It’s not the end of the world, guys.
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It’s not the end of the world, guys.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
John Thomson close to signing with Mariners.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2006/12/mariners_close_.html#comments
I wonder why the Braves don’t attempt to get draft picks. I guess they’re scared to pay Thomson’s salary if he accepts.
Tight wallets will do that to a team, I guess. Nothing left to do but sit around and wait some more.
Countdown to winter meetings on:
50 hrs
38 minutes
That’s for Monday. I don’t know what time they get going.
May I be the first to remind y’all that Lenny Bruce is not afraid.
I actually ate at Farm 255 last night while Michael Stipe was drinking at the bar.
Shouldn’t you have been studying Stu?
I’ll play nice and just say that while nostagically I would have liked Tom Glavine to return, I’m not sure that his presence alone would have made the Braves that much better of a team (or even a bit better). After all, though the starting pitching wasn’t great last year (or even good, Smoltz and James aside), it wasn’t starting pitching that caused the horrific June swoon of last year–it was a crappy bullpen. Glavine wouldn’t have addressed it, nor would he have addressed it by strengthening the starting staff–he really only pitches 6 innings now anyway leaving 3 long innings for a team without a bullpen. A starter that would improve the bullpen would be one that regularly pitches 8 (or at least 7 2/3). Those pitchers don’t grow on trees, nor do they come for 5-6 million. They are farm raised or expensive (and the expensive ones come with significant risks).
And at today’s prices, this club with its tightwad and absentee owners–which I know is their perogative– isn’t going to improve this team. Indeed, as a few others have commented, we may be at the point were it just doesn’t make sense to make any moves at all, other than a gamble here and there that a washed up veteran isn’t washed up after all (like the Hammonds and Francos of yesteryear).
If this is the case, we are going to have to hope that young players like McCann, Francouer, and LaRoche build on what they did last year, while others like Davies, Boyer, and Devine step up (or return to health). If they do so, we’ll have an interesting team. If they don’t, we’ll be players in the June, July, and August trade deals, and perhaps we can use that to load up again. It’s too close to Christmas and the beginning of a new year for me to be convinced that the end of the world is near We have talent offensively (that’s young) and we have some pitchers that could step up. That, there, is hope.
Stu,
Funny, I just saw the film “Lenny” last night. Depressing, but a great performance from Dustin Hoffman.
See, Athens ain’t so bad…
I thought Glavine’s agent said he had only talked to the Braves once earlier this week. This from MLB.com:
“We had multiple conversations [with the Braves],” Clifton said. “But, unfortunately, I don’t think John [Schuerholz] had the resources necessary to get something done…”
Oh well. It would have been cool to get Glavine back, but I’m not heartbroken he decided to go back to NY. It’ll be interesting to look back in a year and see what all of this looks like then. I just thought that quote was curious.
Hey, I never said anything bad about Athens. (Although it ain’t Nashville.)
It’s just the UGA teams/fans I don’t care for — present company excluded, of course.
Dan, there is no point in the Braves offering John Thomson arbitration. He is an unclassified free agent. The Braves will get no draft pick compensation for him, no matter what the case.
Stu,
But you gotta admit—red & black is a much better color scheme than anything involving orange. (And the bands are better in Athens.)
I got up and to my surprise Glavine will be back with the Mets. IThe prospect of taking Glavine away from our chief competitors was promising–as long as it was not expenseive. At least JS avoided a potential blunder: I would have hated to see the Braves invest what meagre resources they have left and have Glavine pitch like Hudson or worse. I certainly do not blame JS: during an offseason when a number of clubs have not sensed any intelligent limits in spending, he has to work with a salary cap. Therefore, JS needs as many other advantages (such as the abiity to trade when necessary) in order to try to keep the Breaes competitive. We can only hope that by not signing Glavine, JS will be free to make other deals which may make greater improvements in the team in the longer run. Still, as someone who was a Glavine fan, this is rather disappointing–but then so was the 2006 season….
I think the Braves are getting compensation for Baez. I read that they’ll get Baltimore’s second-rounder, which isn’t bad at all.
“Lenny” has, to me, one of the funniest lines in movie history. The line is:
“I’d like you to meet my mother.”
You’ll have to rent the movie to find out why it’s so funny…..
Incidentally, I’ll bet anyone here a penny that Hudson will be better than Glavine in 2007. Hudson had a bad year last year, absolutely, but was better than Glavine every year from 2002-2005, and is almost ten years younger. If you replaced their names with Player A and Player B, who would you really rather have? I found the argument to find a taker for Hudson and sign Glavine in his stead to be an emotional one, not a rational one.
Part of that is due to Hudson having two straight years which have been viewed as disappointing. In 2005 we waited for him to regain his 2003 form, which didn’t happen. Then last year we would have settled gladly for his 2005 form, which didn’t happen either. But his problems are more mechanical than physical. He’s leaving the ball up too much. That can be worked on, whereas being 41 years old cannot.
Sansho, I hope your right. I’ve wanted to believe that he could be the pitcher for us that he was for Oakland. I’ve read some articles about how its a balance thing for him. I really get himself righted.
Now that the Glavine thing is out of the way, whats next for us?
Good question–the Glavine affair has sort dominated Braves chatter–maybe Giles will finally get traded (maybe even for Linebrink) and we can move beyond that as well.
Sansho, I think that’s one of the more sensible posts I’ve read on here in several days.
Good points by Stephen and Sansho. Its kind of funny to think that the Mets are in worse shape than we are when it comes to starters. They needed Glavine far more than we did. I don’t know about y’all but I had alway thought that of the big 3 Glavine would have aged more gracefully than either Maddux or Smoltz. Shoot I would have never expected Smoltz to still have number 1 starter stuff this late in his career.
In the end not busting the bank or selling low on one of our tradeable assets to sign a 41 year old Brave’s icon will make John Schuerholz look like a genius.
ububba,
Red and Black is superior to Orange, no doubt.
But it can’t hold a candle to Black and Gold.
Also, you may be right about local bands. However, living in Nashville, one has a LOT more opportunity to hear good music rolling through town. All Athens has are local bands, which simply t can’t hold a candle to the Ryan Adamses and Wilcos and everyone else who’s always in Nashville.
And I used the phrase “can’t hold a candle” twice in one post. I just woke up. Let’s all pretend I’m more creative than that.
I don’t know about y’all but I had alway thought that of the big 3 Glavine would have aged more gracefully than either Maddux or Smoltz.
Excepting the arm injuries (big exception, I know), Smoltz has always been the better bet to “age gracefully.” Hard throwers have a significantly better end-of-career collapse curve than do finesse guys. Both Maddux and Glavine have always relied on placement and smarts to get batters out. When they lose placement, they’re pretty much done. Smoltz relied on throwing the ball past hitters. When he loses that, he can adjust (as he has recently) to become smarter and more crafty with placement.
Over the next 1-3 years I expect Smoltz to outpitch Glavine and Maddux. Glavine and Maddux are still better HOF candidates, of course.
s/
You know what I’d like? I’d like Liberty Media to be a watermelon at Gallagher’s next show, that’s what I’d like. I’d like their stupid freaking $80 mil salary cap to explode into tiny black seeds. And then I’d like them to realize they’re actually AT GALLAGHER’S SHOW in Branson, Missouri, surrounded by guys like Yakov Smirnoff and Joe Piscopo, and CAN NEVER LEAVE. EVER.
I hate them so much.
Liberty Media doesn’t even own the team yet.
I blame Time Warner for basically refusing to sell to anyone but Liberty Media. I want a real person to own this team, even if it’s a kook like Ted Turner. Football bans corporate ownership, why can’t baseball?
Selling a team to a corporation is telling the fans that you don’t care about the fans.
I had alway thought that the guys that depended on velocity aged worse.
Go Tech!!!
The Glavine thing doesn’t depress me at all. I think I just wanted to wound the Mets. I’m withholding any judgement on JS until our roster sorts out a little. No point in getting fired up—yet.
Stu,
Gold & black? Not bad, but why would you wanna look like Georgia Tech?
It’s been awhile since I actually lived in Athens, but between 1981-90, we got plenty of shows—I saw everything from Iggy Pop to Gatemouth Brown, from Pharoah Sanders to George Jones. We were never lacking for quality live entertainment and, yes, the local bands were always pretty good.
BTW, on a visit to Athens in the ’90s, I saw Whiskytown at the 40 Watt before all the Brian Adams jokes started to get to ol’ Ryan. Poor guy. He shoulda changed his name like David Bowie (aka David Jones). Nobody made any Monkees jokes at Bowie shows, you know.
And if you like Wilco, I highly recommend Centro-Matic.
Georgia Tech is gold and blue.
Seriously…you have to admit that Vandy’s football unis — ever since we went back to the star on the helmet 3 or 4 years ago — are pretty sweet.
Yeah, Ryan Adams is a huge jerk now…but his music is just so darn awesome. Thanks for the Centro-Matic suggestion — I’ll definitely check them out.
I also agree with you about waiting and seeing with respect to Schuerholz. I’ll reserve judgment until Spring Training.
I’ll admit Stu..
Vandy has some of the sweetest uni’s in college football. Top 5 in my opinion.
I thought about going to the Alabama basketball game but decided to watch it at home. Bruce Benedict is the head official!
Yup, Tech wears gold & blue now, but they used to be gold & black, back in the Bill Fulcher/Pepper Rogers era. That’s why Vandy reminds me of old-school Tech.
And how ’bout this scintillating ACC title game!
Centro-Matic CD recommendation: “Love You Just the Same” (Misra 020)
Hard to imagine any of these two teams (Wake, GT) playing a BSC game…
I love Reggie Ball.
Why?
Because he never lets me down.
Reggie Ball has to be the worst 4-year starter at quarterback in the history of D-I football. Right?
@35
I don’t wish ill will on him, but I will be SO glad after the Gator Bowl.
When Ball goes away.
Forever.
Chan Gailey is almost as much at fault for allowing Ball to play every game for 4 years when they’ve got a backup in Taylor Bennett who is better than the starter.
I wouldn’t say that, though. With the small window we have to know how Bennett does in games, anyone could have done well against the schulbs he played against.
Georgia Tech must be going through a bad quarterback peroid right now, then.
But they could have at least given Bennett a significant number of plays against a team like Duke, just to see what he can do.
But that would have been against Duke. No big deal.
But not allowing him any chance whatsoever makes it pretty hard to have any assessment on him. Even if it is Duke, it can still show what kind of poise he possesses while in the pocket and what kind of arm he has.
Yeah, playing time is always better than no playing time if you want to judge a quarterback.
Well, the job is his to lose next year.
Only one more game of Reggie Ball, yay!
Only one more game of Reggie Ball—boo. The Bulldog Nation would welcome him back with open arms.
Don’t worry, you guys will shred Taylor Bennett to pieces.
come on Arkansas
Braves’ 2007 second baseman?
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061201&content_id=1748722&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
Robert
#43. November 28th, 2006, at 12:10 PM.
I hope nobody is seriously pinning their hopes Karl Dorrell and the gutty little Bruins. No chance.
Heh.
Also, if Florida’s win over Florida State wasn’t very impressive, what does that say about USC’s loss to UCLA? Ouch.
Brutal.
That also describe’s Chris Leak’s third quarter play.
And that Fish guy. This game is loaded with great athletes, but it’s a fuck-up fest.
I’m afraid, unfortunately, that this isn’t going to be good enough for Florida to pass Michigan in the BCS.
Now, why the Gators are behind the Wolverines in the first place, I couldn’t tell you.
Nothing wrong with that trick play.
I still can’t decide who to root for and it’s the 4th qtr. I love watching Arkansas’ offense & I hate Florida on principle, but I’d like to see Florida play Ohio State, so I’m torn. EIther way, I can’t lose, I guess.
Yeah, I hate Florida on principle, too, but I want the SEC to play for the championship.
I would definitely hate to see an OSU/Mich rematch for the BCS championship. I still say that the SEC is the best conference, but they don’t have a great team in the league. Actually, I think LSU could be great, but I’m not sold on their coach. I believe their talent is as good as anyone in the nation.
I’m watching the WVU/Rutgers game and still think that Rodruguez may be Bama’s next coach. WV’s offense is definitely not blowing me away. Any offense that relies so much on a qb being able to run all over the field is concerning. I just don’t see many running QBs holding up for the entire season in the SEC. Rodriguez will definitely have to adapt the offense to the personnel wherever he goes.
WV’s offense is awesome when Pat White is playing (he’s out hurt this game) & Slaton isn’t playing hurt, which he is tonight. Those guys are the best players on the team & I believe Slaton will be a legit NFL back.
WV needs an awesome offense – their defense is definitely lacking. It would be fun to see their O at full strength.
Rutgers is better than I thought, but it’s hard to gauge how either team would do a/g a team with size, strength and speed like LSU. My guess is not very good!
If anyone has a few minutes, could they please kill Dick Vitale for me? Thanks a bunch. I may have just gone over the edge.
I’m biased against Florida as well, but I’d sure love to see the SEC get a chance this season. Knowing the history of how these things shake out, though, it will probably be OSU/UM II. Booooor-ing.
Thanks for the link, Dan. It’s good to hear how the fall/winter leaguers are doing, at least. Especially since the big team isn’t making any moves, yet . As has been said elsewhere around here, sometimes no news is good news.
The WV/Rutgers game has been incredible. 3 OT’s 41-39 WV! Both teams are very well coached – especially on offense!
Wow, I think I am the only pro-Gator in this place, let alone an actual fan.
Florida played well today in quarters 1, 2, and 4. USC, however, did not play well in any quarter. Oh, by the way, how many style points does USC get for this one?
Go Gators.
Go Braves.
Go Bruins.
Rob,
Congrats.
As much as it pains me to say it.
Robert
#43. November 28th, 2006, at 12:10 PM.
I hope nobody is seriously pinning their hopes Karl Dorrell and the gutty little Bruins. No chance.
Heh.
Also, if Florida’s win over Florida State wasn’t very impressive, what does that say about USC’s loss to UCLA? Ouch.
It says we are going to the Rose Bowl. No excuses, UCLA kicked our butts. Four championship games in four years would have been nice, but I guess it’s someone else’s turn. OSU-UM II is a rather dissappointing matchup.
Ububba,
Thanks dude.
Robert,
At first it seemed like you were actually going to be humble about insisting that the 2006 Trojans were better than the 2006 Gators and Wolverines. And yet, more arrogance. And OSU-UM II is not a foregone conclusion, just like how Chris Fowler said that USC beating UCLA was not a foregone conclusion. Go Bruins.
Lets hope that Florida gets the chance they deserve. I really don’t think that this is a great Florida team–but then that is not the point. Michigan had a great season, but they played one less game and their schedule is not as tough as Florida’s. The Gators won in the toughest conference in America and it ought to count for something.
That said, I believe that an SEC team has to go undefeated to have a chance to play for the national championship. I certainly hope that I am wrong…
Go Gators. Frickin awsome, man.
My bet is that all of those pundits who were saying that if USC loses, Mischigan should go are going to change their minds now. Why will they do that? Probably for the same reason they changed their minds in November after saying, in October, that if UF got through their schedule with only one loss, they’d be the best one-loss team out there. I swear, it’s like these sports writers have an attention span of about 3-4 weeks. If it didn’t happen in the past 3-4 weeks, they just don’t notice or don’t care.
Anyhow, awsome game, and I’m glad the Gators won it.
I also think it’s important to note how dominant the UF defense was. I mean, Leak gave away two of the scores, and the other two were on crazy deep throws/trick play deals. This was a running game everyone said was “unstopable”, but UF did it with like 15 injuries to the D-line. Amazing.
I really hope that you are right. The prospect of OSU-Michigan for the national title is sickening…
So, fellas, new here and was wondering about these completely rediculous scenarios
Giles, McBride, and K. Johnson to DETROIT for Bonderman and Monroe
(Detroit needs lefty relief, and i know it’s alot to give up, but…)
Ramiriz and Salty to ARIZONA for Connor Jackson and Doug Slaten
(seems like it could work)
Hudson to BALTIMORE for H Penn and Corey Patterson
LaRoche to PITTSBURGH for John Van Benschoten
Andruw to the ANGELS for D. McPherson and E. Santana
Chipper and Hampton to the WHITE SOX for McCarthy and Joe Crede and some prospects (lower level)
Crede to the DODGERS for Andre Ethier
so…
1B we have Connor Jackson
2B we have W. Aybar or Escobar
SS we have Renteria
3B we have D. McPherson
LF we have Monroe/Langerhans
CF we have Corey Patterson/Andre Ethier
RF we have Frenchie/Andre Ethier
C we have McCann
in our starting rotation:
Smoltz
James
McCarthy
John Van Benschoten
E. Santana
Bullpen:
Wickman
Penn
Slaten
et al
i know it’s rediculous, and i know we’re exchanging ALOT of stuff and this scenario will make us, well, very young…but very promising…
redicilous i know, but im just bored and tired of waiting for stuff to happen
wait…Bonderman is in the Rotation as well…oh well, cant do them all…
#67
“Four championship games in four years would have been nice, but I guess it’s someone else’s turn.”
Wow, still can’t get over being “screwed” in 2003, can you? While I hoped the split polls would begin the destruction of the BCS, I still believe that the BCS title game that year was LSU 21, OU 7. Just because some retards in the AP had pity on ya’ll does NOT equal ya’ll being national champs. Or even being in the title game for that matter.
On a side note, I think LSU would have knocked USC out of it’s cleats that year.
wow, seems like when I was pro gator last week I had rotten tomatoes thrown at me here……
Something about Auburn getting shafted a few years ago, and why UofF should get anything different…..oh yeah, USC lost 🙂
It took losses to both Oregon State AND UCLA to get USC out of the title game — doesn’t that say all you need to know about the fairness and objectivity of this system?
@74
That just tells me that people FEEL that cold hard statistics are wrong.
Just realized that Carlos Lee’s contract is bigger than Pujols’ 6 years 100mil vs 7 years 100mil. More per year to Carlos…unbelievable
I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying, Sam.
(By the way, you can just say “Stu,” instead of “@74”.)
Indignant hot-stove talk from Bill Madden in NY Daily News.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/col/story/476571p-400941c.html
Stu,
Sorry about that. Well, what I think is that statistics, no matter how convoluted, come up with a fixed result. People are really uncomfortable with that fixed result if it looks wrong, if it feels wrong. Something like that.
Well, shouldn’t they be? A fixed result doesn’t mean an awful lot if it’s illegitimat — that is, if the factors that went into its calculation are wrong or incomplete.
But the only way a computer is wrong is if someone screws up on the formula or in calculating.
ubbubba thanks for the link. Pretty good diatribe. Just glad that there wasn’t a sentence in there about the dumbass GM for the Braves.
Dix, comparing Pujols’ contract to Lee’s isn’t fair. Three of the years covered in Pujols’ seven year contract were pre-free agent eligibility.
Braves sign Tanyon Sturtze. Our savior!