ESPN – Braves vs. Mets – Box Score – September 14, 2008
Ha ha!
The Mets led 4-2 entering the ninth, and lost, because their bullpen is collapsing, and they are on the verge of another late season swan dive. I know it isn’t attractive, but schadenfreude is all we have left.
It looked like yet another Braves early lead-blown lead-hibernation mode loss, but these are the September Braves, who all of the sudden have remembered how to play baseball. Kotchman led off with a single. KJ hit for L’ilbridge (he didn’t start because Ollie Perez started, and KJ can’t hit Perez at all) and singled. And Norton hit for the pitcher and hit a three-run homer to give the Braves the lead. If that wasn’t enough, Slugging Second Baseman Martin Prado walked, followed by a single from Chipper (3-5, and a five-point lead in the batting race) and another epic PA from Blanco, who lined a double into the gap to make it 6-4. Corky (who entered the game after Blanco ran for McCann) hit a fly ball deep enough to score Chipper. Gonzalez let the first two reach but got out of it unscathed for the save. Julio picked up the win.
Home to face the Phillies, where the Braves totally won’t lie down and let the Phillies win without effort. That would be wrong.
Considering how the Braves have played vs the Phillies so far this season, they can try as hard as they want and still get swept.
I hope the Braves do get swept by the Phillies. And then sweep the Mets afterwards.
Die Mets, die!
You know, Gregor Blanco has been remarkably consistent all year. Has no power whatsoever, but he gets on base every so often and doesn’t create a sucking chest wound in the middle of the order. I like him.
You know, Dan, in German that would mean “The Mets, the.”
I like Blanco too but I’m not sure the Braves, or any team for that matter, can handle having two everyday outfielders who put up OPSs under .700 like Blanco and Francoeur.
If the Braves get Burrell, Dunn, Bay or Holliday as the rumors suggest, than it will cover for it I guess….at least moreso than this season.
Oh, I don’t think Blanco’s a legitimate starting outfielder. Neither’s Frenchy. But Blanco has made the most of his abilities, and he has a lot more business being on our roster.
4 — and in Italian (not spelled that way, but the sounds) it would mean “Come on, Mets. Come on.” I think I like the English version best.
Responding to what you noted in the last thread, Mac, yeah, I saw that, and all it does is guarantee we lose in Oxford.
#5 with the Tigers looking to shed payroll, Ordonez will become available. I can see us making a move (and hopefully duping Dombrowski again).
With five minutes to go in the third quarter, Matt Ryan has now completed five passes for 52 yards.
To hang a heartbreaker on the Mets in our Shea finale is fairly satisfying. (Makes perfect sense, historically speaking.) And, yes, Chipper got a hit in his last AB.
At this point, we celebrate triumphs wherever we find them.
Well we simply have to lose these games to the Phils. Let Francoeur lead off and play shortstop, get Dessens involved in every game. Whatever it takes.
best win of the miserable year? probably not, but it’s been awhile since there was one this satisfying
Wow, the board is possitive tonight
The Mets or the Phillies? I hate them both.
Mets fans are funnier when they lose. The Phillies and their fans lack the sense of undeserved entitlement that the Mets and their fans have.
Met fans have that Little Brother Syndrome. Everything they do is judged (by themselves & others) by how it relates to the Yankees. It’s a hill they’ll never climb.
Nothing very complex about the other bunch. Phils fans just hate themselves. Half of them can’t wait to lose, just so they’ll have something to complain about.
A very small, but very real, satisfaction. Excellent kiss-off to Shea.
Yeah–A nice way to end the Braves’ encounter with Shea.
Since my family relocated to Connecticutin 1979, we went to quite a few Braves’ games at Shea. We never came to like it and I can’t say that I will shed a tear when it goes.
Unfortunately, it appears that the new stadium will still be a place where fans can get great views of airplanes….
Shea stinks, and it is not a fun area to go to a game either(if you dont live near it).
#20–Unfortunately, that will not change with the new stadium. I might add that the roads around Shea are pretty banged up–making the drives from Connecticut a lot less fun that I might like….
Phils vs Mets? I’ll go with the Phils. No special reason or special animosity toward either, just a gut feeling. Too bad the teams I find truly obnoxious–Cubs and Red Sox–look like they’ll both make post season play. With the Braves home this year, I’ll hop on the Rays bandwagon.
@21–if the drive from CT is tough, I’ll bet the drive from UAE is a real bear 🙂
BTW, I really like what Blanco has done this year. His defense isn’t great but a speedy guy with a .370 obp who works the count is a great 4th OF to use as a PH leading off a late inning.
A few weeks ago on metsblog (I think after we lost a game or two to them) one of the writers ended his piece with “remember when the Braves were relevant? Me neither” and it is taking great restraint to avoid popping over and making a smart-ass comment.
Also: Wow, Zambrano had a no-hitter.
After the recent “hot streak,” the Braves are still lined up to pick6th or 7th in the draft.
Mets Blog is almost as bad as the AJC blogs. It’s filled with adolescents and neurotics who turn on each other and on the blog itself when they lose. The latest topic for “discussion” is whether the blog should keep posting the Mets’ “Magic Number” up with the majority excoriating it for doing so apparently on the assumption that talking about magic numbers will cause the Mets to lose. One kid, who admits he is 15, posts under the pseudonym “rollinsisgay.” Nice of New Yorkers to encourage homophobia. I’m sure Phillies fans aren’t much better but I hope to hell the Mets choke again.
For all the usual foolishness on Metsblog…
http://www.metsblog.com/2008/09/14/note-chipper-to-buy-seats-from-shea-stadium/#comments
That’s actually a pretty reasonable set of comments. I’m torn because I don’t really like the Phils OR the Mets and can’t decide who I want to lose more… though the Mets collapsing again would be priceless (are the fish technically out of it yet? could they make a Rockies run and manage to sneak in?).
The Marlins have like a .5 percent chance of making it. They’d basically have to win out.
Yeah, those AJC blogs (and many fan forums) are ridiculous. People referring to the Univ. of Florida as Gaytors and Univ. or Georgia as UGAY, etc. These people are so stupid and/or immature, it’s pathetic. Sure ain’t entertaining.
I’ve mentioned this many times before, but I gotta pat Mac & everybody here on the back for running & maintaining a forum that doesn’t really descend into the gutter of prejudice or full-on personal attacks.
It may get somewhat heated here and there, but I think most folks maintain some decorum & avoid nastiness. And that’s what makes this place a pleasure. Thanks, y’all.
One does one’s best. My advantage is that by the time I started getting regular commenters, I’d seen what had happened to some of the popular political sites.
Yeah, I know. I go to the political sites all the time, but I never post & I rarely even read the comments anymore.
My thoughts exactly ububba. While I don’t post here much I read this site daily. Thanks Mac and to the rest of you as well!
great things come against the mets
Chipper continues his dominance
Gonzalez got consec saves for us. 1st time since July 2007
we ended our one road loss record
we scored 5 runs in the 9th to hand them another loss (hey thats how many points were scored in the Aub/Miss St game)
update: 5 sec teams now in the top 10!!
With all due respect to Mac, I think the people that come to this site deserve a lot of credit. We certainly have our differences I’m sure politically and so forth but, in general, there is a lot more respect here toward each other than on most blogs, sports or otherwise.
I was impressed by the comments about Chipper on Mets blog. Like everywhere, the rotten apples spoil the bunch but New York has always been the kind of place where people appreciate someone that can step up like Chipper has. It’s funny though that some of the Mets fans think Chipper harbored a secret desire to play in NY–sort of typical New York provincialism.
32—And 6 in the Top 26, baby!
33—Actually, I think I deserve most of the credit. My reluctance to engage in argument has spread like wildfire since I first joined the fray in aught-4.
Stu,
Lawyers should love to argue, right? Of course, there’s a real skill in doing it without getting personal.
Re: Chipper Talk
Those are Mets people “talking among themselves.” But, yeah, there are plenty of NYC sports fans who know what’s up. Of course, due to the sheer number of people, the loudmouths are plenty as well & they get the most attention.
Fact is, native New Yorkers are just plain loud.
Re; Help!
Question: Does anyone have that link to that pseudo-bootleg sports TV site? It’s a site that allows you to watch the feeds of many games that are blacked out or just unavailable to certain regions. It’s been posted before, but I never saved it.
I’ll be in spending Euros this weekend & the UGA/Ariz. State game won’t be on ESPN360 and it’s not like they get ABC-TV in Deutschland. Watching the replay just won’t be the same.
ububba,
I actually don’t think lawyers (or anyone) should love arguing, only that they should be skilled at it. I wish I stayed on the right side of that line more regularly.
Is http://www.channelsurfing.net what you’re looking for?
Hmm, looks different from the other site, but it looks like it’ll work. Thanks, Vandyman.
Let me echo that thanks to Mac, but to all of those who come and post on Braves Journal. Living outside the US (#22–Driving in the UAE is a world of its own) it is really nice to be able to log on and follow the Braves, the SEC, and life in the U.S in general from this blog. More important, I am also grateful that I have gotten to know online so many people. As Kevin Lee observed you could never meet this group in a bar or anywhere else. Thanks again!
If the fraking Brewers manage to let BOTH the Mets and Phils in the playoffs I’m going to be annoyed…er.
I must thank all for making this board a very welcome distraction from class and studying.
I’ve definitely learned my lesson about respecting other people. This is a good place to go for a discourse about the Braves (and college football). Kudos all around.
Speaking of respect, it’s nice to see Chipper getting his due from the enemy on Metsblog.
After the way the Rebels played this weekend I fully expect them to lose to Vanderbilt this weekend. Which historically is a weird feeling but I guess after the last few years its not that weird. Just be nice about it Stu.
Went to the Miss. State game this weekend because the wife’s a State grad and after it was over really wished we’d just stayed in town and seen the M-Braves win the championship. Never seen a game where the biggest cheer came for a punt before.
After the way the Rebels played this weekend I fully expect them to lose to Vanderbilt this weekend. Which historically is a weird feeling but I guess after the last few years its not that weird. Just be nice about it Stu.
Ole Miss -5.5 is the line right now. We’ll have to be able to throw the ball to win, and we haven’t shown we can do that yet. I’ll guess something like Ole Miss 24, Vanderbilt 13.
I’m never mean when we win unless someone has been overly obnoxious predicting the reverse.
PS: We’re 34-46-2 against y’all in the all-time series. You’re not UT—this nervousness shouldn’t be that unusual of a feeling.
One does one’s best. My advantage is that by the time I started getting regular commenters, I’d seen what had happened to some of the popular political sites.
Now if you could just get that west coast fool to stop posting ridiculous things about the Pac-10. New Mexico? UNLV? Maryland? Have Oklahoma and BYU stopped scoring yet?
Well the Rebels are 22 and 3 all time in Oxford. And the biggest reason the numbers are closer is that we started by loosing the first 18 games against Vandy from 1894 – 1938.
I’m 28 and my life time the series is 21 Ole Miss wins to 8 losses. But like I said the Orgeron years were tough. Johnson’s was such a better coach the tide turned a little during that three year period.
Vandy looked great against South Carolina and we looked very pedestrian against Samford. So I don’t exactly feel very confident.
the people around here are ready to have a parade and chant WE”RE NUMBER 24 !!!!
Well, South Carolina is a perfect “good” opponent for us: stout defense, but no offense. This Vanderbilt team is built to excel in low-scoring environments. Against a good opponent whose strength is offense (like Ole Miss), I’m far less confident, because I don’t know that our offense can do enough even against a mediocre defense, if our defense can’t hold you under 20 points, which is going to be pretty difficult.
I really like you guys. I really like the discussion on this board, and after years of being here, I’m a smarter person because of you guys. I’ve been busy lately, so I haven’t been posting as much, but I appreciate the environment here. And as some have said, it doesn’t get nearly as foolish or petty as it does on other boards. Good on ya, folks…
Hey…
best football team I’ve seen this year: USC (that’s Southern California, not the little Carolina).
with Penn St a close second. That Spread Offense they’re running this year is perfect to get teir athletes the ball. And who says Joe Pa is over the hill?
we, at UNC, are actually taking a step forward with that manhandling of Rutgers last week.
Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, and Syracuse? Get back to us when PSU beats a .500 team.
Soxalamacchia?
As a USC guy, the only team I’ve seen that concerns me is Oklahoma. Talent absolutely everywhere. Obviously other good teams out there but with significant flaws as well.
Let’s just say I’m not going to lose any sleep over any Big 10 team any time soon.
It looks like you shouldn’t worry about any other Pac 10 teams either.
You’d think, but conference games are always tough. The other guys know your schemes and players so well, they can usually hang in there. Watching those two SEC games this weekend….zzzzzz…..zzzzzz…..oh, sorry. I was saying watching Georgia and Auburn struggle with clearly inferior foes – that’s just the way it is in conference.
And unfortunately, there is plenty of recent history to suggest USC is very capable of dropping games to what should be overmatched conference opponents.
and maybe only a few NFL teams.
I don’t think that the distance between USC and the rest of the conference has ever been so great. It’s up there with Alabama vs. the rest of the SEC in the seventies, or FSU in its first years in the ACC. Cal looked terrible, UCLA was utterly humiliated, Oregon barely won against a second-division Big 10 team and is on their third string QB, and the rest of the conference…
Could be. We’ll see. They’ve lost two games in conference in each of the last two seasons. Cal and Oregon will hang in there, plus a couple of surprises, maybe Arizona. They never play well there.
This team is especially good though. Replacing Booty with Sanchez is an enormous upgrade. I think folks are just getting a handle on how much Booty was holding the team back. And my best guess is that there is a minimum of seven first day NFL draft players on defense.
The way I see it, Alabama’s in the top ten with a team heavily dependent upon freshmen (15 have played, and the team’s top WR and RB are true freshmen). Saban’s first full class is performing as advertised. And USC has four-plus recruiting classes like that.
Right. Lost 10 players to the draft from last season, eight in the first three rounds, and I think this team is better. FWIW, there were 20+ four and five star recruits on the sidelides for the OSU game. I imagine they left with a good impression…
It’s pretty cool that there’s hardly any personal shots on here considering all of us seem to like a different college team.
Oh, and I think Vandy will have no problem with Ole Miss.
South Carolina has talent on defense and their O-line was good enough to hold off the rush when they needed it most. Their skill positions leave something to be desired—Smelley’s last INT was an overthrow into double coverage.
Georgia still must address its penchant for penalties. The dropped passes, I hope/believe, will be minimized by more opportunities for AJ Green, who is looking great so far. He will be more involved.
Overall, Stafford was far from perfect, but he had at least 3 big gains (including a TD) taken away by dropped passes that were perfect. Different game with those catches, for sure.
The penalties might be fixable. We’ll see how much improvement our O-Line develops in the next two weeks—we’re gonna need it.
But, 3-0 overall with a tough conference road win in the pocket. Can’t complain, really.
If the Tigers are shopping Magglio, would we want him at his cost? would we have a shot at getting him? It should be the offensive bat we need in the outfield
I agree that there is very little personal rancor around here, unlike other blogs/message boards/Presidential campaigns I could name.
I’m with Chris in that the Tar Heels showed vast improvement in drubbing Rutgers on ESPN last Thursday. That being said, the Hokies will be a much sterner test this weekend. We should have a good handle on how far we’ve come/how far we have to go.
#64 – yes we would want him
csg: well obviously we could use his output… his contract at $18-19M a year for the next couple years was the only question on “wanting” him… though the other part of the question was the more questionable.
unrelated: Is Mantle’s .365 the best switch hitting batting average season?
Correct. Mantle’s .365 in 1957 is the single-season MLB record.
The NL record is .355 by a guy named George Davis who played for the NY Giants in 1893.
But, 3-0 overall with a tough conference road win in the pocket. Can’t complain, really.
Of course the real question is, was Coach Richt ok with how ESPN put together the highlight package this week?
.365 switch hitting, mind-boggling.
I love me some Robert-ububba banter.
Robert,
If you’re talking about the Knowshon leap, Richt didn’t bring it up. He was asked & he commented on it. But most level-headed folks who aren’t media-paranoid could care less.
Anyone who saw what Moreno did knew it was something special.
http://tinyurl.com/6hapcb
braves14,
There’s really no need for personal shots; we all realize what the strengths and weaknesses of our teams are. 😉
So, if Chipper were to not play any more games this season he would be tied for the best season average by a Switch Hitter in major league history (he’s got the PAs for the batting title now)… wild.
George Stacey Davis, a member of the Hall of Fame, basically because Bill James wrote him up in The Politics of Glory.
-laughs- Yeah he owned that CMU player.
I thought the “ESPN didn’t do their homework” comment was pretty funny considering the play was buried in a otherwise unremarkable Fox-owned blowout. I’ll bet ESPN didn’t poor through that LSU-North Texas affront to competitiveness on Saturday either.
It was a pretty cool play though.
Magglio’s contract is $18 mil for 09 and $15 mil for 2010 and 2011. The downside here is we would have to give up solid prospects for them to move him. I would only trade for Magglio if they were going to eat a lot of that contract, but I dont see why they would. I dont see this working out between the Braves and Tigers.
Dunn and Lowe seem like very reasonable additions
Supposedly they’re looking to get some money off the books, and get some starting pitching…
*delusional time*
couldn’t we ship Chuck James, Jo Jo, and Francour to them for Mags?
I have trouble with the idea of Dunn and his .237 BA. I know his OBP is pretty good, but all those Ks worry me (and I KNOW he walks a ton too, I think it’s just that I don’t “get” a guy who has the discipline to walk that much, but also strikes out that much… something just doesn’t jive).
The only problem, if it is a problem, is that Joe Simpson’s head would explode and you wouldn’t want brains to get all over Sciambi’s jacket.
The guy simply takes a lot of pitches and makes pitchers work. It’s a problem that is also a strength.
I’m not opposed to Lowe per se… though he seems more like a fill in for the Glavine/Hampton spot than the Hudson/Smoltz one.
What would our payroll look like if we went into next season trading for Mags, FAing Dunn and Lowe, and signing some combo of Glavine/Smoltz/Hampton to incentive laden 1 year deals? Should make for a more reliable offense, but sketchy pitching (as it would then rely on a few of the young guys like Morton and Parr to fill in when the older guys go down hurt).
(I ask because I’m supposed to be working and there has to be SOMEBODY on here with actual free time and not procrastination time :D).
The only problem, if it is a problem, is that Joe Simpson’s head would explode and you wouldn’t want brains to get all over Sciambi’s jacket.
As long as he takes the ball the other way and doesn’t break a lot of bats, Joe might survive.
Ned Yost fired in Milwaukee. Bring him back to Atlanta pronto, Bobby.
Hmmmm… Yost fired… interesting move with 2 weeks to go.
Whoa, Yost fired. Why do that while they are tied for the Wild Card?
When did Lou Lamoriello become the Brewers’ GM?
Mac,
Yeah, George Davis is the only decent hitter on the “Hitless Wonders” ’06 White Sox. I know from playing them in APBA a million times. I like the ’06 Cubs better.
Dale Sveum becomes the first major league manager whose last name begins with “Sv”. It’s this sort of quality analysis that keeps bringing them back to Braves Journal.
I guess the Milwaukee GM just brought it down on his head. Tied in Wild Card. Win and GM is smart. Lose and he is dumb.
The interim manager will be Dale Sveum. A few years ago he was 3rd base coach for the Red Sox and Red Sox Nation hated him.
I think that Yost said something particularly dumb in the last day or two.
I don’t want to see him replace Cox.
I would like for him to replace Snitker or Chino, neither of whom seems to know what he’s doing.
While I wait on somebody to do the math (MAN I’ve got to get to work).
09 Braves
1. Blanco/Anderson/Schafer CF
2. Ordonez RF
3. Chipper 3B
4. Dunn LF
5. McCann C
6. Escobar SS
7. Kelly Johnson 2B
8. Kotchman 1B
Rotation:
Jurjjens
Lowe
Smoltz
Campillo
Morton/Parr/Retread/etc
Edit: I forgot to put a Japanese pitcher in the rotation… maybe instead of Lowe/Smoltz/Retread.
Wow. Who fires the coach tied for the WC only two weeks away from the franchise’s first playoff appearance in decades? Yes, they are sputtering, but…
Check out FireNedYost.com on the web. (Sorry, no link.) It may be the most civil attempt to get a man fired for incompetence I’ve ever seen.
The Brewers are 3-11 for Sept. The house is on fire. Somebody threw Ned out of the window.
I’ve got tickets to see them in Cincinnati Sunday. It may be more interesting than I anticipated!
Charles, I would change that a bit
#2 Esco
#4 Maggs
#5 BMac
#6 Dunn
I would also trade Kotchman this offseason, maybe the brewers would trade for him, Jo Jo, Morton, Frenchy, and Lillibridge for Fielder…yeah, they wouldnt
Maybe the Brewers can make Fielder their 2nd scapegoat for this collapse. I would be happy to take him or Ryan Braun off their hands.
I’m OK with that shuffle csg… though I went back and forth and decided Dunn was getting on base enough that it made sense to give him some guys behind him to knock him in, and putting up enough power to knock in the guys ahead of him. Esco I had originally in the #2 spot, but figured Mags would give a bit better front loading to the offense. Either way it would be formidable (and Frenchy Free).
Well, I was getting rid of Frenchy and JoJo to get Mags anyway… and figured Kotchman was going to be our “give him a shot” guy… since Dunn and Maggs should pick up the offensive slack for him until Heyward (or whoever) comes up in a couple years.
Does anyone know if Dunn hits into a low percentage of double plays?
If so, that makes the high SO totals more palatable (to me, at least) …
He doesn’t ground into many. Seven this year, which is about his average. He doesn’t hit the ball much, and when he does he normally hits it in the air, and he won’t swing just to put a ball in play when there are runners on base like some people.
Wow, Wikipedia has already been updated Re: Yost. I was going over to see what the info was on him as a player.
Edit: and Astros got one hit today after getting no-hit yesterday… wild.
Dunn seems to be like Darryl Strawberry without the speed, or maybe Pat Burrell with a bit more power and a lot more walks, or maybe late Barry Bonds but replace the singles with Ks?.
He’s just got an odd line and I’m really not sure what to make of him (and I’m sounding like a broken record). He’ll knock guys in apparently, and get on base to be knocked in, shouldn’t be a huge rally killer… I wouldn’t want to commit to a long term contract with him for some reason, but a couple seasons of him might be what we need in the OF.
Edit: What the heck is Dunn expected to get in the FA market? What about Manny?
Headed to The Bronx now for my final visit to the old stadium. Can’t say I’m too misty about it.
I really loved going to games there for the past 18 years—saw some Braves triumphs & some painful moments—but it’s time to move into the 21st Century.
It’s not a dump like Shea, but it has zero amenities & it’s extremely difficult to get into and out of. From what I’ve seen so far, the new place is going to be awesome.
Dunn will probably get $15m/year. I wouldn’t want him for more than 3 years though and we’d probably pay for it in the 3rd year.
Manny will be looking for $20m+/year and has Scott Boras as an agent.
Lowe on this season is a good pickup, but we’ll be getting his age 36+ seasons. He’s still probably the #3 free agent starter after Sabathia and Sheets though.
@#86. I agree bring Ned back to ATL. At least to coach. Maybe we can groom him to take over for Bobby instead of TP.
Crazy for Milwaukee to fire Yost. Something must have happened off the field for that to happen.
I asked this the other day, but I missed the responses: is anyone using Google Chrome? I’m usually a FireFox guy, but Chrome has really been impressing me.
Yost completely blew the game on Saturday. By all accounts he has done a horrible job with the pen as well.
I’d rather not have someone who manages to get himself fired in the middle of a pennant race. I can’t advocate for someone just because I’ve heard of him.
I tried google chrome, and it is very nice. But i still use firefox because Chrome is not as fast as it for me
They fired Yost for a reason. The last thing we need is a Cox protege.
All the add-ons for Firefox might be slowing it down for me. I have a lot added.
Go Braves. Sorry, I’m bored in class.
Mets losing 7-2 to the Nationals in bottom of the eighth inning at Washington.
Die Mets, die!
More about Yost —
I don’t know how many King Kaufman (or FireNedYost) readers there are here, but this should put to rest any notion of making Yost successor to Bobby:
http://tinyurl.com/6hhfj7
He wouldn’t last a week in this crowd….
Back from The Bronx, my final visit to the old Yankee Stadium.
Got to hear Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” (for Mariano Rivera’s appearance) & Frank Sinatra’s version of “New York, New York” (after the last out).
After all these years, it seemed appropriate.
Nice combination–both songs (including the Metallica video) make some reference to difficulty with sleeping….
Great, now the freaking Rays are choking and trying to give up their division crown. I know the Rays and BoSox are both going to the post season, but I WANT the Rays to win the blasted division and take Sox nation down a peg.
I want the Brewers to get the WC spot so at least ONE of the Phils/Mets doesn’t make it into October, and they’re trying their best to blow it. My back-up hope (with distaste in my mouth for even thinking it) of the Astros taking WC if the Brewers fumble seems to be crapping out after getting one hit between two games the last couple days.
I hope good things happen to the Astros because they really got screwed this weekend. Making them play at a neutral site (which was not really neutral under the circumstances) in the midst of their families trying to get away from the hurricane is something only MLB would do. No way the NFL would do something this dumb and thoughtless. They basically gave these games to the Cubs. IMO, the no hitter is tainted by the circumstances. They should have played the games after the season if they were needed but that would necessitated inconveniencing the Cubs and god knows we don’t want to do that.
I’m here for the Mets bandwagon…am I too late?
There’s a Mets bandwagon? That’s just… sad… or something.
The Mets Bandwagon:
Writer at Rotoworld has Pat Burrell going to the Braves this offseason for 3 years and $40M. He also has Dunn signing a 1 year $18M deal.
Tex to the Yanks for 9 years and $200M.
I would sign Burrell to that deal without even thinking twice. The only real concern I have about Burrell is that he has old player’s skills and is likely to have a short career in consequence. However, he’s at his peak right now and should have at least two good years left.
I would be pretty surprised if the Angels let Tex slip away from them. They spent years looking for an elite hitter to pair with Vlad. K-Rod is gone though.
Yeah, I was thinking that Burrell deal would be worth it.
It would give us some options if Francoeur doesn’t recover or the minor league outfielders take longer to pan out.
Would you offer that projected contract (3 years for $40M) to Dunn?
Yes, but I think Burrell is a better fit.
We definitely seem to need a right-handed bat more.
I might think twice about it, but unless there’s a big trade in the works for Maggs, Burrell at that price wouldn’t cause me to lose too much sleep.
Since nobody took my projected line-up bait… what about a projected salary for guys currently on the team so we could then swap out and see who we could afford in theory? Anybody have that?
Re: Gag-o-rama
The fear is in the air here in Metland. Coughing up games to the Nats, just like last year.
Re: Burrell
Pat the Bat. Beats what we have now. We need middle-of-the-order boppers, pref. from the right side.
Re: Phillie Love?
I’m torn. I want the Braves to avoid 90 losses (certainly for no good reason), but I don’t want the Mets to make the post-season either. Am I rooting for the Phillies this week? Somehow that does not compute.
Anyway, auf wiedersehen…off to Berlin. Catch you next week.
And let’s go Desert Dogs.
Man reading the BP games to watch article about the A’s is just depressing. Devine is basically doing awesome and all we got for him was 4 months of Kotsay.
We also got a .900 OPS low A ball outfielder.
I’d snap Burrell up at that price. Leaves $25 million for the rotation.
We still have to think of this as a two-year rebuild. It would not be good to desparately enter into a bidding war when the Yanks have so much money coming off the books.
I would be happy with one SP and a right-handed power bat for LF, leaving some room for youth. If something else falls into our laps and we can become relevant faster, fine.
I would do it in a heartbeat. And then a few months worth of heartbeats later, I’d be looking to flip him.
Game thread is up.
ububba
i live in prague…you going to berlin? sweet… that’s my favorite city in the world. AWESOME food (vietnamese, eritrean, donner kababs, etc.) Kreuzberg is the best section.
enjoy the hefeweizen