The Braves’ hostage of fortune sits on the bench, waiting for Chipper to get hurt, because the Braves are unwilling to let him play second base, even though his ability to play second base was in large part why he was acquired in the first place. He should be a good get-things-started pinch-hitter, better than Orr at any rate.
Aybar was a big-time prospect a few years ago, and in his first callup with the Dodgers in 2005 hit .326/.448/.453, which didn’t do anything to hurt that status. But they soured on him anyway, I guess because he didn’t develop the power that they wanted, and so were willing to give him up to get Betemit. His career minor league BA is only .265, though it’s been higher at the higher levels, and his OBP is .342. He has enough pop to keep the pitchers honest. I’m not certain he’s quite good enough of a hitter to maintain third base, but I’d rather have him than a Wes Helms type, and he’s easily good enough for second. My guess is that in full-time duty, Aybar would hit about .280/.360/.420. In part-time duty, he could do anything.
Very poor basestealer, more caught stealing than stolen bases on the minor league level, and didn’t run much at all last year. I don’t really care a whole lot, but that probably hurts any chance of him leading off. Natural #2 hitter, what with his good walk rate and pretty low strikeout rate… His range factor at second base for the Dodgers last year was off the charts but was in such limited time that it probably doesn’t mean anything. I think he probably could play short at least as well as Betemit, even though he hasn’t in the minors; if he can, that would help a lot.
What do folks think about a 2B platoon of KJ and Aybar? One way to get Aybar’s bat in some games and to keep him ready for 30-40 games at 3B when Chipper needs a spell or in case of injury.
I think that’s a fine idea, and given Bobby’s predisposition toward platooning young players, I’m almost inclined to think it’s possible. It would be a pretty good way of getting a sense of how suited they are for the positions the Braves have them pencilled in for: KJ as second sacker-leadoff OBP guy, and Aybar as Denny Hocking-style supersub. All the same, I like both of them, and I’m just glad we’ll have them instead of some of the scrubs we’ve had taking up space on previous rosters.
I think Aybar’s power will be a bit better than Mac’s projecting; something closer to the .450 range. I figure he’s got about doubles power but not a lot after that. I think he’s probably got the range to play SS, but I dont’ know if he’s got the arm strength.
Free Willy!
anyone think that Aybar was the throw in for the Betemit deal? I think they wanted Baez because they thought he would stay in Atl for a couple of years and be their closer. They probably thought Wick would retire after last year
They claimed at the time that Baez was the throw-in, but their actions since have suggested otherwise.
I dont think we ever were goiong to let baez close any games ever
It seems to me that Baez was the throw-in because we just let him go with his “I only want to close” bluff.
Dany Baez is a tool.
Do you think that we would have made that trade if Chipper had been injured two or three days earlier? I dont think we would have. Thats really the reason why I think we were after a setup guy for Wickman, which also makes me believe that Aybar was the throw in. I guess it really doesnt matter though…
#9 – you are correct
Sorry, but I think it’s a silly question. Both were major leaguers, and both played, so neither was a throw-in. We needed a backup infielder (since we were trading one), and Baez immediately became our 8th-inning guy.
Strange But True: Marcus Giles Detained After SD Fight
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20070117-9999-1s17giles.html
January 17, 2007
New Padres second baseman Marcus Giles was handcuffed, detained and escorted from Qualcomm Stadium during Sunday’s Chargers playoff game after getting involved in a fight on the stadium’s club level, according to police.
Giles, 28, was given the option of returning after being detained but chose to leave, said San Diego Police Lt. Dan Christman. Giles does not face charges for the incident.
Christman said Giles and a friend were involved in a fight with at least one other person, who slipped away before being caught.
Giles came to San Diego last month from the Atlanta Braves, receiving a one-year deal for $3.75 million, plus a club option for 2008.
The incident comes 10 days after a minor brush with the law involving Padres pitcher Jake Peavy, who was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct at the Mobile (Ala.) Regional Airport. Peavy was accused of illegally parking in front of the airport terminal and not heeding requests to move his pickup truck while unloading baggage for his flight.
– BRENT SCHROTENBOER
——————————————–
What in the world is going on here? People are starting to look down on Marcus. Oh, not like that. Okay, so maybe like that.
I get it now. JS knew that Giles would get in a fight, therefore non-tendered him. What a smart man that JS guy is!
Oh wait, Marcus probably wouldn’t have been there had he not signed with th Padres? Fuck you then.
I wonder how far Marcus will fall now that he’s no longer a Brave. What will living and breathing nothing but SoCal do to him? Will it turn him into Spicoli? Wooderson? John Rocker?
What is Joshtothemaxx so mad about?
Just a guess, but I think Joshtothemaxx wanted Giles to stay, or he just doesnt like JS
Who is he effing off?
Probably the Florida gators, that is usually who I am cussing at.
There is something almost petty in the way the Braves traded Betemit and now apparently won’t give Aybar a chance to be the regular 2nd baseman. It’s like Shuerholz and/or Cox just simply didn’t like Betemit at a personal level and likewise Aybar.
I hope Willie works on his baserunning in spring training. He had some ugly moments missing bases last year.
Wooderson!
We needed a backup infielder
As I’ve noted before, there’s something very odd about the Aybar situation. At the time he was acquired JS touted him as our future leadoff man,a nd may have suggested he’d be doing so at 2B. Then he got hurt, then he never got so much as one inning at 2B with the Braves after splitting time between 2B and 3B for LA, and now can’t even get consideration for a starting role despite hitting .313 in 100+ PA for the Braves.
Something’s very fishy. Maybe their scouts think he simply can’t be an everyday player, as they thought (perhaps correctly) about Betemit. I thought his minor league stats were inflated by playing in the PCL, but still, all he’s done in the majors is hit, and it seems to me that shoudl earn him some sort of a look.
Maybe he got his look in the winter leagues and they didn’t like what they saw.
Hey Smitty, shut up! If I can’t homeristicly brag about my Gators, you can’t trash them. By the way, you suck! haha
Did anyone else notice the Braves signed Rafael Soriano for $1.2MM and Horacio Ramirez just got more than double that from the Mariners? At the time of the trade, it was assumed Soriano would cost about $2MM this year. This trade keeps looking better and better…
I love it when we rob other teams of their players and then save payroll by doing it. Its fun.
Ho Ram throwing BP in the Pacific North West!
I seriously doubt that JS and Bobby have a personal vendetta against Aybar so that they would sacrifice the good of the team to get back at him. But they might have some questions about his baseball smarts. Those baserunning mistakes were real doozies. It’s also possible that they believe what they say–that he would be more valuable as as supersub. He may be the type that has good offensive skills but has no real position. He clearly doesn’t have the power to play third base and maybe he can’t play second base well.
Cox and JS could value Johnson’s bat at second more than Aybar’s. I would assume Aybar,a career infielder, could play second base better than Johnson,a player that has switched positions often throughout his career, but it doesn’t seem second base defense is a priority this year (though it should be considering how bad the defense was last year).
Also, it doesn’t seem smart to break in aybar at second and then have him switch to third when Chipper goes down. Then Johnson would be breaking himself in at second while Aybar did the same at third.
I like Aybar a lot, but he could just be a super sub, similar to Betemit, it’s a problem I am happy to deal with considering the injury history of Chipper.
ESPN is saying that we’ve made the LaRoche for Gonzalez deal, but isn’t sure if other players are included.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2734082
I think this is the first story I’ve broke on here.
I also think I would have rather kept LaRoche.
Interesting. I read earlier on ESPN that the Pirates had signed Gonzalez to a one-year deal. Smoke screen, I guess. I wonder why Schuerholz pulled the trigger this time after nixing this exact deal before.
wow, that is no where else…good find if its true
Hopefully we got somebody else thrown in (and hopefully not Chris Duffy). I hope JS didn’tjust cave.
Bad news: We blinked.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2734082
Remember, ESPN are the same ones who broke the Rich Rodriguez to Bama.
It APPEARS we blinked. They dont’ know if someone else was thrown in or not.
Someone said Torres would be a possible throw in, but its not being mentioned anywhere
I really think we’re going a little overboard on our bullpen this year. yeah, Gonzalez is an upgrade and him and Torres both are great, but I’d still rather have LaRoche.
There’d better be something else, because getting robbed by Dave Littlefield, of all people, would be embarrassing.
Alright! Now we can get OF-Melky Cabrera and RP-Scott Proctor from the Yankees!!!
(kidding, of course)
MLB Rumors….
Pirates Acquire LaRoche For Gonzalez
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have agreed to send Mike Gonzalez and another unknown player to the Braves for first baseman Adam LaRoche. Nice to finally put the daily LaRoche rumors to rest. Tough to judge the winner of this deal until we see who else was included.
Now for some speculation, lets say we get Torres and Gonzo. Then trade Gonzo for Cabrera and Proctor. Would Torres, Proctor, and Cabrera satisfy everyone for LaRoche? Just spec. of course
Ugh, who do JS and Bobby think is going to hit for this team? I mean, its nice to have a bullpen that looks good for once, but bullpens are supposed to hold leads and keep you in games so your offense can win. I don’t like the look of a team who’s #1 strength is the bullpen, and can consider defense, offense, starting pitching and depth (major league and minor league) to be weaknesses. We look like we have 4 decent hitters, one of whom will miss 50 games, another who’s a catcher and thus will miss many games, and another who will be gone next year.
Unless we keep this bullpen intact long enough to build a solid team around it then this offseason’s moves appear to be very pointless, and probably detrimental to the team.
I know ububba can ring in here, but I watch a lot of the YES network when the Braves aren’t on, and I don’t like Melky Cabrera much. I’m not a stat junkie, and don’t know a VORP from a hole in the wall, but just seeing him play, he isn’t a significant improvement over Langerhans, either offensively and defensively.
As far as the pitching side of the deal, Proctor could be valuable if his arm didn’t fall off in August the last two seasons. But if Torres is the other player in the deal, I’d rather have him, Gonzalez and Langerhans over him, Proctor and Cabrera.
Thorman better step it up like everyone is banking on.