Feel the excitement.
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Feel the excitement.
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Yes, I am going to add -ia to the name of any player with a -man at the end. I am sorry that I neglected to impose Ohmania on you.
From the previous thread –
Stu, does your roster construction assume Hudson is with us or not?
It assumes he’s out for the season but on the payroll. It doesn’t account for insurance money, which could, as Dix suggests, be used to add even more than the 3 types of players I suggest.
Even with TJ surgery, Hudson won’t be out for the ENTIRE year next season – he would be like a trade-deadline pickup. The insurance money won’t be what you think.
Am I alone in thinking that if Hudson needs TJ surgery he has pitched his last game for the Braves? There’s no way we exercise a 12mil (is that right?) option for a year in which he will be missing a large portion finishing up TJ rehab.
Hudson would come back in September at best, right? Yeah, we’d have him for any hypothetical postseason run, but he wouldn’t be much help getting us there.
How does the insuranc work, Joshua?
I’m entirely in favor of referring to players by their out percentage, like Corky Miller, whose out percentage is 82.5%, and Than Shwe, whose out percentage is 71.1%.
I also think we should abolish all AB-denominated stats and switch entirely to PAs as the denominator.
TJ surgery can take over a year to rehab from. I guess if you’re the Braves and you can rush him onto the field in September then you might as well do it since you’re not on the hook for the 2010 salary unless you want to be.
Seems like you’d just have him sit out ’09 and get ready for 2010 without risking it, if you’re planning to exercise the option.
He wouldn’t miss time for rehab in his (2010) option year unless he had a major setback. However, I don’t know that they’d pick up his option, considering that he probably wouldn’t pitch until August or September of 2009. They might work something out, however — say an extension paying him $5 or $6 million in 2010 with a big option year in 2011.
AAR, welcome to the revolution.
I never realized how boring this game was without beer.
Hell if I know, I just throw stuff out there and hope it sticks. For some reason I thought I heard – when discussing Hampton, that if you don’t miss the entire season, you get much less from the insurance. If I am incorrect, I appologize, it’s just something I thought I heard – wouldn’t make much sense though.
Mac,
that sounds reasonable. They’d have to do something because exercising the option would probably be a mistake coming off the surgery. And he should be amenable to an extension of that sort rather than simply go unsigned through 2010 and not make any money at all.
It seems to me that there’s a mathematical term for what out percentage is in relation to on-base percentage, but I can’t think of it. “Complement” isn’t quite right.
corollary
So, our pitching rotation would be:
Newly acquired ace
Jurrjens
New mid-rotation starter
Campillo
Jo-Jo/Morton/Hanson/James, etc.
That’s a lot to have to achieve from outside the organization.
This seems like a crazy question, but are we sure we should build for 2009 and not 2010?
I would think “complement” is correct.
…are we sure we should build for 2009 and not 2010?
Not sure we should, but based on Wren’s comments, I’m pretty sure we are. And if we are, I would want to make the best possible effort at it.
Yeah, that’s a lot to get from outside, but do you think it’s possible? I do.
It seems to me that there’s a mathematical term for what out percentage is in relation to on-base percentage, but I can’t think of it. “Complement” isn’t quite right.
Infinity, lately.
And then there is this baseball-unrelated news which I felt should be shared:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-07-30-toilet-probation_N.htm?csp=15
@15
I’m almost to the position that I agree with you. However, after living in Kansas City for awhile, I’ve noticed that the next year kind of becomes like the oasis in the desert.
I wouldn’t put us in the Royals category, but it’s a slippery slope
@13
Correlation maybe?
TJ Surgery will knock out Hudson until September 2009 at the very least. Even that is optimistic. He’d likely be out for the entire season.
Parish,
That’s not that much to achieve. It’s just 2 FA signings. With $40million in payroll available, and at least 3 spots in the rotation not guaranteed to anyone.
We really only need to add 3 players to the roster. We’ve got the money to get 3 quality players, definitely. How high quality remains to be seen.
The true difficulty is actually beating out other teams’ offers for at least 2 of the high quality pitching UFA’s
Recovery time for Tommy John surgery these days is about 12 months.
I’m not sure if this has been posted since the article is almost a week old, but I will post it anyway. Here is a breakdown of this year’s draft picks 36-44. There is video footage and analysis of Braves’ selectee Brett DeVall.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/breaking-down-the-draft-picks-36-44/
Tampa is apparently discussing trade with Pitt for Jason Bay.
#22 – Dix, that is my concern. It’s not that we don’t have the money. It’s that the supply is low.
I would be most concerned about the ace pitcher, though it looks like someone is about to take Bay off the table.
I never realized how boring this game was without beer.
True… but the rest of working life is even worse.
How much could Ohman fetch us by himself?
I’ve got to think that he’s being packaged with some other players….Jeffy/Kelly/Kotsay/Jones/Lillibridge…..1 or 2 of those guys.
A quote from our coolest Founding Father, Ben Franklin:
“Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants to see us happy.”
Hm, what’s the point of the video? Am I missing something?
On a related note, I wish Turner Field had the attendance the Angels have.
I really dont envy Wren’s task for next year. Thats alot to get outside the organization. The FA market can be so thin, we might just overpay for mediocrity just to fill a hole. Lots of $$ to spend doesnt always equal a winner. On the bright side, I’ve been able to watch alot of Rays games this year, fun team to watch, reminds me alot of the 91-94 Braves…
My favorite is
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
By which I mean that those who put their trust in BA without looking at OBP are doomed to not get on base or score as many runs as they would like
Point? I need a point now?
I still think Ohman/Lilli is good for Ethier. he’s being pushed out by Pierre and Andruw for some reason and Furcal is still out for quite a while and they wont resign him
MLBTraderumors has 5 teams after Ohman. That can only drive up the asking price. Here’s to Ohman staying out of the game tonight regardless of the score.
Im guessing that Ohman gets us something decent in return….
Red Sox One Of Five Teams Pursuing Ohman
By Tim Dierkes [July 30 at 2:51pm CST]
According to Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox are one of five teams pursuing Braves lefty Will Ohman.
Previous reports have mentioned the Red Sox, Marlins, Rays, Tigers, White Sox, and Cardinals as suitors for Ohman, who is a free agent after the season.
I was referring to #29, and thought I would make clear that the quote was not intended to bring politics to the site.
Not speaking of politics, anybody check out Nate Silvers fivethirtyeight.com? Awesome polling and statistical analysis site.
sorry Tom, didnt see your post.
Sorry, it seemed like maybe you were trying to make one about Kotchman with it. No big deal 🙂
Speaking of pointless, the whole season now feels pretty pointless, aimless and endless to me. Maybe “Waiting for Kotchman” would be a good tagline.
Are my Hawks truly and officially the best chance at the postseason in Atlanta now?
All this just emphasizes how remarkable the Braves run really was. We are all disappointed that they didn’t win more championships, but think about 15 years with only one year under 90 wins (they were on pace to win more than 90 in the strike year). That’s really amazing and probably more difficult than winning a couple of World Series. We are starting to see how hard it really is to maintain a winning program. Ah, those were the days, my friend.
That’s really amazing and probably more difficult than winning a couple of World Series.
Let’s call the Marlins and see if they’ll swap 🙂
who was the owner in the 80’s?
All it really takes is great scouting, great drafting, great player development, an extremely wealthy private owner with a willingness to plug roster holes with expensive free agents and to prevent holes from opening up by ponying up big bucks for the current players, the olympics, the best GM in the history of sports, and hapless management of large market teams within the division.
I wish we could get creative and trade Ohman and others and somehow get Bay. The problem is that Ohman is a huge trading chip that we have and the Pirates don’t need/ want him. A 3 team deal would be nice.
Yanks just got Pudge.
Yankees just got Pudge for Farnsworth.
I wouldn’t swap with the Marlins for anything. The division streak is a rarer feat than 2+ World Series wins in a similar timeframe.
Plus, we will get 2 world series titles before they get 14 division titles in a row.
It’s like how starting the game off with a triple puts the cycle in play. You don’t lead off the game with a double and start thinking about it, you’ve got to get the hard part out of the way.
wow. And for just Farnsworth too
Plus, we will get 2 world series titles before they get 14 division titles in a row
Really, I was just teasing, it is awesome, and will likely never be duplicated, but come on, the point of the exercise is to win it all.
so Pudge for a couple of months, offer him arb, and get two picks for Farnsworth…geez
maybe they’ll want Ohman now. They need bullpen help
csg,
I was thinking the same thing—but their bullpen has been mostly good since Joba went into the rotation.
I just had an in-office Yankee fan buzz me with, “We got rid of Farnsworth!”
THE F-ING YANKEES GOT IVAN RODRIGUEZ STRAIGHT UP FOR FARNSWORTH?!!?!?!?!?!?
I’d swap with the Marlins in a heartbeat. I could easily have done without the 18 inning game, the Leyritz game, and all the other Braves’ postseason flops in exchange for 2 titles.
THE F-ING YANKEES GOT IVAN RODRIGUEZ STRAIGHT UP FOR FARNSWORTH?!!?!?!?!?!?
Well, Pudge’s obp IS way down for the last few seasons…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rodriiv01.shtml
positively Kotchmanesque.
Pudge is a rental. He’s FA after this season & Posada returns next year after surgery.
See what a never-ending supply of loot does for you?
Ron,
Well, then, how about Toronto’s 16 straight years without sniffing the playoffs? Or the Marlins’ 100 loss season in 1998?
ububba,
Watched the Yanks/O’s game last night and when Huff hit the double in the gap with the bases loaded off Marte, I could swear I heard the booing start before the ball hit the ground. Then Nady struck out late in the game with runners on. If these guys don’t pick it up, they might find themselves alongside Jimmy Hoffa in the Meadowlands.
I’ll take the Braves’ run over the Marlins 2 titles. Easily.
I’d much rather live every day for the better part of 15 years knowing that my team is damn-good, than spend 2-3 months out of that time getting excited that my teal-colored crew is embarking on a playoff run.
I’d rather endure the post-season disappointments than not play meaningful games at all. And the Marlins have done a lot of that.
I’ve said it over and over, but the Braves’ run is most similar to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ run between 1947 & 1956. Lots of pennants & top finishes, one WS. (They have Bobby Thomson & Don Larson; we have Jim Leyritz & Eric Gregg.) Overall, baseball history should be nothing but kind to both feats.
BTW, when did a WS title & 5 pennants become a bad thing?
ububba, when compared to the Yankees winning 4 titles and 2 pennants during the same time period.
Ron,
What’s the point?
They were better. Big deal.
The Yanks of the late 40’s & early ’50s won 5 WS in a row, 3 of them against Brooklyn, then won another one in ’56.
Would you rather be the Brooklyn Dodgers during that time, or the Philadelphia Phillies? (Or one of the 4 teams that didn’t win NL pennants during that time?)
I know which team I’d rather be.
Back to the construction of next year’s roster, I am not sure if we should bring in the two pitchers.
There may be more value long term in giving Morton, Reyes, et al some starts. We should have a better idea at the end of the year, but I would like to think that it’s an ace pitcher and a left fielder that we go after, with the mid-rotation guy coming from within.
Somebody just gave me a copy of the school’s class schedule, and it turns out I’m teaching a course. This is odd, because I have never taught one before and it’s the first I’ve heard of it.
Mac,
You’ll do fine. Just create youtube videos & make the students watch them.
Ububba, I hadn’t thought of that analogy before, which is curious, because as I’ve said before the Brooklyn Dodgers are my other favorite team of all time. Yeah, I was born 26 years after they moved, but man, what a lovable team.
Here’s one of my favorite drinking quotes: “You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.” – Dean Martin
Also, the Dodgers are s0mewhat similar in their incredible collection of Hall of Famers, although theirs were mostly position players rather than pitchers. Still: Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, and Jackie Robinson, along with a 19 year old named Sandy Koufax, and a crappy 27-year old pitcher named Tommy Lasorda. And at one point Gil Hodges had a pretty good shot at making it himself, though that ship has probably sailed.
~ I feel sorry for people who don’t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that’s as good as they’re going to feel all day. ~
Frank Sinatra
Mac, what would you do if you caught one of your students browsing on Braves Journal during class?
Tell him that putting money in the tip jar certainly couldn’t hurt his grade.
What course, Mac?
Yeah, “Boys of Summer” remains one of my favorite baseball books & the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers is my favorite APBA lineup (despite their seriously mediocre pitching).
Marc,
Bronx fans are tough and they can be wildly unrealistic, but when the front office pulls deals like they have this week, I might always think things will end up in my team’s favor, too.
BTW, after the trade deadline, what are the goals for this Braves season? No injuries & stay out of the cellar? Jurrjens ROY? Chipper batting title?
Freshman orientation.
I listed some goals yesterday, ububba, and one was added by someone else. They were as follows (roughly): get something for Will Ohman (and any other tradeable assets); be sure McCann isn’t rushed back from the concussion; be sure Jurrjens’ arm isn’t abused; finish with one of the 15 worst records in the league (to protect our 2009 first-round draft pick in case of FA signings).
I like adding Chipper’s batting title to the list. And Jurrjens’ award, too, as long as that wouldn’t require 200 innings pitched.
Braves current draft position for 2009: 8th.
We are one game behind Kansas City for 7th and within striking out(?) distance of #5.
I wonder when we’ll hear something about Hudson.
maybe i missed this but anyone know where Kotchman will be batting? I hope McCann isn’t hitting cleanup when he gets back – that’s too much for a catcher. Well, I take that back, I’ll take anyone including our pitcher in cleanup before Francoeur.
It’s really unfortunate that Vanderbilt doesn’t have any Top 10-worthy guys finishing up next season for whom I can waste time yearning to be drafted by the Braves.
Unbeknownst to him, one of my freshman orientation meetings was led by our own JC.
😯
Not that I ever had him for a class…I ducked the economics requirement with a bunch of poli-sci classes.
Stu,
Sounds reasonable.
I think it also sounds reasonable that we’ll be a 90-loss team at this point.
Lineup:
G. Blanco cf
Y. Escobar ss
C. Kotchman 1b
G. Norton lf
O. Infante 3b
K. Johnson 2b
J. Francoeur rf
C. Miller c
J. Jurrjens p
#78 – Maybe, Mike Minor will significantly elevate his stock.
I expect nothing less than a homerun from Kotchman and a fire in the broadcast booth.
(snip)
So Kotchman is 3rd tonight. I’m guessing Norton won’t be cleanup too often, though.
Too much more often.
Once is too often.
Post 81 is a perfect follow to post 80.
Moving Kotsay should be pretty far up there as well.
Parish,
If Mikie adds about 5 MPH to his fastball, I would be comfortable with the Braves taking him that high. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s possible for him to get to that level. He’s sort of a poor man’s Jeremy Sowers, IMO.
The good news for VU fans is that not many guys will even be eligible for the draft after next season.
What does this say to Sammons, when he gets benched in favor of the worst player in MLB? My hamster, Booger(who died in 1993), would give the team a better chance to win.
Let’s hope Corky is starting as a gift for his final game in Atlanta. I guess I can see waiting a few games until we see if McCann has fully recovered, but since we’re in “play for the future” mode, it makes no sense to keep him around when McCann is healthy. Come to think of it, it makes no sense that he has been on the team at all this year. I think we can officially dub him as “The Worst Hitter in Baseball – TWHIB”
Corky has pictures. And video.
He HAS to.
DOB warned in his blog that this was the case. Bobby told him that Sammons was not called up to be a regular starter while McCann’s hurt. It’s disgusting, really.
Why do they get hung up on certain shitty players year after year? I’m sure Corky is a great guy, & funny in the clubhouse, & hits bombs in BP, blah, blah, blah…..but who cares? Friggin’ Sal Fasano could hit circles around this clown.
Maybe all of these crappy players have sick relatives & the Braves are like a charity that gives them a job, so they can pay the doctor bills.
Turner Field’s new name- “Ronald Mcdonald House”
Should we read into the fact that Kotsay’s not in the lineup?
Let’s be optimistic.
I would be stunned if Kotsay wasn’t eventually traded, but he may not be traded in the next 24 hours. He’s the type of player (relatively high salary with relatively low production, at a position most teams [not the Braves, obviously] are well stocked, not likely to be more than a reserve) who is likely to clear waivers.
Since he is starting from a high salary level, the Braves will not offer him arbitration, so he will not garner any compensation even if he is a Type B free agent.
I’m sure the reason he’s not in the lineup is that it’s a lefty on the mound and he’s basically been platooned with Norfante most of this year.
Except that the lineup says that Chris Carpenter is starting. Maybe he is being traded.
IF Manny does get traded to the Marlins, or whomever, wouldn’t that mean that we should’ve waited on the Tex thing? Maybe the Red Sox could’ve given us something better…
Or we could be welcoming Chad Tracy.
I think I am going to go to bed early, so it’s morning (or whenever EUN wakes me up) recap time again. I’ll stay up for the start of the game.
IMO Cox keeping Corky on the roster and his horrible treatment of Devine and now Stockman are reasons in themselves that Cox should be asked to retire. I challenge anyone to defend Cox for keeping Corky – the guy absolutely can’t hit. I would prefer for us to bring Eddie Perez out of retirement.
I don’t know how you can make the assumption that Bobby is making the choice to keep Corky around.
Holy cow, ManRam to the Fish:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=965
DOB says Hudson has been advised to have TJ surgery.
Well adding Manny Ramirez would certainly make the division more entertaining the rest of the year. I really can’t believe the Marlins would give up much for him. Good thing Kotchmania has arrived a day early, I couldn’t have survived another day without it.
Since when do the Marlins make trades like that?
Boo Mark Richt
Mike N,
Do you support a school that wears a variation of orange?
Sorry if this has been posted, but from Boston Globe:
Red Sox talking with Braves about Ohman
According to the Globe’s Gordon Edes, the Red Sox on Wednesday are talking to the Braves about reliever Will Ohman, who has a 2.84 ERA, 13 holds, and 41 strikeouts (with 18 walks) in 44 1/3 innings pitched this season. Besides the Red Sox, five other teams are discussing Ohman with the Braves, who are looking for a pitching prospect in return. A logical name that might surface in trade talks with Atlanta from the Red Sox farm system is Double-A pitcher Daniel Bard, who is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings pitched for the Sea Dogs this season.
Wow. All Manny has ever done in Boston is f’in hit, and hit hard. He’s in the top ten in just about every offensive category this season. I don’t know the internals, and the Boston press are nothing but a gang of front office shills, but to do this in the middle of a pennant race is just unbelievable.
Dream scenario… The Sox trade Manny for Hermida and then move Hermida onto us for Ohman and B-Jones.
Never happen.
Nah, I go to a school that wears Old Gold and White.
A better color scheme, if not gridiron squad.
I wish we could have traded Mike Stanton for Manny in the 90’s.
Francoeur with a solid RBI there. At least it was hit a little harder than average. I wonder if the lack of pressure to win will help him at all.
I won’t care if if this team fails to win a single game. I will celebrate every night if we can lose all those games with no Corky Miller and Jeff Francoeur. We are stupid, stupid team these days. Throw some catcher’s gear on Prado and stick his him behind the plate. How bad could he be?
Prado would let five balls a game go to the backstop, and all of them would be scored wild pitches.
Or catcher’s interference, which would somehow be scored HBPs.
Solid D by Norton there. Solid.
I like your dream scenario, Mac. I feel like this “A drowning man will catch at a straw.”
I’ll take 5 past balls per game if it means getting someone in the lineup that doesn’t make an out 90 percent of the time.
mlb rumors is saying Manny to the Marlins, Bay to the Sox, and who knows to the Pirates
I take a long weekend and my posting skillz r all rustee. past balls…omglolbrb
I think Hermida could blossom if he gets out of Florida, that warning track power there will turn to home run power in a friendlier park.
Mac, you make it sound like thats as far as he can hit one. He was def. under that pitch
Oh, DOB says that Kotsay is getting a scheduled day off and is not on the verge of being traded. Of course, we’ve seen suspicious SDOs before this year.
Gammons reporting that Manny will be traded to the Marlins, fwiw
I wasn’t talking about Kotchman, I was talking about Jeremy Hermida, who presumably is about to be a Pirate (traded for Manny and then for Bay).
oh my bad, why are you watching them?
No, just a coincidence that Kotchman flew out that way. I was just thinking about Hermida because I would like to trade for him.
Isn’t Hermida a white boy from Atlanta? I can’t believe the Braves aren’t all over that.
With is Jim Ellis VW running an ad with a narrator that sounds like he’s trying out for a minstrel show?
Yeah, I’m bushed. Going to bed now. Be nice. Maybe when I wake up Kotsay will have been traded somewhere.
Make that Why…
Does that make sense for the Marlins at all? They’ll never draw that many fans, I don’t think, and they kind of remind me of the Nationals in ’05, although I guess they’ve got a little more talent to back up the surprising result.
Still, they’re several games ahead of their expected W-L (basically, we should have their record and they should have ours). So, if it doesn’t make financial sense (and is bizarre for such a cheap franchise) and doesn’t really make baseball sense (Manny won’t be a big enough difference by himself to change their expected finish with that ugly run differential)…
I guess they’re (luckily) close, and perhaps they shouldn’t waste what they’ve been arbitrarily given (I’m not bitter), but with Manny, it seems like they’d only be a .500 team, which is useless outside the NL West (not bitter).
I can’t believe the Pirates are getting only Hermida for Bay. I mean, I like Hermida a lot, but I’m surprised they’re settling for a single player who’s luster has faded somewhat. If it’s true.
Mac,
You said that you didn’t think you could assume that keeping Corky around is Cox’s decision. Whose is it then – Wren’s? If Cox can’t say that he wants a replacement for Miller or that he’s going to start Sammons over him, he has a lot less control of the team than I thought.
Jeff Francoeur > Corky Miller
stu, I agree that there has to be more coming to the pirates
Wow, that was Francoeur’s 23rd at-bat with the bases loaded this season and he’s hitting an impressive .130…
Yikes, close.
I’m guessing that’s not Frenchy’s only unimpressive split.
LOL, screw you LaRussa. You and your pinch-bunting pitchers.
Frenchy’s avg with the bases loaded is 40 pts higher than Corky’s overall BA. In that context, it is pretty impressive – but only in that context.
I bet LaRussa is having a hell of a time figuring out who to retaliate against. Jurrjens may not get another AB.
Escobar, maybe?
Can we now add Cardinals fans to the list of teams that have a more vocal presence at Turner Field than we do? Booing the intentional walk after Kennedy’s horrible double – have you no shame?
Here’s my guess on Friday’s starting LF: Adam Dunn….
“I heard a rumour…..they say you got a broken heart…..”
Tex is 0-3 w/ 2 strikeouts.
Hell of a catch by Jeffy. Of course, he didn’t start back on it early enough, but I appreciate the all-out effort there.
Nice snag.
Guess Frenchy really is an out machine.
Kotchman’s productive outs are kind of wasted in front of Norton and Infante. And at 1B.
Greg Norton: Hitting machine!
Jeff Francoeur is a regular RF and Corky Miller is a back up catcher. Atlanta you guys regard Francoeur as a franchise star. never agreed. But I guess Miller is gone after this season. There is no comparison.
BTW, the club had better find a diamond in the rough.
Great AB for Infante.
Philip @ 145 – I would love to see Dunn in LF, but what would it gain us? He’s a FA after this year and shouldn’t we be able to get him w/o a trade during the offseason? If there’s something I’m missing, please let me know.
This is interesting…
When Braves general manager Frank Wren completed this trade, it might have marked the first time he’s acquired a player whom he’s known for approximately 20 years. Through his friendship with Casey’s father, Tom, Wren first met his new first baseman about two decades ago.
Corky, you douchebag. Thompson just walked Francoeur of all people on four straight.
Swing.
Swing.
Thanks to that walk by Frenchy, Corky gets a chance to pick up some LOBs.
They should just start advertising to the other team’s fans – “Hey Cubs fans, want to see some victories?”
“Maybe it’s the AAA lineup. Maybe it’s the mediocre prospect’s first big league game. Or maybe it’s just the overworked bullpen’s inevitable step-by-step collapse. Whatever the reason, you’ll probably win.
Braves baseball, is there anything better (for your W-L)?”
Chuck James was scratched from his start tonight at Richmond, he’ll be starting for Atlanta on Friday.
Ohman is a clown. He’ll probably be missed in the clubhouse. From DOB:
In the clubhouse, Ohman had on Pepperdine football t-shirt with “Still Undefeated” on the back. But he put a piece of white athletic tape over the word undefeated and wrote in black marker, “here.”
As in, “Still Here.”
LaTroy Hawkins to the Astros, not like that really matters to us.
No, I just wanted to work Bananarama into the thread.
“Who needs friends who never show
I’ll tell you what you want to know
I could have saved a broken heart
If I’d found out long ago
I’m just thinking about
Those lonely nights
When I waited for your call
‘Til I found out
All my friends were right
I didn’t know you at all
I heard a rumour
(Ooh, ooh, I heard a rumour)
They say you got a broken heart
I heard it
I heard a rumour
(Ooh, ooh, I heard a rumour)
Yes I did, boy ooh, ooh, ooh
Now it seems they’re telling me
You’ve changed your wicked ways
But should I give you a second chance
Baby, I’m too afraid
So you realise what hurt you made
And the love you threw away
How can I forgive or soon forget
It’s never gonna be the same”
Ahhhh……
i said it in jest a couple weeks ago, but damned if we really aren’t the NL’s Seattle Mariners. not quite the worst. nowhere close to the best. just mediocre crap. this must be the flashback they promised me.
Corky is unbelievably bad.
There’s our defensive catcher at work.
Defensive specialist…
I don’t think Jurrjens have a chance at ROY, because we’re never going to win him another game.
I guess it’s too obvious, but the tag line for Braves Journal ought to be Corky Sucks!
Why the hell did Bobby leave our 22 year old in to throw 116 pitches?
And given the throw yesterday and the passed ball today (both when Pujols was running), I’m beginning to wonder if Corky doesn’t just suck–I’m beginning to wonder if Corky might be throwing it.
After recent years of abuse from Boston, the Angels are really wearing out the Sawx this year.
And mark me down as someone who still doesn’t completely believe that Boston will deal Manny. It’s been said a million times, but Ramirez cannot be replaced.
some body from the Braves needs to hang around outside the Cards spring training complex and snag the 1st 3 outfielders they cut………..where do they get these guys?
#168……………because he’s 22……….and a pitcher.
Blaine Boyer!
In Corky’s defense, it can’t be easy to stay sharp on defense when you play as little as he does.
In our defense, he sucks so bad they walked Francoeur to get to him.
The thing about a 12 or 13 man pitching staff is that you should only use about 8 of them most of the time… But it’s really important to have as many pitchers as possible anyway.
-From the Wisdom of Bobby Cox (forthcoming)
Bobby, thanks for everything, but it’s time to try something new.
Weldon,
You used Corky’s name and defense in the same sentence. Is that still allowed?
Why on earth is Ohman in the game? Time for an injury.
Good job by Boyer once again
I wonder what Sammons would’ve done there with the bases loaded…I would’ve liked to have found out
this week, my bathroom library includes the 1991 Bill James Baseball Book. Somewhere he was talking about how the game changes when teams started going from 9 to 10(or even 11 !!) man pitching staffs. i could understand the 12 or 13 man staffs if you could find that many guys who could actually pitch, but theres way too much time wasted bringing in the next meat to get shelled. i bet the networks love it though.
This blog is actually part of my bathroom library.
When Ohman leaves, our entire bullpen will see action every night, because nobody will be able to get anyone out. We could start to long for the days when the games only lasted 3 hours.
That’s certainly one problem, barrycuda, with the 12/13 man pitching staff–quality. But the other problem is getting enough consistent work for all of them. In the Braves case (or should I say Bobby’s case), it’s not consistent. He rides three or so arms (this year it’s been Ohman, Boyer, and early on Acosta. More recently, it’s been Gonzalez). The rest of the arms out there are used infrequently, and as a result, are almost always rusty–see Ring, Stockman, and others. Given this, it would be better to go back to a smaller bullpen (say 11) and get an additional catcher (since Corky cannot be released–he’s just provides so much veteran leadership from the pine) and a couple of non-2b bench players.
How did the Kotch Ness Monster look?
Hudson needs Tommy John.
RIP 2009 Braves
two docs both are advising TJ for Huddy. You know I mentioned worst case scenarios the other day, its happened
Peanut reporting he got a text from Huddy and Huddy says he’ll tough it out for the rest of the year. Dont know why he would
@185
Kotch Rocket grounded to first a few times. One was a good play by Pujols, the other two moved runners up, but that’s not his role in this kind of a lineup. The other AB was a fly to medium right that he didn’t get enough of. Inauspicious debut so far, but he has the bases loaded right now.
Don’t be a hero, Tim. It’s over.
And lo, even at the stroke of ten, Casey Kotchman did indeed prove that he is an Atlanta Brave.
Tough it out?!? I hope not. There is no reason to. If he needs surgery, he needs to get it done the sooner the better.
well jeff…………if the manager thought they all pitched equally, he’d use them equally. back when they were useing 9 and 10 man staffs, they carried 3 catchers (imagine that luxury). one of them was usually an old fat guy with ruined knees who could hit a little bit. i’d like to see more players on the bench and fewer guys blowing bubbles in the pen.
@#$%–the nightmare scenario–Ring pitching to Corky–Cards will end up w/ 10 runs the way Ring has been pitching–his ERA since the break is 37.13
Our bullpen stinks. End of story.
Simpson and Boog discussing protection has turned my brain to jello (I think I know how the Aflac duck feels when he goes into the barber shop with Yogi), but I think Ring gave up 1 run in 1/3 of an inning. If so, his 27.00 ERA for the game lowered his post ASG ERA.
Ahhh, if nothing else, this team gives me some laughs.
Unfortunately JJ gets the loss. On the bright side, our bullpen only gave up 4 runs tonight…in two innings. Merely an 18.00 ERA.
It’s almost inconceivable how bad this team is. I just can’t figure out how this really happened. Whatever our guys did in the off season and Spring Training fitness wise was not right. I’ve never seen this many injuries in baseball.
Sadly though, even if we didn’t have even 1 injury the whole year, I still think we’d be mediocre.
You know, that Ohman/Infante was a really good one. Wren should get credit for that, as well as the more talked about Renteria for JJ deal.
Just wondering, wheres Shawn Green these days? He could be a solid left fielder, I guess.
Edit: Just checked Wikipedia, saw that he retired.
Too late to worry about LF for this year; time to think about 09. Crummy news on Hudson, though the tough it out for the rest of this year business doesn’t make sense.
Oquendo was blocking for the baserunner on Yunel’s double-clutch play at the plate, pretty much standing on third. Yunel should have said something to the ump about it.
Just picked up Kyle Farnsworth on my fantasy team, I had to take a shower after I was finished.
The Cubs are going to run away with the Central when all is said and done.
Can Brett Favre pitch?
I can’t find my wallet. Anyone seen it? No? Ok, just wondering.
Dude, I betcha Brett Favre could get outs.
Hmm… Kyle Farnsworth. He’s going to be the closer over Rodney right? I did just lose Kerry Wood and Whateverhisnameis Saito from the Dodgers. I’m down to Mike Gonzalez, who will get roughly 3 save opportunities for the remainder of the year, and Salomon Torres. Hmm… might try to move on this.
Hampton probably stole it, just like the other $30 mil or so he did from the Braves
From the AJC about trading Ohman:
“The Braves were expected to get a low-level prospect from the Cardinals if the deal is finalized.”
Why in the heck would we trade Ohman for a low-level prospect? He better be a really good one!
DOB gets new info:
Two months of a reliever isn’t worth a whole lot, no matter how good he is.
Recap is up.
Campillo has about a year’s worth of service time. He is under team control.