Salty, 9 others cut by Braves | ajc.com
Lerew was sent to AAA, a sign that the Braves really aren’t that desperate for relief pitching, at least of the righthanded variety. None of the other pitchers stood too good of a chance of making the team; the most impressive was Sean White, but he was never considered to have much of a shot.
Of the position players, Saltalamacchia had little chance to play his way on to the team; I suppose if he’d hit .500 or something and McCann had been even worse he might have made it. As it was, he showed power but not much else and even the slumping McCann had a higher average and more walks. The most impressive of this bunch was Michael Ryan but he slumped in recent days and anyway got caught up in the Braves’ sudden outfield glut and again didn’t have much of a chance. I think he’ll be back. Cesar Crespo is the worst baseball player in the world and was far outplayed by Tony Pena Jr., if you can believe it.
I thought the worst baseball player in the world was… oh, never mind.
Lerew,Barry,White are the pitchers to watch this summer cause they are the most likley to be called up if a reliever is injured…
my brother is really bad at baseball
Cross posted from previous thread, so I apologize if you just read this there…
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[my post re: the braves roster] wasn’t a lineup order, that was a stream of consciousness recitation of the players on our roster. I guess it’s roughly the lineup order because that’s how I tried to remember the players, but I didn’t mean it as such. Sorry for not being clear.
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Based on “The Book”, my take on the optimum lineup for the Braves:
1. Giles
2. Jones, Ch.
3. Francoeur
4. Jones, An.
5. Renteria
6. LaRoche (vs RHP) or Diaz (vs LHP)
7. Langerhans
8. Pitcher
9. McCann
Yup, The Book says pitchers should bat 8th, the team’s best hitters should hit 1st, 2nd, and 4th, and other neat stuff. You should buy it at the link above if you haven’t yet.
—
I predict a two-run plus increase in Jorge Sosa’s ERA. If anyone wants to make it interesting, I’ll convert that to an over-under 4.50 ERA and take the over…
I was watching the Phillis-Braves game the other day and listened to the interview ESPN had with JS. When JS talked about the rotation, he mentioned of course Hudson and Smoltz are at the top of the rotation. Then, he went on saying Davies, Sosa, and HoRam will need to step up their game to possibly become the number 3,4, and 5 pitcher in the rotation. He didn’t say a single word about Thomson.
Kyle, I will say Sosa’s ERA will be around 3.5. I will take the scout’s approach in saying that the kid has a great arm. His fastball and slider are already very good. Add a two-seam fastball (which he started throwing at the end of last season) and a changeup (which he started learning to throw last season), the guy will be unbelievable. Remember how little experience he has in pitching. In predicting his performance in the coming season, I will not put as much emphasis on his last year’s stats as the other guys.
I will not disagree with you, Kyle, if you said you are predicting HoRam’s ERA to be around 4.5.
I will say 3.42
LSU!
The nice thing about Sosa is his arm does not have much mileage on it. Hopefully he can keep throwing sliders and his arm’ll be able to take it for quite a few more years, while Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, both prep stars, will probably always be damaged goods.
NO MORE DUKE!!!
SEC!
If we are having a shortage of arms then why dont we keep Lerew in the bullpen to start the year. Wasnt he having a good spring so far! Are the wanting to keep him as a starter?
On the contrary, csg, Lerew has a very inconsistent spring. I would rather send him back down to Richmond so that he can get more innings as a starter. If the Braves need more bullpen help, I would rather call up Barry.
I kind of like Crespo, at least as a AAA insurance policy. He’s got decent range at a bunch of positions, is useful as a baserunner, normally takes walks, has shown hints of power – he just can’t put it all together at the same time.
Nice choke by Gonzaga there. I’d like to thank them personally for saving my brackets from utter destruction. As I had Duke in the final, that’s pretty well screwed, but at least I’m still on track for the Final Four.
i’m surprised to read what people are saying about our starting pitching depth….other than hudson and a sometimes injured smoltz, i feel like we are pretty shaky. i think horacio is never reliable, thomson is iffy, and sosa is 50/50. and to me, although he had a great first couple games, davies still seems like a future great pitcher that isn’t going to materialize. i’m interested to know what yall think?
I think we have decent depth in starting rotation, and for the first time in a while, I really liked our spring training invites.
Michael Ryan, Crespo, Diaz are very good AAAA players. and if nothing else, will improve the woeful Richmond performance from last year.
And how about andy marte huh?!
Just watched the Braves-Indians game. Devine looks completely different from what I saw last year. His control of the fastball is very good, and his slider is excellent. If he is indeed working on a cutter, this kid will be awesome.
Villarreal didn’t look as sharp, but he has a lot of weapons. Great fastball, very good slider like Devine, very good changeup, and he also throws two seam fastballs. So, the guy has many tricks in his bag. Did I mention he throw as hard as Devine?
Neither of them is as good as Farnsworth was at this point. Boy, I can still remember the 100mph fastball and that unbelievable sliders that Farnsworth threw at the end of last season. Yes, Game 4 was forgettable, but we can’t deny that he was absolutely awesome when the Braves needed someone to replace Reitsma as closer.
Anyway, my point is that neither Devine nor Villarreal looks to be as dominant as Farnsworth was at the end of last season, but both have potential to be great. Adding them to Boyer and McBride, the future of the bullpen looks great. The concern indeed is to find a closer right now, but I am very sure all four of them have potential to be the closer of the Braves as soon as the All-Star game comes around.
Considering Reitsma always throws well in the first half of the season, I am not too concerned about the bullpen…except the health of Boyer and McBride which does bother me a little bit.
Yeah, I agree, comparing this year to last, Devine has definately made some improvements. He’s been unbelievable this spring, and moving proving me wrong on him being a fluke. Villareal REALLY impressed me in the WBC, expecially on the last game with USA. I hope we keep them both for years to come because they are both under 25 and have enormous potential. I am really not that concerned with Chris in the closers role, because I just loved him as a set up man. A mid 90s fastball, looping curve and excellent changeup may be closer stuff, I just fear that he doesnt have the mentality of a John Rocker or John Smoltz.
So many people are suggesting that Sosa should be our closer and we should put Cj in the rotation instead. Nobody realizes that all those runners he gives up arent material for a closer, cause if he even got 40 saves, he would have 20 blown!
To be clear – i don’t want sosa to close; i just don’t want him in the rotation either. I think he’s not very good at all.
We have good depth at starting pitcher, and I think we’re going to need every bit of it.
Kyle, it’s all relative. If one have to choose between Sosa and Ramirez, I don’t think it is even a choice.
i am going to take the phrase “unconventional” for sosa. he has great stuff and as of now has my confidence that he can be as good as he was last year. i remember last year, we had a lot of bloggers saying how “lucky” sosa was (this was at about midpoint of season), but then they changed their tune when every outing was identical. sosa pitches better from the stretch, so he puts runners on purposefully (not really, but that is the theory i like to believe in). some pitchers and players cannot be put into a category by number crunches, and i think he is one of them. i would like to say that if he sucks this year the jury can disregard my comments.
Personally, I believe Sosa is much better than his last year’s stats indicate, and I fully expect Sosa’s stats for this year will be much healthier (such as k/bb ratio, k/9innings) than last season.
Ramirez, on the other hand, simply sucks. I just don’t see anything in him which indicate he has the ability to improve his stats. Of course, I hope I am wrong. However, I put HoRam in the same case as LaRoche. I just don’t see anything special in the two.
Bob Sugar is ripping on the braves.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/jay_mohr/03/21/mohr.sports/index.html
If Sosa pitches better out of the stretch, why doesn’t he just do that all the time instead of waiting for baserunners to get on? There is no hard and fast rule saying you have to pitch out of the windup when nobody’s on base.
If he does put runers on purposefully (which I don’t think he does either), at least he has had the sense not to tell reporters that lead off walks don’t bother him?
Wow doubledawg, the Braves are the only good losers out there? I guess if I had won for 14 straight years, I’d be a good loser too.
it’s true that sosa pitched better with runners on base last year:
Sosa, 2005
K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BABIP
Bases Empty 5.27 4.84 0.85 0.303
Runners On 6.15 3.85 0.77 0.225
unfortunately, the opposite was true in 2004
Sosa, 2004
K/9 BB/9 HR/9 BABIP
Bases Empty 10.00 5.34 1.55 0.289
Runners On 7.01 4.48 1.56 0.316
Leading me to suspect this isn’t a skill. Of course, he was pitching out of the bullpen in 2004, so he probably pitched from the stretch most of the time anyway. Still, I tend to believe ‘Rissa, and suspect that sosa’s numbers with men on base will take a nosedive this year. I agree he has good stuff but don’t think he has a great idea of how to leverage it yet.
*note – i used pre tags for the stats- they will probably look like crap – for that i apologize.
Kyle, there is no way anyone can argue with the numbers. However, I put absolutely zero weight on Sosa’s stats prior to 2005 because they are the stats with the Rays. I mean, this is where Leo comes in. Whatever Leo did with Sosa, it didn’t work for Kolb. I think Sosa is still a work-in-progress who unfortunately has to learn his craft at the major league level. He has barely started to accumulate his pitching experience. Remember this guy has no pitching experience in high school and college (not that he attended one), and only a grand total 46.2 inning of minor league pitching experience.
Yes, Leo has left, but does that means Sosa will revert back to his old self? I don’t think so. He is already a completely different pitcher now than when he was with the Rays. I think Sosa will continue to improve under the guidance of McDowell. The kid has awesome stuff. He is not like Capellan who only has a fastball. He has a very good slider already, and if he can develop the changeup and the two seamer as mentioned before, Sosa has a great future ahead of him.
It’s like the difference between reading the financial statements of GE and a startup company. An analyst can reasonably estimate the future profits of GE because of the company’s establish past. However, trying to predict future porfits of a startup company based on historical financial numbers is completely hopeless because startup companies profits are always unpredictable. One has to look beyond the figures and study things such as the management and products to get more understanding on the startup company before one can make a reasonable estimation on the future profit.
Well, this is my little humble opinion. It’s always ok to agree to disagree!
I don’t know about from the stretch… I think he bears down more with runners on base, or did last year, and that likely it was a deliberate strategy. He was lucky too, but all his stats indicated that was the case — more strikeouts, more walks, fewer homers. Exactly what you’d expect if he was trying to get strikeouts.
Why didn’t he bear down in 2004?
Dec. 2004
Emphasis added.
Wright’s performance w/ Leo and post-Leo
IP ERA HR/9 BB/9 K/9
With 195.3 3.23 0.51 3.36 7.74
Post 63.7 6.08 1.13 4.52 4.81
fwiw, i’m not trying to be a jerk, and i certainly don’t want to be the stats uber alles nerd in the room. i think sosa has the opportunity to be a fantastic talent, but i suspect he’ll take a step or two backward before he can consolidate and move forward.
I’ll defer to “Dizzy” Disraeli.
“there are 3 kinds of lies: lies damn lies, and statistics”.
May baseball be saved from the lattermost.
JC, wasn’t Wright trying to pitch when he was actually hurt for most of last year? His case is really unfortunate, but at least he got a 3yr/$21M contract!
Kyle, don’t worry. I love this conversation. This is the kind of conversation which makes this site so great.
I believe some people are helped by pitching from the stretch as they stay within themselves, and hence are more effective with their location.
Sosa’s splits with runners on and bases empty last year was surely a bit flukey, all you have to do is look at the BABIP. this is very similar to when people were arguing that Estrada was a very clutch hitter couple of years ago based on his BABIP with RISP.
But was Sosa better pitching from the stretch. He most definitely was, in terms of raw stats. The other thing to notice is walk rate decreased in September big time IIRC. which is a good sign going forward.
The difference between Sosa in TB and ATL is the HR/9 rate. And just the difference in league and parks shouldn’t account for it. So the things we know Sosa did last year, he kept the ball down and pitched more to contact. I am guessing he is going to have success repeating the formula, but not match his ERA from last year, simply based on the BABIP regressing to the mean
I think it’s more than unfortunate. It’s what nearly every pitcher who has left Mazzone has done. You think you can take it with you, but you can’t.
I am very worried about Sosa for two reasons:
1) According to DIPS he was very lucky last year.
2) He credits his turnaround to Leo: “I am where I am today thanks to Leo, because he helped turn me into the pitcher I am.”
And all I did was paraphrase Kyle without putting the stats in. Sorry about that bit of plagiarism 🙂
And one more thing..
Even when he had his horrific numbers with TB with runners on, the stat which deteriorated was his K/9. His BB/9 improved actually. So probably leads some credence to the theory that he has better control from the stretch, and last year, he used it to locate his pitches really well instead of just trying to blow people away.
I can see you point, JC. This is why this season will be very very interesting. For the first time in fifteen years, Bobby and Leo will be working seperately. I think we will find clues and indication on the influence Bobby and the Braves environment have in improving a pitcher without Leo’s service with the Braves.
My gut feeling is that the Braves pitching will just be as good and the O’s pitching will improve a whole lot. I just think Bobby’s way of handling players, not just pitchers, has a significant role in a player’s improved performance from a his previous team.
I’m kind of surprised that the Braves didn’t go for someone with a very similar philosophy as Leo’s and try to promote from within. McDowell seems fine so far, but his philosophy seems very different than Mazzone. My hunch is that we won’t be able to tell much about McD’s effectiveness this year either good or bad. We may be better this year, but get worse as a whole in the long run – or vice versa.
One of the things about Mazzone that I thought could be traced to his ptching philosophy and preparation was that the Braves staff as a whole seemed to endure minimal injuries. (It would be interesting to see a stat on DL time for Braves pitchers over the last 14 years compared to the rest of the league.) When you consider last year however and all the injuries, it was either a fluke year or the injury bug simply caught up with his ptchers.
Good point TD, I can only remember Smoltz being out for an extended period of time. Maddux was on the DL once and I don’t think Glavine has evern been on the DL (hockey player) Avery should have gone on the DL in 93 for a long period of time
Glavine has only missed one start since 1990, I believe. That’s incredible.
I know we are a second half team and we always make our run around July, but wouldn’t it be nce to win 15-16 in a row to start the year, crush the confidence of the Mets, and coast to the division title?
The question is whether or not Jorge Sosa can be helped to consolidate what Leo taught him without turning into Kaz Ishii or Victor Zambrano, two guys with incredible stuff and no command, both of whom “genius” Rick Peterson obviously couldn’t help.
One reason I’m less worried about our rotation this year is that if we have any injuries, or any of the pitchers don’t work out, we have more minor leaguers we can bring up. Last year, we had to be saved by Roman Colon and Jorge Sosa–and old prospect who hadn’t worked out previously and a guy we got for Nick Green. This year, we have Chuck James and Anthony Lerew waiting in the wings. If they need to spot start for a few weeks or even longer, I think they can do it.
The thing that upsets me most is that we don’t have NY METS’s contact info. When we inevitably pull away from the Mets, I’ll desparately want to gloat and mock, but he’ll be long gone by that point, only to be heard from again next Winter, when the Mets sign Jamie Moyer and Ken Griffey, Jr. to huge contracts. I guess I’ll just have to be content with 15 straight, knowing it’s tearing him up on the inside.
It would be interesting to see a stat on DL time for Braves pitchers over the last 14 years compared to the rest of the league
Someone else mentioned this that we may have to discount mazzone’s influence in this area because of maddux and glavine. Mazzone had a fancy throwing program, but that hasn’t stopped pitchers from getting hurt these last 2-3years, precisely since the time Glavine and Maddux left. I guess the staff looks healthy when two of your best pitchers keep turning up every 4th/5th day..
Smitty,
Yes, absolutely. But one of the great things about the extended run by the Braves is that we have won in many different ways. We have begun the season on fire, we have treaded water for a month, sometimes two, and then caught fire, and we have closed the gap at the end of the season. The effect of this psychologically on other teams has to be:
A. The Braves are off to a fast start–pack it up, we’re toast.
B. The Braves are treading water. When they get hot in (May/June/July)–pack it up, we’re toast.
C. The Braves are closing fast in late July/August–pack it up, we’re toast.
Anyway we start, history has proven we can and likely will finish first. That’s not to say that this will occur this year. But these thoughts have to be kept in the mind of the opponents. Moreover, this prevents our own players from doing what their players will do (pack it up, we’re toast) regardless of how we start. It truly is great to be a Braves fan.
According to the News Tribune out of Tacoma Washington:
Atlanta reportedly is looking for relief help and could have interest in Seattle?s Gil Meche or Julio Mateo.
What do you all think?
…Always remember when thinking of our rotation…
Hey we could be the Mets!?*$
Meche is terrible. The Braves don’t need Mateo, they already have Travis Smith.
Quick Question:
Would you trade Ichiro Suzuki for Vlad Guerrero in fantasy baseball?
CSG, I wouldn’t do it unless Ichiro got traded in real life. He’s been close to dogging it recently–seems like he really isn’t enjoying being the best player on a losing team.
Somebody please tell me Travis Smith wont be on the opening day roster. now, please?
Here’s some good news:
Ben, I thought I saw where Travis Smith was sent to Richmond. I still don’t understand that, we’ve had some guys “sent down” but they still get playing time in major league games – at least in split squad games.
As for Glavine and Maddux skewing the Braves’ (and Leo’s) injury statistics, I can definitely see that. However, we’ve also had oft-injured pitchers over the years who have overcome injury problems in a big way. Hammond, Holmes, Wright and Burkett all come to mind.
Smith was sent down in the batch listed in the story linked to above.
Glavine has never been on the DL and I think he actually never missed a start with the Braves. Maddux’s record was nearly as good. With those two guys eating up a third or more of the team innings between them every year, the Braves didn’t have to push anyone else.
Good point! I didn’t even think of the “trickle down effect”. We rarely had to overwork relievers because we could usually count on Glavine or Maddux to give us at least 7 to 8 good innings, no matter who we had as our 3rd, 4th and 5th starters.
If Maddux and Glavine stayed healthy under Leo’s watch, why shouldn’t Leo get some of the credit? While I do believe that durability is a talent, and obviously one that both of these guys possess, the fact remains that they were throwing 260-280 innings every year, including postseason. I don’t know where to find this, but I’m quite sure they’re 1-2 in IP during the ’90s (including postseason) by a wide margin. It seems much more likely than not that Leo’s regimen and tutelage helped keep them healthy, don’t you think? (By the way, my pet turtles are named Regimen and Tutelage. OK, not really, but fine turtle names they would be!)
They didn’t get hurt before or after working with Leo, though. Maddux led the league in innings in 1991 and 1992 (eventually leading five years in a row) and was second in 1990.
I don’t have the program with me, but I’ll run the nineties IP list when I get home. I’m guessing that it will be Maddux-Glavine-Clemens or Maddux-Clemens-Glavine.
Sansho, I think two other good names would be Rahzar and Tokka.
And yes, I just watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II last night.
” I just watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II last night.”
Go ninja, go ninja, go.
Total IP during the 1990s, including postseasons:
nameFirst nameLast playerID TotalIP
Greg Maddux maddugr01 2545.4
Tom Glavine glavito02 2399.2
John Smoltz smoltjo01 2323.8
Kevin Brown brownke01 2283.6
Roger Clemens clemero02 2209.2
totals could be off by a few IP because of rounding in Access, but that should be pretty close.
I should also mention Steve Avery, he of the “can’t throw through wet paper anymore” fastball. If he’d just maintained his 1991-93 level, much less fulfilled his promise, who knows how much more the Braves might have accomplished.
btw, top 10 from 2000-2005:
Livan Hernandez hernali01 1445.3
Randy Johnson johnsra05 1398.3
Greg Maddux maddugr01 1369.7
Roger Clemens clemero02 1366.3
Bartolo Colon colonba01 1345.3
Tim Hudson hudsoti01 1344.0
Javier Vazquez vazquja01 1327.3
Mike Mussina mussimi01 1326.4
Tom Glavine glavito02 1322.0
Curt Schilling schilcu01 1292.3
I am watching the Braves-Nsts game on MLB.tv through FSN South. I actually like Jeff Torberg. I believe I will not beat beating myself to death watching FSN South this year!
One thing I want to add, I have been paying additional attention to Francouer’s at-bats this spring training. He seems to be more selective and more under control (unlike his three swing-and-miss performance against Villarreal during WBC). I really hope he takes that to the regular season because he seems to be adjusting well.
I’m watching sports south right now. The game is not on. Anyone know what the problem is??? Weird.
It’s not on Sport South, it is on FSN South, or are we talking about the same thing?
Anyhow, another scoreless inning for Remlinger. Looks like he will stay for sure after this performance. He is throwing the ball pretty well. Definitely not overpowering though.
They’re the same thing, but local SportsSouth (I don’t say F*x) might carry something else at times.
KC, glad to hear that about Francouer. He was swinging the bat like Al Leiter up there against Villarreal.
Thanks for the tables, Kyle. It’s anybody’s guess whether Leo’s program kept Maddux and Glavine healthy (and note Smoltz’s inclusion at #3 on the list). Perhaps it’s an article of faith with me, but I always enjoyed reading about how Leo’s methods were different from others, and the correlation with staff durability is a strong one.
Avery is another story, obviously. He made 39, 39, and 37 starts from ages 21 to 23. While Leo was certainly unable to keep Avery from getting hurt, I’d give Cox the lion’s share of the blame for that one.
Shameless plug for my Yahoo fantasy league: I have a league with a few openings. I have only one request, that you stick around for the entire season and take an active role in managing your team. I figure that if you look at this site every day like I do, that is good enough for me. League is #30474; The Shirtless Bible Salemen; password is ‘jesusfingers’ No religious mockery here, just references from one of the funniest SNL skits of all time.
I don’t buy credence that Leo affected how many games these guys start a year. I think a lot of it has how much stress you put on the arm. Look at Maddux and Glavine…they are both control pitchers, not blow them away with 95mph fastballs. And Roger Clemens, well he’s just a freak of nature, I’ve got no explination for that. But most of the pitchers that seem to get hurt are the ones that try to blow them away.
So my thought is it may be a combination of how the two throw, Bobby/Leo, fate, good luck, and a dash of salt that they probably throw every year wishing good luck.
I could have sworn that Glavine was on the DL last year…maybe it was just the start he missed cause he lost his two front teeth.
I love it. Even in my absence you still talk about me.”The thing that upsets me most is that we don’t have NY MET’s contact info. When we inevitably pull away from the METs, I’ll desperately want to gloat and mock”
Funny, funny stuff. Fortunately I wont have to worry about that. The METs will be in first place by the second month of the regular season, and stay there the rest of the year. I just don’t get some of you. What really makes you think your team is better than ours? I am saying this not to be a Dick, but really? Lets break down these two teams and the direction they are going. First since this is your site
Braves—- who is closing for you again??? Chipper will get hurt, and even if he stays healthy will not produce as he used to. Your table setter fucal is gone. How long will smolts hold up? you just got rid of one hell of a prospect to get a has been all-star in renteria. Your great pitching coach has left, and no one can fill those shoes, not even a former met.
Your team has slowly regressed and this is a fact. Like it or not it’s the truth. Iv read up on your prospects and I don’t see any Wrght’s or Marte’s there. Again IM not trying to be a Dick just letting you see it from my point of view.
METs
For one we now have a healthy Beltran, We picked up a great left handed hitter in Delgado. We also picked up one of the best closers in baseball-waggner. We Have a great amount in talent coming in from our minor league.( Have you guys seen Bannister,milledge, heilman or even palfry play?)we Have good defense minus delgado-(wright will do better in his full second year, but will have some issues.)Our starting pitching in my belief is better. Yes, pedro is somewhat of a concern but not a big one. He will pitch like the ace that he is and post his usual great numbers.Glavin will pitch great this year as he is healthy, and in the last year of his contract-The man wants to be paid! Also for the fact he only needs 25 more wins for 300 as IM sure some of you know. heilman is just nasty! Enough said. Zambrano- will soon be sent to the penn in favor of bannister. We all no Zambrano sucks, why hide it right? Bannister is also a nasty pitcher, enough said on that as well. Trax will more then likely break even or a little better so no lose. Our relief is not all that hot just as yours so why bother.
It just seems to me we have you beat this year. Say what you will but your not going to change the fact that we are superior team. Our teams are changing positions in this great hate for one another. We are rising and you and your team my friends are falling…….
IM thinking of creating a webb site that lets all the mets fans, and all the braves fans duke it out. what do you think? it could be like a daily mass internet brawl. Honestly would any of you from this blogg come if I made it?
Also, If I did make this site I would need help from one of you so it would be a neutral webb site. 1 Half dedicated to Braves news, Stats, stories, transactions, hate for METs, what ever. The other half dedicated to METs fans with much of the same. There would also be like I said before, a section for the braves and METs fans to vent at each other with posting like this site. If your interested speak up
Sorry, I’m not interested in your idea. I prefer intelligent discussion. That is not possible with you and other Mets fans.
You know, the Mets would suck less if only they would get rid of the Wilpons.
WOW, well thank you for sharing your thoughts. The “Idea” is just a site you can vent have some fun and get some info. It can be a place of intelligent discussion if you put forth the effort to make it one. You seem to have a hate for me and METs fan’s am I right? Well, here’s your chance to vent out all that hate. Please oh please enlighten us with your intelligent discussions. since no METs fan could ever strike up an intelligent discussion of their own.
TD- YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING RIGHT?-you know NYC is home to some of the most intelligent people in the world. Don’t get me starded ON what people down south are known as around the US
I can’t believe you people are actually responding to NY METS. Am I the only person on here who sees it as painfully obvious that this is just someone trying to be funny? I mean seriously, guys – the blatant misspelling of one-syllable words, the punctuation that’s so pitiful it could only be faked, and the insistence on randomly capitalizing letters in the middle of sentences…do you honestly think this is really a Mets fan who takes time out of his day to post on a Braves website? I would bet my left arm that NY METS is a regular on this website who is trying to have a little fun. The only thing worse than having to scroll beyond his ridiculous posts every day is having to do the same to all of you who insist on replying to him. If you haven’t figured out that NY METS is just someone joking around, then the joke really is on you.
Good point, Tennessee… so let me hijack the thread with the following question: what do people expect from Marcus Giles this year?
I’ll offer a guess of .310/.390/.460, with about 45 doubles, 15 homers, 65 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. What do you guys think?
THAT WAS THE funniest thing I have read all day long. So because I don’t want to waste my time going to spell check over some braves fan I am now somehow a joke or a braves fan? I assure you I am a METS fan. I just don’t see why I would even care to check over what I type, none of you are worth the extra effort. I am however glad I make some of you laugh. Or at least crack a smile. OR in the event I make you mad or cry that brings me equal satisfaction.
I watched the game today(thank you FSN South). Maybe we’ll be able to see more than 35-45 games a year up here in Nashville(I went ahead and got the MLB.com radio package). Some observations:
Betemit looked BRUTAL at short(although I know he cand handle it—the Renteria move makes more sense)
It’s going to be a crying shame(as I’ve said before) if James Jurries does not make this team. He looked really good.
The announcers seem to think that Chuck James has made this team(as a lefty reliever) and I agree.
Francoeur is dialed in and smashing the ball right now. Also he seems to have a better idea of the strike zone going deeper into counts.
You do NOT want to mess with Jeff Torborg(Braves FSN announcer). They were talking about respecting your manager and he told a story of when he was making a pitching change, the pitcher was walking toward him as he walked onto the field and was about to flip the ball to him at the foul line when Torborg said “If you flip that ball to me you better keep walking because I’m going to drill you in the back of the head with it. He said that pitcher froze in his tracks and turned around and almost ran back to the mound and waited for the reliever.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think Torborg is actually pretty decent. In any event, he is exponentially better than Tom Paciorek.
I agree with TN Brave. I thought he was very good. Much better stories than Paciorek too.
Geez, Torberg has baseball knowledge and an ability to carry a decent conversation about baseball, which Paciorek has none of those skills. We have to thank the Nats again for taking him. Can Bowden take HoRam and LaRoche as well?
We don’t hate the Mets, we are just indffrent twards them, because they don’t matter at all. that is a 180 from loving something, if we hated the Mets, that would mean they were a threat.
NYM’s typing and spelling has actually improved since his first appearance.
And here’s what I wrote about the Mets last year:
Since the Marlins self-destructed, the Astros or Phillies are now our archrivals.
OK saying the METS are not a threat is foolish and you know it. That was a waste of a post. You mean to tell me your not expecting any competition from the METS this year? I honestly do hope you feel that way. You will add to my great joy when the METS Finish first in our division. To be honest I am not worried about the braves at all. I am concerned about the cardinals though. it will be a tuff NL championship series between the METS and cards this year. Hell, I don’t even think the braves will finish ahead of Philly, and I am being dead serious
MAC T:
Thanks for noticing how vastly improved my spelling has become. The grammar police is out in full effect in Atlanta. You would think every time I post I was writing up a mid term paper for collage. But still as I said If I spell something wrong-oh well I don’t care, you are the one’s that it bothers, not me. So heres loking at the grammer police. Tha Mets willl winn tha devison titl this yer! annd I will B her 2 glote, U can cont on that!
“I would bet my left arm that NY METS is a regular on this website who is trying to have a little fun.” – TN Brave
It HAS to be the other Alex R. Just a guess….
I wish it were… but while I must admit that, while I’ve occasionally posted as Horacio, and am sort of-kind of a Mets fan, I’m not NY METS.
I wonder who it is?
Not you, AAR. OAR, Original Alex R.P.S. “O” Alex R., if you are reading, I’m sorry for teasing you about the city of Baltimore last fall. I didn’t see why you left but I hope you’ll start posting again when the season starts back up.
Ohh… got it. Well, I hope it is.
My apologies for the confusion. You are such a regular poster now that he has become “the other” Alex R. Time moves so fast in the blogsphere. Four+ months in real time becomes what seems like five years.
It’s impossible to tell because he’s an AOL user and they have floating IP addresses.
AOL is great!!!! and to all of you I am not a regular on this site. I am not a braves fan. I have been a mets fan since I was 4-5 watching them win the world series. Its funny because no one in my family is a mets fan, nor are my friends. but living in NY i guess also helped me become a mets fan. I could have been a skanky fan but IM not a sell out, nor a band wagon bum. I don’t root for a team just because they win all the time like say, the Yankees or braves.
Yeah, I honestly don’t see the Mets as a threat at all this year. No matter who they sign to what outrageous contract, they still finish towards the bottom of the NL East. The Phillies are probably who I am dreading the most; Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are certainly going to make them an offensive threat. The Nats shouldn’t be much of a threat. Their offense is just too…stale. The Cards still look damn good but weaker. I don’t think their offense or rotation is going to be a good as it was last year, so, if healthy, I expect the Cubbies to make an unprecidented finish in 1st place.