedly 1-2 years away?
Here is a link to the 2008 US Olympic roster. As mentioned, Salty makes it. Looks like a pretty solid team, if a little sketchy pitching-wise.
Also, Scott Thorman made the Canadian roster. Lower bar, but it’ll be good experience nonetheless.
Ice, all but a very few college players spend at least a full season (from the draft until after the break the next year) in the minors, and the level of play in Cuba probably isn’t up to college level anymore. If he could have played right away he would have been a first round pick.
no offense, but he didnt look that good either
Braves make their pitch to Furcal.
Shortstop expected to receive lucrative multiyear deal.
You can never believe anything an agent says but it’s hard to read this quote
“He likes the situation here and loves playing for Bobby,” Kinzer said. “He’s got like a father relationship with him.”
and not think the Braves have a decent shot of retaining him. Whether that would be good for the team or not depends on the contract, but it seems the Braves have more of a chance than I thought they had.
What would it take to get someone like Zito to come to Atlanta (i.e Laroche, Estrada, Ramirez or James)
csg, I have always guessed it would take Kelly Johnson/Chuck James, Thomson and a prospect to get that done. LaRoche and Ramirez are not the kind of players a stat guy is looking for, the A’s don’t need Estrada because they have Jason Kendall. They may like James a lot, but I will take away KL if James is included in the package. Thomson has to be included in this deal because of salary reason. The Braves can’t take on Thomson and Zito (due to make $8.5M) at the same time.
Oh, I mean KJ when I typed KL above. Sorry.
I guess I should do some research before assuming something. For some reason I thought Zito was around $6 mil.
I really think James could be special in a year or two. He might develop into his potential unlike HR. I would try holding onto him for a while.
I think our best trade bait is Estrada and we definitely need to get rid of him while he still has some value. Maybe a solid relief pitcher for him and another prospect..
Some Zito talk here. I suggested Davies/Sosa/Johnson, or roughly equivalent to what they gave up for Hudson.
I don’t think Zito is all that. He has started to decline over the last few years and really only has tow pitches, even if one of them is really nasty.
I suggested Davies/Sosa/Johnson, or roughly equivalent to what they gave up for Hudson.
That is pretty equivalent, although the first deal was a real dud for Oakland. Supposedly Beane wanted Davies as the second pitcher in the first deal but JS wouldn’t budge and it ended up being Cruz.
I could certainly live with that deal from our side of things, although it would probably use up most of our available offseason dollars.
One little note… Zito last year was awful in April and September but good in May and June, great in July and August. He may be a warm-weather pitcher, meaning he could thrive in Atlanta, though I don’t know if you want that in postseason.
csg, Estrada and Reitsma for Fuentes!!! Sorry guys, I know I have been repeating myself many times, haha.
Here is the site which will specify the details of Zito’s contract: http://www.mlb4u.com/oak.html
Either Mac’s or my trade proposal on Zito is a rather steep price for the one-year rental on Zito. The Braves can’t sign a long term deal with Zito unless Chipper or Smoltz or Hampton retires, which is one reason why I don’t think JS will pull the trigger on Zito, and this is why I am thinking Thomson must be included in the package to make this worthwhile for the Braves.
On the other hand, I still think the Braves gave up too much for Drew and Marerro and getting not enough back for Neagle from the Reds, so what do I know?!
Good observation Mac, I have checked his monthly split for the past five seasons and he has always been a slow starter. On the other hand, his September stats are rather inconclusive.
In addition, Zito always has the better WHIP and BAA among the three of Hudson, Mulder, and Zito. Perhaps that’s why Beane decided to keep Zito in the last offseason among his big three.
“Anyone else find it interesting that when asked to name a regular season LVP, the Astros blogger went for Jeff Bagwell, who barely played? Why not one of the guys who’s killed you all year, like ADAM EVERETT?!”
Its also that Bagwell is expected to be a big run producer and is paid accordingly.
No one expects much offense from Everett and he isn’t paid all that much, so he saves some dollars to get talent elsewhere.
He does exactly what the Astros want him to do, play very good defense and do the “little things”(bunting, slapping singles ect) on offense. Its hard to find SSs who are good on O and D. I think that Stros pitching would be a a fair amount less effective without a glove like his at SS. Also, as much as I think Ausmus sucks (this years shockingly useful performance nonwithstanding) and is overpaid and i wouldn’t want him behind my plate he also fills his role well for the Stros in a similar way. They are such a pitchingdependent team that if they feel he really does help his pitchers like they say he does he worth sticking back there, its not like hes blocking anyone.
is Greater Atlanta Cristian (high school) any good in football? (Our high school is playing them in the playoffs) we are actually not the underdawg.
I just finished Simmons’s book. Guess what, the Red Sox won!
Well, the Padres made their trade, and it was even more of an anticlimax than I expected, swapping terrible Brian Lawrence and cash to the Nats in exchange for Vinny Castilla.
At least we’ll get to beat the hell out of Lawrence a couple times next year. Away from Petco last year, his opponent’s OPS was .807.
I don’t get it. Would you trade anything of any value for Vinny? Lawrence had a bad year, but that was after four decent ones. Decent pitchers have value.
Maybe we could sign Kolb and trade him to the Yanks for Embree
he is the “handsomest man in baseball”
Who, Danny?
This must be the final act of Kevin Towers. Otherwise, I don’t understand just like Mac said. I mean, they are reporting that he is sending Lawrence and CASH to the Nationals for Castilla!!! How can that happen?
You know guys, I am trying to clean up my old video tapes during my vacation by saving the Braves playoff games on to the recordable DVDs, and I just finished watching Game 6 of 1995 WS again…boy, this is the best medicine I can have since the Chris Burke home run off Devine…
…and the team of Costas, Ulkers, and Morgan are light years better than what FOX is giving us…and Morgan wasn’t talking about Moneyball back then, so he was also very good.
” is Greater Atlanta Cristian (high school) any good in football? (Our high school is playing them in the playoffs) we are actually not the underdawg.”
I recall GAC in the playoffs several times…their RB from last year is ripping it up as a frosh at Wake
“Does it really, really tick off anyone else that one of the best hitting SS prospects in the NL is Andy F-ing LaRoche. Not to mention he was about the 800th pick a few years ago. So we take on J.D. Drew’s lesser talented sibling, we’ll trade for Mike Glavine, but we couldnt waste a late rounder on a little brother of one of our (cough) Star Prospects). Sometimes, I think this is more than coincidence. I think God is punishing Ted Turner for having married Jane Fonda. ”
You are so far off on Andys draft status, yes he was a late round pick but that was a JC draft and follow who committed to Rice (often Ricers are seen as tough signs). Andy wound up gettinga record bonus of one million or maybe serveral million to sign. He got a mid 1st round quality bonus
and yeah he is a 3b now
Not only did they trade Brian Lawrence, they also sent cash with him. For Vinny Castilla! Nats got all the goods on this one: a half-decent pitcher, money, AND clearing a spot for Ryan Zimmerman.
Is Kevin Towers on his way out and trying to sabotage the team as he goes?
By the way, this is a little belated, but the post I made above about shortstops for the Braves was dumb and factually incorrect.
Allow me to restate: I really hope that we don’t get a no-hit shortstop.
No one has mentioned him, but Jose Valentin is a free agent, and though he played 3b last year for the Dodgers, he was previously a SS with good range and some pop. He’s a reasonable risk who would presumably be fairly cheap. I would love it if the Braves signed him and let he and Betemit fight it out for SS, rather than importing some no-hit wonder like Neifi.
Keith, my assessment on Jose Valentin is that he never bat above .260 except for one season in his career. While his bat has some pop, he strikes out way too often. He sucks against lefthanded pitching which means he will need another player to platoon with him at shortstop. He is basically another low OBP, high strikeouts guy that the Braves don’t need in the lineup (since Andruw and Francouer are the same type of players the Braves have already). Valentin is never being famous for his defense and he routinely makes more than 20 errors per season. Basically he gives his team homeruns and nothing else. Wilson Betemit will probably be able to achieve the same output at a much lower price.
If the Braves end up giving the full time job to Betemit at ss, I think they will probably sign a Belliard type of player to back him up because Bobby always like to have a defensive specialist at ss out on the field at the end of the game, much like how they handled Blauser. If the Braves are still reluctant to give the starting role to Betemit, we will see them signing a Walt Weiss type of player…like Alex Gonzalez…which is probably as bad an option as Valentin…but we have seen the Braves making stupid decisions before…
If the Braves give Betemit the starting shortstop job and want a glove man for backup, wouldn’t it make sense to give that spot to Luis Hernandez or maybe even Escobar?
The Castilla/Lawrence deal isn’t so bad. In fact, Lawrence will make more than Castilla next year. While Vinny’s not a super-stud with the bat, he’s acceptable for a good defensive third-baseman. Lawrence gives up far too many homers for a guy who pitches half his games in Petco. I consider both players decent, but not great. As long as it was not a lot of cash that changed hands, I don’t think the Padres got robbed.
Here’s an interesting article on Furcal’s drinking problem. This is a big issue for the Braves and other teams looking to sign him.
Furcal’s Shortcomings Real
Saw it on Primer.
I suppose it’s an issue, although all we can really conclude about Furcal’s drinking “problem” relative to other players is that he’s gotten caught, and now must observe a certain decorum as a result.
2nd DUI 4 in the morning prior to gameday. That’s what I call a big problem. I also doubt this was only his second time doing this. If you can’t call a taxi when you’re loaded, you’re a problem to more than a baseball team.
Well it looks like the Mets are after everyone:
Furcal, Manny, Wagner, and now Franco…
http://www.prosportsdaily.com/mlb/braves/rumors.html
I guess they can continue to look better on paper year after year as long as they finish w/ the same result.
I certainly can’t conclude that he doesn’t have a drinking problem, but I’ll say that there are an lot of people heading home (or wherever) at four in the morning, many of them ballplayers with a game the next day. Obviously, to be driving in such a state, he’s not a real smart guy. His judgement problem is not in dispute. My comment is only with respect to his drinking per se, how it would impact his ability to do his job, and whether in this he is all that much different from a significant percentage of other ballplayers. I don’t think he is, but yes, he needs to call a cab.
Honestly how many more years can Franco go!
Understood, and I can’t argue with that. It’s possible there are some worse cases in baseball that we don’t know of. Even though I like his play on the field, I hope the Braves do not re-sign him.
By the same token, I think we have to assume, even if we are not aware of who the other blatant transgressors might be, baseball’s GMs probablly are quite aware. Whether this necessarily leads to an impact on the marketability of certain free agents is an open question. I suspect that the rose-colored glasses go on, though, and it doesn’t end up mattering that much.
Oh gosh people make mistakes. Furcal is not a cancer in the clubhouse. His personal affairs are non of our concern until he becomes a problem for the team.
Andruw was the Players’ Choice as Player of the Year and national League Player of the Year. Still, USA Today’s poll shows Pujols edging him for MVP. USA Today also shows Francoeur finishing third in ROY.
Furcal’s drinking doesnt bother me. his numbers have only declined since his second DUI. not to mention, getting a 3 in 5 would get him some time regardless of being a Brave. Its pretty hard to play shortstop when you have to wear one of those ankle monitors that measures your blood alcohol content. Would definately cut down on his steals. Either way, we wouldnt be on the hook for his contract.
What furcal needs, is an entourage. Does he not have any cousins he can bring over to be his personal servants. Maybe that’s the answer for what to do with Kelly Johnson. My guess is that furcal wasnt even driving too erratically, he just happened to be a latin guy with a hot, probably white, babe, driving through atlanta in a $100K mercedes. I’ll take him over Danny Heatley any day. As for 4am before a game, that did only leave him about 12 hours to get some sleep.
I don’t care if Furcal drinks. But Smitty, do you think poor personal judgement should be a factor in whether a team chooses to sign a player? Isn’t that a part of a responsible risk assessment? Look at Dany Heatley for Exhibit A on how Furcal’s particular lapses in judgement can cost a team dearly.
Smitty, the next time he gets caught he’s not going to get to put off a 30-day sentence until after the season. He’s going to get some real time. It’s hard to compete if your $8 million a year shortstop is in the hoosegow.
I see others are in agreement with me, despite my lack of flair for cultural anthropology.
His drinking has to be a higher risk factor than injury at this point.
A mistake? [shakes head emoticon]
Careful there, chief. Drunk driving is very personal for some people. I have never lost someone I love to a drunk driver, and I hope I never will. But, I imagine if I had, and I were sitting in a bar next to you, I would through my drink in your face after such a comment. Heck, I might even do it now.
through=throw
Hey why don’t you just go ask Leonard Little how it feels to take away a life from driving drunk.
His BAC’s were .11 and .12. That’s past .08, but its not indicative of an alcoholic. its more a reflection of a guy that probably parties a few nights a week and may not be able to tell when he’s .08 and when he’s .11. I guarantee that those 30 days in the cooler opened his eyes. the story shows that he is keenly aware of the risks. imagine some cobb county judge seeing furcal being doused with champagne and decides to revoke his probation. Furcal knew to get the hell out there, eihter he’s opened his eyes or has a good and attentive lawyer. lets hope both.
Guys, even if Furcal is a model citizen, one has to think twice whether to give Furcal the $9M a year contract or not. Seriously, KJ and Langerhans’ respective OPS are not far off from Furcal. The difference offensively between Furcal and KJ/RL is his base-stealing ability. If KJ is more consistent and assuming that he will be better in his second season, I really think the combination of KJ and Marcus is just as dangerous as Furcal and Marcus.
Having said that, I would much rather seeing the monies being spent on Mr Sluggo or further improving the starting rotation. I am saying all these assuming Furcal is a model citizen. The fact that he is not really drives me toward the side of not wanting the Braves to sign Furcal back at such high a price. The shortstop can either be Betemit, which I prefer, or a cheap glove man.
At the end of the day, the problem the Braves had in last season was not the offense. They did not lose the NLDS because of poor hitting, it’s because of poor pitching. The team’s ERA for the regular season was 3.98, which ranked 12 in the league, while the offense ranked at fourth in scoring runs. It’s quite obvious to me where the money should be spent on.
That is not true. The Braves were sixth in the NL in ERA, fifth in runs allowed. Considering that the ballpark played as a hitter’s park last year, the two elements were roughly equal. Not to mention that Furcal’s value was heavily defensive.
Oh yeah Mac, I didn’t use the ESPN stats sorting function correctly. Sorry about that!!!
On the other hand, I am not sure what you mean by “Furcal’s value was heavily defensive”. I thought it is his combination of the leadoff skill, speed, a little pop, and his defensive skill makes him equal to Jimmy Rollins basically.
Anyway, I think my point is not really saying whether Furcal deserves $9M or not. I think his value is rather established with the contracts of Rollins, Renteria, and Cabrera. The question is really if the Braves can replace Furcal’s skill at a cheaper price, which I think they can. Furcal’s offensive production can potentially be replaced by a better season by KJ, and a superior gloveman can replace Furcal’s defensive skill. By signing a Mr Sluggo maybe at first base, the offense may actually be better if Chipper can stay healthy the whole season and McCann being the full-time catcher instead of Estrada of last season. Besides, the Braves will not need to live through another two months of hell with Jordan and Mondesi.
I’m sorry, but did someone actually list Memphis as one of their favorite cities? Smitty, have you been anywhere else? Memphis is terrible!
History says the Braves will make a rather low offer to retain Furcal. Something like what Drew was offered, 3 years 24 or 25 million. He’ll wisely reject it and will be off to Cub land. The drinking hasn’t factored into whether or not I want him signed. I’ve already written him off so it doesn’t bother me one way or another.
are the braves intrested in brain giles
are the braves intrested in brain giles