Just a guy, not a player who pushes you to a championship but not one who drags you away, making him a better bet than the other backup infielders around here. Prado has little power but hits for a decent average and will take the occasional walk. Was hitting .301/.370/.390 in Richmond but that’s not a typical line; his career batting average in the high minors is about .280 and the walk rate is up a little.
.500 basestealer, which is not nearly good enough to make it worth it. Good glove guy at second, has played a little short this year, making Chris Woodward more and more expendable… Just a note, Graham Koonce, who has played nine games for the R-Braves, leads the team with five home runs. Richmond is experiencing a severe power outage.
i don’t get it. someone please enlighten me. now we have 3 utility infielders, why?
Our utility infielders have as much pop in their bats as that Aflac duck.
Apparently, the pictures have been copied & distributed.
Tue: Sosa/Davies
Wed: Perez/James
Thu: Glavine/Smoltz
Maybe the Mets are the tonic. They have been so far.
Doesn’t this all come back to nepotism? It moves JS, Jr. that much closer!
By the way, congrads to the Vandy baseball team who won the SEC outright last Thursday. I’m hoping they can make much more of this stellar season in post season play.
Yeah, I expected us to call up a hitter, not a pitcher…but I did not expect it to be Prado.
Now we have 3 guys on our team that serve practically the same purpose and are similar type players.
Okay, we can beat Glavine, so there’s one win. Oliver Koufax has our number, so you can put us down for a loss on Wednesday. That means Davies has to step up if we’re going to take the series and…….oh the hell with it. I couldn’t stop laughing at the end there.
Oliver Koufax, that’s pretty funny. I agree, he’s been pretty good against us.
But he’s no Jason Bergmann.
Bobby hinted that prado wouldn’t be around for long and that a few other changes could be made by tuesday.
As long as chipper gets to hit at shea there is hope.
Well, I guess there’s no hope, then. Because the series is at Turner Field…heh.
Yeah, I think it was just a small promotion with the idea of getting him in the lineup against the lefthander on Sunday. Using the option anyway, may as well get a game out of him.
The R-Braves don’t need to hit homers. They have the Buddy Connection (Carlyle and Hernandez). It’s like Scottie and Mike between those two guys. Just get out of the way.
Lets call up Buddy Carlyle, he might be our best option. Lerew isnt ready, well then again neither is Davies or Redman
I feel good about facing Sosa and Glavine. I think Smoltz can outduel Glavine, and maybe we can bring Sosa back down to earth. Hopefully he’ll stink it up in Turner Field just as bad as he did last year. Perez has owned us, and James has struggled in all but one outing this year it seems, so I’ll concede defeat on that one.
From Fox Sports…
Brave new prospect
The Braves’ biggest concern is their rotation depth; one scout says they’ve got a No. 1 starter (John Smoltz), a 1A (Tim Hudson) and three No. 5s. However, the team’s decision to release first baseman Craig Wilson to create more playing time for catcher/first baseman Jarrod Saltalamacchia ultimately could lead to a trade for a starter.
Saltalamacchia, an elite hitting prospect coveted by many clubs, could be the centerpiece of a deal for a pitcher such as Marlins left-hander Dontrelle Willis, A’s righty Rich Harden or one of the Angels’ young starters. Then again, the Braves might want to make Saltalamacchia their future first baseman; they’ll definitely need his offense if they lose center fielder Andruw Jones as a free agent.
Scott Thorman, the Braves’ current first baseman, still figures into the equation, at least for now. Manager Bobby Cox relishes Thorman’s intensity, and Thorman probably isn’t mobile enough to play left field. Of course, Thorman will be less appealing to Cox if he doesn’t hit. He had an .877 OPS in April, but is struggling with a .609 OPS in May.
Rich Harden! Sure, he may only make 10 starts a year, but they would be great starts!
I don’t see anyone attractive enough, besides Willis, that is worth a package including Saltalamacchia. Keep him until we get overwhelmed for a deal. He’s gonna be a star; we better get a star for him.
And the D-Train quietly gets away with the fact he hasn’t been that good since 2004. I’m much more willing to believe he’s a 1.40 WHIP guy than the 1.13 he put up in that year.
@11
Nick,
Guess that little ray of sunshine will have to be saved for another day. 🙂
Err, that was 2005, not 2004.
“Manager Bobby Cox relishes Thorman’s intensity…”
If only intensity mattered.
I will say this, I’d rather have a guy like Thorman as a teammate who generally loves the game and runs out every ball than Manny Rameriz. Watching him play makes me sick. He’s the laziest “professional athlete” I’ve ever seen.
I went to the Saturday night game in Pittsburgh a little over a week ago and that was the night THOR his two home runs. Sitting ten rows behind the Braves dugout, the three times THOR didn’t hit a home run, he came back to the dugout slinging together obscenities in a Hulkamania rage every time. It was hilarious and frightning at the same time.
Manny is a head case & he makes everyone crazy, but he’s one of this generation’s greatest hitters. He’s a HOFer. You can trade him, but there is no replacement for him.
What about Jeremy Sowers in Cleveland? He’s in danger of going back to the minors. Maybe he could be had for “cheap”.
Maybe we can go get the pitching machine, give it a jersey (I say number 98 would be great) and let it be our number 3 starter. Hell, we could even have a rotation of Bob Horner, Phil Niekro, Waren Sphan’s Corpse, Mark Wholers, Ron Gant, Sid Breem, Dale Murphy, and Hank Aaron come out and run it for an inning. People would pay money for that. I know I would.
Speaking of guys who are going to the minors in Cleveland, how about trading for Fausto Carmona? Beating Johan Santana twice in a week is sick, just sick.
Great story on Thorman, Kyle B.
I think Cleveland is pretty high on Sowers. He is cheap and most teams are not trading cheap starting pitching these days.
Most importantly, Sowers is a graduate of Vanderbilt University. You just don’t part with a man like that, unless his name starts with an “S” and ends with a “kip Bayless”.
Just think about this: if Andruw is going to put up his normal numbers this year (& I think he will), then that means he will be scorching hot after the all-star break. Maybe we can ride that right into the playoffs.
maybe we can get Jack Bauer to come pitch for us.
After tonight’s two hour season finale, maybe Bauer would be freed up from saving the world for a couple of months to help out.
CB Buckner calls a close pitch a ball. Bobby argues and gets tossed, Bauer shoots Buckner in the head.
The Mets article they posted on the AJC website is thoroughly amusing. Especially the last two paragraphs:
The Braves, still the most dangerous opponent inside the NL East are the Mets’ chief concern now, they’re the chief concern of their fans, and that’s a splendid sign. There was a genuine sense surrounding this series that while Mets fans didn’t want to see their team get embarrassed against the Yankees, they weren’t as concerned in earning bragging rights as they are in burying the Braves the next few days.
That’s a refreshing change of pace. And also a welcome one. For everyone involved.
The rest of the article (mainly about them losing to playing the Yankees yesterday).
How many times have they buried the Braves this season? Two out of six chances? At least they still consider us a threat because we’ve bested them so far.
Ok, well the strikeout didn’t work in the link. So that’s supposed to be “mainly about them playing the Yankees.”
do you guys think that ford will release a jack bauer edition vehicle?
“saving the world one SUV at a time”
Prado’s call up was just because the off day meant they don’t need a 5th starter for a while. He’ll be back in Richmond soon and Redman will be on the waiver wire. How are Devine and Boyer doing in the minors? The team could use another halfway decent middle reliever more than anything right now.
What would Jack Bauer have done to the Mets fan that shined the light at the Braves player in NY the last series? It would be a hell of a lot worse than suspending him from the ballpark for three years!
I like Thorman. I have been impressed with his ability to hit lefties to some extent and I think he will be a productive player. But I would take Manny Ramirez in a flash. Everyone says he is a headcase and maybe he is, but he didn’t stop the Red Sox from winning the World Series. No one likes to admit this, but hustle rarely trumps talent.
Tonight is the Heroes finale..which will have me drooling from my belly-button.
“No one likes to admit this, but hustle rarely trumps talent.”
not in Orr’s case
It’s starting already with the Mets fans around here.
Deli guy: “Braves ready to get embarrassed this week?”
Me: “Not unless your team wears a W on its cap.”
Good one ububba.
I say we bring Bauer tell the world he is going to hit Beltran with his first pitch.Then hit him and see if he comes to the mound. If he does, the Mets season, along with Beltran’s life, is over!
If we get swept, we are playing for the wild card.
To be honest, I think we need another starter to win the division. I agree with the assessment that we have 2 number 1’s and 3 number 5’s. I think we win the WC with what we have, but in order to win the division and go further we have to get another arm.
Now is the time that JS needs to pull off one of those something for nothing miracle trades, like the Wickman deal. I don’t see it happening though.
Congrats ‘Bama! Another national championship!!!
http://www.strikeking.com/journal/00195/1.php
Row Tahd Row.
Wryn, does it ever get old to you?
Wryn,
Mac is going to tackle you like Adam Sandler in Water Boy
I was congratulating Alabama on athletic achievement and figured Mac would be happy at his school being viewed in a positive light in the athletic arena.
“Andruw On Pace for Unflattering Record”
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070521&content_id=1977779&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
This is poetry:
“I swing the bat the way I want to swing, the way I swing it all the time,” Jones said. “So some days, you’re going to have bad days and some days, you’re going to have good days.”
It’s a really interesting article.
I can feel TP’s pent up rage.
OFF TOPIC:
Portis’ comment is hilarious, not that is will help Vick
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2878099
Great article by Bowman over on mlb.com.
Amust read for all Braves fans.
Gosh, it would be a shame if Andruw did something that mirrored Dunn’s 2004 195-strikeout season: 46 HRs with an OPS+ of 152. Funny that this is never brought up when Dunn’s record is discussed.
Andruw is stinking up the joint right now. He knows it just like everyone else. Does this reflect a change in his ability to hit or is it just a random run in the data? I’m guessing the latter, but I’ve been wrong before.
MLBTradeRumors.com:
“Time to restart those Todd Helton rumors, as the first baseman is hitting a robust .360/.473/.533. Renck thinks a trade to Detroit is unlikely, but that the Yankees, Red Sox, or Braves could make a play for him this summer.”
Todd Helton would be nice, but it’s a starter the Braves really need.
why would we want helton and his contract?
The only thing I can think of these Helton rumors are coming from this offseason. Boston was trying to trade for him, and Helton said he’d prefer to play for either the Braves or the Cardinals. Aside from that, I don’t see how the Braves could afford him unless this is that “splash” being talked about.
Clinton Portis is a moron.
We could afford Helton if we get rid of Anduw Jones. Who doesn’t want 30 year old HOF candidate with bad shoulders hitting less than his body weight with no power?
Sounds like Yankee material!
i agree. pass on helton.
Helton’s back is suddenly feeling better. Hmmmm…maybe he got a new training regime. Whatever it was, it put an odd looking ghoatee on his face.
Definitely pass on Helton. First base is not even close to being a top need of ours. As stated, another SP is priority 1. This is assuming that Cormier is a decent 4th starter or we find someone from AAA (one of the Buddy’s look like our best bets). I would still like to see Davies get some more time in the minors.
Helton shouldn’t be a conversation.
I’m willing to be patient with Davies. I figure he’s going to have his good days & his other days—and his overall numbers won’t be especially good. But hopefully we can win close to half of his starts.
I believe Chuck James will be OK-to-good this year. I expect his actual record to remain a tick over .500 & we win a tick over half of his starts.
Fifth guy? No idea, because we just don’t have one. Bobby Dews throwing batting practice couldn’t be worse. I don’t see a great option anywhere, but we gotta move on to somebody else.
And obviously, given what we have, we’re gonna need Hudson & Smoltz to remain fairly dominant. So far, so good with those guys.
I won’t talk about Helton either. The guy is owed $16M until 2010. If we had that kind of money, unfortunately Andruw would have been already re-signed.
I would somehow like to land a third starter, whoever that might be. By doing that, you can slide James from being a decent third starter to good fourth starter. Davies then isn’t relied upon as much and can be a good fifth starter, which is what he is at this point. Who would we give up? I don’t know. We would probably give up one of our infield prospects plus someone else. I don’t want to give up Saltalamacchia for anything less than a #1 starter.
Other than that, I like our team. We have a solid lineup, solid defense, decent starting pitching and a great bullpen. We’ll be in good shape.
If Andruw gets going, and we find one more starter from Cormier or the Buddys in AAA we’ll win the wildcard. We need two more starters to give the Mets a run at the end of the year. Their hitting is just too good for us to survive with 3.5 serviceable SPs (Smoltz, Hudson, James, Davies =.5)
Going back to Richmond, I wish they had some power, but at least it has to be said that they are still 27-14 and leading their division.
Otherwise, I basically agree with TD that the Braves need 2 quality starters to win the division. Unfortunately, that may be a very tall order and it may take some trades which come at very high costs to obtain quality starters.
None of this should surprise: in essence, this is the same problem that many on this list worried about during the winter. Hampton is out, but Hudson has pitched much better than expected and to call the backend of the rotation uncertain is very charitable….
Go Vandy!!
I agree that are starting pitching has not been great after Smoltz and Hudson, but does anyone seriously think the Mets starters are this good after Glavine. John Maine 2.77 ERA, Oliver Perez 2.90 ERA, Orlando Hernandez 2.53 ERA, and most unbelievably of all Jorge Sosa 2.25 ERA.
The Mets rotation is due for a major correction. I guarantee that the Braves rotation will be totally different at the end of the season as some of these young guys come along. I take the approach that are rotation can only get better whereas the Mets rotation is going to start coming back to Earth. If they don’t this rotation would be better than the glory days of Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, and Avery. Does anyone really think that is possible?
No, I too think their rotation will come back to earth a little. The problems are that they score a lot of runs and that will not end. They will also be getting Pedro back and have money and the desire to trade for another ace later in the season. What is scary is the possibility that they could replace Sosa with Pedro and Perez with Harden/Willis.
How ’bout Salty for Ervin Santana? Angels are stacked at pitcher, and need hitting. Santana is better now, but will be hitting arb soon. Salty is better than their starting catcher AND their DH right now.
Of course, while Perez, Maine, Sosa, etc, will all come back to earth, the idea that Tim Hudson is going to throw down at 2.5 the rest of the year is equally absurd.
How about most of the nationals staff. that way we wont have to face them anymore.
I really like the idea of Harden. I think he is someone who we may not have to break up the farm to obtain. Willis would cost us Salty, Harrison, and another. That is too high a cost for a potential rental.
what about Pena, Escobar and a mid level pitching prospect for a solid #2 or #3 guy?
I don’t think that’s enough, beedee. That might be enough for a #4, but not a #3–not when they’re getting $50 million deals in the offseason.
with JS you never know.
anyone going to the game tonight? if anyone would like to grab some beer before/during/after let me know.
Tonight is my poker night (har har) at the Vortex Midtown but I usually wind up with a few at the Earl around 11:30 or so.
Smitty, look at the standings- we’re the only ones the Nationals staff can beat.
And I like the Harden trade. I don’t think Beane would go for it without more to sweeten the pot (Lillibridge, maybe).
Now let’s go out there and remind Jorge Sosa that he does still, in fact, suck large heavy rocks.
How about moving Salty to 1st and trading Thor and one or two other R-braves for a good #2 or 3?
And I agree about Willis, he is overrated. Everyone loves his attitude and maturity and tend to equate that with dominant pitching.
I’d like to get Harden too, but Lillibridge+Salty is way too much for an injured pitcher. Lillibridge is also the best post Edgar option. frankly, I’d be leery of Salty for Harden straight up at this point. harden is only signed through ’09, and if his 07 winds up being shot, that’s a best case scenario of 2 years for a slugging, switch hitting, catcher with 6 years before free agency. I think we could do better.
No to Harden. He has been able to pitch 180 innings once as a professional and he’s been in the majors since 2003. He’s not going to get there this year. Sure, he’s absolutely dominant when he pitches, but can you really throw real prospects (Billy Beane’s not that stupid) for a guy who can’t stay on the mound?
Ervin Santana would be intriguing, but I just don’t think the Braves can give up Salty. They need his offense.
I hope the Braves take a page out of the Tigers (& others) playbook, & draft a really good COLLEGE starter in the 1st round. I know this goes against our fascination with high school pitchers, & while that’s a good strategy, it’d be nice to have someone who doesn’t need much work to get to the majors. Hopefully I made sense here. I’m starting to ramble in my old age (26).
I don’t like the prospect of having to catch lightning in a bottle with a player currently finishing up his college season. We tried that with Devine and it does not happen too often, especially with Starters.
That’s why I draft players in fantasy leagues & not in real life. I’m going to try & set up a meeting with Schuerholz & let him know how to do it. I’m also going to ask him about his next book:
Me: When’s your new book coming out?
John: I can’t tell you.
Me: Why not?
John: Because if I tell you, you tell your friends… your friends are callin’ me on the horn all the time… and I gotta show up at shopping centers for openings and sign autographs and shit like that and it makes my life a HELL. OK? A living HELL.
Maybe tonight we’ll get the good Davies.
Strange that I’d like him to merely be the New Horacio Ramirez.
got an extra ticket for tonights game. if any one want’s it reply to briandaniels at mac dot com
i sent this to mark bowman at braves.com a week or so ago. maybe it’ll make it in the mailbag.
why not have McCann and Salty BOTH split time at C and 1B. They are both good C’s (McCann at handling pitchers and Salty defensively). Split the week evenly at C and 1B, giving the occasional day off by letting Thorman play 1B. You save a good amount of wear/tear on both players and free up a roster spot by not having to carry a backup 1B or 3rd C. Both players being slightly more rested can only help their offense.
It’s terribly unorthodox, but sometimes you gotta go outside the box to succeed.
i think that could be a future solution for the braves, and in past posts i have paralleled that to the auburn football situation a couple of years back when they had carnell and ronnie in the backfield together. their first couple of years, they were splitting time but finally tubby got smart and let them work together. i think the same could go for the braves. you could let diaz and willie continue platooning, thor go to a pinch hitter/backup first/backup left fielder role player guy. then, have mccann catch smoltz and huddy with salty catching the other 3 (whoever the hell that might be).
less wear and tear with more production. if salty lasts the year and the offseason, then i think the braves might experiment with that next year.
I’d easily give Salty up for a #2 starter (Willis), and I’d seriously consider it for a #3 (Santana) or an injury-prone #1 (Harden). I mean, as AAR notes, #3 starters are incredibly valuable right now—there just aren’t many good ones. I don’t see how a team which is seemingly *this* close to being able to make a real run in the postseason could possibly want to keep Salty over adding one of the above-mentioned names. Salty’s proven nothing. He’s a hot prospect, and for a reason, but you basically know what the above pitchers would give you (read: a clear advantage over just about anyone in a postseason series), and all Salty’s done to this point is hit some impressive foul balls.
Remember the Marte-for-Renteria trade? Remember how few there were who supported it? And how silly they look now?
I guess my main point is this: I trust JS. If he decides to trade Salty for pitching, I’m with him.
Stu, I think we all live with the fear that Salty would leave and become a 5 time MVP. If JS trades him I am confident it will be for good reasons (i.e. frontline starter)
Saw this idea elsewhere and found it interesting…What about a trade of Salty, Harrison, and a 3rd minor leaguer if necessary for Jake Peavy? I know this is possibly a dream pick up, but if I remember right his name was mentioned in trade rumors in the offseason.
No way the Padres trade Peavy. He is tearing it up this year. Towers values pitching in SD. He wouldn’t trade linebrink last year or this year, and he is a set-up man and they have a great bullpen with or without him.