Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers – Box Score – May 12, 2010 – ESPN.
Now that’s the team we thought we were getting this offseason. Can we move to the Central?
For the first three innings, the Braves were hitting the ball hard with nothing to show for it, while Derek Lowe was shutting down the Brewers. Since we knew the latter couldn’t last, it was a little worrisome. Hinske, playing left field again, broke through with an RBI double to score Glaus and make it 1-0. Heyward, in the third spot again, walked with one out in the sixth, then stole second, coming home on a two-out single by Glaus. The Braves couldn’t score another run that inning, winding up leaving the bases loaded.
I could just feel what was about to happen, as Lowe gave up three straight singles to start the bottom of the sixth, then Fielder just missed a three-run homer and Jody Gerut stupidly tried to steal third, getting thrown out. Lowe still couldn’t get out of the inning with the lead, allowing a two-out double to tie the game at 2, but it could have been much worse.
Diaz led off the seventh with a pinch double, and McLouth — who just looks awful right now and obviously has some sort of problem — bunted him to third. Prado couldn’t get Diaz home, but of course Heyward had his back and doubled past first base to make it 3-2. McCann followed with a single to make it 4-2.
In the eighth, Conrad hit a two-run homer to give the bullpen some breathing room, 6-2. The ninth was a pathetic sight, the once-great Trevor Hoffman completely unable to do anything right. He walked Heyward and McCann, then after a popup by Glaus allowed a pinch double by Chipper. He got a flyout from Infante, but Conrad followed with a two-run double to make it 9-2, and finally Melky had to put the inning out of its misery by striking out looking.
Moylan, Saito, and Wagner finished up the game; you don’t normally want that, but Wagner in particular needed to get some work in; he wasn’t sharp and allowed a hit and a walk and needed 30 pitches (only half of them strikes) to get through the ninth.
This is how it was supposed to go. Still a lot of season left.
Heyward is such a tough out. I never imagined he would be this good, this early.
csg, from the last thread, I think Infante in center is a bad idea. That’s a pretty big hit to the defense, and it’s not like he’s Eric Hinske with the bat.
Winning is more fun than losing.
THE BOOK–Playing The Percentages In Baseball.
I asked a question at Bill James’ site yesterday — if Chipper retired after the season, would he hold the record for longest career playing for a single manager? The answer is yes — 16 years, breaking Drysdale’s record of 14 with Walter Alston.
And they’ll both have plaques in Upstate New York.
#2
Gotta have a CF who can catch the ball. Infante is a bit of a statue at SS.
And off days are just so much better after a win.
Meanwhile… If McLouth doesn’t start hitting (and I am convinced that he is hurt or ill) then we might as well bring up Schafer and put McLouth on the DL. Schafer’s a better defensive player than either McLouth or Melky. (We of course know that Melky isn’t going to hit.)
we are a sweep of the diamondbacks away (who have lost 5 straight) from being back above .500.
I think we might have walked in to a pair of platoons… Diaz and Hinske in Left, and Melky and Nate in CF… I imagine the CF platoon wouldn’t be strict, giving McLouth some starts even against lefties.
I wouldn’t hate it, as I expect Diaz to come around and carry his side… And in CF, one of those two has got to start hitting. Call it a competition rather than a platoon.
also, kj is in one of those slumps that only he gets into and he’s dropped his avg 39 points.
New poll.
Jason Heyward must be from Tennessee. He’s the only ten I see.
#5 – yeah I knew the Infante in CF wasnt a great solution, but neither is a Melky/Nate combo at the moment. I dont know what you do with Nate, but in two weeks if he isnt showing signs I think a Schafer/Nate swap may be coming.
I voted Neikro Case even though I think I like Trail of Dedmon more… I just have something against Trail of Dead. Maybe it’s that they’re a total Sonic Youth rip off…
From previous thread,
jjschiller,
I forgot about the Cardinals or tried to. But they are too good for the Central anyway.
What are the odds that Chipper gets knocked out of the 3-hole in favor of Heyward?
What are the odds that Heyward ends up with 40 more starts than Chipper this year?
What are the odds that Chipper DHes every interleague and World Series away game?
Conrad’s two homers doubled our home run production from that position this season.
If this were OOTP the answer would be obvious: Chipper still walks a ton so bat him leadoff. Put two guys with near .400 OBP in front of Heyward and let ‘er rip.
Chip
Prado
Heyward
Glaus
McCann
Esco
Hinske
Pick a crappy CF
That will get you the playoffs in OOTP.
Went to the last two games. It was phenomenal–for me anyway, less so for the hometown fans.
After the 5th, I too turned to my girlfriend and said that Lowe was in no way getting through the next inning unscathed. And, if not for the idiocy of the Brewers, it would have been much, much worse. Thank goodness for Jody Gerut!
Do both Escobar and Jurrjens get activated this weekend?
Yunel maybe. Jurrjens probably not.
AP game story says that Yunel will play in Gwinnett on Friday and should play in Atlanta on Saturday.
Here’s an excerpt from ESPN writer Howard Bryant’s new Hank Aaron biography. Anyone who reads the whole thing, please share your thoughts — I’m anxious to hear how it is. I Had a Hammer was one of my favorite books growing up.
I just ordered the book from Amazon. I would have gotten on Kindle and started reading immediately, but the hard copy price and Kindle price are the same, and given that I’ll take the hard copy.
Scuttlebutt says that it’s better than the Hirsch Mays bio.
my best friend in high school just got picked up to write for zondervan books (i think its the largest christian based publishing company in the u.s.). he has his first book coming out soon and should appeal to a lot of sec football fans on this blog. a story about my brother and i is actually in the book. here’s the link:
http://tinyurl.com/23ff7fn
so, any bold predictions for the lineup on friday? will chipper finally move from the 3rd spot? probably not..
I know Zondervan well — of course, I catalog books for a religious college library.
Friday’s lineup prediction:
Melky
Prado
Chipper
Heyward
Glaus
McCann
Hinske (more likely McLouth)
Norfante
I assume Chipper will stay at 3rd in the order. As such, I’d love to see Heyward batting 4th.
Well Kennedy is a righty, I’m thinking we see the lineup that was posted for Tuesday before Chipper was scratched.
Prado
Heyward
Chipper
McCann
Glaus
Hinske
Infante
McLouth
Pitcher
R, L, S, L, R, L, R, L, P
Unless Chipper gets scratched, or Melk might get a random start in CF.
BTW, anyone have a take on the league telling the Phillies to stop stealing signs? Bullpen coach with binoculars, Victorino on the bullpen phone in the dugout, the league actually SAYING something; all seems pretty damning.
Also, Rockies walkoff against the Phils. We gained on Mets, Marlins, and Phils. Kept pace with Nats.
I doubt it changes the results on the field much. Sign-stealing — at least of pitches — is awfully hard to actually make use of, in the moment. But of course there’s a placebo effect of getting away with something, having an edge, etc.
Still, Chase Utley isn’t about to stop hitting the ball, and Roy Halladay isn’t about to stop dominating.
It just makes me wonder how in depth it is, especially in their own park.
As far as I can tell, the purported evidence only tells me that the bullpen had figured out the indicator used when a runner is on second. It’d be pretty easy to tell, I figure, if they were somehow passing actual signs directly to the hitters in any given situation.
I am for stealing signs, but not so obvious as to have binoculars in the bullpen for it. Jim Bouton will tell you that binoculars in the pen are only for ‘shooting beaver.’
29 – that’s definitely more realistic. I do not see Bobby batting Heyward 4th. I think I would rather see Heyward 6th than 2nd. I just want some guys on base for him.
I think signs should be stolen if you can steal them. But someone in the bullpen or in the stands phoning them in, or players somehow watching on TV in the clubhouse passing them forward or anything like that; that’s cheating in spirit and in the the letter or the rules.
We’ve got 4 guys who can take a walk, and who can also slug: Chipper, McCann, Glaus and Heyward. Heyward is the only one of those who can score from first on a double. Any line up where Heyward hits in front of 2 of the 3 others, I’m fine with. Hitting in front of all 3, I like best. That’s why I was ecstatic with the lineup posted Tuesday before Chipper was scratched.
@29,
I’d love that line-up!
Ryan, thanks for the link to that book. I’ve met some Zondervan writers and have read several Zondervan published books. I had a particular professor who used Zondervan almost exclusively for his suggested readings. I think I’m going to pick up that book when it gets released.
I know Mac has a Kindle, and I assume others do too. Is it worth the cost? Are books that much cheaper than buying them in the bookstore/online?
Mostly, they’re cheaper, but the main reason I got one was that I was going to be in the hospital a lot and it’s more convenient to carry a Kindle than fifteen books.
Quoth Bobby,
“[Martin] Prado’s got a high on-base percentage, [Heyward] does, and when Chipper gets back in there, he’s always had a big on-base percentage,” Cox said of a potential lineup top. “Maybe that’ll help us.”
#37
Nothing against convenience, but I’m a hold-out on Kindle. Like some DJs, I’m old-school analog. I like books.
Sometimes there’s nothing better in the world than going into a bookstore (like The Strand in Manhattan) wanting a buy something new & having no idea what’s going to impress you that day.
Same way with record shops.
I like books too — hey, I’m not a librarian for no reason — but the Kindle has allowed me access to a lot more material than I would have been able to afford or get from the library.
I would prefer to see Chipper and Heyward going 2, 3 instead of the other way around.
Adam M — that’s cool that you caught a couple of games in Milwaukee. I wasn’t too excited about seeing the Bravos since they had been so crappy lately. (And my wife feels funny cheering against the home team and since we’ve adopted the Brewers as a team of interest.)
What do you think Hinske’s UZR or +/- or whatever would be over 150 games in LF?
Ipad for me at some point in time. I do more reading online now than books. I still love brick and mortar books stores though.
Man I sure would love it if this was the beginning of an offensive breakout. As far as batting order goes, whatever gets Jason the most at bats I am all in favor of. In the long run I think that the Glaus/Hinske acquisitions will pay off big time.
Hinske’s plus/minus numbers as an outfielder the last couple of years are slightly below average. The one year he played a significant amount in left, they were slightly above. The sample sizes are small, but I don’t think he’d kill you.
3 wins in a row. Hot damn!
Praise be to Kagan.
RJ Anderson says his arm sucks. Surprising, considering he’s played 3rd regularly.
Looks like the White Sox signed our boy Deunte Heath. He’s listed on their AA Roster.
Anyone see the Fangraphs piece on Failcoeur?
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/semper-failcoeur/
#49 – like most have said here, NY cant offer him a multi yr deal fast enough
made this post on another site and i’d like some help with it. i’m thinking about starting a yearly spreadsheet for shits and giggles, but i’d like to know if my info is accurate and aside from microsoft works, what software should i use? i did quite a bit of research on similar players and hopefully my numbers are close.
Warning: this is lengthy and please “scroll down” if not interested…
mlbcontracts.blogspot.com has our financial obligations for the 2011 season as 59 million to 6 players. We’ll get them out of the way:
derek lowe, chipper jones, tim hudson, kenshin, bmac, nate
assuming we pick up infante’s 2011 club option (which i didnt realize it was a club option) that adds 2.5 more (61.5)
so, that’s 61.5 million spent on 8 players. there are 8 players arb eligible and atleast 5 of those will get picked up (escobar, jj, prado, o’flaherty, moylan). the questionables will obviously be diaz, melky, and saito (he’s actually arb eligible for the 3rd time).
with that being said, those 5 players’ increase in salary could reach 8-12 million on top of what they were already making (stephen drew made 3.4 million his first year of arb eligibility and i think we all know that escobar is better than him).
so, lets shoot the middle and say those 5 players collectively cost an extra 10 million. with their salaries already at a collected 3 million for this year, that’s 13 million+61.5= 74.5 million on 13 players.
let’s continue: 12 spots right now..
minimum guys:
medlen- 500k
hanson- 500 k
heyward- 500k
conrad- 500 k
venters- 500 k
kimbrel-500 k
freeman-500 k
schafer-500 k
total for minimum players: 4 million
20 players: 78.5 million dollars
5 roster spots available: 3 bullpen spots, 1 outfielder, and a backup catcher
2010’s payroll: 83.9 mil
if nothing changes, there will be approx. 5.5 million dollars to fill 5 spots.
oh, and by the way, my original point was paying 3.5-4 million dollars to melky next year to be our 4th outfielder was insane considering how cash strapped we will be. i actually had people to argue with me…
i’ve already found my first mistake…i can’t count. after infante, it should be 7. d’oh! which make 6 spots to fill with 5.5 million. YOUCH!
melky wont be here and I would be surprised if one of Diaz/Nate isnt gone also. Wagner is retiring and I think they’ll move KK’s salary for Minor or Medlen. Itll be interesting to see what the long term plans are for JJ and Yunel also
c. shorter – I was wondering if you were there. I had bought tix awhile back, and honestly, had I planned merely to buy them this week, I wouldn’t have gone. I’ve been so depressed by the Braves lately. Now, of course, I’m happy I went. So go figure.
For Frenchy haters out there, enjoy:
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/semper-failcoeur/
tonight
Blanco 1-3, hitting .283 now, picked up his 7th SB
Freeman 0-4
Redmond 3IP 6H 5ER 2BB 5K
Schafer 1-3 1R 1BB
Does Tyler Clippard get a decision every night for the Nats ? This is getting ridiculous.
I find that off days are harder to take when the Braves are playing well. When the Braves win, it really makes the rest of my day go a little better. And they can’t win if they don’t play.
I see Melky and Diaz both out of here next year.
I also believe Chipper will retire but obviously I have no real evidence of that.
It figures that as my Braves win 3 in a row, my hockey team, the Bruins, lose 3 in a row.
If they don’t pick it up, I could see both of them gone by the All-Star Break.
Off topic real quick, As Magic Fan, who would you rather us face in the ECF, Cleveland or Boston? I’d personally like to see Shaq and Dwight Howard square off, since Shaq’s all pissed about the Superman thing. Any thoughts?
Anybody watch the highlights of Strassburg (sp?)? OMG.
What is that nasty pitch that drops a good eighteen inches? Can’t just be a circle change, can it?
#61 – pretty sure its just his standard curveball
for those wondering, its true
Tim Hudson has a higher avg and slg% than both Melky and Diaz. Nate barely edges him out in slg .271 compared to Huddy’s .267
Can we put Hudson in LF?
I have tickets to the Nats game on June 6 in the hope that it will be Strasburg’s first game. Since I have the ticket, I’m sure the Nats will decide to wait.
Re Kindle–I love books too, but I’m running out of bookshelf space at home and people tell me that the books are so much cheaper (and I rarely use the library because I like to own my books). I understand that it is easier to read for those of us whose eyes are getting older. Have any of you tried to get books that were not available on Kindle?
Got to watch the Strasburg vs. Gwinnet game on MASN and not that our AAA lineup is anything to fear, but he was fairly dominant. He is going to be pretty darn good, and I wouldn’t put it past Washington to have a .500 season.
Of course, in the coming years, we’ll get plenty of opportunities to see him. That’s the scary part.
Schafer Watch: in two games for Mississippi, he’s 3-8 with a double and a walk, and has scored two runs.
@65 – Rob Neyer was guessing this morning that Strasburg would debut June 1 in Houston, so it sounds like you might get lucky.
Neyer’s nuts. No way Strasburg doesn’t debut at home.
#68 – that much closer
Game for an off day… If there were an expansion draft, and the Braves could only protect one player, they’d protect Heyward. If they were able to protect two, they’d protect Heyward and Hanson. If they were able to protect three, who would be the third?
Also, ESPN is reading my mind. I kept meaning to do this to the footage of McCann’s triple.
McCann.
JJ, Huddy, BMac, Prado, or Yesco are the main ones that come to mind… if they picked one I’d guess BMac (though with his eye troubles I’m sure they’d think about it)… Yesco’s got enough “mental” stuff going on I think they’d leave him unprotected. JJ seems to have “getting hurt” issues so they may have to let him hang. Huddy’s probably #2 on the list because he’s delivering and has a pretty decent contract. Prado’s not special enough (when he’s not hitting .400) to be “the guy” they’d protect I think…
McCann.
75—Huddy is nowhere near #2 on the list. If he is, I want a completely new front office.
Mac – don’t you mean who would Atlanta protect that is not signed to a lt contract? If that’s the case, I would say Escobar first, then Jurrjens, Prado, Medlen. As much as Braves mgmt is frustrated with Escobar, they have to realize that he is far and away their best option at SS within their organization. If you look at their entire roster I would have to go with McCann.
Protect overall.
I’m not sure who is number 3, but the last on the list would have to be Derek Lowe with Kenshin Kawakami close behind.
To me, the interesting question is: Who’s the 8th player you protect? Heyward, Hanson, McCann, Yunel, Prado, Jurrjens, and Medlen are the obvious first seven, and they’re obviously a tier (ot two) above anyone else on the roster, value-wise. Off the top of my head, it seems like you could make an argument for anyone but Lowe next.
Melky.
I think then you start protecting minor league players like Freddie Freeman. Kimbrel (sp?), too, as he is young and fits the mold of a reliever that might be special (or might not) down the road.
Minor leaguers aren’t in play, are they?
But I forgot about Kimbrel. He’s clearly in the top 8, and the interesting question is: Who’s 9th?
Let’s say the 40 man roster is in play.
Seriously, though. I’d go with Heap or JJ. It depends on which side of the bed I got up on, I guess.
I know it sounds crazy, but based on service time and value, I’m thinking I may take Medlen 3rd. He’s better than JJ, stuff wise, and BMac is about to start getting expensive.
I think you flip a 3-sided coin to pick between Heap, Esco, and JJ.
Offtopic: Glaus is hitting 386/440/568 in May. Holy crap!
McCann – left handed hitting catchers with power don’t grow on trees.
As long as he ain’t going blind, McCann.
1. Heyward
2. Hanson
3. Medlen
4. McCann
(I think Medlen is going to be really good in the rotation, maybe as soon as…I dunno…now?…and McCann’s eye issues area bit troubling. Although, I can be talked into swapping Medlen and BMac.)
A year ago it would be easy, McCann. Even this off-season it would still be McCann. But with the eye issues looking like they could continue to be a problem or even get worse than I don’t know.
Freddie Freeman’s not on the 40 man so I’m assuming he’s still young enough we don’t have to protect him.
So:
1) Hanson
2) Heyward
3) Jair
4) McCann
5) Prado
6) Hudson
7) Medlen
8) Kimbrel
9) Chipper
10) Moylan
11) Yunel
12) O’Flarety
13 Diaz
14) Schafer
15) Micheal Dunn
16) Stephen Marek
17) Nate
18) Lee Hyde
19) Luis Valdez
20) Jeff Lyman
21) Kyle Cofield
22) Jose Ortegno
After that I think you’re looking at folks that are either free agents next year (Glaus, Wagner, Saito, Ross, Hinske,Omar) so protecting doesn’t really help or guys you’d have no problem letting someone take the contract off your hands (Melky, Lowe, Kawakami) or guys that just aren’t valuable enough to protect (Jesse Chavez, Brandon Hicks, Brooks Conrad, Gregor Blanco, Diory, Sammons, Parr, Jo-Jo, Cristhian Martinez)
85—Then add Schafer and make it a Top 9, with the 10th being the toughest question.
For me, those top 9 probably go in this order:
1. Heyward
2. Hanson
3. McCann
4. Escobar
5. Jurrjens
6. Medlen
7. Schafer
8. Prado
9. Kimbrel
5-7 are pretty interchangeable.
That would be one hell of an expansion team if each team could only protect one player.
McCann is tough for me to slot. The eyesight thing is turning into a long-term fiddling around with possible answers, and given the responsibility he has as a middle-of-the-order run producer, we’ve suffered for it. McCann’s problems have cost us more than Yunel’s, and while eyesight is more fixable than stupidity, the fact remains we haven’t fixed either yet.
1. Bad Henry County
2. Big Red
3. Yunel-what-the-hell-are-you-doing?
4. BMac
5. JJ
6. Medlen (umm..Cap Bill)
7. Schafer (I dunno…Pinhead? This nickname stuff is hard)
8. Prado (NItram Odarp)
9. Kimbrel (In keeping with Prado theme, Rengaw)
Edited
@92
Nice list, but you have Yunel too low. He’s a .300-hitting, gold glove quality, in-his-prime shortstop who’s only just now about to hit arbitration.
How can you put middle relievers and expensive vets in their mid-to late 30s above that?
I’ll admit to letting Yunel’s .561 current year OPS jade me a tad about him, along with his craziness, and the stories I hear that the rest of the team doesn’t like him (clubhouse cancer stuff).
I don’t want to turn this into an anti-Yunel pro-Yunel argument. I do think he’s got great value as defensive player.
Hey, guess what? Jason Heyward has a .451 wOBA. That’s the seventh-best wOBA in all of baseball. Here’s the list:
Andre Ethier 0.501
Justin Morneau 0.485
Jayson Werth 0.465
Ryan Braun 0.463
Miguel Cabrera 0.461
Paul Konerko 0.459
Jason Heyward 0.451
Did you notice who isn’t on that list? Like, for example, Chase Utley (.442), Albert Pujols (.418), Joe Mauer (.393)…
Sure, it’s just mid-May, and those names and numbers will change plenty in the coming months. Still, right now, at age 20, Jason Heyward is the seventh-best hitter in all of baseball.
Baseball Prospectus had an article on player value last week, basically comparing value of performance against salary.
Escobar was third. In all of baseball.
for those wondering, its true. The Astros just went into St Louis and swept the Cards in a 3 game series
@100,
It just shows that, in a lot of cases, it’s not who you play but when you play them. The Braves caught the Cards when the Cards were hot and they were not. It’s a long, long season.
How important is Jason Heyward to the Braves’ offense?
Well… in games in which Jason Heyward has started, the Braves as a team are batting .250/.349/.383. In games in which he hasn’t appeared, they’re batting .189/.275/.260.
Coincidence? Um… probably not.
Yost in as manager in KC.
Let me clarify my earlier post… I was trying to get in the head of a GM (that might look like ours), and for the short-term, Huddy seemed like less of a “risk” than some of the guys, and if you’re only protecting 3 guys they might want to keep a known over a question mark. Bmac’s eyes, Yesco’s Brain, JJ’s health, Chipper’s everything… For me, I’d have a tough time deciding between JJ or BMac. BMac’s eyes worry me a bit, but I have confidence he’ll pull out of his slumps if he can SEE, the only value question is how long you have him and how much he’ll cost. JJ’s health worries me a bit, but I love him when he’s healthy and if you have the chance to sign him for a few years… Yesco’s mental lapses and health each worry me a bit, but I think if the team is hitting when he gets back he’ll bring his offense back up and be fantastic… so I’d hate to lose him either (and it would depend on how “signable” he’d be after the expansion draft). Medlen is an interesting one too, because he’s more of a “so young can’t be sure yet if he’ll be a #2-3 starter or just a long relief guy” and if we were protecting more than 3 guys I’d want him to “gamble” on.
I was trying to get in the head of a GM (that might look like ours), and for the short-term, Huddy seemed like less of a “risk” than some of the guys, and if you’re only protecting 3 guys they might want to keep a known over a question mark.
But that doesn’t make much sense, and Wren is not stupid. Hudson is 34 and is owed at least $28 million through 2012. Hudson has walked 18 and struck out 17 in 44 1/3 innings this year; that is brutal. There is absolutely no chance that any GM in baseball, even Dayton Moore (or Omar Minaya, if Huddy were Hispanic), would keep Hudson over the 9 guys I listed above.
Im different I guess, but cost wise and everything at this point…minors not included
Heyward
Hanson
Yunel
Medlen
Jurrjens
Schafer
Kimbrel
Bmac (eyes and defense make me move him down further)
Prado
the rest are useless with their cost/performance. Of course my list changes dramatically when the cost of some of these others start rising
All the indications on McCann’s eyes were that the one he had the operation on this winter is fine, it’s the other one that has deteriorated now. That gives him a decent chance of having good vision once he has that one operated on.
Besides, even last year with 2 weeks of missing everything, and 4 months of glasses, he was still clearly the best hitting catcher in the NL.
Yost in as manager in KC
Bullet dodged.
@103, See? there are worse things than being a Braves fan. It bears repeating sometimes.
Optional question: If you could get rid of one person on the Hawks, would it be Mike Woodson or Mike Bibby?
Bibby. Not close, IMO.
Watching Celts-Cavs, how are the Cavs in this game. The Celtics look much better (and deeper) to me.
Because Alabama’s own Mo Williams is carrying LeBron’s sorry ass.
lebron is a selfish piece of crap
It does seem like Mo and LeBron versus a complete team.
114—That is totally ridiculous.
72,
Something like this:
1. Heyward
2. Hanson
3. McCann
4. Escobar
5. Medlen
6. Schafer
7. Jurrjens
8. Prado
9. Hudson
10. Kimbrel
11. Chipper
12. Venters
13. Hyde
14. Hicks
15. Dunn
110,
Bibby.
Woodson, because you can’t bench a head coach. Bibby might still have some value as a shooter off the bench, if he’ll accept the role.
Reality has set in over at Metsblog…
“…i’m a huge Jeff Francoeur fan, but at this point, things are flat out ugly for him…he doesn’t even give himself a chance to bust out of this slump because he swings at everything, whether it’s in or out of the strikezone, and before you know it, he’s out of the at bat…”
@72 McCann. We know he can play with glasses!
@110 Woodson. Not even close.
More baseball, please.
Friday, 8 AM EDT:
Thank God the off day is over!
last I saw on Schafe last night was 0-3 2BB, freeman was 0-4 last night also
cant get to that page here at work though
#119 – HA HA HA…they really believed that he was a different player in NY than he was in ATL.
Just a thought:
PIT AAA Walker, Neil-2B 5141 .338 2 2B (16); Has played 1B, 2B, 3B, OF can still C
I like Infante as a utility guy who can fill in several positions. Walker has similar attributes and can potentially start at 3B A.C.* (or 2B shifting Prado to 3B).
Walker is likely available as he’s a hold over prospect from the previous Pirates GM and there has been some thought that he’s not in the current GM’s plans.
Additionally, the guy came up as a catcher and could probably back up McCann or at least be the 3rd/emergency catcher.
Flexible/Available/Inexpensive/Young/Hitting Well = Buy
Plus, the Pirates and Braves have a solid recent trade history. Make it so.
*After Chipper
PW – why would Chipper make the list. Seems to me he’s getting paid a lot more than what his true value has become
oh and its easily Bibby
I was going to mention the same thing about Jeffy and Metsblog. They are turning on him and beginning to acknowledge the Braves were right, especially with Heyward coming up.
It’s almost painful to read. They are even turning on David Wright, with some calling him nothing more than a “role player.”
Ironically, one person suggested firing Manual and bringing in a guy that “gets mad at the players, a Bobby Cox type?” Can you imagine how they would react if their manager talked about how hard we hit the ball when they are shut out and tip your hat to the other pitcher?
I put the game thread up a little early.