Tommy Boggs Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com
Seasons with Braves: 1978-1983
Notable Stats: 19-34, 90 ERA+
Notable Achievements: Second pick in 1974 draft, by the Rangers. Lonnie Smith was third, Dale Murphy fifth.
Versus
Jo-Jo Reyes Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com
Seasons with Braves: 2007-2009
Notable Stats: 6.09 ERA, 1.63 WHIP
Notable Achievements: Middle name is “Albert”.
Steve Phillips Suspended After Affair With ESPN Employee – Steve Phillips – Deadspin
Mac, I think under Boggs’ listing the draft year should be 1974, not 1984. Although Boggs DID pitch like Big Brother was watching him.
If we trade Jair, Chipper and Tommy Hanson to the Vikings for Adrian Peterson we would have the best running game in baseball.
@1, The link within has some of the meanest, funniest stuff I’ve read in some time.
http://theproducers.weei.com/sports/boston/dennis-and-callahan/will-people-ever-learn/
“THAT’S WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU TRADE SCOTT KAZMIR FOR VICTOR ZAMBRANO, HE GLADLY TRADED HIS FAMILY FOR WHAT LOOKS LIKE VICTOR ZAMBRANO IN DRAG.”
well, Steve Phillips is getting what he deserves. Dont cheat on your wife
Reyes/Boggs was tough for me. I always thought that Boggs could be good. He just wasn’t! Although he had a nice year in 1980, he almost single-handed cost us the pennant in ’81. Reyes though, has just always failed at the big-league level. He’s had great stats in AAA, but looked horrible every time he gets to the majors. I’ll have to vote for JoJo.
BTW—-I can’t stand Phillips. I can’t believe a 22 year old would want him. Hopefully this gets him off Baseball Tonight. If so could she sleep with Eric Young and John Kruk too.
Comments are awesome, both in Deadspin and the WEEI link.
I can’t stand Phillips. I can’t believe a 22 year old would want him.
You really need to go to the WEEI link for the answer to this question, or as one person put it “Way to go Steve! Throwing it all away for a weather balloon!”
While Jo-Jo may be worse, he’s still relatively young. He’s got a shot at becoming a useful bullpen guy for a couple of years, maybe. Tommy Boggs was just one more in the seemingly never-ending string of mediocrities (or worse) that the late 70’s/early 80’s Braves ran out there.
It’s amazing to me, as bad as those teams were, that I became a fan at that point.
When I heard about the affair I was thinking like pretty much a 22 year old Erin Andrews or something, but damn. Not condoning this or anything, also not trying to be a douche, but Steve Phillips could have done better.
He never was the best evaluator of talent.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Jesus Haploid Christ, Steve Phillips!
Hate King,
you da man.
I have done some digging on right handed or switch hitting outfielders and first basemen. For the most part either they are young and exceptional and who would trade them (Braun) or they are a lot farther down the list than you might like (Konerko has an 800 career and last year OPS in a great hitters park. At that, why do you make a move? Ryan Church is career 800. Diaz is 830. Ross is 860 AGAINST LEFTHANDERS).
However, one name jumped out. Derrek Lee. He had a 950 or so ops last year. The Cubs have Jake Fox who really can’t play anywhere else, but probably is close to Lee in production potential. Lee started badly last year but finished in the stratosphere. he has 1 year left at about 12 million. Great fielder.
Either try: Derek for Derrek
Or: Vazquez for Derrek.
Cubs need starting pitching and would be willing to pay. They don’t have many decent young players / prospects to trade. Maybe they would consider it.
Derrek Lee would have to consider the deal. He has a no-trade clause.
Yeah, somebody sent a list of RH hitting options a few days back and Lee was the name that also jumped out at me.
I doubt the Cubs would do a Lowe/Lee swap. Javy? Perhaps. But I imagine if the Cubs are trading their cleanup hitter, they probably don’t want a one year rental.
I wonder if a package built around Medlin would do the trick? Or perhaps KK? Anyone want to run a rosterbation excercise on adding Mr. Lee?
@11 – Awesome! The reason why I read this blog. Still laughing.
Mrs. Phillips described as ‘stunning green eyed blonde’. WTF Steve Phillips? Laughing even harder now.
@18 and all
This dashes my hopes that Steve “Slumpbuster” Phillips would be hired by another Braves rival and lead them to ruin.
So, will he be on Larry King or Letterman tonight?
To paraphrase Robin Williams:
A man has only enough blood to operate one of them.
Phillips needs a massive infusion. The poor MF has gone blind.
Wow, Steve’s mistress is crazy
Well, as Forrest’s Mama used to say, ‘Stupid is as stupid does.’
QED – Steve Phillips = stupid.
1,
Why, oh why, couldn’t that happen during the regular season?
Hate King @11 – that is hi-lar-ious. She looks like all hit, no field. The only thing worse than getting caught in an affair is getting caught with a toad – AFFAIR FAIL.
@ 13, 17 and 24 – thank you. I rushed over here to post before someone dropped a similar line. Steve’s mistress…woof!
Whoa! She’s really ugly!
@24 reminds me of the line Leno used for the Clinton/Lewinsky affair.
‘all hit, no field’ – ribs hurting, colleagues peering over cube wall. Good stuff.
@25 – woof? how about mooooooooo
now i feel bad. after all she is someone’s daughter. but still…..
This one makes Monica look like Megan Fox.
Couldn’t have happened to a more pompous, no-nothing. With any luck, something similar will happen to Joe Morgan.
Maybe Joe Morgan will get caught having an affair with Jon Miller. Two birds, one stone.
Actually, Phillips’ mistress looks a little like Jon Miller. Has anyone ever seen them in the same room together?
Comment from that Weei link:
Now we know why he was fired as the Met’s GM…..He has a terrible eye for talent.
lolololol
Also from Weei:
“I was expecting a skank, nothing great here but she isn’t the last girl at the end of bar either, seen alot worse.”
Where the hell does that guy hang out?
Auburn.
ESPN has a chat with Matt Diaz. I didn’t get to finish it earlier.
34,
Haha.
Wow, I was also expecting a young Erin Andrews. I’m very disappointed in Steve Phillips’ judgment, both in cheating on his wife and the treatment he gave to his lower back.
It would have still been wrong, but I would have applauded Steve Phillips for some getting some afternoon delight from a young Erin Andrews. But, this… alcohol does some amazing things.
Holy moly, Steve buddy. She fits into the throw a flag over her face and do it for old glory category. But then again, if the girl can suck a golf ball through a garden hose……and I bet she does, after twelve beers I’d do her too.
Dude, no. She is bad even on the Georgia Tech 20 point scale.
I would probably feel bad about saying this stuff if it weren’t for the fact that she seems to be a freaking psycho.
What’s the “Georgia Tech 20 point scale”? Never heard of it.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=2203883636&v=info&ref=ts
Funny. I’ve never heard anyone mention it, though. Most of my people are advocates of adjectives rather than numerical ratings, despite our mathematical orientation.
Y’all are being unnecessarily mean in this thread. That guy Steve Phillips was shagging looks perfectly normal to me.
Looks like Phillies are back to the world series. I can foresee Lidge blowing a save…too bad Leyritz is no longer around for the Yankees!
lololol @ 26
Phillies vs. Yankees in two homer happy ballparks. It’s obvious to say the team that pitches the best will win. My money is on the Phillies repeating in seven.
@48 My money is on the Yankees…unwillingly so…
Something to think about:
Left handed batters hit .198 with 3 HR’s off C.C.Sabathia all season long.
A.J Burnett was pretty good to. Lefty’s hit just .217 off him but he did give up 11 HR’s against left handed hitters.
The Phillies from the left side: 145 HR’s with a BA of .262
Great pitching beats great hitting six days a week and twice on Sunday. That’s not to say the Phillies aren’t capable of shutting the Yankees bats down too, but it will be an interesting World Series as I think the two best teams from each league are going head to head.
@49 I still don’t think the Phillies are the best NL team, but they have proved it by winning the NLCS.
I’ll go Yankees in 5. Sabathia takes game 1. Burnett lays an egg in game 2. Pettitte shuts down the Phillies in game 3. Sabathia takes game 4. The Phillies give up after that.
I’ll have to take exception to the Phillies being called the best team based solely on winning the NLCS.
They led the NL in HR’s, RBI, runs scored, slugging, total bases and were second in stolen bases. They’re defense was ranked third best, and they had the second most wins with the sixth best team ERA. If anybody can find another team with better overall numbers, I’d like to see them.
52,
Playing devil’s advocate, the Phillies benefited from a high strand rate and they were only 6th in the league in defensive efficiency. Though I agree, they’re the best team in the NL. I don’t think it’s particularly close, either. Here’s how I’d rank the teams at the end of the year:
1. Phillies
2. Cardinals
3. Rockies
4. Braves
5. Dodgers
6. Cubs
7. Marlins
8. Giants
9. Brewers
Nothing noteworthy after that (Mets, Nats, D-Backs, Padres, Reds, Astros, Pirates)
So far the Phillies are 7-2 in the 2009 playoffs, which is the same identical record they had last season in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Although I don’t think they’re gonna go 4-1 against the Yankees like they did last year facing the Tampa Rays.
from jeff schultz:
“This will be an interesting offseason for Braves general manager Frank Wren. He wants to re-sign pitcher Tim Hudson. But doesn’t know if he can. He wants to trade Derek Lowe or Kenshin Kawakami for a bat. But he doesn’t know if he can, and he has to see how things develop with Hudson first. He wants to re-sign LaRoche. But doesn’t know if he can, and if he can sign Hudson and trade Lowe or Kawakami for a bat then maybe keeping LaRoche becomes less crucial for the everyday lineup.”
is this pure speculation, or does wren really want to re-sign laroche and trade kawakami or lowe? i mean, we’ve already heard the lowe thing, but the rest of this is new stuff.
Well, the best case scenario is:
Re-sign Hudson
Trade Lowe in a salary dump for relief pitching
Sign Holliday to Lowe’s contract
Re-sign LaRoche
Get a late-inning, strikeout relief pitcher
Bobby Cox realising he has 7 guys in his bullpen and he can use them all, but ideally not in the same game.
just no chance in signing Hudson, Holliday, and Laroche even if we dump Lowe’s contract off to someone else. Hudson, Nady, and Laroche is an easier possibility
Ryan Howard, most overrated NL MVP of the playoffs ever
P. W. Hjort laid out basically the same plan on his blog yesterday.
I just don’t see how it’s possible that we’ll sign Holliday. Even if we’re willing and able to give him 5 years and $90 million, someone will be willing to give him more. See: The AJ Burnett saga.
Someone please tell me why the Phillies are so good?
My friends tell me the Yankees are indestructable, but I have to belive in those homer-happy ballparks the Phillies are their equal.
LOL csg! Yeah Howard looks terrible! ha ha ha
The Phillies are going to be a tough out
Right, but signing A.J. Burnett would have been a bad idea, because he’s a mediocre pitcher trapped in an ace’s body. At least Matt Holliday’s good when he’s in the NL.
I don’t really disagree with you…but I’m not sure what your point is. I wasn’t commenting on Burnett’s quality or desirability, only on the fact that the Braves wanted him, made their best offer, and still couldn’t get him.
My point: When rich teams are interested in the same free agents the Braves are, the Braves can’t win a bidding war.
My point: I hope that Frank Wren wasn’t trying his hardest to get Burnett. Not that I think Holliday’s flawless — his half-year in Oakland proves it — but he’s a better buy, and I’d rather think that Frank Wren saved his overdrive gear for Holliday, instead of giving us a preview on the failed Burnett negotiations.
Oh, and then we should trade Vladimir Nunez for Puljos.
I think the staggeringly down market last year for slugging OFs would indicate that Holliday won’t get anywhere near front line pitching money. Jason Bay will also be on the market, but neither really has the “elite hitter” cachet of a Manny Ramirez/Albert Pujols type. Unless the Yanks drive up the market (and they only need 1 of them at most) I don’t see the final price being near 5/90.
AAR,
I think it’s safe to assume Wren was trying his hardest to get Burnett. 5 years, $80 million was the offer, right? Everyone here was terrified.
There’s only so much Frank Wren can do with a non-limitless budget. If the Yanks or Sawx or Mets really want Holliday, we won’t get him.
spike,
On the final price, you may be right; I have no idea what it will be. My only point is that whatever it is will represent an amount larger than the Braves are willing to give. Assuming one or more big-money teams wants Holliday.
Note: I would love to be wrong. I would love to have Matt Holliday.
I don’t expect Wren to be able to successfully dump Lowe’s contract AND win a bidding war for Holliday.
I think (legitimately or not) there is a fear of a Coors halo around Holliday that will depress his price. I agree Stu, we will not win a bidding war with a determined Yanks/Sox/Mets involved. What may happen though, is that the Braves evaluate Holliday’s talent (and there would be some risk in doing so) as worth more, or at least worth more to them, than any of the big clubs are willing to risk.
I wouldn’t love to have Matt Holliday (assuming you have to give something for him that is at least 13 and at least 4 years. Not like somebody “gives him to you”. I am not assuming that). He has never hit on a sustained basis as even a “pretty good” major league hitter AWAY FROM COORS FIELD. That is too risky to assume that as of the last 1/3 of this season he became a pretty good player away from Coors to risk the years of commitment.
Diaz and Church in platoon in left would out field and out hit Holliday at less money, with no “out year risk”, with another possible arb year for each, and with the flexibility that Church can cover center “fair” and right excellently (which Holliday can’t).
The way to go get lots of talent and have the money is to assume Heyward is in right from day one next year. If an authority as noble as Bill James can MLE project his production at 830 OPS (JC’s blog has the content linked with permission), and if he is now an above average fielder and thrower and baserunner for a ML right fielder, then why should we go get somebody as a FA unless they can beat that?
Nady can’t (would hit lefties better, but not righties). Bay might (probably by a small margin) out hit him, but can’t field much at all. Holliday is a big risk to really produce anything significantly more than what Heyward can.
Outfield should be Diaz primarily, supplemented by Church (not a true platoon) in left, McLouth (with Schafer in the wings as a back up or injury replacement by mid year) in center, Heyward in right. Omar is emergency center fielder / occasional platoon center fielder.
Then, take your “bat” / “free agent” money and focus on getting a 1B through a trade that maybe also moves pitching salary. Derrek Lee, we are calling you!!!
Gosh, I sure hope so, spike. I’m one who really likes Holliday.
I think I’m most worried about the Mets. Have we had any clarification on whether they’ll be able to spend a bunch in free agency this year?
Apparently the owners made, not lost, money to Maddoff, so rumors of there financial demise may be premature.
Take it with a grain of salt, but the AJC says a Holliday pick-up ain’t happening.
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2009/10/20/countdown-swaps-braves-falcons-meangelo-and-marge/
Matt Holliday is to expensive and won’t fit into the Braves budget unless Frank Wren can trade Derek Lowe. But even then, how can Wren count on signing Holliday? There is no guarantee that we get Holliday even if Lowe is traded.
Nelson Cruz sounds like a much more plausible trade scenario at this point.
And as for Adam Laroche, the Braves are crazy if they don’t want to cough up a three year contract. Freddie Freeman is a suspect until proven different. The dude has yet to prove he can even hit double A pitching.
@73 I would doubt it too. Just speculating about the price.
Coach has spoken.
Coach seems to be right this time, although I don’t believe the fixation with Nelson Cruz is warranted. It seems Brad Hawpe is much more likely to be traded this offseason. Is there any evidence that Cruz is likely to be dealt? Texas’ outfield doesn’t seem so crowded if Andruw and Byrd leave.
please pay attention to Nelson Cruz’s #’s outside of texas
Id like to take an 2009 Abreu type chance on Nady
I know this will come as a shock to Coach, but if Cruz is valuable, I am pretty sure the Rangers as well as other teams have figured it out too. The price will not be cheap, and there will be other bidders.
Cruz was a good target last year. A great target the year before (when Texas moved him through waivers). Texas will let Byrd walk and re-align and the only way they trade Cruz to us is for something like Medlin, plus (or better). I don’t see that making sense.
We need to identify potential right handed or switch hitting outfielders and / or first basemen that might be moved NOW and get a foot in the door on them. We missed Cruz 2 years ago. Last offseason we missed Nick Swisher and Josh Willingham (both moved for dreck and Willingham posting an 860 and Swisher an 830 or so with good fielding skills.)
And Hawpe is very susceptible to lefties and is not really good outside of Coors Field.
Beware the Ides of Coors!!
Look at Jo Jo’s stats and the similarity scores. That took my “maybe someday he is a decent #4 and anyway he should be a good LOOGY” and kind of crushed it.
Brad Hawpe is a fine outfielder and I really like him. However, he swings it from the left side and our Braves are hunting for a right handed bat.
Any thoughts on Dan Uggla? He will be traded and it’s a definite fact. Could Uggla fit in LF?
Spike, I am well aware that Nelson Cruz has a great deal of trade value, I am also aware that he ended his season in Ron Washington’s (Rangers manager) doghouse. He’s the Rangers best trade piece and I know they are wanting a veteran pitcher (Kawakami?), solid right handed bat, preferably someone who can play the outfield (Diaz?), and a left handed set up man (O’Flaherty?)
Is that to much even if the Rangers threw in another player?
Yes, that’s way too much.
If there’s one player Coach likes more than Nelson Cruz or Luis Durango, it’s Dan Uggla. Coach, you’ve been calling for us to trade for Uggla about every week for the past two years. What gives?
For not being the best team in the NL the Phillies are the first repeat NLCS Champions since the 1995-96 Braves. At some point folks probalby need to accept the fact that they’re pretty good.
As for RH power, I think Wren should trade Lowe to LA for the last year of Manny.
No. Pujols is better. We really should get him.
Faith and Fear in Flushing :: Address to Reluctant Mets Fans
I have to agree. (Of course, I find Phillies Phans amusing, YVMV.)
Well, that settles it. If the Mets fans are for the Phillies, I’m for the Yankees.
What a wonderful idea, Sam. Manny hitting like Manny in a Braves uniform sounds good to me.
Laughed out loud at this KLaw-chat question:
@93, LOL!!!
Ok Stu, at first glance I thought we were talking about Phillips again…
Explanation for Coach’s Uggla fetish: Ole Dan was a slashing style fullback in high school. Got to improve that ground game you know.
Cruz
Home .286 .362 .568 .931
Away .232 .300 .478 .778
Apparently he is way gooder at home than away. Park effects?
Just reading Heyman, who said the Dodgers need a #1 starter…
If the offer on the table is 4 years of Jair for 3 years of Matt Kemp…who blinks first?
Why isn’t Coach pushing for Figgins? I don’t want the guy, but he’s fast and can play anywhere.
Cuz the guy can’t spell shawn correctly?
What a wonderful idea, Sam. Manny hitting like Manny in a Braves uniform sounds good to me.
I thought so. TJ Simers has an article post-NLCS arguing that the Dodgers need to move Manny because they’ve grown “beyond needing him.” I’m all for that. Poor bastards started Vincente Padilla in the elimination game of the NLCS, so they need pitching. Lowe would slot in well with Randy Wolf behind Kershaw and Billingsley. The money actually evens out, once you account for Manny’s deferred payments.
Also, you know, Manny crush ball!
I love the idea, but is there any chance at all that this organization takes a gamble on a, um, personality like Manny? I can’t see it in a million years.
I like it too. While it could blow up spectacularly…I’d go for it. Decent swan song move for Bobby as well.
@97 – is Kemp a Boras client?
I’m for the Yankees.
Stu just jumped the shark.
Well, to be honest, I would be pulling for the Yankees even if I hadn’t read that Mets fan’s thoughts. I’ve never really minded them; I’ve only been jealous.
And Yanks fans>>>>>Mets fans or Sawx fans. (Or Phillies fans. Or Cubs fans. Or Marlins fan.)
Holy sheeeite, Deadspin is just roasting ESPN today. I guess that’ll teach you to deny the veracity of rumors to someone in the rumor business.
so, in vast contradiction of the “told you so” mentality of the regular poster/poser, coach, what has been your worst bravesjournal prediction?
i’ll start: I once said brian jordan (2nd stint) would be a great addition to the braves.
basis for my argument: screw stats…home is where the heart is….
dumb.
I told a friend at the beginning of the season that KJ would be an All Star.
My reason: I was thinking, “Outside of Utley and Uggla, who else is there?”
Turns out, just about every other second baseman in the league
so, in vast contradiction of the “told you so” mentality of the regular poster/poser, coach, what has been your worst bravesjournal prediction?
Not really a Braves Journal thing but my worst overall prediction about a player was Marcus Giles. I thought that kid was going to destroy the league for years.
I love the idea, but is there any chance at all that this organization takes a gamble on a, um, personality like Manny?
I think that’s the least of the unlikely factors, personally. This is the same organization that gladly took in Gary Sheffield and a post-Mets Bobby Bonilla. I’m pretty sure Bobby could manage Ramirez for a year too. I also think that Frank Wren would do that deal in a heartbeat if he could make the cash line up. Wren doesn’t strike me as the type to think “oh, but Furman Bisher might come out of retirement and whine about steroids or something!” I think he’s more of a “420/550 out of LF? Yeah, I’ll take that” sort of guy.
The thing that makes this a fan-site rumor and nothing else is that I really can’t see the Dodgers front office being as silly as TJ Simers and looking to unload their best OF. But if they were to be that silly, they could use an innings eating veteran pitcher and the Braves could certainly use some Man-Child in LF.
@103
Nope. Dave Stewart…yes, that Dave Stewart
108,
I did the same thing. Though I still maintain that if he hadn’t gotten so hit-unlucky in 2009 he probably would’ve been an all-star.
Manny post All-Star break/steroid suspension: .255/.379/.459
We can get the same or better performance for ~$17 million less by playing Diaz in LF. Diaz plays way better defense than Manny too and doesn’t have the… personality quirks.
We can get the same or better performance for ~$17 million less by playing Diaz in LF. Diaz plays way better defense than Manny too and doesn’t have the… personality quirks.
I’ll put $100 down right now. There is no way in hell that Matt Diaz matches Manny’s offense next year. None. That is just the height of fan-boy goofiness.
110—Sheffield and Bonilla weren’t ever accused of being bad, quit-on-your-team teammates.
107—I wouldn’t know which one to choose. I thought Lillibridge would be better than Yunel. I, too, thought KJ would be an All-Star this year. Last year, too. I thought Rocco Baldelli was worth giving up Yunel and Salty for. Etc.
Sheffield and Bonilla weren’t ever accused of being bad, quit-on-your-team teammates.
In what world? Sheffield has been accused of being a bad, quit on your team teammate since he broke in with Milwaukee. (He actually claimed that he intentionally made errors – this was when he was a kid at shortstop – in order to get traded out of the Brewers racist clubhouse.) He was followed by the “selfish, me-first” label and “clubhouse cancer” from there to San Diego, to Florida, to LA. The only place he WASN’T accused of being a bad teammate was in Atlanta. When he went to NYY and then DET that label popped back up immediately.
Bobby Bonilla was similarly tagged when he broke in with Pittsburgh and it followed him through NYM. He was lambasted as a bad teammate in 1999 when he and Ricky Henderson were removed from a playoff game and went to the clubhouse to play cards.
Seriously. Those guys were Manny back when Manny was just a kid trying to break into Cleveland’s lineup.
Sheffield behaving himself here is one of the reasons I am baffled when people boo him in Atlanta. Dude had one good season and one fantastic season, never caused any controversy, and left when his contract was up, without dissing Atlanta at all, unless of course I’m forgetting something. Whats with all the hate around here for him?
Well, then.
Sign me up for Manny!
@117
PLAYOFFS RBISES
@117
Mostly, fans boo players that sign with other teams. They boo especially loud if they are a Boras client that signs with the Yankees. Atlanta fans have no reason to dislike Sheff. He was an awesome player for one year and merely really good the other, and he didn’t cost nearly the haul we paid for one less year of J.D. Drew.
@ 117
Cause the fans loved him (Sheff’s chefs) and it sucks to see a good player on your team now playing for the Muts. Especially when he left ATL in free agency to play for the Yankees. That makes it seem like he left for the money(not saying that he did).
Do you guys think we could get Joey Votto at 1B? He seems really good (2nd in offensive win% for NL) and really underrated. Plus the Reds don’t strike me as too smart…
Joey Votto is the Reds best player. Even Dusty Baker knows that much. Not likely.
That and he hit .093 in the playoffs.
Manny Ramirez? What is wrong with you people?
Is Satan not available? What’s Bonds doing these days?
What part of pre- and post-steroids is confusing?
If he were Dale Murphy off the field, I wouldn’t want him in left field.
121,
You just never know. Who thought McLouth was available when Wren traded for him?
The thing is, the Reds are delusional and convinced they can win with their current group. They just traded for Scott Rolen to guarantee another run at mediocrity, so I imagine they’re not interested in breaking up their core. Even though they’re mostly just a poorly constructed baseball team with a few bad contracts (I’m looking at you, Coco) that isn’t going anywhere but can’t or won’t admit it. Trading Votto would be smart of them. But they’re kind of like the Astros. Stupid.
Tommorrow @ 9:30 EST on MLB network. 95 WS highlights.
91 and 92 are tonight in case any masochists are up in here
126,
What time are the ones tonight?
91′ just got over. 92′ starting now.
#124 Agree with all except trading Votto. You build around those kind of guys you don’t trade them. His ceiling is superstar his floor is really good player.
I am thinking if Conor Jackson is available this offseason…
If Conor Jackson were a good fielding 1B he’d be Casey Kotchman.
Their team won, but the fans are still idiots.
Sigh…why do I fall for the same old UNC football pipe dream year after year?
Atlanta fans (like me) have a great reason to feel less than warm and fuzzy about Gary Sheffield: He sucked in the post-season.
He sucked 3 for 30 in a pair of NLDS series that we lost.
We didn’t acquire him so that we could forgive his failures in the playoffs. We got him to help us get beyond the first round.
It’s not too much to ask that your best hitter (or 2nd best hitter) actually performs well in the post-season.
You know Chipper and Andruw were just as awful in the 2003 NLDS? They went a combined 4 for 35 that series. The Braves as a team in that series only hit .215, yet you place the blame on Sheff, and hate him for that? I dunno man, that really isn’t a good enough reason to not like him.
Mac, Chone Figgins would be a nice addition but I don’t think the Angels are gonna let him get away.
Chone Figgins is a fine player and all, but he ain’t worth near the contract some idiot GM is going to give him this off-season.
Here’s a general rule of thumb for mid-to-small-market teams. If you’re thinking about signing a guy coming off of a career year, don’t.
137, Luis Durango is what Chone Figgins was eight years ago, a prototypical lead off hitter with nothing but upside.
And since the local Braves fan base has no idea of the Padres current outfield situation, I will sum it up. They are stacked with young talented outfielders in front of Durango.
The Panamaniac (Durango) would cost next to nothing in trade.
If Frank Wren isn’t thinking adding some youth, depth, speed and defense to his outfield…..in all due respect, Wren should to be asking, would you like fries with that? as he manages the nearest Mickey D’s franchise.
130, Conor Jackson would be an excellent pick up. But do the Diamondbacks have any interest in trading him? And do our Braves have a player who would draw enough trade interest in exchange for Jackson? Remember, he’s a 2003 first round pick.
@139 I read somewhere that the Dbacks may not be willing to pay for Jackson’s impending salary increase, but I also question whether the dbacks will give up on him so easily.
@131 If Kotchman hit like Jackson, I sure would have like Casey a lot more than I did.
Steve Phillips’ wife 911 call.
140,
I actually thought they were closer than they are, but they’re really not that different.
Conor Jackson career OPS+ – 100.
Casey Kotchman career OPS+ – 95.
Jackson is more of an asset on the base paths (which isn’t hard to do. I am a better base runner than Casey Kotchman. And that’s not funny because it might actually be true.), his defense is about average in LF but horrible at 1B.
Overall, here’s how the players stack up, value wise.
Jackson is worth 13 more runs with his bat than Kotchman using simple wOBA extrapolations.
Kotchman’s ~12 runs above average at 1B, Jackson is average in LF and about 6 runs below average at 1B. We’ll assume Jackson plays LF because a) it’s more valuable to a team and b) he’s decent there and horrible at 1B.
Jackson is worth 2 more non-SB baserunning runs (wOBA accounts for SB runs).
And the fact that Jackson plays left nets him 5 runs over Kotchman simply because of positional value.
So yeah, overall, Jackson is about 8 runs more valuable than Kotchman. 1 win for a team that plays with extremely low run scoring and run allowing tendencies. Still, nothing to write home about.
And at any rate, Jackson’s career high in homers is 15 and he has a career .431 SLG% playing his home games in a park that’s tremendously hitter friendly. Acquiring Jackson to help fix the right-handed power problem is like putting a napkin over a freshly amputated leg. Might help a little bit, but probably won’t have any noticeable effect.
@142 Obviously if we are going to acquire Jackson, I would like him to perform to the level which warrant his former top prospect status. We obviously don’t want a right-handed version of Kotchman.
Of course, there is always the veteran free agent scrap heap.
Does Magglio Ordonez ($3M buyout), Jermaine Dye ($1M buyout) or Mike Cameron possibly interest the Devils Advocates out there in blog lala land.
I think Dye might have enough left in the tank to benefit from a switch to the NL. Not at all interested in the other two.
Coach,
Magglio vested at least one more year (maybe another after that) at 18 million by meeting PA requirements. He is VERY unlikely to be released.
Dye is brittle and has devolved into a HORRIBLE fielder. If they don’t pick him up and the Braves could get him for 5 and tender Diaz and Church, then Dye might make sense to shoot for 450 PA’s with Church subbing him in late innings for defense and Church starting some games against righties in left.
But at Dye’s age with his injury history and his bad d, you cannot count on him in an outfield position as the “solution.”
Manny Ramirez? What is wrong with you people?
Baseball players who crush the baseball are good. Their training regimens are meaningless. Ramirez would be the best hitter on the team, immediately.
Ramirez? Who needs a guy that puts up a .263/.300/.421 line in his last playoff series?
Ramirez? Who needs a guy that puts up a .263/.300/.421 line in his last playoff series?
Teams with limited RH power and a dearth of OFs, especially those who didn’t even make the playoffs last year. Jesus.
Sam, you forgot to turn your Sarcasm/Mockery Detector on this morning.
Fair enough.
Just don’t stab me in the neck.
Mac–Thanks for posting the Steve Phillps link as it is not news here….That said, I don’t think you were fair to Monica (#28)….
With respect to Wren’s options, I fear that last June’s draft may prove to be instructive: the Braves appear to have made their selections partly based upon saving money. It now looks like the Braves spent about 20% on signing bonuses than they did in 2008. Maybe not significant in itself, but with the #7 pick (which requires more) the difference is pretty striking.
Therefore, moving Lowe early should be a priority….
Also, I don’t think the Braves spent much at all on the International free agent market last year. They definitely were not willing to give up as much as past years to bring new talent into the organization.
It now looks like the Braves spent about 20% on signing bonuses than they did in 2008.
The Braves didn’t even have a 1st round pick in 2008. Actually, they went over slot on a few selections in 2008. They went way over slot on Tyler Stovall.