The Braves have indicated that only three of their relievers are “certainties” for next year. Which is weird, because I just had two when I started planning this piece. (Note, I’m just going to predict what’s going to be the case at the start of real games, not what will happen in the season. Starting pitchers are hard enough to predict.)
THE CERTAINTIES
Bob Wickman will be the closer unless he gets hurt. That’s easy.
Chances
95 Percent: Opens as closer
5 Percent: Is hurt
Macay McBride will have a role of some sort. I’d like him to step forward as the primary setup man and closer-in-waiting because I think he has the best stuff. However, that may not be feasible. Lefties hit .181 against him; righties hit .312. He was a lot better in the second half (3.00 ERA, 31 K/12 BB in 30 IP). I think he’ll be the primary lefty.
Chances
50 Percent: LOOGY
20 Percent: Setup man
15 Percent: Middle relief
15 Percent: Injured or in minors
And Kali. It’s hard to understand why the Braves are so confident in Tyler Yates. All he has going for him is a nice strikeout rate, about one an inning — and the Braves have never paid much attention to strikeouts, hence Gryboski. He pitched much worse in the second half (3.12/4.41) and this was even while getting a huge break on balls in play (batters hit .217 against him in the second half, which he will not maintain). Opposing batters hit .268/.386/.524 with runners on base. I assume he’ll wash out by June and hopefully he’ll only have blown two or three games by then.
Chances
50 Percent: Primary setup man
30 Percent: Middle reliever
10 Percent: Injured
10 Percent: Released/traded/assigned to minors
THE OTHER GUYS
The Vulture isn’t considered a sure thing, even though he was probably the team’s third most-valuable pitcher (after Smoltz and James) on the season and pitched better in the second half. His ERA was 3.61, including 3.50 in his four starts and 3.63 as a reliever. In the second half, he had a 2.63 ERA and he controlled his gopher ball tendencies; after allowing 9 HR before the break he allowed 4 (2 as a starter) afterwards. He also cut his walks in half (18 before, 9 after, in slightly more innings). And he won eight games in the first half and one after. Go figure. I think he’ll have a job of some sort.
Chances
10 Percent: Fifth Starter
50 Percent: Middle relief
20 Percent: Setup man
10 Percent: Injured
10 Percent: Traded
Lance Cormier: Why? It’s basically impossible to find any positives in his record. Well, his ERA as a starter was 4.31, which wouldn’t be so bad except that he was only going five innings, if that, was allowing a homer every seven innings, and allowed an insanely high .333 batting average against. I think he has the Pictures.
Chances
10 Percent: Fifth Starter
20 Percent: Middle Relief
5 Percent: Setup Man
15 Percent: Injured
50 Percent: Traded/Released/Designated For Assignment/Kidnapped by me when he returns to Northport and never seen again
Joey Devine pitched well in his callup (5 1/3 IP in 8 G, 3 H 4 BB 8 K 0 R) but I have little faith in him (he only pitches well when the pressure is off — in spring training, in the minors, once the team is out of it) plus I think that Gene Garber cursed all sidearmers who followed him in a Braves uniform. I would prefer that he stay in the minors.
Chances
50 Percent: AAA
10 Percent: Setup man
20 Percent: Middle relief/righty specialist
10 Percent: Injured
10 Percent: The Braves think he’s a bust and trade him while he still has value
Wayne Franklin: Please.
20 Percent: Minors
5 Percent: Supplementary LOOGY
75 Percent: Released/Killed to protect the herd
As for Peter Moylan, see above on Gene Garber’s curse. Like Devine, he pitched much better in his September callup (2.46 ERA, 4 H 0 BB 6 K in 7 1/3 IP). Peculiarly, he has a huge reverse split: lefties hit .192/.276/.308 against him, normal people .361/.385/.472. That is so atypical of a sidearmer or submariner that I have to think it’s a fluke.
Chances
20 Percent: Middle reliever
50 Percent: Minors
10 Percent: Injured
20 Percent: Traded/released/Joins Midnight Oil tribute band
Chad Paronto was pitching pretty well for a time but then fell victim to overuse, then started not pitching at all, then pitched okay at the end. Not an unusual pattern. I don’t know if he’ll be back, even though his 3.18 ERA for the season was best on the team. (Not counting Wickman, or Phil Stockman’s four innings.)
Chances
35 Percent: Middle relief
15 Percent: Setup man
25 Percent: Traded
15 Percent: Injured
10 Percent: Released/Designated for Assignment
Any predictions for Boyer or Foster? Or is that too speculative since they missed the entire year?
Pretty much. Foster is a borderline pitcher anyway and this is his second or third major arm injury. Boyer’s injury was to his shoulder and I don’t expect anything from anyone with a major shoulder injury. I’d rate the chance against either contributing next year at about 80 percent.
I think Boyer will bounce back.
That has nothing to do with reality, though; it’s just that I went to his 5-year-old birthday party (we were best friends back in kindergarten) and I want him to do well so that I can tell that story and feel semi-important.
Mac, what are the chances of us keeping Thomson as a reliever/back up starter. That was mentioned in a couple of rumors. I’d say about 20 percent, but that may be high
I think as long as Boyer can throw, he’ll be big for us next year.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6026168
Mets starter injured
I don’t see it, CSG. There are rules about how far you can cut a player’s salary (20 percent? I think that’s it.) and Thomson makes way too much for this team to spend on middle relief and spot starting.
Didn’t bravesgirl15 even say she hated Tyler Yates?
There you are.
This Yates thing, in my opinion, is even less reasonable than all the front office love for Reitsma. At least Reitsma had stretches of success prior to management’s complete allegiance to him.
A bad joke, funny, but still not very nice.
“With former Atlanta Braves starters Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux on opposing staffs, we could see the rare playoff series that both teams lose” , from DJ Gallo
The Braves have way too much love for Devine for there to be a 50% chance of him being in the minors. They drafted him specifically as a rush job to the majors, BP said at the time he was the nearest to the majors of any draft pick.
Looks the Twins will lose too.
3-2 Big Hurt homered twice in the A’s victory
THT Win Shares for the Braves. Andruw holds off McCann for the team lead. Smoltz is tied for fifth and the only pitcher in the top nine. Even Langerhans was better than any other pitcher. Villarreal ties James as the second-most-valuable pitcher. Davies sucked.
do you think we could get Crawford for any package of our players
They say they’re looking for a front-line starter. Unless they consider Tim Hudson that (and I seriously doubt that’s the case), I don’t think so.
I know this is pretty random…but I’m excited about Willy Aybar. I have high hopes for him next season.
I also think Aybar will be good. They are saying he might ride the pine waiting on Chipper to get hurt. Some are expecting Prado to get the nod there. Question. If we get the leadoff to play LF and Aybar sits, what do we do w/ Langerhans, KJ, and Diaz? We cant keep 6 outfielders on the team. Also, I bet we resign Ward for the big bat off the bench
What about Stockman? He was hurt earlier. His minor league numbers were phenomenal. How many years of options do the Braves have on him and what is his injury prognosis? He is probably what the Braves wish Yates could be. An overpowering late inning guy.
Why Crawford? Shouldn’t the Braves focus on pitching?
I really like Phil Stockman. I wondered where the heck he went, his injury wasn’t that bad. He should get a spot in the bullpen.
The salary reduction clause doesn’t apply to Thomson if he signs a deal as a free agent, rather than by accepting arbitration.
Good analysis. Wickman, McBride, Yates, Villarreal, and either Paronto or Cormier will be back is the short of it. The remaining two spots, assuming a twelve-man bullpen, go to new blood. The usual crew (Devine, Boyer, Moylan) wait in reserve in case of an injury or three.
Personally, I’d like to see Yates, Paronto, Cormier, Franklin, Moylan, and Ray (who you missed above, and who should not be back) all gone.
Twelve-man pitching staff, that is. Seven-man bullpen.
“It’s hard to understand why the Braves are so confident in Tyler Yates.”
Tyler Yates – $0.33MM
umm…that about 330,000 more reasons why they shouldn’t have confidence in him!
I am this close to declaring Carl Crawford an off-limits topic. What’s the point?
Keep Wickman. Keep McBride. The rest? Ka-boom, for all I care.
Maybe give the young guys like Devine (and Boyer, if healthy) a chance to stick, but I can only go on what I’ve seen at MLB level—and it ain’t too good.
I have no idea what we’ll get out of the Vulture or Paronto in ’07, but if they’re pitching for someone else, it wouldn’t break my heart.
And the keeping-Yates thing? I’m as confounded as everyone else.
I’m not a big told-you-so guy, but (for the purposes of this discussion) I’ll repeat what I said in this space last year when everyone seemed to be worrying about Adam LaRoche (and this year, one assumes, it’ll be Francoeur): The bullpen is the reason this team failed. The bullpen must be the priority in the off-season. I’ll take the Wickman signing as the JS admission to that fact, and for that I’m truly grateful. But don’t think we’re done in that department.
Yes, our starters were mostly lousy (10th in a 16-team league), but go back to the 20-out-of-23 debacle & tell me what the main problem was. Those 3+ weeks wrecked the entire season.
As dire as some of us may sound on the bullpen topic, I still believe we’ll bounce back next year. But it better be next year, because the post-Smoltz/post-Andruw/post-Chipper world ain’t gonna be so fun.
As Kim would say….The Braves have 330,000 reasons why not to drive Yates off a cliff.
Carl Crawford is just such a dreamy idea, Mac. People can’t leave it alone because the idea just sounds so good.
Meet your 2007 Braves coaching staff:
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061003&content_id=1696904&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
Out of curiosity, what did the Richmond Braves do this year that would cause the Braves to promote their manager to a major league position? If Corrales goes to FL to be their bench coach, that’ll be weird. I thought Bobby and Corrales were close. Would he really leave to go with Gonzalez? Also, the subtitle on the AJC article says:
“Longtime bench coach Fredi Corrales leaves team by mutual agreement.”
They need proofreaders…
As for the left field problem, it does not matter who we put in left field so long as our pitching sucks.
It’s the Pitching Rotation Stupid!!!
Mac–what about Ken Ray? Decent first half, but awful second half. Key question: lucky in the first half, return to true form in second half, or first half overuse by Cox? My vote: all of the above.
Didn’t see if this was posted anywhere else…
“The Braves replaced the three departed coaches with Eddie Perez as bullpen coach, Brian Snitker as third base coach, and Chino Cadahia as bench coach. Many fans will remember Perez as the jokester catcher for the Braves for several years. He served as a coach at double-A Mississippi this year. Snitker was the Braves manager at triple-A Richmond and has been with the organization for almost 30 years. Cadahia has been a Minor League field coordinator for nine year with the Braves.”
What about trading for Carl Crawford ? Sounds like a good idea.
What about Will Startup, is he too far away to contribute. I seem to recall that he was in the same draft class as Devine, and I thought he had some good numbers at different levels last year. Mac any thoughts on Startup?
JoshQ, who are you referring to there?
That was freaky, so I changed my display name so there is no confusion.
Cards up 3-0
What happened to Ken Ray?
“JoshQ, who are you referring to there?”
Are you talking about my pitching rotation comment? If so I was just commenting on the fact that it does not matter who plays lf if we can’t pitch. My “Stupid” comment was a failed use of comedy. A reference to a former political slogan of “It’s the Economy Stupid.”
Mac,
It sure would be good if somebody could “slot” the whole roster first. Break down by salary (based on contract, minimum, expected arbitration, whatever), “control” (arb eligible, free agent year ___ end of contract ___, team option for $, etc.), age, injury status. Then, the possible moves become more obvious.
IF the goal is to go THROUGH the post season, the most important need is a “low numbered” starter with power stuff. There is only one I see. I would like to move whoever we have to to get Jason Schmidt. With Smoltz, and supplemented by James and Hampton I think we can win a World Series.
The other starter possibility might be for Liberty Media to give the Braves Fans a “one time” new owner “grand opening” present. The “buy in” rights on the Japanese phenom (Daisuke Hazawara?). The plus to them is international relations, making a splash with cable and satellite providers, and boosting fan spirit.
I like having Wickman. But anybody that thinks he will produce like that next year after everybody sees him around the NL needs a wake up call. We still need one more guy in the pen that everybody has to watch out for.
I had a feeling that Brian Snitker would wind up with one of the open coaching positions. Good for him. He’s highly regarded in the Braves’ system, and many of the Braves’ young players know him from their minor league days. I have never heard of Chino Cadahia before. Isn’t it unusual for a rookie coach to get the bench coach position? Whatever, I’m sure he’ll be fine. I wish Jeff Blauser had gotten the opportunity though. Next time, hopefully.
Ray was so bad that I didn’t even think of him.
Chances:
10 Percent: Middle Relief
20 Percent: Minors
10 Percent: Injured
60 Percent: Never Seen Again
I can’t judge Startup or anyone else I haven’t seen. Hopefully they’ll bring in someone useful and experienced, because an entire bullpen with only one pitcher (Chris the Liar) with significant experience really didn’t work.
On a personal level though, this coaching turnover may have strange effects on how I remember the combination to my combo lock. It had always been Spahn-Corrales-Smoltz.
Daisuke Matsuzaka has, sadly, no chance of ever playing for the Braves. He isn’t a free agent this year, but if he goes to the MLB (he can be sold by his team) it will be to the Mariners, Mets, Yanks, or Sox.
Keep Wickman. Keep McBride. The rest? Ka-boom, for all I care.
Stuff like this puzzles me. Why is it that The Vulture falls in everyone’s blind spot? He was real good this year. I’ll never understand why he was taken out of the rotation down the streatch.
I guess we’ve seen so much bad relief pitching we can’t even recognize a guy doing a good job anymore.
Cliff,
Schmidt would be an interesting addition and, with him, we’d immediately have the most bad-ass rotation in the NL. But as an FA coming off a year that saw him earn $10.5 M, I can’t see it. We can dream, though…
Here’s a recent item in the SF Chronicle on Schmidt’s immediate future:
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/01/SPGMTLELIS1.DTL
Off to Yankee Stadium. If anyone’s watching on TV, I’ll be the only one in the stadium wearing a black Georgia cap & Cramps T-Shirt. I’ll also be the only person in the stadium who doesn’t care who wins. Go Dawgs.
Sorry, here’s the link:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/01/SPGMTLELIS1.DTL
Rogers in trouble again, or just an angry fan. However if someone was beating on his car, he deserves what he gets.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6026800
Also, I would like to have the Vulture back. Cormier doesnt bother me and he can keep starting in AAA, he’s better than Travis Smith…
You know. Judging from how the Braves have done in the postseason in recent years (and I’m assuming this website wasn’t around in 1995), I’m guessing the Twins and Padres would just as well have preferred Braves Journal to not endorse them. If neither team makes it out of the first series, we’ll know for sure what the Braves’ problem has been. (Or, if it’s not Braves Journal itself, it’s the Braves’ curse going through us to whichever teams we’re going for.)
Schmidt would be an interesting addition and, with him, we’d immediately have the most bad-ass rotation in the NL.
If by “bad-ass” you mean “two good pitchers, as long as neither of them gets injured / shows his age”, then sure…
I agree with CSG in that Cormier is a good “break glass in case of emergency” starter, to be stashed in Richmond until required. We needed one of those this summer, instead of the forgettable Travis Smith or Jason Shiell or the unforgettable (for all the wrong reasons) Sosa. This is a fragile rotation and needs depth.
Keep the Vulture, keep Wickman, keep McBride. Get a free agent setup guy/ backup closer. Use the other bullpen guys as shark bait.
Ububba won’t be the only guy in Yankee Staddium who doesn’t care who wins; in fact, he might be in the majority what with all the corporate bureaucrats who got tickets.
And is this the year Billy Beane’s shit works in the playoffs?
Lest we forget:
1914 Update:
Boston Braves 91-58 (Clinched)
NY Giants 82-69 (10 GB)
St. Louis Cardinals 80-70 (11.5)
Chicago Cubs 76-75 (16)
Brooklyn Robins 74-76 (17.5)
Philadelphia Phillies 73-78 (19)
Pittsburgh Pirates 67-83 (24.5)
Cincinnati Reds 58-92 (33.5)
Today’s Games:
Boston 000 200 002- 4 15 2 WP- Hess
Giants 000 000 010 – 1 6 2 LP- Fromme
Boston 000 000 000 – 0 5 2 LP- Crutcher
Giants 000 100 00x – 1 1 1 WP- Marquard
The only run of Game 2 came in an inning in which Crutcher walked four men without allowing a hit.
Eddie Collins, who hit 344/ 452/ 452 as the A’s 2B (the average and OBP led the majors) and Johnny Evers, who hit 279/ 390/ 338 as the Braves’ primary 2B, won the league MVP awards today. Both received brand new Chalmers automobiles for their troubles, the last of Chalmers’ five sets of awards.
Poor Ken Ray. Oh well…
Here is my perspective on what potential moves can do:
No major changes (given latest signings and Hampton’s return)- Wild Card contender (5 to 10 games over 500)
Trade for leadoff hitter – probably Giles (everything else as above) – Wild card contender (not much impact) (5 to 15 games over 500)
Major upgrade to bullpen (1 high quality setup man + 1 to 2 others) – Division contender (+15 to 20 games over 500)
Upgrade bullpen and starting pitching (1 upper tier starter plus upper tier setup man, most likely trading Andruw) – World Series contender (20+ games over 500)
In addition to Wickman, I look forward to a bullpen with McBride and the Vulture.
Yates will almost certainly be there, but so might Ken Ray. My guess is that Ray was overused–but he might be ok in middle relief. Paronto will be the next Gryboski.
I hope that the Braves have been showcasing Cormier for a trade.
I am also hopeful that between Devine (who should pitch more at AAA), Startup and Schneider the Braves have a chance to get at least one more sound reliever.
Stockman was great at AA and AAA and promising in Atlanta before his injury, so he deserves a close look.
Obviously, it would be great to see the return of the Blaine Boyer of July and August 2005, but I agree with Mac that this is unlikely.
All told, it would be great to pick up another quality reliever, but I am optimistic enough to believe that even without another addition, the Braves have the makings of a solid pen.
Regarding Yates BABIP, it might not be a fluke..
Yates was pitching like TTO pitcher..fastball, slider and up in the zone.
given our good of defence…
You know what really sucks… taking a look at the Dodgers and especially Mets rotation. There would’ve been no way the Braves wouldn’t have beaten each one of those teams in the Division Series. Would have, could have, I know…
Villareal will be in the bullpen, spot starter for the Braves next year. I actually liked him especially in the second half. I think he actually might be more successful as a starter however there is no room for him in the rotation. Tell me I’m crazy but I think Yates might actually work out okay for the Braves next year. McBride should be used as a LOOGY, he sucks against righthanders. I have no faith whatsoever in Paronto and/or Cormier. I agree with most of you, trade for a proven setup guy and our bullpen looks halfway decent.
The Vulture was fine when it didn’t matter so much. I remain skeptical, despite his final numbers.
Just back from the post-game reality, beers & all. Crazy as usual up there for a playoff game. Not much to say except, um, Derek Jeter in the post-season…any more questions? The guy is Mark Messier in cleats.
Schuerholz keeps talking about the pitching, but does anyone expect a good starter or proven set-up man to be signed or traded for by the Braves? I don’t. Smoltz, Hudson, Hampton, James and Ramirez ain’t bad, but a Zito/Schmidt would be nice. That rotation above is one Smoltz hurt shoulder from being a piece of crap.
It is the pitching stupid. Give me Dontrelle Willis over Carl Crawford.
I agree Dan. While I think that Chuck James will develop into a quality starter, I think that it borders on hubris to believe that H & H and HoRam will be strong pitchers next year.
The problem, of course, is that quality starters are in high demand and even if the Braves could afford to sign one, there is no guarantee that they would. Trading for quality pitching will not be easy, but I hope that is what JS has in mind.
That game on Sunday was the last Braves’ game ever on Turner South. They’re changing their name to “Sports South” on October 13 of this year. They’re going to be an all-sports network, so any fans of shows like Junkin’ and whatever else on that network better say goodbye to those said shows.
Braves Rumors for the day…
1.resinging Andruw
2.trading Hudson
http://www.prosportsdaily.com/mlb/braves/rumors.html
El Duque, to give it a shot today…
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6028694
Furman Bisher is a senile old fool.
If the Braves trade Andruw–unless it’s for Santana or the like–there is no way they are going to be 20 games over .500. They have no chance of getting enough pitching for Andruw, IMO, to compensate for the lost offense and defense. I’m not the biggest Andruw fan in the world, but it’s awfully hard to trade for pitching and what you would likely get, even for Andruw, isn’t likely to compensate for having Langerhans or someone like that in centerfield.
As for Schmidt–aging, talented pitcher with inury problems. Unless it’s the Yankees, stay away like the plague. This is not the kind of guy the Braves should be going after. Short-term gain and long-term pain.
I pretty much at peace with the Braves not being in the playoffs this year, until I watched the Cards v. Pads game yesterday. I can’t believe that the braves were actually worse then these teams. I understand that they won more games then the Braves, but this AAA type series is a joke. This series makes the entire NL look bad, hell, the game 2 starters are Wells v. Weaver. I see no way the winner out of the NL even gets one game in the world series.
What do you guys think about a trade of Andruw to the Angels?
Could we get a package that included Chone Figgins, Erwin Santana, Scot Shields? If so would that even be enough for Andruw? All of this is just rambling on my part. The fact is that they have a deep farm system, so we may be able to get some pieces for next year and some for the 08 and 09 seasons.
P.S. No matter how much we loathe the Yankees, Derek Jeter is the one guy I can only dream played for the Bravos.
ESPN is reporting as “breaking news” that Orlando Hernandez has been dropped from the NLDS roster for the Mets and replaced by Oliver Perez. John Maine will start game one today and Perez will start either game three or four.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2006/news/story?id=2612496
Maine in game 1, that’s probably the worst pitcher to ever get the call in the 1st game of the post season. The Mets have to be kicking themselves for not letting Milledge go for a quality SP
One thing to remember about the Vulture (hell, it’s the reason he got his nickname!) is how bad he was at allowing inherited runners to score. Despite his mediocre VORP, he scores very poorly on ARP (which includes run prevention when accounting for runners on base when a pitcher enters). Incidentally, the very worst pitcher in the majors this year based on ARP is our very own Chris Reitsma. Congratulations Chris!
Now that Mac’s about to close the door on Carl Crawford mentions, I’m trying to think of other topics to get banned from the site. (Short list: Tom Glavine, John Schuerholz’s book as excuse for horrible season, anything NY METS has to say, politics, religion.)
How about Chinese food? I really like Chinese food, especially all-you-can-eat buffets. I treat an all-you-can-eat buffet like a Thanksgiving dinner: take a medium portion of everything, and keep piling on until the mound in the middle is steeper than 45 degrees. Be sure to get some egg-drop soup and fried noodles, too. I think that if I ate at a Chinese buffet every day of my life, 3 meals a day, I might be able to approach Chad Paronto’s paunch. I wonder if I’d develop a good sinker?
Yep, apparently there was a Milledge/prospects-for-Zito deal that the Mets turned down earlier this season.
Josh,
Sounds like a great deal, but I don’t know why the Angels would do it.
Management Vacancies, please let me know if I missed one.
1. Cubs, Dusty baker fired
2. Giants, Alou fired
3. Nationals, Robinson fired
4. Marlins, Girardi fired, Gonzalez hired
5. Rangers, Showalter fired
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6028944
still wouldnt be surprised if Toronto cans their manager either, dont remember his name right now
John Gibbons.
thank you, mind went blank
Whee. 4 job openings for Torborg. He would be perfect for the Cubs imo.
Torborg has as much of a chance to get another coaching job in MLB, as Mike Shula does of getting an offensice coordinator job in the NFL…
Chone Figgins isn’t all he’s cracked up to be, in my opinion. Reminds me of Podsednik in that he’s fast, but doesn’t jump out at me in other ways. His defense isn’t great for as fast as he is, isn’t really a good leadoff hitter and he gets caught stealing too much. The other pieces in a deal (i.e. pitching) would have to offset the discrepancy there.
Baseball Math:
(CHONE FIGGINS)= (WILSON BETEMIT) – (POWER) + (SPEED) + (6 YEARS)
Pass.
More baseball math
(Torborg)= terrible manager + terrible announcer + horrible player + still makes more money than most of us here
Fire him
The Angels and Andruw are actually a really good match. If he had to be dealt, I would much rather get a bundle of goodies from a genuinely good farm system like the Angels, than some overhyped Red Sox fodder.
C’mon Mac, we are all on pins and needles to get your take on the Chino Cadahia and Brian Snitker hires.
Kidding.
My question is why the Red Sox’ prospects would be any more overhyped than a team owned by Disney and located in LA. I mean, I agree that the Angels seem to have better prospects, but the idea that their guys’ ratings aren’t also a product of a big hype machine seems far-fetched.
I agree that I want no part of Figgins. Heck, I’d probably do the deal just for Santana and Shields, although I highly doubt the Angels would.
The Angles aren’t owned by Disney anymore, but their prospects are over rated
My question is why the Red Sox’ prospects would be any more overhyped than a team owned by Disney and located in LA.
The Angels don’t have a hype machine and are not owned by Disney. And techincally not located in LA.
Heck, I’d probably do the deal just for Santana and Shields, although I highly doubt the Angels would.
Santana maybe, Shields no. You could probably get a really good deal on the other Aybar brother though.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2611257&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines
For all you dawg’s fans…..Joe Tereshinski or Joe Cox?
Not a Georgia fan, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen from Joe Cox. I don’t know why they don’t just go with him until Stafford is ready. Tereshinski seems quite undertalented.
I guess we might as well start planning for 2008. Looks like Showalter is out in Texas which can only mean one thing: The 2007 World Series Champion Texas Rangers.
Not really a Georgia fan eiter, but I think it should be Joe Cox aswell.
Well that puts the end of that convo…Tereshinski named starter against Tennessee.
2006 UGA is eerily similar to 2005 UT. Playing the role of Erik Ainge: Matthew Stafford. Playing the role of Rick Clausen: Joe Tereshinski. Playing the role of the 2005 UT receiving corps: the 2006 UGA receiving corps. Playing the role of Randy Sanders: Mark Richt.
At least UGA’s players have some discipline and aren’t all on house arrest.
Boston prospects are overhyped because of Peter Gammons.
I think there’s one subtle thing that seperates Figgins from Betemit: his versatility. Betemit plays third base and shortstop sparingly; Figgins plays everywhere but pitcher and catcher, I believe. I think that’s big considering Orr and Prado only play short, and Aybar can only play 2B and 3B. Not a huge deal, but it balances out that equation a little bit.
Rather, Orr and Prado only play second. Proofreading is not my specialty.
Orr “plays” third about as well as he “plays” second.
Yeah, but you can’t say Orr could consistently played third the way someone like Figgins does.
Right, but my point is that you can call him a third baseman as well as you can call him a second baseman. Orr’s position should be limited to a pinch runner.
Orr’s position should be limited to “water boy.”
I would rather have Brandon Woods and Santana from the Angels.
The Vulture is decent and he did do well when it mattered…..
CR, TY, and others need to be released…
Bryan Jordan plays centerfield. Trade Andruw and bring on the beejer! The team was really lacking in clutch veteran leadership and intangibles. Jordan can help on that front.