Ed Olwine Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com
Seasons with Braves: 1986-1988
Notable Stats: 4.52 ERA, 5.4 K/9
Notable Achievements: I’ve got nothing.
Versus
Kevin Coffman Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com
Seasons with Braves: 1987-1988
Notable Stats: 4-11, 6.42 ERA
Notable Achievements: Misfiled, he should be in with the starters.
I’m voting for Coffman. In 18 appearances in 1988, he managed to throw 11 wild pitches.
Not everybody can do that.
I think sdp is reaching out to us for help.
So …
Whaddaya say let’s horselaugh him?
I think sdp is a real stand up guy.
Olwine vs. Coffman?
Really beginning to scrape bottom now, aren’t we?
It’s almost the end of the first round. Two more matches left:
Terry Blocker vs. Ryan Langerhans
Kyle Davies vs. Craig McMurtry
Gotta love Bobby Johnson. Said he wanted to talk to the head of the SEC Officials but:
“I’ll probably need to stand in line.”
Gotta love Bobby Johnson
Listen to this song around the 1:09 mark:
http://en.musicplayon.com/play?v=101910&Lil_Wayne___Banned_From_Tv__No_Ceilings_Album
May not be good to listen to at work.
Former Phillie (and brief Yankee) Doug Glanville with a wistful, yet fun World Series column for the NY Times:
http://tinyurl.com/yl5bhhs
Glanville is a good writer. So is Granderson.
Todd Jones is not.
Prediction time:
(Holding my nose) Phillies in Six
Regrettably, I don’t see the Yankees losing. 8 out of 9 hitters with an OPS+ > 120. That’s just not fair.
its just nice to have the Yanks in the series again so i can root for an NL team. thats what it takes unless its the Braves.
Am I the only one around here pulling for the Yankees?
yes, i cant pull for a team with a $200+ million dollar payroll
@14
No, you are not: I, a diehard Braves fan still smarting from 1996, most fervently desire for a Yankee victory, for one simple reason: I live in Philly.
If the Phillies win back-to-back WS, and against the Yankees to boot, they will make Red Sox fans, who have become so very obnoxious since their 2004 and 2007 victories, look like soft-spoken choirboys. The Phillies must go down.
#16….when you dislike the Yankees as much as i do, you become a Red Sox fan by default…….i rarely meet any of the hardcore Soxfans since i tend to move away quickly when i hear that accent. my wife has a lot of family in and around Philly and they’re nice enough people so it doesnt really bother me to root for the Phils.
It’s been 14 years.
Why do you hate the Yankees because they have a $200 million payroll? It’s a sustainable and profitable business model, and if it works for them, more power to them.
EDIT: BJOL Quote:
I’m ALMOST pulling for the Yanks just so I can say to any obnoxious NY fans that Yeah, you had to drop HALF a BILLION dollars to buy a WS title.
I remember Olwine had one good appearance. Skip Caray said of him that day “Olwine is sharp as a tack”. He got a few good curveballs in against lefthanders. I think that was pretty much his only good day. He was a weak loogy in an organization that didn’t have the luxury of using him that wasy. Like a poor man’s Assenmacher.
I remember Coffman at one point seemed to be the only guy in the entire Braves organization who could throw over 90mph. Had some movement on his pitches too. But he had no clue where he was throwing the ball, and was always overthrowing. A guy like that should never have been called up, but that’s how bad the pitching was.
Coffman was worse.
I’m rooting for hell to suck them both in.
As I don’t want EITHER team to win, I have to figure out who I want to lose more… I’m trying to imagine a best of both worlds scenario in which both fan bases are unhappy A-Rod bats .850 with 6 HR, Jeter only hits .100 and the Yanks still lose because Pedro & Lee pitch back to back no-hitters… then the Yanks win three because somehow Jimmy Rollins costs the Phillies a game or two… I think I’d like the Yanks to lose it in 7 with every team losing their home games… I can’t decide if I’d want Tex to suck and be the new Yankee fan whipping boy, or if I want him to do really well too so they can’t blame him.
The part of me that looks on the bright side of life keeps reminding the rest of me that no matter WHO wins… Mets fans will hate it.
@22 – I’m with you. Hell can have both their ballparks, and the cities too, for that matter.
The cover of yesterday’s New York Post was a photo-shopped picture of Shane Victorino in a dress and a caption something along the lines of “Only in Philadelphia can Shane Victorino be considered a slugger!”
Have they ever seen this team?
The “article” in the paper has a list of reasons why New York is better than Philadelphia. None of them make much sense.
@24,
I’d like to keep New York around if that’s okay with you, Jeff.
@25 In fairness, Bill Conlin did the same thing, but stupider, for Philly.
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20091028_Bill_Conlin__Comparing_Phillies__Yankees_lineups_the_right_way.html?page=1&c=y
@27,
I can’t find the Post article online, but it’s much stupider than that. At least Bill Conlin compares the players (with very obvious bias). The Post article was like “you eat philly cheesesteak while we eat foie gras at The Four Seasons!”
#27
Amusing. In comparing, Jeter & Rollins, he wrote, “Rollins revels on the Big Stage.” Guess he didn’t actually look at their stats. Because, if to him the Big Stage is the post-season, it’s not close.
Re: NYC
The pace of the rest of the world is a tick (or two) slower, so NYC ain’t for everyone—and that’s a good thing.
Rob,
It’s the New York Post, world’s least respectable newspaper. Should we expect anything less?
Re: World Series
I think both teams will score runs, but the Yanks win because of Rivera (surprise, surprise).
I’m leaning toward the Phils to make it interesting (or even win), but I really just want to see a long series—mainly, because I have tickets for Game 6.
Don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I genuinely believe this one has the ingredients for a classic series.
BTW, they’re saying that they’ll play tonight, but it’s truly disgusting outside right now, a cold, steady drizzle.
I always had a soft spot in my heart for Kevin Coffman. Apropos of nothing, he has a part in a baseball memory from my childhood. We did not have cable growing up, but I would sometimes get to watch the Braves when staying over at houses of family or friends. They had a late game (10 pm start time or later, which is late when you are in elementary school), I think against San Fran, but may have been LA, and Coffman was the pitcher & hit a triple. I remember being very impressed; he therefore became the starting pitcher in the “Baseball” computer game we had for our old TRS-80 computer. You could put people in with whatever name you wanted (pretty fancy stuff) and whatever average you wanted, so I would stack my lineup with guys hitting .999, going against hitters at .000. Still never could get a no-hitter against them. But Kevin Coffman was my favorite player for a brief period of time. So there’s no way I could vote for him in this poll…
Also – sorry for the double-post, but it’s been long enough since my first post that it shouldn’t really count – I am interested to hear why anyone would be cheering for the Yankees. Mark Graybill’s explanation at #16 was interesting, and I’d also be interested to hear why Stu would be pulling for them. Gotta say I understand Ububba wanting 6 games, as I would do the same if I had tickets.
I just would feel wrong pulling for the Yankees; the one time I ever can remember doing so in my life was when they played the Mets in the WS (most years, I pull for the Mets in the regular season against the Yankees, just because it usually does more damage for the Yankees to lose to the Mets than vice versa).
And I liked BFedRec’s explanation at #23 (pretty closely mirrors my convoluted opinion)…
OK, back to the Atlanta National League Base-Ball Club (R) –
IF Chipper has a 2010 year comparable to his 2009 season, what do you think the odds of him retiring would be? Especially since Bobby will be gone (the only manager Chipper has played for, as if you guys needed the reminder.).
I’d say there would be only a 50% chance that Chipper would come back under those circumstances.
FWIW, most Met fans I know are biting their lips and pulling for the Phillies. The YankeeHate is that deep. They have to live with these people.
re: #30, Sim Mismatch
When playing APBA (cards & computer), I always liked to have those “for fun” mismatches.
I’d take the ’73 Rangers or the ’96 Tigers against a team of all-time greats in their best seasons. So it would be Ranger “ace” Jim Bibby vs. this lineup:
Cobb
Lajoie
Williams
Ruth
Foxx (DH, if I felt merciless)
Gehrig
Hornsby
Wagner
Dickey
W. Johnson pitching
Yes, it was tanks vs. spears, so it would be 26-1 or 28-2, but no no-hitters. BTW, I never had the heart to play them against the ’88 Braves.
I hate the Phillies. I hate the thought of a division rival winning one World Series, much less consecutive World Series. I am envious of the Yankees’ resources, but I don’t actually mind the players. The fans can be annoying, but as I’ve stated before, I find them far less annoying than Sox, Mets, Phillies, and Cubs fans.
It’s the New York Post, world’s least respectable newspaper.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — newly redesigned for readability! — would like a word with you.
Yeah, I’m rooting for the Phillies. It’s nothing personal; as soon as the Series is over I’ll hate their guts. But right now I’m a National League fan and a Yankee hater. It’s duty, not pleasure.
I hate the Yankees and it’s easy for me to want the Phillies to win this. In fact, I’d be happy if the Phils swept and outscored the Yanks 100 runs to nothing.
Compared to the NY Post, the AJC is The Economist.
I think we can all agree that it would be best if this happened.
Compared to anything, the AJC is Highlights Magazine.
http://memphismemories.org/Decades/1960s/RememberWhen/HighlightsMagazine.jpg for folks who aren’t old enough to remember Goofus and Gallant.
AAR’s last bit in 35 about sums it up for me.
Actually, I bought a Gallant and it turned into a Goofus after about 50,000 miles.
I’m rooting for the Phillies to lose. I think.
I am rooting for the Yankees. 1) they’re the better team. 2) they don’t have Shane Victorino on their team. 3) Philadelphia is a disgusting city to me, and the people from there are equally disgusting.
If you think the AJC’s BIG WORD approach insults the intelligence of its audience—or, perhaps, embraces it—check out the front page of yesterday’s NY Post:
http://tinyurl.com/yl3b9my
Charming. Just a notch above bathroom graffiti.
I’m not sure what’s worse — the fact that that’s the best possible front page they could think of, or the fact that THAT’S the best that their hardworking art department could come up with in Photoshop.
As Mel Brooks once said: “Lady, it rose below vulgarity.”
Didn’t Olwine sell peanuts at AFCS (Falcon games) before pitching for the Braves? I think he was the one – in any event, he sure did suck, plus he looked like a nerd.
Sorry – I think that is the sort of inspired goofiness that might actually make me look at a paper again – much better than the “Hooray For Everything!” we get here at home.
Papers are never again going to be the bastion of intellectual discourse (if they ever were). I have a marginally more respect for a rag that makes no attempt to hide it’s yellow journalistic content.
Then again, hooray for everything.
Rooting for the Phils to lose. I can deal with the discourse surrounding a Yankee win – they SHOULD win with all of the money and talent at their disposal. But the praise that goes the Phillies way anytime they win makes me want to puke. All the pundits will be heaping shovelfuls . . .
Speaking of, I don’t think Joe Buck gets the credit he deserves for being a terrible, terrible announcer. He’s clearly overshadowed by McCarver, but at this point I think he irritates me more.
McCarver would make Barney Frank seem like Vin Scully.
We’ve talked about this for years, but as far as I know Chipper doesn’t even own a first-basemen’s mitt.
Is that ever going to happen?
Should it?
Cynicism is Rupert Murdoch’s currency. If you don’t expect much, the crap jokes (not to mention the blatant & frequent lies) won’t sting as much.
I’ll stick with newspapers & other outlets that do their best to report the news.
Re: WS
Rain has stopped & I’m hearing they’ll actually play tonight.
I’ll stick with newspapers & other outlets that do their best to report the news.
There are very, very few of those, ububba, although I’m sure you and many others wouldn’t agree.
Turn on the internet, the Phillies and Yankeees are about to get it on.
hudson’s going to be extended via peanut.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/10/hudson-to-ink-threeyear-extension.html
Coffman, just for the heck of it.
Murdoch, for all his faults, is the samizdat to the American nomenklatura.
So, how ’bout that Ryan Howard?
@2,3: You guys.
🙂
Re: Hudson… Furcal Rule is in effect.
$24-27 million over three years would be a great deal for the Braves, IMO.
I’m indifferent about this World Series. Don’t really care what happens.
Phillies draw first blood. Good deal!
My Braves are getting Tim Hudson for far less than he could draw as a free agent. Huddy’s gonna sign for roughly half the amount that the free agency market could support.
Huddy, You da man!
Rosenthal, exactly 15 days ago
Rosenthal, today
Can we all agree to never listen to anything Ken Rosenthal says? Ever again?
@59 Kudos to Wren and Huddy if the dollar amount is real. Next step will be trading Lowe away without eating any of the remaining deal.
Ar…the Hawks need to work harder on their defense…good that they have enough firepower to come up with a win…
…wait, that sounds like the Falcons as well…
…and Horford is having a great game…
the way I see it Huddy is probably worth 10-12 mil per on the open market. If we get him for 8-9 per then we can actually afford to eat some of Lowe’s contract in order to move him. I do have a feeling that we will be seeing Huddy sign for 3/26-27 and then possibly a Matthews Jr/Bradley for Lowe to follow
I agree csg. I think we have an ability to eat some of Lowe’s contract, but obviously that should not be something I want to see.
I guess Chase Utley is overrated now.
Chase Utley is definitely overrated!!!
“Hi, I’m Joe Girardi. I’m here to chew gum and overmanage, and I’m all out of gum.”
Mac, he’s no Bo Pelini. Ive never seen anyone chew as much as he does
CHARLIE MANUEL IS A BIG QUEEN!
@57:
😀
Baseball rule number one: You can never have enough pitching. EVER.
That said, trading Derek Lowe is unnecessary at best. He’s averaged 33 starts, 206 innings each year, 15 wins and 10 losses over the last eight seasons. 2009: 15-10, 34 starts and 194 innings. I can live with the 4.67 ERA for one season.
Yes, Lowe is overpaid. But that’s the fault of Frank Wren. Derek Lowe is a W-I-N-N-E-R and trading this type of player is bad business, especially when considering he’s only been a Brave for one season. Reversing course on Derek Lowe so quickly is questionable judgment at best.
Atlanta doesn’t need one big right handed bat, they need an infusion of defense, athletes, veteran leadership, youth and some speed in the outfield.
I don’t pretend to know what Frank Wren will do. However, I would target Nelson Cruz, Mike Cameron and Luis Durango. Add them in with McLouth, Diaz, Schafer and Heyward….ball them all up in a wad during spring training, throw it against the wall and find out what sticks. Less is more, pitching and defense wins.
Stu,
In certain cities, it might feel that way.
Re: WS
I watched the game tonight at a bar in Astoria on a trivia night.
My team: a coworker, his girlfriend & 2 people I didn’t know, one of them a NY Post reporter.
Nice guy, but no, he didn’t understand why I didn’t bust a gut at yesterday’s front page.
Coach, if we wanted to sign a FA, we had to overpay. The question was whether you want the Braves to sign Lowe or not. If you had no problem with signing Lowe, then Wren had to overpay to get him.
I thought Derek Lowe was a solid free agent addition but not for the price we paid. Would I have done it? No. I would have spread the cash around a lot better than Frank Wren did.
Guys like Randy Wolf, Braden Looper and Edwin Jackson delivered far better bang for the buck spent on them. Yea, I wanted Edwin Jackson but the Tigers beat us to the punch. Along with Nelson Cruz, Orlando Hudson, Juan Rivera, Randy Wolf etc. etc.
Frank Wren committed 47 million to Chipper, Vazquez, Lowe and Kawakami. Basically, he did a great job of rebuilding the starting pitching while spending and spreading his financial assets around very poorly. Our brilliant GM tied up half the teams payroll in four players which isn’t very intelligent.
However, I thought Vazquez was and still is a good trade. Kawakami did what almost every Japanese pitcher does in his first season, he spent it adjusting to big league hitters but I think his contract is well worth his value. But Chippers contract extension just boggles the brain, why? he should be taking a massive pay cut right now instead of tying up 39 million through 2012.
Frank Wren is a solid baseball executive but he doesn’t know squat about how to manage the Braves limited payroll. I mean, look what happened to Tom Glavine. The Braves were forced to cut him because they needed his payroll bonus to pay McLouth instead. That’s poor money management.
Cliff Lee is one cool cat!
Anybody listen to Russian Circles? Ububba?
ububba;
I now have a rooting interest in the WS. I’m rooting for whatever it takes to get you to that 6th game.
And I expect you to drink a beer for me-for all off us!-once you get there.
Although, not a beer for each one of us, mind you. Just, you know, a toast.
Cliff Lee-a new standard for making it look easy.
I’m still pulling for a Phillies sweep. If ububba gets screwed out of Game 6, I’ll spring for tickets for the Japan Series if I can get them.
Favorite Japanese Pro Baseball moment: rooting for the Hanshin Tigers against the Yankees in an exhibition game. The Japanese guys sitting around my friend & me were thrilled that we were pulling for the Tigers. I remember an ex-Brave making a nice play in the outfield. I’ll have to see if I can figure out who that was.
I think it may have been Darren Bragg.
And maybe it wasn’t a nice play, but a good effort.
Whatever, the Tigers won, so it was a good day.
billy-jay,
The Vanderbilt baseball team is playing some Japanese college teams in Tokyo pretty soon. You ought to check the games out. (They’ll use wooden bats.) Lots of future early-round draft picks on that VU squad, and hopefully some future major leaguers.
Stu,
That sounds like a good time. Any details? I can look on this end, but anything you can tell me is helpful.
Thanks for the tip.
More info.
The games—2 will be in Tokyo—will take place sometime between November 21st and November 29th.
Thanks, Stu.
One of the leagues that I play in is having a WBC-style tournament. Unfortunately, I won’t be around when it’s taking place, so I can’t represent the U.S. of A. by striking out a ton and playing horrific defense. Maybe that’s a good thing. If I can get one of my friends to take pictures, maybe I’ll post pics for the amusement of everyone.
Just so you know, billy-jay, I will expect there to be no question about your SEC team allegiance after November 29th. 🙂
Okay, Stu. You may need to remind me, though. I’ve had a few Sam Adams Summer Ales tonight.
Like Sam Adams, VU Baseball Coach Tim Corbin is from Boston.
Basketball Tope 25 is out:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?pollId=2
Stronger showing from the SEC this year
billy-jay,
Kinda proggy stoner rock, right?
Thanks, Kevin. I’ll do my best, but a decent beer in that place ain’t cheap.
A 16-oz. Guinness or Becks on draft? Yours for only $11. Certainly a far cry from our little Dominican place down River Avenue—3 longnecks for $10.
BTW, today is a great day for NY sports radio. The Yankee fans won’t quite be on the ledge, but they’ve already opened the window.
Cutting an over-the-hill nibbler that has shown he doesn’t have it any more, whom you don’t need because you have six (6!) better options on the roster already, and reinvesting that money into a trade acquistion to fill a bleeding wound in your OF is not poor money management. It is, rather, exactly what rational managers of money and player resources do.
I can’t believe anyone would consider cutting Glavine and using that money to get McLouth a strike *against* Frank Wren.
@90:
I guess. I’m not that good with labels. It kind of makes me think of Isis without vocals. Good stuff.
This one is called “Station.”
Not such a big prog-rock guy anymore, but I liked that. Thanks.
Kind of a stripped-down Sabbath/”Children of the Grave” groove that hops a dynamic rollercoaster for 8 minutes. Could be a cool soundtrack piece.
@93:
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it.
Stu,
Does Vandy have a good DE program?
Also, I’ve been waiting for ESPN to correct the header for this article:
Ex-Seattle Mariners Coach Kenji Johjima to Join Hanshin Tigers
What is a DE program? Design Engineering? Our engineering school is not great, though it’s better (or at least more reputable) than it once was. If I knew I wanted to be an engineer and had the transcript to get into Vanderbilt, I’d go to MIT or Georgia Tech.
Or does DE mean something else? Our defensive ends tend to be slow and/or undersized.
Distance education.
Oh! I think Peabody, the school of education (and some other, management-ish, things) , has a good distance program, but I’m not sure about the other three undergrad schools or any of the graduate schools.
In hindsight, that DE makes much more sense from someone in Japan.
Vandy engineers? Sacre bleu!
What would happen to the old joke asking how many Vandy students it takes to fix a flat?
(Answer: Four. Three to mix the Bloodies and one to call Daddy.)
Nice. If it were me, I’d just buy a new tire and give the busted one to a UK grad for his yard decoration.
I am both undersized and slow for a defensive end.
But yeah, I meant distance education. I think I have that mapped out, though.
All things considered, I’ve gone pretty far with a CCAF degree (all typos are to be attributed to my degree of non-sobriety as opposed to level of education).
Also, ESPN is still considering Kenji Johjima an ex-coach for the Mariners.
Late to the party, but I am rooting for the Phils. If for no other reason than it will be that much farther for them to fall next season when we take the division.
I have to say I don’t understand all the Phillies hate. In general their players aren’t obnoxious, and they carry themselves in a professional manner. The majority of their fans are also decent people who like base ball. What’s the big deal?
Braves fans should point to the fact that they had a winning record against them in 2009 as a light at the end of the tunnel.
Phillie “fans are also decent people who like base ball.”
You do realize you’re speaking of a fan base that Richie Allen (when he was a Phillie) said “would boo a cancer cure”, right?
The Phillies have much to recommend them, but I never thought their kuru-suffering fans would be on that list.
I always thought of Phillies fans as funnel-cake-eating people who prefer football.
But, no, I don’t dislike their players either.
The average fan that booed richie Allen would be about 85 years old today (if he/she lived that long).
Also, Dick Allen is a jerk.
I’ve been to at least a dozen games at Citizens Bank Park and invariably after every game a few E-A-G-L-E-S chants breaks out as you’re walking to the subway.
FWIW, Jerry Hairston in for Nick Swisher tonight.
Hudson adds to Braves’ depth – SweetSpot by Rob Neyer – ESPN
Ya know, I think you gotta trade a starting pitcher for a second baseman. We’re doing well at every position, and Prado is probably a super-sub long-term. I really don’t like his second half. Either that or a right fielder, and I’m pretty sure Heyward will have that locked it before too long.
Seriously, with Diaz, McLouth, Heyward, Chipper, Yunel, (LaRoche?), and McCann, the Braves are sitting pretty.
Or do you just trade a starting pitcher for a great 1B prospect and play LaRoche on a year-by-year basis?
now i’ve lived long enough to see Dick Allen cited as a measure of behavior
@111 – AND Molina in for Posada. You may not get to game 6 after all.
This being the Yankees, Hairston will probably hit two homers and Molina will throw out Rollins to end the game.
Swisher has been pretty awful in the post-season so far & Hairston is .370 lifetime vs. Pedro.
ububba,
Being in New York has brought you a large dose of “Yankee vision.”
You go with Jerry Hairston because Swisher has 30 bad post season PA’s and Hairston has a 370 average against Pedro (despite his 250 or whatever overall).
It is, indeed, a tough town.
I’m not sure who to root for. I, like a few others here, want both teams to somehow lose. The 12-year-old version of myself will not let me root for the Yankees, but I don’t want the Phillies to win again.
I think I just want to see Brad Lidge blow a big save. Is that mean? Or awesome?
Rob,
Yes.
Rob Cope at 113,
I was a big Prado doubter. I am not anymore. He is at least a 280 360 420 (780) guy who can half way play 2nd and play third well. He has a decent shot at being 310/390/460 (850) and if so is quite a player. And, he is still at ML minimum.
I agree otherwise on the offense. If we make a move, it can’t just be a good offensive player. the new player needs to be not necessarily elite, but very good. We have plenty of “goods” not even counting KJ, Omar, Heyward, and Schafer (any of whom could cover for an injury and do well).
Weird schizophrenic trade idea: Derek Lowe for Derrek Lee and Milton Bradley. We gain 8 million in salary this year (only 5 over Kotchman and no more than we would have to pay LaRoche) and 10 in 2011. We try to move Bradley, but if we can’t, when he gets hurt in June or July, bring Heyward (or possibly Schafer) up.
Having Bradley around would also frazzle Bobby enough to make sure he doesn’t change his mind and want to hang around.
Just think how much fun it would be if Bradley got to answer all of the “are Southern red necks worse than Chicgo red necks?” questions.
Really, I SERIOUSLY think Derrek Lee is the single best fit player that anybody out there has without doing a move of young elite pitching. Right handed, with power, good OB skills, good fielder. Plenty better than anybody we have in the system already. And the Cubs have Fox who has proved he can hit ML pitching but can’t field anywhere else.
116,
Probably not. Girardi usually pulls Molina after Burnett leaves. Then again, he only has 2 catchers on his roster for the WS.
121—The Cubs haven’t indicated any willingness to deal Lee, have they? I’d think it would take more than Derek Lowe to persuade them that it’s a good idea.
they might do it for lowe if someone also took the bradley headache off their hands and in so doing gained additional salary relief
@121,
The “more than Derek Lowe” was taking Bradley off their hands. Lowe is probably worth 3 year 12 million now. Derrek Lee is probably worth 15 to 16 for his one year left. Bradley is owed 21 over the next 2 years and bottom fishers would start circling at around 10 total. So, we save 9 mill on Lowe (3 years at 3 million excess) and save 4 on Lee and take on 11 on Bradley and we are still well off. Not ridiculously unfair either way.
And no, the Cubs haven’t indicated anything about trading Lee, but they only have him signed for 1 more year and they have Fox. They would gain 6 million in next year payroll and be only down 4 the next year and get a good innings eating pitcher (that they need) and get the addition by subtraction they want (in clearing Bradley) and unblock a fairly good player that will probably cost them 10 runs with the glove and the same with the bat, but only $400,000 in salary. Lowe would add more wins than the “Lee to Fox dropoff” would cost them.
Fox is brutal, defensively, right? And Lee is pretty good, right? And the Cubs, with their big payroll, are (always) playing to win now, right? While I don’t disagree with the idea that the trade would be good for both sides, I just don’t see the Cubs dealing their best hitter for a league-average-ish innings-eater, even if it allows them to dump Bradley. (I would love to be wrong.)
I don’t think the Cubs see Fox as a starter – by all accounts he’s a DH in the making
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/a-minor-review-of-2009-chicago-cubs/
Cliff,
I’m just repeating what I’m hearing from Girardi’s press conference. I don’t really care either way.
But Swisher’s been awful. Just watch him.
And no, I’m not one to sit around and say, “Well, over a lifetime of ABs, he should be better. He’ll come around.” Season could be over by then. It’s a matchup-based hunch by the manager and, if I’m a Yankee fan, I’m fine with that.
If a guy like Swisher has been stinking it up & you have what you think is a reasonable replacement for one game against a guy he’s had success against, go for it. This isn’t Howard Ehmke taking a start from Lefty Grove.
Hairston is .255/.313/.380 against RHP in 2009, and the Baseball Cube says he hasn’t faced Pedro in 5 years http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/head2head.asp?B=hairj002&P=martp001. Swisher is .250/.357/.509 in 2009. Sure looks like overmanaging to me.
But Swisher is a choker of A-Rod-ian proportions! 🙂
Rob,
prado was 2nd in ops among regular 2nd baseman only behind chase utley, and those numbers are a dropoff from 2008. 2nd base needs no fixing.
man, i sure hope swisher gets booed out of new york and tries to seek solitude in atlanta. i would love his bat/versatility in exchange for lowe’s salary. wont they need a starting pitcher?
Stu, we prefer A-fraud-ian or A-roid-ian ’round here. Personally, I can’t believe they gave him a start this postseason, what with his record of failure.
I hope Neyer is wrong about which pitcher Wren will trade. Kawakami really grew on me as the year progressed. I think I just like players that don’t seem properly appreciated.
Honestly, Braves fans are actually considering pulling for the Yankees??? WTF Use your imagination and pretend like the Phillies shirts say “National League” across the front. Beyond that, there is no reason to dislike the Phillies. They’re just a team that was better than Atlanta this year unlike the Yankees, who are evil.
Phillies in 4 and Bobby Valentine is the next Yankee manager. Girardi is panicking
Swisher’s been awful, it’s been intimated by the Yankee WFAN reporter that he’s not right physically & there’s no reason to keep trotting him out there if he keeps offering up crap ABs in the biggest games of the year.
The manager has to take the temperature of the team & make the decision, not worry about what the guy did three months ago. Means nothing if he’s all fouled up now.
The difference with A-Rod? When A-Rod was sucking ass for an extended post-season period, you don’t mess with him because you need him to win. He’s your best player & he has to perform in the big spots, period. (He sucked & they didn’t win—imagine that.)
I wasn’t even crazy about Torre relegating him to 8th in the lineup vs. Detroit in ’06, but Swisher’s a totally different thing. You can win a game without a feast-or-famine guy like Swisher. It’s just not that big a deal to replace him right now, not the way he’s going.
The Yankees are evil, and if the Phillies go back-to-back it might finally shut up the “AAAA” assholes. That is all.
I think the Braves should try to trade one of their lesser starters (probably Lowe, but possibly Kawakami) for a very good reliever and an outfielder good enough to keep us in good shape until Heyward is ready. If they think Heyward is ready, I’m all for getting two or three more bullpen arms. At least one of Gonzo or Soriano will be gone next year and I have no confidence in Acosta.
138—You know there’s no chance it will. Not Neyer, the chief offender, anyway.
I think Hudson just sent another Teixt message.
140 — I couldn’t believe that Neyer suggested the Braves could take the wild card next year.
I’m just really concerned that Prado went from a 20-18 BB/K ratio in the first half to a 16-41 ratio in the second half. He took a pretty solid drop off in the second half, and that concerns me. Did the league figure him out, and he’s Charles Thomas, or is he the player he was in the first half, or is he a combination within those?
142—I’m sure he’d say we’d only be the 10th-best AL team.
true
A-Rod now 0-7 with 5k’s. I can hear the knives sharpening already.
He still has a pass—for the moment.
142, Rob Neyer was fairly accurate with his comments.
Bu this is why I agree with him in detail. Our Braves starting pitching is deeper than any other team in ML baseball. Hudson, Jurrjens and Hanson are ACE caliber. Lowe and Vazquez are durable and win more than they lose. Kawakami is a bit of an enigma and may be traded but projects well as a fifth starter. Then there’s Kris Medlen, Jo-Jo Reyes, Todd Redmond and Mike Minor should they be needed to fill in.
However, the impending free agency of Adam LaRoche, Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez throws a monkey wrench into the projections for the Braves bullpen, defense and offense.
Then there are those World Champion Phillies. Dude, they own the NL East right now and the NL Pennant. Our Braves are front runner wild card material until proven different because of our starting pitching, but the questions surrounding our defense, bullpen and offense leave us miles behind the Phillies right now.
Anybody up for signing Mitch Jones?
But if we get Dan Uggla to add to our collection of second basemen, acquire the Panamaniac to do his impression of Gregor Blanco, trade for Juan Cruz then play our home games in Texas Stadium we’ll be the best team in baseball.
148 — I couldn’t believe it because Neyer seems to be perpetually down on the Braves.
New thread/poll.