I always like to look through these things, to see what career marks a player can set for the season.
Chipper Jones keeps moving up. He’s 94 hits shy of 2500, 55 RBI and 52 runs short of 1500, and even eight stolen bases short of 150, though that looks more like two years’ worth at this pace. Chipper already holds nearly all the major career counting stat records for Atlanta, and the career franchise records are mostly held by Hank Aaron and are out of play. He passed Eddie Mathews for second place in many categories last season. He’s 57 games, 224 at-bats, and 260 plate appearances behind Mathews, so barring catastrophe he’ll get those. The most significant hitting stat Aaron isn’t the leader in is walks, and Chipper should pass Mathews for first this season — he is currently 33 behind. Nobody else is due to get anywhere near the top ten in the hitting categories, though with a full season Brian McCann would start to show up in the top twenty in the power categories.
McCann is nine homers short of 100, which is a lot for a catcher; only 62 catchers in major league history, only 24 in the NL, have hit triple figures… Both McCann and Troy Glaus are 121 RBI short of big round numbers (500 and 1000 respectively) and it’s just vaguely conceiveable that Glaus could do it, but it would take a whole lot of things to go right.
Among the pitchers, Tim Hudson is two wins short of 150 and 98 strikeouts short of 1500. With good health, he’ll get both. The first win would break a tie with Rick Camp for tenth in Atlanta history (with 56). Sixteen wins would tie him with Steve Avery for ninth, and nineteen with Kevin Millwood in eighth. He should also move into the top ten in Atlanta strikeouts with anything close to a full season… Jair Jurrjens is already 25th in wins by an Atlanta Brave, which just goes to show you how many of the franchise’s wins have been by just a few pitchers. He could move into the top fifteen this year… Derek Lowe is nine wins short of 150 and 114 strikeouts short of 1500, right behind Hudson. He only had 111 strikeouts last season… Billy Wagner, as I’ve mentioned, is fifteen saves short of 400 and just five saves out of fifth place all-time. A big season (40 saves) would put him in fourth place all time, passing John Franco, and also give him the record for a lefthander.
When I went onto mlb.com and saw us 9-2 down to the Nats, I got a little worried for Tommy Hanson, but thankfully he pitched against Gwinnett today instead.
Heyward out with shin splints. Interesting that they used that and not just “soreness”, because shin splints can linger and the only way to get rid of them is rest – three weeks or so should do the trick.
Yep, it was Proctor, Chavez, and Gomez showing us what they’ve got, which is absolutely nothing.
I think he should spend ten days nursing it in Gwinnett.
What I’ve been saying all along…
Joe Posnanski » Blog Archive » Who Are You To Decide What’s Unearned?*.
So, I don’t care about spring training stats, but I’m guessing that the Braves do. What does both Chavez and Proctor getting rocked — and both now having double-digit ERAs — do to the last-bullpen-spot race? Proctor gave up three runs on three hits, one a homer, plus a walk. Chavez gave up three runs on five hits.
Welcome back to Atlanta, Manny Acosta.
I really don’t care who gets the mob innings anyway. It’s like you said in your poll – pick your poison. My solution – which is not going to happen, I know I know – would be to keep both Conrad and Thurston. Why anyone would rather have Chavez or Acosta than another bat is beyond me.
Give the pitchers some work in minors-they need it more than a batter who would rarely hit in majors. Not enough work means Cox would refuse to use them anyway.
4,
Great article.
I’m a proponent of getting rid of “errors” all together and, in the process, the discernment between “earned” and “unearned” runs.
I just read on ESPN.com that the Mariners have slotted Casey Kotchman and Milton Bradley as their no. 3-4 hitters. I was always a Kotchman fan, but no. 3 he is not. I’ve never been a Bradley fan, and he’s managed to botch the no. 4 slot recently. I’d call the Mariners’ decision a wing and a prayer.
Mac, any chance we’ll be getting styles back sometime soon? Maybe it’s just my computer or explorer browser, but the default style just isn’t as user friendly.
Sorry, apparently the plugin that allowed style choices was messing up on the server side — it’s not meant for a blog as high-volume as this. I’m not crazy about this one either, but all the others have their problems too.
C’est la vie.
Asi es la vida.
Jon Heyman gives us some props…
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jon_heyman/03/26/braves.scoop/index.html?eref=sihp
5 — Bobby seems to like Chavez so I think the Braves will keep him anyway.
Though, Luis Valdez hasn’t been shipped out yet.
Actually, I just looked at Chavez’s stats, and they’re really bad, and Valdez has barely pitched. That guess that teaches me to say something before I research it. Kimbrel might make the team along with Reyes.
My favorite quote from the Heyman article:
Braves officials quash Ross trade rumor | Atlanta Braves.
That does indeed sound like a silly rumor. Trading Ross makes no sense unless we get a better backup catcher or a similar one for less money. And who would that be?
One week, there is just one week… one week, till opening day.
Mac,
Interesting about the stats. I was reading Mathews’ stats the other day and, while I knew he was a great player, I was blown away by how good he was during his peak years (fifties adn early sixties). He fell off a cliff pretty quickly–and he really doesn’t get his due today, in part because of Brooks Robinson, but, man, what a player. But, what does it say about those Braves teams that they had two truly great players in the middle of the lineup, plus Warren Sphan and a lot of other very good players, but won only two pennants and one World Series? Probably that there were a lot of really good teams back then.
You left out that Jason Heyward should pass Jeff Francoeur on the Atlanta career walks list. (Well probably not until next year in reality.)
Chavez ST line
7IP 20H 14ER 5BB 3K, no way he can be placed on the roster at this point. I wished they had given Lyman more of a look. I dont know who I want filling out those last two spots. I guess one of Reyes/Venters and the other Proctor
I personally don’t think it much matters to the team, but I’d use Acosta for the last spot. He’s not been very good, but he has shown that he can be the middle relief guy when Bobby needs an arm to eat up innings in a blow-out.
@24
Easy…I’m trying to eat lunch over here.
I saw someone mention this the other day, but some of the pictures are crazy.
http://tiny.cc/hehadupside
What with the getups the police are in? The dude was soliciting prostitution, not WMDs.
Every police dept has to justify those nifty “tactical” purchases they really want to make, but have no practical value. So they dress guys up in it regardless of if it’s warranted or not.
I wish they would just wear Charles Bronson masks. They’d look just as tough.
I feel bad for Heath and hope he’s able to get through this. Of all the terrible things a ballplayer could do, getting in touch with a nasty girl on Craigslist is pretty far from the bottom. Though it sure is stupid.
@28-
They do look pretty goofy, but perhaps they are undercover officers that do not want to be identified given that the local news station has a camera/cameras in the room.
Jo Jo retired 6 in a row today. He’s looking decent out of the pen and will most likely get one of the last spots. Its pretty much Jo Jo, Chavez, and Proctor for 3 spots, Im guessing
I’m beginning to suspect that Johnny Venters sucks.
Kimbrel has had a good spring, but his command of the strike zone definitely requires more work in the minors. Chavez has looked horrible, but did ok today and from Cox’s statements he just ran into bad luck yesterday. My guess is that it’s JoJo and Chavez unless Chavez implodes during this last week. With Procotr’s latest outings and the financial incentives, I would bet they hold him down for at least 3 weeks. I don’t see too many options beyond these 3 guys.
per DOB – As for Reyes, Cox again praised the improvements he’s made, particularly in his breaking ball, and the spring he’s had. But at same time, he acknowledged that it’s a “predicament” because if Reyes is in the bullpen, they won’t have any starter at Triple-A who’s ready to fill in as a spot starter if a rotation member gets hurt or needs to skip a start or two for whatever reason
Shows what Bobby thinks of Parr and Redmond.
Blanco optioned to Class AAA, more cuts coming | Atlanta Braves.
Dear Mark Bowman,
Please hire me to proofread your articles. Spell check ain’t cutting it and your laziness annoys me.
sorry but if Jo Jo is decent out of the pen and better than Chavez, why would the Braves send him back down to be a starter?
an extra lefty out of the pen in this division is a good thing. Minor can spot start if need be
Medlen can certainly spot start as necessary too.
Jo-Jo, Medlen and Minor can all spot start. Surely one of them would be available in a pinch even if Jo-Jo and Medlen are in the Braves bullpen. I’d send Kimbrel down. He’s got good stuff and needs to work on it, not sit in the bullpen for 8-10 days at a stretch.
If you have Jo Jo in the pen, he could do similar to Medlen and do 2-3 inning stints.
That would keep him stretched out and if you need a spot start, use both in tandem.
interesting story on heyward.
http://tinyurl.com/yzbxpnp
Thanks for that story, Ryan. Seems like every outlet is going to have one soon.
csg is right.
Our lefty-less starting rotation is a bad idea when you’re fighting the Phillies for the crown.
‘Course, we gotta beat the Marlins first …
35 — I thought Jo-Jo was out of options, though I could be wrong
I love this quote from Bobby..
“I love to put him in the lineup,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. “I’ve been playing him so much, but when I don’t have him in there, it’s like I miss him some. I’m not kidding.”
Sounds like the line near the end of Superbad, where Evan and Seth talk about how much they’ll miss each other when they go off to college.
Pat Venditte is scheduled to pitch against us tomorrow. Should be fun.
well, the braves, fortunately for jesse chavez, didnt pay attention to his spring.
http://tinyurl.com/yh9ajzt
What, keep Scott Proctor down for service time relief? He’ll be so pissed he won’t sign long term!
46,
The only Braves player who is out of options is Melky Cabrera.
50,
Literal LOL.
I had my fantasy draft yesterday. We draft auction style, with all players on a single team available, when said team is drawn out of a hat. I landed four Braves: Prado $1 (is eligible at 2b, 1b, 3b, mi, ci—a nice situation)
Troy Glaus for $3—-only available at beginning of season at 3b—20 games in will be able to play 1st. Tim Hudson for $3, and the SAY-HEY-JAY Kid $5 only had to bid against one guy, as everyone else more or less said, “Who?”
Randy, it sounds like you’re in a league full of suckers.
Great article Ryan thanks for the link. J-Hey has some huge expectations to fill.
well, without making it official, by a couple of different sources, it looks like the braves have made their 2 bullpen choices in chavez and jojo. it was down to 5. venters had a horrible day and proctor is going to AAA. kimbrel looks to be headed there as well.
http://tinyurl.com/ybctygy
Yeah, I have won this league the last two years, but I really didn’t do a very good job keeping my money together this year. The big mistake I made is I didn’t realize Glaus was available as a 3b, until after the draft results appeared on the site. With only three teams left, and only one good 3b, I panicked and spent $20 on Arod. The Royals were the last team drawn out, I could have bypassed Arod, and had enough money to outbid everyone for Greinke, which would have been a great pairing with Lincecum who I took for $17. Braves fans, will be glad to know that when Texiera was brought up, I went and relieved myself.
34 – Based on his Spring so far, what would an “implosion” by Chavez look like?
@57 – In the midst of a windup he spontaneously combusts and nothing but a baseball cap remains on the pitching rubber.
This is great:
It’s only 10am, but hang with me here. Jeff Francoeur just appeared on the “Boomer & Carton Show” on WFAN in New York and he unveiled an interesting strategy to get Mike Pelfrey to step up his intensity this season:
“I think what I’m going to do before each start is just go up and just punch him in the face.”
Knowing Frenchy, he would probably just swing and miss, only to punch Jose Reyes in the thyroid, so a pinch-hitter is probably in order here.
Mac,
having not beeon on the site for a while, not thrilled that i can’t switch the style. This style is not user friendly at ALL.
Yeah, it appears the same time loop keeps happening every spring where we guarantee 1-2 bullpen spots on guys who stink and ultimately will cost us a few games and be cut by May.
@61 – Don’t you mean pinch-puncher?
@62—You are incredibly handsome.
good read on us drafting Heyward and how it all took place that day
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-heyward032810
I think the final two bullpen slots are going to the right guys (assuming it’s Chavez and Reyes). Chavez has had a bad spring, but it has to be stated again and again that Spring Training stats are meaningless. His track record in the majors is not great, but it’s definitely better than the other guys (most have no ML time). Jo-Jo on the other hand has had a good spring (oops, I violated my own rule), but the point is that he’s shown potential again and again in the minor leagues. He’s been bad in the majors, but maybe the bullpen is where he needs to be. Whatever the case, this is an extremely low risk proposition. If he does well, the Braves are in good shape with either a reliable bullpen slot or a slightly more valuable trade piece. If he does poorly (especially knowing Cox’s bullpen usage patterns), he just bides his time until Proctor is ready in a few weeks.
All of the other guys would require opening a roster spot. Why do this for 3 weeks, just to bring up Proctor as a replacement?
FanGraphs is talking about the Braves (#8 in their Organizational Rankings) today, and AAR gets them started with a run-down of the current talent.
Anyone here taken the GMAT?
Tips?
On the GMAT – I took it and did well. You can get books that have CDs with tests on them. There are also a few free web sites. I would often spend break times and take a 5 to 10 minute test. I also set aside one week for a full review and spent the day before in a hotel and at the library preparing. The whole process for me was about 3 months.
Took the GMAT about 10 years ago and did really well on the non-writing part (740 of 800). Only got like a 3 on the writing part though. All I did was go to a bookstore and get one of those test prep books (about $25) and it had sample tests and prepared you about as good as anything else. The test may have changed from when I took it though.
Randy…
first off, PRADO? seriously? Glaus? Serious? In FANTASY?
i got Heyward for 14$. 3 year keeper league. +9 bucks for 3 years…so, 23$ for Heyward in 2013-2014 is going to be a steal.
Got Felix for 35. Grienke for 25 (NO #@#$!). Johnson (josh) for 5. BMac for 24. Fielder for 35. Borboun, A. Escobar, Matusz, Bailey, Valverde all for 1$. B. Roberts for 5$. Markakis for 20 (ugh). Kemp for 28 (keeper). BJ Upton for 8$.
Uggla for 3 (ugh). Berkman for 2$ (which could be a steal). Madson (phillies) i just picked up for a buck. Dempster, Shields and G. Floyd all for a buck.
I did overpay on NMark and Fielder (and possibly Felix) and, for this year at least, Heyward. But I also just picked up Drew (SS from the Diamondbacks) for a buck…
So…i am a Braves Homer, but in fantasy, the Braves have 5 guys that should be on your team: Hanson, JJ, BMac, Heyward and Escobar (his lack of steals at SS is horrific for a Fantasy team, though).
Prado for $1 is a great pickup. Like Randy said, he’s eligible at multiple positions, and last year he hit .307 with 11 homers.
Manny Acosta to the Mets (claimed on waivers)
I agree with Mac on Prado, and this is why I like him. In this league, where you can change your line-up DAILY, Prado is great to have as he can fill so many spots. I also like Glaus ALOT, I just now watched him hit a shot 400 ft against the Yankees that was called a ground-rule double. I definitely believe Glaus hits more hrs and more rbis than Heyward this year.
Chris, the question I have to ask you looking at your salaries, is what kind of cap do you have? In our draft we select 20 players for a grand total of $100 (you can keep up to three from last year—by multiplying their salary by years i.e Heyward would be $10 next year. I kept Mauer (last year $8—this year $16, next year he would be $48 and not keepable.)
Chris, I also believe that Chipper would have to be considered a top fantasy player, although coming off a disappointing ’09, he did lead the league in hitting in ’08.
#71
Like Francoeur, it looks like we’ve unleashed another sleeper agent on the Flushing crew.
Hudson is certainly a decent fantasy pitcher, and Wagner will get you a number of saves at a cheap price.
I’d rank the Braves fantasy players for 2010 as 1, BMac 2, Chipper 3, Heyward 4, Glaus 5, Hudson 6, Hanson 7, JJ 8, Prado, 9, Wagner 10, Escobar.
3B is really weak in fantasy. Both Glaus and Prado could be worth-while starts there. And for the price, they’re probably as good as anyone else you’ll find.
Thank God. I was so sick of Manny Acosta.
didnt think Acosta was placed on waivers, thought he still had options. No one has said that he was claimed by the Mets either
I am not surprised some1 picked up Acosta, but I am laughing that it’s the Mets.
where and who is reporting this?
71,
I was unaware he was ever on waivers to begin with. In fact, he has options, so there’s absolutely no reason he would’ve been on waivers unless he was DFA’d to make room for someone (Heyward, possibly), and not to sound arrogant or anything, but I’m pretty sure I would’ve heard about that.
I’ve seen no official report about Acosta being either placed on waivers or claimed by someone else, the only thing I’ve seen is he was optioned to AAA, which the Braves can do without exposing him to waivers.
In short, what csg said at 80, what is the source of this information? Without one, I don’t believe you.
he was placed on optional waivers…the mets claimed him at about 1:45 today…
Bowman, DOB, mlbtrade rumors, mlb, Mets site, and the Braves site (got nothing)
you wouldve thought that someone wouldve reported this by now if its true. Andrew, Im not saying you’re wrong either. Just wondering
my source of information is in florida, thats about all i’m willing to say here.
He’s not a barber, is he? ‘Cause we’ve got one of those sources already.
fair enough, i’m surprised to not see it reported yet, and if it turns out to be wrong, i’ll certainly come and own up to it, but its accurate, and i’m confident it’ll be reported here in the next couple hours…
Gotcha.
I don’t understand why the Braves would place him on optional waivers. There’s no reason. He has options, they can option him without placing him on waivers.
Not that they wouldn’t (and have a good reason to), I just don’t see why they would. Why not just option him then DFA him if they need the roster spot later? It doesn’t make sense to me.
I’m with ya, and was surprised when I heard it, and I made that EXACT same remark, asking “didn’t he have options left…wasn’t he optioned…” and was given a reply “optional waivers…”
ETA – i just asked one more time for clarification to make sure I was correct to my friend in Florida and he said “it’s done except for the final paperwork, he was claimed by, and is now a Met.” so i guess we can expect the story any minute now…
we will see. I dont care either way, but good job on the info if true
It’s pretty obvious why the Braves wouldn’t just option him to the minors — they saw an opportunity to give him to the Mets. He will help us far more as a Met than he would have in Gwinnett.
Am I the only one who still thinks Acosta can be a viable late-innings option?
I’ve lost faith in Acosta, but 90 was mostly tongue-in-cheek. I don’t get why they would DFA him, either.
If he’s going to be given a chance in late innings, then I hope it’s not with the Braves. He seems to thrive in low pressure, so, for me, he’d be in the mop up role.
I think Acosta can get major leaguers out, but he can’t do it in the late innings. If we managed to give him to the Mets, I’m fine with that.
Okay, is this theme better, guys?
Uh… this theme’s a little vegetarian, innit?
I’m working on header images now.
I liked the old theme better.
Now get off my lawn you whippersnappers!
OK, so it is official, Andrew B is right. Kudos for getting that information and thanks for understanding my skepticism.
Damn.
Also, I don’t really care about the theme, but the numbered comments feature of the old one was a huge draw.
Crazy, man.
Agreed that the lack of numbering on the comments is a change for the worse.
Sex.
Old theme = Chipper.
New theme = Norton.
Pagination is not good either.
Does anybody have any idea (even an educated guess) as to who will start on Opening Day? I think the official site still has Lowe as #1 but I can’t imagine he’d get the nod over the other three.
Okay, numbers back and pagination gone. Better?
Every article I read by Mark Bowman provides me indications that there is reason to believe that there’s a chance Bowman is seemingly allergic to declarative statements.
Let’s go with this one for now, though I’ll have to mess with the sidebars.
This one works for me.
Wow! I come back two hours later and everything is psychedelic. Love the opening page, I’m sure the bright blue and green will work well when I get used to it. Nice job, Mac!
YES! Thank you.
Uh, 111 was a little early, I guess.
Okay, new poll. You have until midnight tonight.
Love this one.
Oof, can the background colors of the comments be toned down?
The whole thing seems entirely too busy, I’m not a fan.
I’m no fan of Acosta but the Braves cleared 2 spots on the 40 man by moving Abreu and Redmond so I don’t see why they’d expose Acosta to waivers. They need a spot for Heyward and they’ll eventually need one for Proctor. Wonder if the Acosta move means either Thurston or Venters has made the team.
Mets claim Acosta off waivers from Braves | Atlanta Braves.
I personally like the homepage but not the thread layout.
I don’t suppose anybody knows CSS, do they?
@119 – I do.
Well, if I forward you the theme could you figure out how to tone down the comment colors?
I’m pretty sure I could.
Would Ryan Garko be reasonable Glaus insurance? (I figure there must be a reason why he’s suddenly without a team.)
Hinske is your Glaus insurance. Assuming a 12 man staff, you get Cabrera, Hinske, Infante, Ross, and Conrad/Thurston as your bench.
@ 67,68
Thanks guys
I love the Mets, they keep helping us to get rid of players I don’t want!!!
there is a mets advertisement on the left hand side of the main page.
Nothing I can do about that. It’s just Google doing its context thing.
Joshua did some tinkering and toned down the colors. Is that better, guys?
Better. That green wasn’t working for me. Frontpage looks pretty good, other than the Mets jerseys obviously.
The two ads I always get are for Mets gear and Notre Dame. I don’t think Google has quite figured me out yet.
Exposing Acosta and letting the Mets pick him up is puzzling. Acosta wasn’t out of options and even with Heyward and Proctor added to the 40-man, we still have an open spot (after Abreu cleared waivers). I wonder if this clears the way for a minor trade for a bullpen arm or adding someone like Kimbrel (instead of Chavez) to the 40 man. Anyone have any insight on this?
@116 – sorry for the mostly redundant post – I missed yours originally.
Okay, I’m restarting the poll with two choices. I’ll leave it up to midnight tomorrow.
They could have pulled him back, but didn’t. They’re clearing roster space, obviously — and just as obviously, couldn’t find a taker for Acosta in a trade. Why they need two roster spaces is interesting. They already had space for Heyward.
Damn…Acosta sucks the big one. Glad to see him go.
I am sick with spring fever…thinking for some crazy reason the Braves have a shot at the division this year.
You know why? Because the warm southern winter has turned into 70 degree sunny days…and the Braves are healthy.
Can we stay healthy?
Can we hit more homeruns?
Can we please find a damn leadoff hitter?
Will NY Mets suck my left gonad?
A lot to be answered. Bring on April 5th.
Maybe they’re just keeping roster spots open for Kimbrel and/or Proctor.
They’re also going to have trouble fitting all these pitchers in Gwinnett and Mississippi.
We have even more pitchers behind them. I heard we have released Barrett, Railsback, Himpsl, Gunderson, and McMillan.
Maybe, we should draft more position players.
This is cool, I think:
“The ambidextrous Pat Venditte allowed one earned run and two hits while working 1 1/3 innings for New York in his first appearance against Major Leaguers. The 24-year-old reliever pitched right-handed to four of the seven batters he faced and was only damaged by Matt Young’s sacrifice fly. Venditte ended his outing by throwing right-handed to switch-hitter Brooks Conrad, who grounded out.”
So what’s the rule when Venditte faces a switch hitter? Does the hitter have to pick a side and stick with it, or does the pitcher have to choose first? Can the hitter switch sides during an at bat?
Updated: never mind, I read the game article and it explains the pitcher must declare a side first.
“Jair Jurrjens is already 25th in wins by an Atlanta Brave…. He could move into the top fifteen this year.”
That blows my mind.
it was from peanut or dob, but they were saying that the 3 40 man spots will probably go to thurston, proctor, and heyward.
#138, there’s a fun clip on youtube that caused the rule to be made.
Basically Venditte was facing a switch hitter and kept changing his mind which hand to pitch with, which caused the hitter to walk to the other side of the plate. It went on for a fair amount of time.
@139
Really??
So I guess that puts him somewhere between Chuck James and Mike Hampton…
@142:
I don’t want to look.
Oddly enough, when I first checked the site last night I saw a really nice dead simple design with no background at all (just text on white)… and everybody complaining about the colors. When I reloaded a few minutes later I saw some colors and a design much like what I see now. I like the new look for the most part.
The question on the Acosta thing for me (at the moment anyway) is what’s the over/under on him making us regret he’s a met more than Francouer making us regret HE is a met?
I’m totally in the dark as to why the Braves would expose Acosta to waivers, but I don’t think it matters to us one whit. However, Manny’s probably better than most of the middle relief guys that the Mets have.
Mac, I like the new theme better than the old. Thanks! One suggestion: Is it possible to make the middle column with the posts wider, at the expense of one or both of the sidebars?
BTW, one of the great things about the new theme is that the ticker showing the time left to edit or delete a post now sits wholly within the post itself. It floated around indiscriminantly with the old theme.
Not exactly a devastating loss and I have a feeling we have a book on Manny so please, Mets, throw him out there all 19X against us this year.
The Mets fans I know are deluded. I think the Nats have a good chance to even have the Mets in 5th place in the division.
AR – I’m in DC and have season tix to the Nats so I see them a lot. I’d bet that the Nats and Mets duke it out for 4th and 5th until the final month when they play a three game set in DC. The Nats play the Braves and Phils 12 times in September, with the Marlins, Astros and Pirates sprinkled in. The Mets play us and the Phils 11 times, with the Cubs, Brewers, Marlins and Pirates thrown in. I’d put my money on the Nats, especially with the Mets history of fading down the stretch.
Mac, I’ve got a fair amount of experience with WordPress, if you’d like to try to customize the theme a little more, or make a new one from scratch.
I’d rather have Conrad than Thurston, but the Braves apparently like Thurston better than Conrad + Acosta. Unless they’re going to shock us by bringing Brandon Hicks to the ATL, I’m not a fan of this move.
If choosing Conrad or Thurston is a difference maker, the difference will be between 3rd and 4th.
This from a piece by Crasnick on Strasburg:
“And the Mets used their five No. 1 [amateur draft] picks on Darryl Strawberry, Paul Wilson, Tim Foli, Shawn Abner and Steve Chilcott.”
Tee hee!
What happened to Reid Gorecki?
151—I don’t disagree, which is why it’s puzzling to me that they think it’s worth throwing Acosta away to keep one over the other.
@153 Signed with the Yankees as a FA.
MLBTR on Manny to the Mets:
“The Mets snagged a quality arm from their division rivals, but now they must help his stuff translate to results.”
And THAT is obviously their strength (see: every pitcher not named Santana)
Acosta is a head case. Very weak minded for a professional athlete. Dude was not a grinder.
@157 – Not so sure about the psychology stuff. As far as I could tell, all he could throw over the plate was a hard flat fastball. That kind of stuff gets pounded by ML hitters.
Looks like Blalock is going to opt out of Tampa rather than go to the minors – maybe that’s the mystery guy we want. Couldn’t hurt. If he can fake 2nd base at all, he’d be more useful than anyone else we got now.
Here’s the link to the video. Unfortunately, I’m unable to embed it. Great stuff.
King Kaufman on The Neifi Index. Trenidad Hubbard also gets a mention.
Im guessing with our pitching depth and lack of infield depth that its now pretty obvious that the Braves didnt want to try and move Conrad off the 40 man for Thurston. Acosta walks too many guys and it doesnt bother me to see him go. Isnt Parr on the 40 man? Seems like he could be shuffled off and no one would care
BFEDREC, has Francoeur ever made us regret that he’s a met
The toned down colors are better, Mac. I honestly like both themes and could go either way.
Just bought the MLB At Bat 2010 app for my blackberry, and now I’m listening to the live broadcast through my phone. Pretty cool (though I did have to hear Lowe give up a first inning bomb).
Truth be told csg… no, not really. Though he was nominally not bad for them… and if they had the rest of their ship in order, him being good for them would be annoying were that to happen. I wasn’t asking (or meaning to) if Acosta was going to make us regret him being a Met more than Francouer HAS made us regret him being, but is Acosta more or less likely to get his head on straight and be good for the Mets in the future than Jeffy is.
Looks like somebody tried to allow the middle column to be wider, but now it’s all dropped down below the sidebars.
166,
What browser are you using. I have that problem on lots of wordpress sites (including this one and my own) when I use internet explorer. If you hold down CTRL and move around your scrolling wheel, you can zoom the page in/out, which sometimes corrects the problem.
Firefox… it fixed itself when I just came back again… so either it was temporary site thing (which has happened the last couple of days, and isn’t a problem), or temporary me thing (which happens semi-regularly here from work as they block so many random things).
That was me. I tried a new stylesheet to fix the overruns on the sidebars and that happened.
Anyone know where I can go to see a player’s complete injury history?
Kaz Matsui versus Derek Lowe: a little swinging bunt went down the first-base line, slowly rolling on the foul side of the chalk as Lowe watched and hoped. It stopped with about a millimeter of the ball actually on the chalk.
Test
So the Mets have officially replaced the Royals as “The Island of Misfit Braves”?
Met Injury #1
Daniel Murphy out 2-6 weeks with a knee injury.
if you werent completely in love with diaz yet, read this…
http://tinyurl.com/y8cmqfj
Gotta love Diaz.
dude is one of the classiest guys on a pro ball team ever
Matt Diaz: great American, or greatest American?
Daniel Murphy out two to six weeks with a knee. link
With the Mets medical staff on the case, I’ll take the six.
I was just talking about him today and how that annoying Irish rock song in “The Departed” is his walking-to-the-plate music (just saw the movie today. Awesome stuff.) His ears and knee must have been burning.
The Royals are still in the misplaced Braves sweepstakes. Scott Thorman went deep twice today, they’re giving him a chance to make the opening day roster.
Lidge is looking pretty darn weak right about now. I think he’s in for an awful year, and there’s nobody else in Philly’s bullpen to really kick people’s ass in the late innings. IMO the Phillies are looking very vulnerable due to their bullpen.
I told you we needed to keep the Mighty Thor.
Speaking of walking-to-the-plate music, I am crossing my fingers that Heyward goes with the theme music from “Shaft’s Big Score.” That would be the coolest thing ever- well, maybe that’s just me but it would be pretty cool. My preference would be the part where the backup singers go “The man’s trouble, he’s been to my house” but I would also accept “He’s a cool dude and shovels his food.”
@173
Love the Diaz.
Oh, and isn’t that annoying Irish song from “The Departed” O’Flaherty’s intro music?
so before the Mets have even gotten started
Jeffrey is their RF’r
Beltran is on the DL
Reyes is on the DL
Murphy is their 1B (apparently he’s out 6 weeks also)
Barajas is their starting catcher
4/5 of their rotation is Pelfrey, Maine, Perez, and Niese
they might finish last in this division and I know how bad the Nats are
@180 – I think I heard Heyward using “Get Back” by Ludacris during the one ST game I caught. Not very cool at all. I’d recommend “Who’s to Blame” from the Death Wish II soundtrack.
Braves Don’t Want Edgar Osuna Back – Talking Chop.
It’s almost hilarious the misfortune/ineptitude/sheer stupidity that has characterized the Mets. For the constraints that the Braves have had, they’ve had so much more success than the Mets, and I think this year will show the fruits of the labors of the Braves and Mets, obviously in positive and negative terms. If the Braves, with the good decisions they’ve made while their payroll and management personnel have shifted, had the payroll budget the Mets have had, they’d be a force. While the Phillies have gutted their farm system and the Mets have just shot themselves in the foot, the Braves have quietly maintained (if not improved) their farm system and have really improved their team. As I look at the Mets, my hat’s off to the Braves.
Understanding Atlanta and its fans – TrueHoop Blog – ESPN.
#187
At least Luda is from the ATL.
Was checking out my MLB-preview-issue SI today—they picked the Braves to win the WC, then lose to Colorado in the NLDS—and I’m reminded why the Phils are so scary over the course of a season.
That lineup could be better this year—I’ll guess that Rollins improves on last year’s .296 OBP. Ultimately, their bullpen could cost them another title—that and Hamels’ WS suckitude did the trick last year—but over 162 games, I don’t see us taking them. I wanna be wrong, but that lineup, with 4 consecutive guys slugging over .500, just bludgeons people.
(According to the projected ’10 lineups, only the Yanks & Twins can boast that. Though I know that Chipper, McCann and, hopefully, Heyward could slug .500, none of this year’s starters did it last year.)
Of course, Halladay could make quite a difference in the post-season. If Hamels returns anywhere near form, Philly’s a beast.
FWIW, it seems that my office server is Satanic or something, so I’m kinda locked outta the forum from there until I figure something out. That’s what I get for listening to Slayer at the gym, I guess.
Old theme is back. For now. I have another I will try out some time. So new poll.
New post.