Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks – Box Score – May 31, 2009 – ESPN
Jeff Francoeur sat, and the Braves scored nine runs. Funny how that happens. They opened it up with two runs in the first, with KJ and Escobar hitting back-to-back doubles and Chipper a single. Kris Medlen walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the inning and went to 3-2 on the next batter. But then the batter swung at ball four up around his eyes, McCann threw the runner out trying to steal for a double play, and Medlen settled down, allowing just one hit in the first five innings.
In the third, Chipper gave him some extra breathing room with a two-run homer. In the fourth, they broke it open, with Chipper singling home KJ for his fourth RBI of the day and ACHE finally hitting his first homer as a Brave, a three-run shot to make it 8-0. The next batter, Kotchman, was hit on the leg and had to leave the game; he will apparently be okay. There was, of course, no retaliation by the Braves. Yunel and KJ had another pair of doubles in the fifth to make it 9-0; they each had three doubles on the day.
They finally got to Medlen with three hits in the sixth, scoring a run. Bennett gave up a run in the seventh, Acosta one in the eighth, but Moylan managed to give up only a single in the ninth.
The Braves had fifteen hits, three apiece by the first three batters. McCann walked four times. Medlen had nine strikeouts and didn’t walk anyone after the leadoff man.
So what was the winning joke from last thread?
I’m gonna leave it open through Monday.
dumb question ..
if Frenchy gets traded, does ATL have to pay the entire $4M salary or does the remaining portion have to be paid by his new team?
I know if he’s released outright, ATL has to eat the $4M. I’m just hoping some of that RIDICULOUS contract get salvaged.
Way to go Medlen. I knew you had it in you.
I hope this doesn’t make him trade bait.
#3 The acquiring team would own Frenchy’s 1-year contract and have to pay him for his services. We might have to chip in for a realistic shot at moving him.
If we release him, well, a little help? I am not totally sure we owe him the full salary.
Travis Snider is the Jays’ top prospect. He made the bigs at age 21 and had a huge first month. Then he had a terrible second month. They sent him back to the minors. I don’t think this was such a bad thing.
If the Braves release him, they owe him the unpaid portion of his salary, which at this point in the season is probably about $2.5MM.
The Braves could probably force that onto a team who might want him, but they’d likely split it.
Some idiot on DOB’s blog suggested “Jeff to the Red Sox for Clay Buchholz would be a great deal.”
Some people have no concept of reality.
If another team signs a released player, the new team must pay at leastpro-rated major league minimum (somewhere around 400,000 for a whole season) which comes off what the releasing team would pay.
So, tomorrow is June 1.
Should the Braves go ahead and promote Hanson to the bullpen a la Joba Chamberlain (after 4 days of rest since Hanson started today), or should they let him keep starting at Gwinnett?
8 — Indeed, that would be a ridiculously great deal for the Braves. heh heh. And Theo would be fired.
#10, keep him starting, keep his stamina up.
Glavine will only last a couple of starts anyway.
Should Glavine start as left hand reliver?
Sorry if this was posted already, but its from MLBTraderumors.com
We’ll start with the White Sox, because there’s a lot there. The South-Siders acquired Ramon Castro this week, and subsequently DFA’ed Corky Miller. Almost as big of an impact as Jake Peavy, right? In all seriousness though, this is a nice pickup for the Sox, as it prevents them from having a black hole in their lineup every time A.J. Pierzynski sits. Miller was hitting just .205/.262/.282 and had scattered just five hits over his last 31 ABs with the Sox.
sdp – I heard from someone on the internet (so it must be true) that arb players (as opposed to free agent contracts) are not guaranteed the money for the full year.
As I recall, this was around the time of arb hearings and we may have been speculating about Frenchy winning his arb hearing and the Braves subsequently releasing him.
You may be right.
Arbitration contracts are not guaranteed if the player is released in spring training. Once the season starts, the team is on the hook.
Also, we avoided arbitration. Or am I mistaken?
@10 – I’m surprised this isn’t talked about more. I’d do it. If Glavine flames out, let Medlen start once or twice while Hanson stretches out with Gwinnett.
There doesn’t seem to be much of a downside to me. You limit his innings, “acquire” an effective reliever, get rid of Bennett (or DL Moylan) and you don’t really lose anything. And it gives him some ML experience on top of that. Seems like a win-win-win-win-win situation. As long as he can handle the transition to the pen…
#14, can Corky play right field? I’m sure his arm is good enough.
Interesting to see that Maybin, who basically has the same line as Schafer, has been sent to AAA and has been able to cut down on his strikeouts. I’d throw Blanco to the wolves and let him sink or swim, but hold the 8th spot until Schafer is ready.
“What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and diarrhea?” With diarrhea, you get runs.
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Planet Earth? One is mostly harmless and the other is mostly arm.
@14 – How long did it take us to demote Corky?
@17 – Thanks Mac. That would jive with the anonymous online expert. So, as someone already asked, were we on the hook in spring training since we avoided arbitration with a compromise contract?
What’s the difference between Jeff Francouer and Kevin Costner?
Kevin Costner is convincing as a baseball player.
Yeah – Two wins for the Commodores today. They get to play one more in Louisville.
#21 is my choice for a winner.
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Smirnoff Twist? Nothing–they’re both loved by women and don’t do shit.
Something I didn’t notice… Chipper passed Eddie Mathews on the Braves all-time list for times on base and for extra-base hits this month, and scored his 1400th run a week ago. He’s now five short of 1400 RBI.
Here’s my joke…
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and chemotherapy? They give me drugs to deal with the chemo nausea.
Well, I got a chance to see Friday and Saturday’s games in person, and the Bravos definitely looked like a .500 team that should be doing a hell of a lot better if the lineup would just hit. Couple of things that just blew my mind when seeing them in person:
1. Bobby’s bullpen management on Friday cost us a chance at winning the ballgame Saturday when he decided to both pull Bennett after the sixth inning with a five-run lead and had to burn O’Flaherty after trotting out Moylan, then decided to throw Soriano and Gonzalez. With Saturday’s lineup, Cox should have known that he wasn’t going to get a lot of runs, and that he would need Soriano and Gonzalez both for more than one inning. I was pissed when I saw him trot out Bennett at the bottom of the 11th — he was pretty much giving up at that point, because you knew Bennett was going to give up at least one hit.
2. Wow, Francoeur has no clue in the batters box. I thought he might do OK against Doug Davis b/c he’s a soft-tossing lefty, but he just looked lost. Glad they sat his ass today, hope the trend continues.
3. Kelly Johnson needs to take some extra fielding practice with Old Mother Hubbard, because there were three balls he should have gotten to on Friday night, that if it were a closer game, would have been costly.
Either way, it was great to see Medlen get a good start in — he was due, and I think he has the makeup to stick in the rotation (Glavine notwithstanding). Nothing like watching a fourth straight season of .500 ball from your favorite ballclub……will 81 wins take the NL east this year?
Re bullpen management–I was surprised to see neither Reyes nor Campillo today instead of Moylan and/or Bennett.
Reyes is on the DL.
Did you guys see the score in the FSU-OSU game? 37-6 FSU…
d’oh–but still surprised not to see Campillo–probably shouldn’t be since Cox probably mutters Bennett and Moylan in his sleep
How in the hell does that happen? How in the hell does a college team score 37 runs?! This isn’t Little League!
OSU lost to UGA the first game 24-8 too. What I wanna know is how a team can go from losing to UGA 24-8, 2 days later eliminating UGA 13-6, and then lose to FSU 37-6.
I saw that FSU-OSU score on the ESPN bottom line while at the gym. My audible expletives earned me some funny looks.
@35- FSU plays in a hitter’s park more extreme than Coors circa 1999. That and OSU sucks. 🙂
Nice win for the Braves….Medlen was great and, yes, it was wrong to write him off after two games. That said, his future trajectory will be an interesting one….
No pitcher should be judged based on just two games.
I don’t think we have seen the best of Yunel yet. Yes, he will make some stupid baserunning mistakes, but he is showing Andruw-like power which Frenchy SUPPOSED to have.
It says a lot about things that we are forced to look at Yunel as one of our power bats….
Who exactly “wrote Medlen off after 2 games”? His debut didn’t go so well, but neither did those of Glavine or Maddux. Nobody questioned his stuff. I’d really hate to see him go, even if he lands us an outfielder. He could be really good.
On releasing Frenchy: This will not solve the problem. As much as I hate to watch him, but you can’t replace a hole with a hole. Unless we can trade him and get something in return – even if it’s only money – we’re stuck with him.
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann? Walks, average, power, and the ability to steal bases.
#42–The last time that Medlen pitched there quite a number who argued that he should be immediately sent back to AAA….
I agree with you about Frenchy….
#42- Yes, there are some poeple aroud here who panic, but that is cool. Gives us something other than Jeffy to talk about.
JC, that was rather funny. Re: bullpen management discussion. Who is even in the bullpen anymore? Is Klinger still with us? I know the back end and the LOOGY have been constants, but as with any team, the front end of our bullpen has been rather unstable.
@47
If the pitchers at the front end of any bullpen were stable, they’d be at the back end.
47–Parr has gone back to AAA….He got roughed up in a game last week….
KJ so far this season
BA OBP SLG OPS
April/March .203 .295 .391 .686
May .297 .333 .495 .828
Consistently inconsistent.
GAnderson lately
May .286 .312 .369 .681 starting to suck a little less? Maybe?
Matt Diaz – warning small sample size
May .378 .439 .514 .953 – conversation: ‘Uh Mr. Lockhart, this is Matt Diaz current Atlanta Brave bench jockey. I was wondering if you had any copies of Ummmmmm those pictures, you know of Bobby and…..’
Jeff Francouer – very small sample size warning
April 19 ATL vs Pittsburg
.333 .347 .521 .868 2 for 5 2 runs scored 3 RBI for 5 RP. Using the Gadfly statistical projection method: the guys about to break out!
KJ is in one of his amazing streaks; Kelly has 10 extra base hits in his last 10 games (which is the same number of extra base hits a certain RF who shall remain nameless has ALL SEASON, in 50 games).
#43 – you can replace him with someone like Diaz and you’re instantly better
mlbtr: says an atl scout mentioned the idea that the Braves could trade Vasquez for a big bat. With Hanson, Morton, Huddy, and now Medlen apparently ready to contribute thats a good idea. Id rather trade Vasquez while his value is super high and get a good young bat in return, than trade one of our cost controlled players and still have to move Vasquez or another pitcher in the offseason. The idea of this rotation in 2010 gives me great joy
Huddy Lowe JJ Vasquez Hanson
Wouldn’t your 2010 rotation have to be
Hudson, Lowe, JJ, Hanson, (Medlen, KK, or Morton)?
Either way, I agree that I would rather trade Vasquez if we can legitimately get a good power bat out of it. That’s assuming we’re really not going to be able to win this year though. I guess it all depends where we are around July 31.
#52–That is a great rotation—but despite a great game last night Medlen remains unproven; the same holds for Morton. Still, at least as far as starting pitching is concerned, the future looks bright….
I’m a little uneasy about trading Vazquez. He’s been good to very good so far, and Hanson/Hudson are far from guarantees. I would only trade him if I knew we would be out of contention at the deadline. But it’s definitely a thought worth entertaining, even if I have no idea what we could get for him. I’d want more than Swisher. Do the Brewers have anybody? Can Gamel play RF?
Wouldn’t it be funny if we traded Javy back to the White Sox for Dye?
Of course Javy’s limited no trade clause might allow him to pull a Peavy / Oswalt.
The Sox would probably never take him back. There’s a real hate/hate relationship between Javy and Ozzie.
What’s the difference between Jeffy and a box of chocolates? With Jeffy, you ALWAYS know what you are going to get: a 1st pitch out.
@ 57…yeah probably right there.
Just funny that the Sox are looking for a top flight starter, and they just traded JV away.
JV’s value is likely as high as it will be during his potential two years here. If we intend to trade him, now is the time to do it.
I’m really not sure why people are so keen to trade Vazquez. You’d probably get better value for Medlen/Morton than Vazquez. I’d rather hold the stud pitcher and either get some compensation picks or retain him on an arbitration-level contract while keeping the younger guys around for depth. KK is the issue, I suppose. If he becomes a legitimate 3/4 type pitcher (which is basically what he’s been since April, maybe a little better, actually), you actually do have an issue. Still, with Hudson returning from TJ and Hanson not necessarily ready to pitch 200 innings, starting pitching depth will still be quite useful next year.
@60…
One reason: $.
I don’t know that I would seek to trade him for a specific return, but I would definitely encourage offers just to see who is really available. Morton for Willingham makes a ton of sense though, as someone else posted, assuming Frenchy would accept a AAA demotion to try and get some value back, to us or someone else.
I don’t agree that you would get more value for Medlin/Morton than Vasquez. I think most teams will be very cautious of an unproven starter – especially teams that are wanting to win right now. I still would prefer trading Medlin or Morton to trading Vasquez, but if we could trade Vasquez and get a big time bat with a few years remaining on his contract, I would say go for it.
Morton for Willingham makes a ton of sense though
Am I overvaluing Morton or undervaluing Willingham? I wouldn’t be willing to give up Hanson (duh), Medlen, or Morton for Willingham. Reyes for Willingham makes a lot more sense to me.
If the Braves were willing to trade a Vazquez, wouldn’t they have called up Hanson already?
The Braves aren’t going to trade Javier Vasquez. At least not now. Until a real bat shows up on the market it would be nuts to give him away for something like Dye. If we collapse in the next 6 weeks then we deal him for prospects. If we stay close he is part of the core of a post season run this season.
I think Bobby is too in love with Vazquez and has been for years. He is the one who has the pictures. If he starts to suck, he will keep going out there.
However, I like the idea of moving Vazquez and Morton for a big bat.
FO is too cheap to call him up yet and where do you put him now. They made a big mistake in letting Glavine rehab this far. Should’ve shut him down after his 1st shoulder problem. Now you really have this log jam of people who deserve a shot.
Hanson, Medlen, Morton, and Glavine. That really doesnt mention Campillo and he was our 2nd best SP last year
They have to do something because Hanson is about as ready as a prospect can be, Medlen sure looked great yesterday, Huddy will be ready around Aug if there are no setbacks.
Id try and move Vasquez or Lowe, either one and somehow get someone to take on Kawakami’s deal. Even if we pay some of it
Stu, you’re overvaluing Morton. Willingham would significantly improve our lineup. The difference between him and Frenchy is immense, and would be more than worth a guy who is 8th or 9th on the rotation depth chart. Morton has been very good in AAA, but he didn’t have any composure in Atlanta. At least Medlen looked settled by his third start. It took Morton a lot longer than that, and even then…
edit: Surely not even the Nats would be dumb enough to take Reyes for him. Besides, they already have a Reyes, his name is Matt Chico. Practically the same pitcher, right down to the weird double chin.
Am I overvaluing Morton or undervaluing Willingham?
Depends on how much you buy into his AAA numbers as predictors of his ML talent level. I am not quite sold on him yet. But yeah, if they would take Reyes I would be all for that too.
Willingham’s 2009 OPS+: 138
Francoeur’s 2009 OPS+: 61
🙁
Morton has been very good in AAA, but he didn’t have any composure in Atlanta.
He was also injured in Atlanta. I’m aware that Willingham is significantly better than Francoeur, but who isn’t? I just don’t know that he’s good enough to warrant trading (what I deem) a legitimately valuable young starting pitcher.
For the record, I still think Reyes can be a solid pitcher; I don’t think it will ever happen in Atlanta, though.
I know some of these are untouchables, but just for info sake…
Possibly Offensively Passable Outfielders on teams whose seasons appear to be largely sunk already (not saying anything about cost, availability, desirability, rank, etc. Just that the team is at or near the bottom of their division and these guys appear to have passable offensive ability):
Brad Hawpe
Nick Markakis
Adam Jones
Nolan Reimold
Shin-Soo Choo
Matt Holliday
Josh Willingham
Adam Dunn
Nate McLouth
Eric Hinske
Carlos Lee
Hunter Pence
Gerardo Parra
Justin Upton
Now, to winnow it down to see which ones are
A) obviously not available
B) obviously not desirable
And then see if any of those match up with JV (or minors pitcher) trade possibility.
@70 – I don’t think you have to look at his AAA numbers to guage his talent. The guy probably has better “stuff” than anyone on our staff (even Hanson). Not saying he will ever live up to that talent – I sometimes think he just doesn’t get how to pitch (he just throws).
73—If we trade Vazquez, it will be to a win-now team, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense to look at the teams with already-sunk seasons as far as he’s concerned.
As for that list, I imagine Markakis and Upton are rather untouchable. Like, I think it would take Hanson + significant other pieces to even start the discussion.
Trade Lowe? Come on. We do not want a rotation of all young guys. Not now at least. I have a feeling that would turn out pretty disastrously. You really have to use some of the young pitchers as trade chips. I realize some of you just never want to give away a young player, but that’s really gonna be the way to get a bat here. Vazquez isn’t gonna be traded, and Lowe is especially not gonna be traded. Morton and Medlen are some of our best trading chips, especially since there’s not a rotation spot for both of them, perhaps either of them in the next three years. It is not a bad thing that all these people are coming up at the same time. It gives us the opportunity to trade some of them. But you have to trade some of them. Gutting your pitching staff just after you built it because you don’t have the stomach to trade any young players is non-sensical.
I know I pooped on the idea at first, but Hawpe really might make some sense, given his pretty decent contract. Would Prado+Medlen be a good starting point?
Would you really want to trade Prado and leave three infield positions backed up by Diory Hernandez, and first base backed up by Norton?
[DELETED]
76—To clarify, I’m not against trading Morton; I would just expect to get more than Willingham for him. I agree that we desparately need to trade some of this surplus for a hitter or two.
Mac,
Yeah, if it meant getting Hawpe. Infante will be back soon enough. Plus, we could trade Francoeur to the Royals for Callaspo.
Would Medlen do OK in Coors Field? That’s probably a factor, given that his curve ball is one of his go-to pitches.
And we could have the other team kick in a utility infielder, I’m sure. They’re not that hard to come by. I think Prado would be an excellent trading chip. He looks like he might be able to start, but it’s hard to see how he’s ever gonna get that chance here. I’m sure there’s somebody who would love to give him a chance to start.
‘Course, the Rockies already have Ian Stewart, a 3B/2B young guy for whom they have trouble finding playing time (and who’s always been considered a legit prospect, unlike Prado). Probably not a great fit.
Prado and Medlen for Hawpe. Sure. Like the Rocks are going to do that deal.
I know he has an extreme home/road split but the Rocks would want way more than that for their best hitter.
#79 – funny, very funny
I do agree that we have created a bit of a mess with this logjam for the fifth starter spot, at least where Glavine and Hanson are concerned (I would trade Medlen and Morton anyway, so the fact that they’re blocked doesn’t really bother me). Hanson is most definitely ready to come up to the majors, and now would ordinarily be an excellent time to call him up. But we really can’t because we have Glavine trying to fool himself into thinking he can still pitch consistently, and we can’t just drop him after he’s done all this work and is finally ready to come back. And I really don’t think Hanson in the bullpen is all that great of a solution either. He’s going to be a starter, so why risk messing with his head that way? I think we have to leave him in Gwinnett now until Glavine falls by the wayside. At least now we can call him up for a spot start without worrying about that arbitration clock thing.
@79,
Kevin,
That’s more than a little offensive.
83—You may be right, but (a) I said “starting point,” and (b) they didn’t get a whole lot for Holliday. Hawpe’s contract situation is vastly different than Holliday’s was, of course.
86 right now its a sellers market. best we can hope for in the near term is:
a. Medlen not pitching his value down.
b. Hanson and Morton contiuing to build their value at Gwinnet
c. The Braves not to crumble and be out of it by the time the market is more favorable for buyers.
d. Bobby to play Diaz over Stenhy…. see above.
e. If a trade happens now its Reyes for DeRosa or something along that line.
f. for Wren NOT to get desperate and do something dumb like anything good for Jermainde Dye.
Vasquez or Lowe will need to get moved either now or this offseason anyways. Im guessing Vasquez just because of the deal Lowe signed and Vasquez wouldnt be that big of a commitment to the other team. Vasquez could be moved to a contender right now, but it would bring back prospects and probably not a big proven bat. One of them needs to be moved though, or Kawakami which Im guessing couldnt happen, to give us some room to resign Huddy/Gonzo/or Soriano. Huddy could wait until after the 2010 season I guess, but I dont want to lose both of those guys in the back of the pen.
Stu,
Welcome to the Hawpe wagon, what can I get you to drink?
A Coors, I suppose.
Is it for sure that the Braves are going to exercise Hudson’s option?
Why does Vasquez or Lowe NEED to be traded? That much faith that Hudson recovers, Hanson isn’t Morton/Davies/Reyes/James all over again?
The most marketable trade chips are Hanson, Morton, Medlen right? Young pitching under club control.
yep, what most people are thinking
‘[Tom] Glavine is ready for a return to the big leagues, but at what cost to the Braves? He’s a surefire Hall of Famer who absolutely deserves respect, but at this point, he’s no more than a No. 4 or 5 starter. Tommy Hanson is much, much more than that, and adding Glavine to the rotation delays Hanson’s arrival that much longer. It’s a tough position for Atlanta, where wins might go head-to-head with public relations.”
so by adding Glavine we are:
1. costing ourselves an extra $1 mil
2. delaying Hanson and Medlen who are both better options
3. putting a health risk on the mound
just so we can make sure its a good story. Keeping the old people happy is definitely better than trying to win and develop our players and keeping our cost down
Well, we are asking him to pitch as a #5 starter. I’d rather have him with an irregular rotation than Hanson.
Also, if this offseason the Braves are choosing between Vazquez or Hudson, I’d rather them choose Vazquez (barring injury) since Hudson’s coming off a major surgery. What can we expect from Hudson in 2010?
the problem seems to be this. We have pitching surplus. If we trade our young guys its to a team thats selling off and we’d get a half year rental for them. (I would trade Reyes for Derosa in a minute though) Or we could trade a higher priced starter like Vasquez to free up a spot and free up some cash for some young cost controlled bat, just wouldnt be a big bat like a Holliday or a Bay or something like that.
dream scenario, trade kawakami for a young prospect or an old player in his FA year. Just get rid of that contract
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Forrest Gump? Nothing, Jeffy’s mom would do ANYTHING to make sure he stays in the lineup over a few little OPS points.
Forrest Gump actually was successful.
a #5 starter doesnt have to have his starts skipped. Id rather our team put the players on the field who give us the best chance to win everyday. Hanson could be the #4 starter also, who knows? Theres no logical reason to call up Glavine when there are better options for our team
I keep hopping online hoping to see if the Braves have done something with Jeff Francoeur’s sorry ass, but alas…
I think we talk Texas into a straight up Andruw for Frenchy trade and be done with it… they OWE us.
Edit: (that’s to handle the Frenchy situation and be done with it, not to be done with our outfield situation in general)
I don’t disagree with you, csg, but as you know pitching really isn’t the problem with this team. It’s possible Glavine might not suck. But if we can’t score any runs it won’t matter.
What’s the difference between Kevin’s joke @79 and Jeff Francouer? The joke has more than a little offense to it.
I am surprised that people here would ignore a comment (79) that is both anti-semitic and misogynistic. I am giving Kevin the benefit of the doubt that he did not mean or understand the implications, but I am sure people would not ignore a similar comment about African-Americans. And, please don’t say it’s just a matter of political correctness.
I’m not overly sensitive about things like this, but that comment was blatently offensive and I’m sort of shocked that no one but me has noted it. I guess the Braves playoff prospects are more important.
I didn’t feel that it was worth giving it any attention.
I deleted the joke. Ethnic jokes are not allowed.
#79
Kevin, I’m also extremely offended.
Mac in the past has generally frowned upon people making offensive remarks about other ethnicities.
Marc,
I hadn’t been on Bravesjournal in weeks because I am packing up my house and about to move 3,000 miles. Mac just brought this up to me – had I been on, I would have said something.
And yes, definitely a double standard when it comes to anti semitic remarks. Had that been made about another ethnicity, more than you and I would have been offended apparently.
Shameful.
I still think if you’re going to trade a pitcher, Hanson is the one to trade. His value is sky-high and how many “can’t miss, sure-thing Ace”s end up missing? This guy could end up being the next Bruce Chen. Or Ryan Anderson. Or Mark “perfect machanics” Prior.
If we could get an established, cost-controlled outfielder that actually HITS for Tommy Hanson, I say you make the deal.
Marc,
Speaking only for myself, we’re asked not to discuss religion or politics on here, so I try not to. My silence after political/regligious comments should never be confused with my condoning said comments.
If Mac finds it inappropriate, I’m sure he’ll take care of it. I’m sure he has taken or will take note of your complaint. I’m sure he would have taken note of the comment and responded if you’d never said anything.
FWIW, based on his history here, I suspect you’re right that Kevin didn’t mean/understand the implications of what he said.
The only way I can see to deal with Glavine (other than just not using him) that could be beneficial to our club is to have him come back as a reliever (ala Maddux post-season last year). Then our 5th spot wouldn’t be blocked and we might get some more left-handed help out of the pen. Just something to think about.
Only thing that could bite us on that is that Glavine is notorious for being a slow starter (that pesky first inning bites him alot).
I really really hope that Glavine retires.
Sounds like Gregor Blanco is a little unhappy with his situation after all of Schafer’s suckitude. His personal Facebook status reads, “Dios y mi madre estan conmigo gracias,” meaning, “God and my mother are with me, thanks.”
A person commented, “Claro que si se que no es facil pero a veces se necesita orar y tener paciencia.” Roughly translated by me to mean, “Of course it is not easy but sometimes it’s necessary to pray and have patience.”
Someone wrote, “Schaffer no tiene chance,” meaning, “Schafer doesn’t have a chance.”
lol
Okay, I’m sorry. Won’t happen again.
Blanco’s OBP is up to .335. I say if he gets it to .350 he gets the call.
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Cavs’ coach Mike Brown? For some odd reason both are known for their defense and have no clue when it comes to offense.
112—Amen.
I think that Blanco will get the call. He has played better in the last two weeks and the Braves will have given Schafer two months (not that it is a critical number).
I don’t see the Braves trading Vazquez or Hanson, but Medlen, Morton, and Redmond are all fair game.
The Braves picked up Tony Armas Jr. as well–giving them even more depth from which to trade.
All of that said, the question for me is whether they would part with Rohrbough….
#103 – I didnt even know what he was referring to so I just stayed on course with the other conversations
I appreciate the comments. I certainly have never felt that people on this blog (unlike the AJC), including Kevin, are bigots. I also assumed that Mac would deal with it. But I felt that I could not let this go past. Several years ago, there was an incident at Syracuse University where female Jewish students went to a basketball game and were serenaded with “JAP, JAP.” I saw a similar comment on a blog sponsored by the American Bar Association and I responded to that as well.
Dang makes me feel bad about saying that Kevin’s joke was funny. But as an Asian American that grew up in the South I probably have way thicker skin than any of y’all.
Alex R. where are you moving to?
You know things are tough when an improved outfield looks like ACHE Blanco Diaz. Sheesh!
I wasnt one for calling up Blanco a month or even two weeks ago, but now Im more open to it. I think his first struggles were from not really getting the opportunity and being upset. Im also coming around on Anderson
Anderson/Blanco/Diaz would be terrible defensively, but at least we’d have a better chance scoring runs. It definitely wouldnt benefit Vasquez to have that outfield.
Agree, there is no place for those types of comments like Kevin’s, and Johnny, I think you would agree that having thick skin has nothing to do with whether it is appropriate by any means, which it is not.
per DOB
Astonishing Stat of the Day: Jeff Francoeur hit a home run on May 1, and Garret Anderson hit one on May 31. Can you guess how many homers were hit by Braves outfielders between those dates?
Zero.
The Braves had two outfield homers in the entire month, one apiece on the first and last days of the month.”
thats ridiculous…
I wanted to check also and see how many games Diaz played in May also, and he started in 9 of them. How about this
on may 1st Diaz had this line .218/.312/.382/.694
on May 31st .284/.366/.443/.810
when you have a player increasing his numbers like this, dont you have to play him more than say a player like Frenchy whose stats went in the oppo direction?
#108
While I agree Hanson’s value as a trade chip will never be higher, there just aren’t many OF’s out there that fit your description. Braun, Markakis, Kemp, J. Upton and Bruce. That’s about all I can come up with.
I think Blanco has a right to be a bit pissed. He had a solid but not spectacular season last year. It was mostly obp and might not have been sustainable. He’s also gotten off to a miserable start in the minors this year and is apparently weaker defensively than Schafer. But still it’s like he was written off before spring training.
Re inappropriate jokes–I echo Stu in saying that my silence on them should not be taken as a sign of approval.
edit–I also favored giving Schafer more time in the minors just for the experience.
Yeah, you would have thought Blanco would have at least gotten serious consideration with his solid 2008 as a role player.
I’m moving back to Austin, Texas and I leave on Wednesday.
The good news for me is I am taking an extended road trip and will be at the Braves-Brewers game this Friday night hanging out in the 755 Club.
Re: Glavine
I’m really trying to figure out how to feel about this. I love Glavine and of course it would be nice for him to have one last hurrah with ATL-but at this point it costs you $1 million just to call him up. And unless he gets injured or is completely ineffective, he gets $1.25 mill for being on the roster 30 days and another $1.25 mill at 60 days. It costs almost nothing at this point to go with Hanson who should be more effective.
I am totally against Hanson in the pen as I worry about messing with his development, but I also worry about leaving him in AAA when he is clearly overmatching everyone there. I am of the belief that with pitchers being so injury-proned, you should be getting Major-league innings out of young, healthy arms when it is clear they are ready.
What’s the difference between Francoeur and the Braves’ clubhouse vacuum cleaner?
Eventually somebody will pull the plug on the vacuum cleaner.
Nah, the vacuum cleaner just sucks, Francoeur sucks and blows.
bwarrend, your point is respectfuly well taken.
DOB is preparing the masses for the benching of Stenchy. Right?
I lived in DFW for a couple of years. Is Austin as cool a place to live as everyone told me?
Please god, no.
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/06/01/all-baseball-bradleys-buzz-will-dero-be-the-braves-hero/
I loved Austin enough when I lived there from 1997-2000 that I was able to convince my wife this was a great city to raise Jake R. in.
It’s rated in the top 2 or 3 cities every year to live in – the food and music scene are incredible.
DeRosa alone isn’t going to put us over the top, but he’s a hell of a lot better than our current jokes we’re running out there.
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and a pile of dung?
They both stink, but the pile of dung is useful fertilizer.
what is the difference between Jeff Francoeur and a bucket of crap?
the bucket
@136- booooo I said that one yesterday
Mac–please put an end to these groaners by declaring a winner soon. 🙂
What’s the difference between Frenchy and a $3 hooker. The hooker won’t cost you $4 million to suck.
I’m leaning towards 21.
Three SEC teams trying to reach the Super-Regionals tonight. Vandy, Ole Miss and South Carolina can join Arkansas, Florida and LSU in the field of 16.
Can’t believe Georgia lost to OSU right before OSU got decimated 37-6.
21 would be a fine choice.
twenty one is da best
screw all the rest
it made me laugh out loud
but the braves just dont make me proud
My winner is #4 from the last thread. For your convenience:
http://bravesjournal.us/?p=4346#comment-227278
What’s the difference between Frenchy’s BA and a Redneck Christmas Tree?
The Redneck Christmas Tree will still be up in early June.
I don’t see how putting Hanson in the bullpen would retard his development. Neyer and others have advocated having rookie pitchers start in the bullpen. I guess I’m not as confident as everyone else seems to be that he will come up and dominate right away. I would at least have him pitch out of the bullpen for a couple of weeks before giving him a start. Alternatively, give him a start and, if he struggles, move him to the bullpen for a while. I really think they need to be careful with him and, while it’s obvious he has done all he can in the minors, I am concerned about the expectations on his shoulders as soon as he comes up.
Groaner Dept.
What’s the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Henry Aaron?
Francoeur sucks.
Dentistry Dept.
Shane McGowan’s new look:
http://tinyurl.com/ncmgcn
I know you probably can’t choose your own, Mac, but it made me laugh out loud.
DeRosa’s a nice piece on a good team, but… yeah. He doesn’t exactly solve our power outage. Ain’t it a shame we don’t still have Russell Branyan?
DeRosa might be fun to write up, but that’s not a very good reason for me to want him. He would be leading the team in homers — with eight.
139 is my new leader
I’m generally very against bringing in former players, but at this point, I’m willing to latch onto anything semi-realistic. He won’t cost a lot and he’s a great deal better than anything we have now. Don’t see any reason not to try it. Also, I always seemed to like Mark DeRosa far more than anybody else. There were times (especially in that playoff debacle against the Giants) that there wasn’t another person on our team that I would rather have had at the plate than Mark DeRosa.
Also, I could see a situation in which we might trade Vazquez after the season, but there is absolutely ZERO chance that we trade Derek Lowe. Why would we even want to? Are you so in love with the idea of trading veteran players that immediately after we get one, you want to trade him? I also don’t think we let the option on Hudson go, either. He was so good last year before he went down that I think we have to see what he has next year after the injury. If that does mean having to trade Vazquez to find out about Hudson, I think you have to do it.
Depending on what we offer Cleveland, I’m not against re-acquiring DeRosa. I know it screams desperation, but he can play RF for us right now.
On trading Vazquez,
We don’t really need “prospects” for this year. And, the typical trade is “prospects” for “proven players” (because teams rarely seem to want to trade 2 proven players for each other or 2 prospects for each other).
And, I really don’t think the Braves would trade Vazquez. But, let’s think about what he “might” bring from the right source.
If you trade Vazquez as part of an effort to “be better now” (win now may be too ambitious), then you need to deal him to the AL. I see Angels and Rangers as needing pitching. They both have players to move. I see Royals or Twins needing pitching, but I don’t think they have a shot and I don’t think they have a “proven bat” like we might ordinarily expect or want back (somebody that truly amounts to an upgrade).
Also, if we can’t get that deal done now and have to wait until closer to the trade deadline, we really have to pretty much try anything at this point. Some mediocre-to-crappy OF gets DFAd and comes across the waiver wire? Grab him. If there’s some guy who’s already a free agent that we’re not thinking about right now either in the Mexican League or just sitting at home, try him out. At this point, we have to try something for the outfield if we can’t make a trade right now.
Mac, maybe over the top, but here it goes…
What the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Brett Myers?
Brett Myers can at least hit something.
Maybe a little over the top, yeah.
Sorry, I can’t make it work out on trading Vazquez (unless it is near the deadline and we aren’t near enough to “buy”).
What we reaally need is a trade of ML ready propsect pitching for comparable arb / FA hitting.
Like:
Jo Jo for Willingham.
Morton for Zobrist
Hanson for Braun (unlikely either way)
Medlen for Willingham.
I again repeat that I think all Rockies players should ONLY be valued by their road stats.
I again state that I do not think Hudson will be pitching for ATL next year except in the narrow circumstance that he pitches this year, fairly good, but not great, and the Braves give him some extension, but not too much, and he doesn’t want to risk the market. So, planning on moving Vazquez or Jurrjens leaves a big hole to compete in 2010.
Why don’t we sign or try to sign Edmonds? That is one guy that is out there that is a credible replacement for Frenchy that doesn’t cost any players.
Speculate guys. Is it he wants too much money? Braves think he is cooked (and I did until he surged with the Cubs last year). Personality clash with somebody.
What about Frenchy + Parr/Carlyle for Willingham? (I’m assuming they wouldn’t do a straight up trade for Frenchy because even the Nats aren’t that stupid).
Edit: I too wonder about Edmonds and a demotion/trade/dump of Frenchy.
By the way, Josh Hamilton is still nagging hurt. So, the Rangers aren’t going to move any ML ready outfielders unless that comes around.
I see only the Nats, Cards, and Yankees as surplus in outfielders right now.
I’d add the Indians to that list. Or at least once Sizemore gets healthy.
and we dont want Melky
I don’t remember seeing anyone on here state that Jurrjens should be traded, but I will say that anyone who thinks trading Jurrjens is a good idea needs to seek personal help as quickly as possible. And you’d better hope it’s not already too late!
In my opinion, there are exactly two untouchable players in this organization. (This is if I were the GM. In reality, Lowe and Chipper are also pretty much, if not entirely, untouchable.) They are Jair Jurrjens and Brian McCann. I’m not saying there is nothing in the baseball world that I would trade them for, but I am saying that there is nothing that anybody would ever realistically offer in a trade for them that I would ever bite on. And I mean ever. And yes, I’m aware that Jurrjens is Boras. And I really don’t give a crap. Seems to me we worked perfectly well with Boras just this offseason.
Nick, I pretty much agree with you.
Would you guys do Medlen for a DeRosa, I am nervous the Braves will.
I like Derosa, but I would rather see Medlen develop and become a keeper for us or get more than a Derosa.
If you can get a proven, young OF with similar contract status (maybe a year more service time than JJ), I say you do it. Carlos Quentin or someone like that perhaps. Jurrjens is solid, but his ERA is in no way sustainable, and his periferrals have slipped from last year. I like him a lot, but if you can get a middle-of-the-order bat for him without adding payroll, I say you do it.
DeRosa is basically a patch, and makes more sense for a different team — one with a hole at second or third. For the Braves, he would be a corner outfielder, especially when Infante gets back. I would not give up Medlen for him.
IMO, Medlen’s way too much for DeRosa.
I’d love to somehow package Jo Jo for something more than DeRosa, but I’d probably do that one straight-up. Dunno about Cleveland, though…
Whats the difference between Jeff Francoeur and Ugeth Urbina?
Unfortunately, we can’t imprison Francoeur for his deplorable hacking.
If I were to give up Jurrjens, I’d want a guy less injury prone than Quentin.
New poll.
I would like to get Dero back as well but not for Medlen. Too much of a market for Dero right now for us to steal him tho…
I just really could not disagree more, mraver. If we were gonna do something like that, we should have traded Hanson for a bat this offseason, frankly. Given how high he’s valued, I’m guessing we could’ve done better with him than with shopping around Jurrjens. And I would rather trade Hanson than Jurrjens. Like…much rather. I mean, you’re gonna take a legitimate No. 2 starter at his age and trade him? Not in a million years!
Medlen for DeRosa + his salary. Morton for Willingham + his salary. Locke, Jose Cabrera, and Paul Clemens for Hawpe + his salary. And we’ve got a good offense. Was it worth it?
Blanco has been hot, but not playing today. You think he’s traveling to ATL?
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2009_06_01_gwiaaa_syraaa_1
and Brandon Jones hasnt been playing at all. Whats his deal?
Maybe the Red Sox really would be interested in Francoeur. Sox advisor Bill James:
mets just blew a 5-3 lead in the 8th
I don’t see how Derek Lowe is untouchable…given his contract and his age…if the Braves continue to falter…let’s trade this guy.
pirates put up 5 in the 8th, 8-5 now
Go Bucs…and I thought we’ve been irrelevant for some time.
How would you like to be a Bucs fan?
No not Medlen for DeRosa. At the most Reyes. In the hardy har har category the Indians are said to be looking for ‘major league ready pitching’ for Mark. I like him but not that much.
I dunno Mac. I like what Infante gives the team but DeRosa has enough pop to hold down a corner outfield position. At least for the Braves he does. And with Chipper’s toe, KJ being KJ and Francouer being a gigantic sinkhole you cannot have enough versatility on this team.
181-
I’d trade Medlen for DeRo today. This hour.
DeRo is no hero…except unfortunately to us Braves fans…that have seen this ridiculous excuse for an outfield. He would make Frenchy look like Raffy Belliard in left…and that might be kind.
As usual, Baseball Tonight dedicating 2 hours to Yankees coverage.
Geez….I hate ESPN.
Now let’s turn it over to Peter Gammons….who thinks the Majors only involve two teams: Red Sox and the effin Yankees.
Here’s a big tip o’ the hat to my Clemson Tigers…who came back from behind to win their regional by defeating the Okie State boys.
On to the Super Regionals…
Hey, I go to Clemson. Go Tigers!
And I took a picture tonight for you guys:
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/6196/0601092145.jpg
Tiger – good young pitchers under contract control are one of the most valuable commodities in baseball. I like DeRosa and tnstaapp but Medlin is a young pitcher with a record of recent dominance in AAA. Hopefully worth more than a journeyman utility guy that had a career year last season.
@96 – Forrest Gump was good enough to play football for Alabama.
Medlen for DeRo is too much. The Cubs got 3 fringy minor league relievers for a full year of DeRo. Something like Marek and Reyes is the most I would do. Would love to get Choo though. Maybe Medlen, Frenchy and Kimbrell?
Keep Medlen, for now.
That said, the local Faux affiliate was pimping DeRo tonight. Sure seems like something is fixin’ to happen.
I vote Francoeur. Only have to put up with June for 30 days.
Tonight’s Met meltdown came courtesy of the quickly imploding J.J. Putz: 5 batters, 4 hits, 1 walk.
Working nights for two months now cause of our clients in Abu Dhabi/Dubai and their stupid time zone. Real world work/being the junior guy sucks.
I am going to turn into an insomniac and the Braves continuing their run of mediocrity is just going to make it worse.
Ethan–welcome to our time zone in the Arabian Gulf….it makes following the Braves challenging–but the way we have played lately means that the dangers of insomnia are vastly overrated….
It’s really narcolepsy that you have to worry about.
Just say No-to trading good prospects to DeRo…
I am afraid that the Braves may believe that they just need a ‘patch’ and pull the trigger on a bad deal….
Mississippi is in a 16 inning game with West. Tenn. and Gorkys is 3 for 7….
I’m worried about that too. The only guys I would give up Medlen/Morton for are impact guys who won’t be rentals.
The only exception might be Holliday. As long as Wren picks the Dan Meyer of the two to give to Billy Beane.
Mississippi won on a HBP (Conception Rodriguez) in 16 innings–pretty cool…
194 — Sometimes I think a few Braves have symptoms of narcolepsy. (ACHE?)
What might have been: some Ranger fans are already wondering whether Andrus will win a Gold Glove as a rookie:
http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090601&content_id=5091196&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex
Not too shabby–a cure for narcolepsy, perhaps….
Or…something to add to the depression over that trade.
As if we needed one…
Holliday would definitely be a different matter–but he would only be a season rental.
I don’t object to trading prospects–even good prospects–but then the returns really ought be something which helps the organiation build….
Everyone ready for the twice annual bean ball wars with the Cubs?
Tonight is our chance to land the first blow as tomorrow we get Ted “It just slipped out of my hand – for the 3rd time in 3 starts against the Braves” Lilly.
Maybe the bean ball wars can wake up out bats….I see that our old friend Jose Ascanio will be coming to town….
Well, obviously IF they’re going to bean somebody we want them to bean Frenchy, Diory, Schaefer, or Ganderson, cause at least they’d be on base then.
IM just glad I cant see 4 of the next 5 games because of the ridiculous peachtree tv idea. Im 2hrs away and cant see the game
Going to see Andruw & Andrus tonight in The Bronx.
#207–Sounds good: but when you throw in Millwood and Salty, seeing the Rangers must bring back some memories…
Of course, Burnett’s pitching for the Pinstripers, so I’ll get so see what we’re “missing” on that end.
Just my luck, though, that Texas is starting Vicente Padilla, who apparently is some distant cousin of Steve “Throw the Ball, Already!” Trachsel. This could be a long one.
I voted for Francouer being worse than June because June is my birthday. However, considering that the Braves play the Cubs, Brewers, Red Sox twice, and Yankees, this June might be very unpleasant.
On the other hand, according to the Braves site, the Braves like where they stand and see plenty of reasons for optimism. Well, yes, the earth isn’t likely to open up and swallow Turner Field. Other than that, I don’t see much reason for optimism.
I hope Lilly drills Yunel in the back. That would be fun to watch.
#206 – One of the games (I think tonight’s) is also on WGN. I feel your pain – I live in Chattanooga and have DISH, so I have to miss all of the Peachtree games. It does seem that Peachtree has more early season games this year so we can see more of the Aug/Sep games. Hope the games still matter by then.
The Rangers have replaced the Dodgers as “Braves West”
Dusty,
Living in Cleveland (TN), I was going to get Dish, but I would miss those games, so I stayed with cable.
csg, Have you tried an OTA HD tuner and a decent HD antenna? My DirecTV box has a built in OTA HD tuner and I get several stations which are more than 2 hours away. If you get a good antenna you might be able to pull in PeachTV just OTA.
Forgive my techinical ignorance but won’t the Digital conversion wipe out the antenna signals?
Also, I’d really encourage everyone to take a few minutes and vote for McCann and Chipper. They are both currently fourth in the ASG voting behind the likes of Bill Hall and Jason Kendall. I know the ASG voting is a joke and hopefully this 10-game homestand will help, but it only took me about 20 minutes to vote 100 times using my 4 E-Mails. Here’s the link: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2009/ballot_reg.html
The new Dave Mathews’ album is out. Is is actually pretty good. You can listen free at Pandora
http://pandora.com/davematthewsband
I am just glad he did something new, the live albums were killing me.
209 — ububba, as you seem to indicate, I too am glad we “missed” on Burnett. What an expensive mistake that could have turned into. Granted, we don’t know what the next few years hold in store with Lowe. My guess is that they’ll be more stable than with Burnett, though.
How about trading Schafer for a bat? We have essentially the same player (arguably better) in Gorkys Hernandez so it’s not much of a loss to the organization especially considering how little Jordan has done in Atlanta this year. He is looking a lot to me like the next Andy Marte (or Ryan Langerhans?). Better to sell high on him than wait a few more years like we have with Francoeur and be stuck with a bad player and contract.
176 — James’ take is curious. I don’t really think the Braves can afford the dollar amounts to wait that long to find out what will happen. And I’m pretty sure they can’t afford the cost in present terrible production to wait long enough to find out what will happen. If this experiment were occurring in AAA, then that would be fine. The Braves can’t pay a minor leaguer that kind of cash, though. Maybe the Sox could…
Yes, obviously it’s time to give up on the prospect whom most experts thought was rushed because he’s gotten off to a bad start. Then in ten years we can re-acquire him for another prospect.
hap and csg,
Peachtree broadcasts on UHF on the “old Channel 17”. I don’t know how far that signal will carry in digital (may be farther) but I used to be able to pick it up in Athens 65 miles away on rabbit ears. My guess is that you will need a pretty good outside antenna out of the “shadow” of a mountain if you try to get the “over the air” signal.
As I understand it, the digital signal doesn’t travel as far (or at the least it doesn’t degrade as gracefully at distance as the analog does).
Peachtree TV does indeed broadcast the analog signal on “old channel 17” but it also broadcasts a digital signal which can be received “over the air” (OTA) just like all TV was before satellite and cable came along. I have DirecTV service but I also have an HD digital antenna on my roof (which looks much like the old normal analog antennas looked). On my DirecTV tuner which has a built in OTA tuner I get most of the local channels in Atlanta listed twice: once from the satellite feed and once from the digital OTA signal. This actually works kind of nice because sometimes if there is a bad storm and I lose satellite I still get the OTA signal. I refer you to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPCH-TV for all the info you could want about the various ways PeachTV is broadcast. I promise there is a digital signal which can be received without any subscription, satellite or cable…. as long as your antenna and tuner can pick up the signal.
221 — Mac, at first I thought you were just being sarcastic. But I’m now guessing you were responding to 219, right?
#214 – I think everyone with Direct TV gets Peachtree on 651. Ive got Dish Network and they dont offer it. If any games are on WGN, which I didnt think about, Ill be able to see them. Seriously thinking about switching providers now though
Is the contest over? I gotta say, I was pretty proud of “What’s the difference between Jeff Francouer and Kevin Costner? Kevin Costner is convincing as a baseball player.”
re selling high on Schafer–we’re about two months too late for that even if he’ll be ok long term
re the poll–that’s Francoeur hands down–365 days (366 in leap years!) of suckitude is much worse than 30
OK, here’s a late entry:
What’s the difference between Frenchy and Jack Dawson?
Jack could indeed hit water if he fell out of a boat.
I still like JC’s the best.
@229: So wait? Jewish American Princess jokes of poor taste get deleted, but references to Titanic are okay?
Jason C, representatives will be coming shortly to confiscate your man-card.
@226: Today’s game appears to be the only one on WGN… Superstation my ass!
@217… I actually love that new album, Smitty… Sounds more like “Under the table” than the recent stuff. Some fantastic songs in there (Dive in, Spaceman). Enjoy!
Gad, hey I needed to come up with the name of somebody who fell off a boat really quick and it’s the best I could do. And FWIW, I had to look up DiCaprio’s character’s name…
Besides, I’m married with a kid, so my man-card is useless anyway.
#221, there’s rushed and then there’s just plain sucks. I’m not seeing that a year in Gwinnett would have helped Schafer with his inability to make contact on pitches in the strike zone. Given what I’ve seen of him so far, trading him in a package for somebody like Brad Hawpe and making the playoffs this year but having Schafer turn into a good player 2 or 3 years from now is a tradeoff I’d take just like I was happy to trade Salty for Tex.
Gadfly,
You really are an idiot, aren’t you? Or simply an asshole. I can’t believe you really can’t tell the difference between a slur on a group (Jewish females) and a reference to an accident that happened almost 100 years ago.
Why don’t you stick your head up your ass where it belongs?
According to Peanut, the Braves plan to waste their #7 pick on another high school pitcher from Georgia. They also plan to ignore our organization being low on position prospects as they pick a lot of high school pitchers.
They never learn, do they?
Waste? Wheeler would be a good pick. This draft is very weak on position players.
#236
Well other than Tate or Ackley and maybe Grant Green, (all of whom probably won’t last till #7) there aren’t many high-end position players in the draft.
Tate may fall but most say we won’t go over slot to sign him although I think we should.
Consensus is that this is a weak draft so I guess we could pull a Nationals and draft Tate and play hardball in negotiations. Then if he doesn’t go for it we get two #1’s next year.
Wheeler has been projected as high as #2 on some boards. There is a very good chance he won’t be available at 7.
I’d rather have another high school pitcher than Tate. I don’t like the comparisons to Stenchy.
When was the last time we had a high school pitcher draftee be a valuable starter for the Braves? Kevin Millwood?
@236 – They never learn do they
Really? I’d say there isn’t much for them to learn. Last I checked we traded 5 of our top prospects to the Rangers just a couple years back, and yet we still have one of the top 5 farm systems in the majors (as far as minor league talent). You’ve got to be kidding me right?
The only pitcher that we traded in that deal who was drafted was Harrison. Well, Beau Jones, too, but he’s not much of a prospect.
Feliz and Andrus were free agents. Salty is a position player. My point stands that our insistance on drafting high school pitchers is dumb.
What insistence? The last high school pitcher we took in the first round, IIRC, was Wainwright, and he’s pretty good. We take some high schoolers every year, sure, but as noted in the Bowman article from which you’re drawing, 8 of the 11 pitchers we signed last year were from college.
EDIT: McBride was the most recent, actually. Still, my point stands.
Marc,
Giving perhaps too much benefit, I believe it was a jab at humor, but I feel you, fr’sure.
Tough news for X singer Exene Cervenka:
http://tinyurl.com/pv7o5g
And some peak-era X:
http://tinyurl.com/ol3wtv
My only point was that of all the things to point to as faults in this organization, scouting and development would be at the very bottom.
Oh, and Frenchy would be at the very top.
I think I would rather see Clark and Co. take Miller or Matzek over Wheeler, but taking a pitcher is definitely the way to go this year.
Schafer sent down and Blanco starting and hitting 8th tonight per Carroll.
Lineup:
Johnson 2B
Escobar SS
Jones 3B
McCann C
Anderson LF
Prado 1B
Francoeur RF
Blanco CF
Kawakami P
Matzek will likely be gone before Wheeler and before the Braves have a chance.
246—Good move. I just hope Schafer can get over his struggles and develop like we’d hoped.
247—Kotchman must still be hurting. Not good.
Supposedly Kotchman will miss 3-5 games due to the contusion on his leg.
Game thread is up, FWIW.
I like the move to send Schafer back down so he can work on his swing in a less stressful environment.
248 – I have read that Matzek is seeking above slot so maybe he will fall to #7, but I am sure someone will likely meet his contract demands before the seventh selection. Stu, from what you have read has Matzek consistently been the top rated highschool pitcher? That’s what it has seemed like from my internet research.
Yeah, generally speaking, that’s fair. Matzek, Wheeler, Purke, and Miller—those are the guys in the discussion. Maztek seems to be mentioned more than the others, though.
FWIW, Keith Law said a while ago that the Braves like Matzek more than Wheeler, too, so if both are on the board, we might not go with the GA kid. Really don’t think both will be on the board, though—I’m hoping for one of them.
Law seems to like Miller a good deal as well, but he says he is most likely going to go to Texas at #14, so I am not sure why a lot of other teams aren’t interested, unless it his size projection. I don’t think you can go wrong with either of three, but certainly Wheeler would be a good selection.
Miller is 6-3 195 so it is probably not the size projection.
@235: Thanks for the personal attack Marc. I did have respect for you, and I guess I’ll try to cut you some slack since you’re obviously emotionally attached to the situation.
I’d hope you could detect sarcasm better in the future though. I’ve got no problem with the censoring of the joke, which as I said was in poor taste, but I was actually just poking fun at Jason C’s Titanic reference by comparing it to another comment that had no place here… FWIW, I am of Jewish descent, and I have met more than one person who happily embraces the label you find so offensive. One of the things I respect most about my heritage is the ability to laugh at ourselves even in the roughest of times.
I should point out an error in your comment though. The accident that Jason referenced did not happen “100 years ago,” it is only 12 years old, and the wound is still fresh in the hearts of many American men who had to sit through that crappy excuse of a film.
@233: Okay, I’m very glad to hear you had to check up the character’s name. I can’t come up with any better references off-hand, so I’ll remove the hold on your man-card.