New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – August 31, 2010 – ESPN.
Ah, the Mets.
The game stayed scoreless through three, as despite any number of baserunners neither team could get a hit with a runner in scoring position. In the fourth, that changed, as Martin Prado led off the inning with a double, and Derrek Lee (having his best game as a Brave with three hits and a walk) singled him home to make it 1-0.
The lead didn’t hold up for long, as Mike Minor lost the strikezone in the fifth, walking three men on the way to allowing two runs, giving up sac flies to Jeffy Francoeur and Henry Blanco, members of the Mets’ sizeable crappy ex-Braves contingent. Bobby was walking a high wire in that inning sticking with Minor, who was always on the verge of imploding… but it was the Mets.
Being the Mets, they didn’t hold the lead for any time to speak of, and by the end of the inning were out of the game. Nate Louth, up from Gwinnett, pinch-hit for Minor and did the only positive thing he was likely to do, getting hit by a pitch. Infante followed with a double-play ball that Luis Castillo allowed to go through his legs, and the floodgates opened. Jason Heyward was held in check most of the night, but this time hit a screaming line drive that went all the way to the wall, scoring two. He only got to third on a Prado single, and then Lee walked to lad the bases. Matt Diaz struck out, but Alex Gonzalez singled to score Heyward, though Prado was thrown out at home. Melky walked, and David Ross hit a line drive grand slam to make it 8-2, and then Jerry Manuel got the starter out of there. Sheesh.
The rest of the game was pretty desultory, Bobby using O’Flaherty for the sixth, Venters the seventh, Saito the eighth, and Moylan the ninth. (No Farnsworthless?) The Braves got one more run on a Melky double to score AAG in the seventh.
Ranger Jeffy?
They’re cleaning out his locker.
dodgers load the bases, 1 out, bottom of the first
@1 Seems like it. He can finally get away from the Braves sight completely, which will be a good thing for all of us.
kendrick issues bases loaded bb; 1-0 dodgers, bases still loaded
So was that a pity cleanup assignment he was given tonight?
this is what the rangers are giving for francoeur…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=arias-001joa
how it’s possible that francoeur gets traded for a worse player is beyond me.
It would be funny if we saw Jeffy in the playoffs. Of course the chances of that happening are slim and none.
Ross’s grand slam was on Niese’s 40th pitch of the inning. That’s Braves baseball, 2010. Also Mets managing, 2010.
Edit: If that is indeed the trade, Joaquin Arias has now been traded twice for cover boy icons — ARod and Frenchy.
I am disappointed, though. I’m going to the game tomorrow and I wanted to boo Jeffy.
Fox Sports Southwest confirms that it’s official, and that the Mets sent cash. (On-air broadcast)
So I guess smart money is on the A’s to win the west?
Sadly, Brian Schneider went deep for the Phils with two on in the top of the 2nd. 3-1, Fillies.
Did Minor lose the strike zone or did the umpire lose it?
It definitely looked like he had Jeffy struck out there. And someone else too (Hank White?).
I haven’t been following the Rangers too closely. Where does a hack like Frenchy fit in?
On the bench
Nelson Cruz just came back from the DL, and he has a firm hold on the RF job. But Borbon has been terrible in CF. My guess is they’ll move Hamilton to CF and platoon Murphy and Francoeur in LF.
15- Sounds like he’ll basically back up Josh Hamilton, with some pinch-hitting and defensive replacement work. According to the Rangers’ broadcasters, anyway. They seemed to be straining a bit.
So I guess that means Molly Fletcher will be bitching to the Star-Telegram about her client being in the lineup everyday.
@14 – It looked like the umpire was squeezing Minor a little, but he was also pretty erratic. He was constantly missing his target even though a few looked like strikes. In the previous inning the tv crew was complaining about a called 3rd strike to Heyward. The pitcher missed his target by a huge margin, but imo in all fairness it looked like it crossed the plate. It was borderline high also.
peanut confirming what we were all discussing this afternoon concerning freeman…
“Freeman will be eligible for a postseason roster spot if he gives the Braves reason to believe he could help them in October. He could fill one of the spots created by Chipper Jones and Kris Medlen, who will both be on the disabled list for the remainder of the season.”
if we have 14 position players, I dont see how he fits
prado, jhey, aag, infante, glaus, lee, ankiel, ross, bmac, brooks, mclouth, melky, diaz, hinske
I know that there is no point in carrying Nate, Melky, and Ankiel, but Wren and Bobby will want Nate’s speed and there isnt much room for another LH/1B unless Glaus is moved
I can finally say, “Good luck Frenchy. Wish you all the best.”
well Chapman hit 103 on the gun tonight….too bad his arm just met Dusty Baker
The Reds and us may share the best record in NL by the end of tonight.
Chapman should just have TJ now and get it over with
On the Mets leaving their starter in….
Don’t forget that their bullpen had to use four relievers for five innings and 113 pitches last night.
Not saying it’s the right call, but with their season over, they may have wanted to get a set number of IP before going to the pen tonight.
An advantage of piling it on in the first game of the series: you handcuff the pitching decisions for the rest of the series…
@22, Melky will be on the postseason roster. He was on the world champs last year…remember? Ankiel or McClouth, both will not make it. I don’t know what is going to happen with Glaus. Ned Yost got an extension, good for him.
Rangers just lost to KC on a wild pitch, 10-9. Omen?
27,
You’re right. It’s probably better to just intentionally lose to improve draft position while simultaneously letting Niese learn a few things.
“We’re not asking him to be an everyday starter and a prominent producer,” assistant general manager Thad Levine said. “We just want him to play a more complementary role.”
It will be hard to make fun of him when he’s performing in roles where he actually has some ability: pinch hitting against lefties, spot starting in garbage games to keep the real stars healthy, and coming in as a late-inning defensive replacement.
He has a role on a major league team, it’s just a role at the end of an expanded roster bench.
A lot of former Braves giving up runs in that Royals-Rangers game.
I feel like I can actually root for Francoeur now. I hope we see him at the Ted again this year.
And thus the long, weird journey of Jeff Francoeur’s interaction with the Braves has probably mostly come to an end.
Whoever said last night that there was a certain amount of poetic justice when Heyward’s home run sailed over Francoeur’s head last night had it more dead-on than they realized.
6-4 now, Phillies lead. Loney with a 2-run shot to make it closer.
The waiver deadline has passed and TROY GLAUS IS STILL A BRAVE!!!! WHOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! *dismissive wanking motion*
*dismissive wanking motion*
This is one thing I haven’t seen nearly enough of on the internet.
OK, so I went up to The Bronx & the A’s didn’t beat the Yankees. In fact, they got stomped to within an inch of their lives, and rather quickly.
But that’s what I get for ever thinking this game might be fair. Had a good time, though.
Fun listening to the Braves on radio. In retrospect, it’s amusing that Minor’s difficult inning began to upset me. I mean, c’mon…
Let’s sweep these bums. They’re begging for it.
Atlanta-Texas World Series? Sure…
Phillies win, 8-4. 3.0 is the new 2.5.
If Texas wins the WS… and they beat the Braves doing it… I’m going to hurt someone. Probably myself, after I see Frenchy’s smile on television.
Don’t sweat it.
Frenchy’s final slash lines with the Braves and Mets:
Braves: .266/.308/.424
Mets: .268/.311/.423
Incredible.
@42 He has been the same player. Only the Mets fans didn’t know. Ok, now they do know like us.
I honestly don’t understand why DOB or Bauman has not suggested moving Infante to outfield so that Glaus can play third base. It suggests that 1) they never thought of it; or 2) the Braves don’t want to move Infante to outfield; or 3) the Braves simply don’t think Glaus can handle third base.
Infante, triple crown spoiler.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=11883
His particular simulation methodology has Infante winning the batting title over 60% of the time.
They were saying during the game that Francoeur’s agent Molly Fletcher was at the game on Monday. Her young daughter was hit by a foul ball and is still in the hospital. So, I suspect she’s got more important things on her mind than Jeffy.
Just saw that San Diego’s lost 6 in a row. Are they FINALLY becoming the team everyone thought they’d be?
@44
Probably because it weakens two defensive positions in order to get a guy who can’t hit into the lineup.
@48
I think of us are haveing this fantasy that Glaus comes back and hits like he did in May and June. If he can’t, the dream will die fast.
@47
San Diego (as of Aug 30)
vs Team Under .500: 38-16, 70%
vs Team .500 or Better: 39-61, 39%
Most of SD’s remaining games are versus +.500 teams…
So the Giants are going to win the west. We are tied with the Reds for best record in the league.
BBTF’s Transaction Oracle Discussion :: In-Depth Analysis of Jeff Francoeur Acquisition.
@49 I certainly have this fantasy!!! I know it’s not rational, but I like to keep dreaming.
Damn, these last five games against the Mets this season just got a lot harder.
I wishe we could play the Mets everyday.
@52, that’s pretty dense with funnies.
@52: That’s got people staring at me in the library. Hilarious.
I don’t understand parents that take young kids to a ballgame and sit in seats in harm’s way. It’s just asking for trouble. At the least, the parent needs to be ready, have a glove or something.
If the Rangers are platooning Francoeur (and all indications suggest that they are) and he only sees LHP, with a little power bump from playing in Arlington, he may actually get a contract somewhere other than KC next year.
Mets fans are insane:
“french is a complimentary player with the potential to be an all star. not the other way around.”
What league is this person referring to where Jeffy has potential to be an all star.
@60
If he would grow up and go to spend a season in AAA and learn how to work a count to where he could get a pitch to hit, he might be a decent fourth outfielder, maybe a starter somewhere.
I’ve always thought he has a slidder speed bat, but there are a lot of guys out there who have had great carrers with a slidder speed bat, they just knew how to hit.
We all know he thinks he is a few swings away from being Babe Ruth. I hope he does well in Texas.
#59 – its just too bad he and his agent will continue to talk with the media about how great he is and how he needs to play everyday. Whenever they find out or start believing that he’s a platoon partner, all parties will be better off
@ 60
The Majors,… a few years ago.
@62
That is an agent’s job, isn’t it?
yep, but not the players
2010 Georgia Bulldogs « SEC Previews.
that Oswalt/Kershaw matchup should be a good one today. Its an early matchup also
No offense Mac, but the UGA write-up has the tone of fan-boy to it.
Uhhh, sure.
Will leaving Mets help them as much as it helped Braves?
cant view twitter comments here at work
I didn’t write it. Complain to Alex R… if you dare.
LOL
Fanboy, UGA grad, same thing.
Of course, he left out the bit about UGA’s dreaded knee-twisting technique, the one they only employ vs Tech.
71,
“Bottom line: Francoeur helped change clubhouse climate for his brief period here. #Mets needed it, thanked him by trade to contender.”
That Francoeur spin (don’t worry, he’s with a contender now!) is…well, it’s unique, at least.
#74 – thats laughable
who should the braves look at locking up this offseason?
prado, infante, heyward, jurrjens, or hanson
Now that Jurrjens and Hanson are represented by Boras, I don’t think there’s much chance of getting them signed to long-term deals.
That makes more sense. It didn’t read like your work. All I know about college football is that Paul Johnson is smarter than everyone else, but I’m pretty sure that UGA doesn’t have the best recievers, tight ends, O-line and the second-best running back tandem in the nation. I would think that wouldn’t have gotten past the national media.
Locking up Heyward would be very smart. Prado and Infante deserve 2-4 year deals if they’re not unreasonable. I’m not sure I’d lock into young pitching for big money, even Jurrjens/Hanson.
I didn’t out-and-out say that Alabama had the best running backs in the country (though I may have implied it).
Sam @79:
“but I’m pretty sure that UGA doesn’t have the best recievers”
Not best receivers, but best receiver, if we’re talking about level of talent. AJ Green will be the first WR taken in next year’s NFL Draft for a reason.
“tight ends”
Georgia has the best TE depth in the nation. Orson Charles is a stud that can easily shift over to the slot, meaning Aron White is up for national awards but isn’t even starting. I’d take Georgia’s TEs over anyone’s, easy.
“O-line”
Georgia returns the most experienced offensive line in the nation. They gave up the least amount of sacks in the SEC last year.
“and the second-best running back tandem in the nation.”
Nation, probably not. Conference, absolutely, behind Bama.
“I would think that wouldn’t have gotten past the national media.”
Why not? They’re too busy discussing how Mark Richt is so, so, so fired.
I’d offer Prado a 3/$20MM with a club option on the 4th year.
I’d propose a Heyward contract a la Evan Longoria (6/$20MM with club options that could take the deal to 8/$44MM or so).
Seeing as how Longoria’s deal is widely seen as the pinnacle of team-friendliness, I believe you’d have to do a whole lot better to sign Heyward. And I would.
6/$36, club options 8/$50.
C’mon Heyward. Just think about how many Xbox 360s you could buy with $50 million!
Georgia will have a superficially better record this year since they eased up on the OOC schedule and somehow miss Bama and LSU. Road games: South Carolina, MSU, Colorado, Kentucky, Auburn. So the schedule is definitely in place for a bounce back year. It will be interesting to see what the new guy can do with the defense, it’s been leaking for years.
I think that the new paradigm for Heyward is the Upton contract, 6 years/$51.25M. I’d love it if they could toss some team options in there too, but it’s hard to get greedy.
At-Bat Music Is Ripe For A Prank.
The various versions of BP’s odds report (here’s the PECOTA one) all have the Braves now with better than 90 percent chances of the postseasion.
There’s no reason to guarantee a ton of money to a player that hasn’t had a fully healthy professional season and is under team control for 5 more years.
They’re probably not going to get Jurrjens and Hanson to commit beyond their current years of team control, so might as well just go year-to-year. Pitchers get hurt. Pitching is hard.
Omar Infante is 28 years old and a career .275/.319/.399 hitter riding a massive BABIP spike. Earned or not, his current level of performance is most likely not repeatable. He hardly ever walks and has a career .124 ISO (down this year). Not to say the Braves shouldn’t extend him, but if they do they should continue to pay him like a utility player.
Martin Prado seems like the perfect type of player to lock up. There’s going to be a position for him somewhere for the next few years.
Locking up Ross during the season was a great start. Other than that, Prado is the only logical extension candidate I see. I would’ve said Yunel, but…….
Tweet from a Mets beat writer:
@StevePopper: By the way, I saw at least two Mets say goodbye to Francoeur and ask, “Take me with you.”
90—I’m of the opinion (with AAR) that Omar’s early-career stats can basically be ignored. He’s established a new level in Atlanta. He’s good.
I like Omar.
3 year – 9 mil. If he doesn’t like it… pick up the 2011 option and see what he does next year, then make the commitment.
Melky is at 3.1M. He will cost about 4M next season. Is he worth it?
What about Diaz?
This is fun:
http://www.bravesmagicnumber.com/
Our Magic Number to win the Division is 28.
#93 – Melky has a -0.5WAR, he’s basically worth a negative $1.9 mil this season. He’s got negative UZR’s at every OF position. Basically, you can improve your team by nontendering him and finding anyone at replacement level for a lot less cost
#92 – I agree with you there. Omar has hit .315 in ATL at a little over 850 AB’s, with no huge splits to scare you off. He can play multiple positions also. There is plenty of room on this mid market team for a guy like Infante. I think you could sign him for 3/$12-14 and it would be a good investment for both
I’m not buying that. He has been a better player in Atlanta, not nearly as much as the difference in AVG or OBP or OPS would indicate. Component stats for Infante:
BB% 2002-2007: 5.8%
BB% 2008-2010: 6.4%
AB/K 2002-2007: 5.2
AB/K 2008-2010: 7.2
LD% 2002-2007: 19%
LD% 2008-2010: 22%
ISO 2002-2007: .133 <– tougher park to hit for power
ISO 2008-2010: .109
BABIP 2002-2007: .293
BABIP 2008-2010: .350
A few more walks, a few less strikeouts, a few more line drives, a little less power, a lot more fortune on balls in play. It's not a coincidence that his batting average w/ Atlanta has been 62 points higher and his BABIP has been 57 points higher. And Omar's BABIP true talent level is not 35 points higher than that of Chipper Jones. Regression is on the horizon.
#95- I hated the trade. But i admit that his Charlie Brown face makes me chuckle. He is somewhat serviceable as a 4th OF.
I don’t know. What are our options, really? I don’t like giving away useful players under team control (See Johnson, Kelly).
Is Melky useful to the Braves? Is he better Nate or Ankiel? I kinda think so.
Everytime I stop and think about how bad Nate is I fall into a depression. I know it makes sense to have him available on the team for September, but ugh.
I cannot WAIT to see Freeman.
Regression is on the horizon.
So he’s not going to hit .341 every season? Insight.
True talent is probably around his ’08 line .293/.338/.416 which considering his positional flexibility and lack of platoon issues is pretty valuable.
Considering the dreck the Braves typically employ for utility infielders, I hope they can lock Omar down for a few more years.
Is Melky useful to the Braves?
He is in that he’s not terrible. The Braves have had a real tough time in the past five years or so finding not terrible outfielders to fill out the roster. It seems pretty crazy to pay $4+ million for not terrible but it’s better than some of the sinkholes that have received regular playing time lately.
well I dont see the braves being able to move Nate this offseason. With that being said, I dont want them paying two guys (Nate and Melky) over $10mil
With respect to Melky’s future with the Braves – I really hope they can find a better player to take his spot next season. Melky has proven to be about a .265 /.330 /.380 kind of guy who, despite playing CF with some regularity, rates as an average-to-poor defender. Overall, he projects to be a replacement level player, and is certainly not worth $4M.
As a point of comparison, the now-traded Gregor Blanco is probably a .270 /.360 /.330 kind of hitter, with vastly better defense than Melky. His roughly equivalent offense and far superior defense makes him 1-2 wins better than Melky.
After 1B, LF is theoretically the easiest defensive position on the field (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensive_spectrum) and you’d think it would be relatively simple to find someone to put up a .800+ OPS out there for us. As we all know, that hasn’t been the case for the Braves in recent years.
I also think the Braves should give serious consideration to Matt Young – he’s put up a .303/.380 /.414 line for Gwinnett this season. That’s not world-beating, and he is old for the minor leagues (turning 28 in October) and short (5’8″), but he’s shown a consistent ability to post high OBPs and steal bases at a high success rate (35 SB / 5 CS this year, 43 / 17 last). There’s a decent chance Young could play like Blanco did – great OBP and defense in CF or LF – but with some additional pop. I could see .280/.370/.380. Perhaps he could give us 2+ years of valuable top of the order tablesetting for the league minimum. For a team on a tight payroll like the Braves, role players are huge key to success.
@97, Regression is on the horizon.
Heaven forfend a player gets better from 20 to 28, and establishes a new level of productivity.
/just saying, not really picking at you.
Yeah… Nate is going to make $7M next year. Ouch!!!
$29.3M for Nate/Lowe/KK for 2011.
Priority #1 of the offseason. Reduce the damage of those contracts.
97—On the ISO issue, that comparison is pretty warped by the year he flukishly hit 16 (!) homers.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to assume that his 26-, 27-, and 28-year-old numbers are a much better indicator of what we’ll get from, say, 29-31 than his age 21-25 numbers are.
@ 77 – “who should the braves look at locking up this offseason?”
I think they should lock up Nate and Melky. Not to long term contracts, but they should lock them up somewhere so they don’t see the field for Atlanta.
Was it NickH that called this yesterday? Nice job, man!
@107: No, that wasn’t me, but there is another person posting on here as ‘Nick’, perhaps that was him.
That aside: Freeman is finally free! I’m excited to have horror movie stalwarts Freddie and Jason causing nightmares for the rest of the NL for a long, long time.
My mistake. It was NickC.
Per DOB Twitter
Freeman starting at First and batting sixth tonight.
Braves lineup: 1. Infante SS, 2. Heyward RF, 3. Prado 3B, 4. McCann C, 5. Hinske LF, 6. Freeman 1B, 7. Conrad 2B, 8. Ankiel CF, 9. Hanson P
Freddie & Jason—I like it.
#86
Nice to conveniently forget that other road game, the annual one in Jacksonville.
#110 – thats an interesting Lineup
Looks to me like Omar got a little better at everything, moved to the easier league, and voila, improvement. Regression to .300/.340/.410 is fine for someone who can play five positions. I don’t think anyone here is advocating paying him $10 million a year.
Exactly.
He should command $12 million per, easy.
@102
The Braves have trouble putting a +800 OPS guy in left because for some reason everybody insists on not putting anybody out there unless he’s actually good on defense. Everybody is waiting on the next Willie Mays or Andruw Jones to put anybody decent in LF of all places.
You know, that might be our best offensive lineup against RHP.
@115 – are you saying Melky and Hinske are good at defense? I’ve watched a lot of games this year, and I beg to differ.
116—I was thinking the same thing.
100,
You just can’t make a comment without being a condescending prick, can you? It’s sad, really. Someone’s life is so miserable they have to be a jackass on a message board for the ego boost. Obviously you need the satisfaction though, so do continue the Scrooge routine.
105,
Right. I just think 1) the truth is somewhere in the middle and 2) he’s been very fortunate to hit have .300 w/ Atlanta.
Ah yes, Georgia fans continuing to put that win against my Wildcats in their preseason pockets.
—————–
I’ll say it again:
The Braves in front by three and college football starts tomorrow night –
OH, HELL YEA!!
@117
No. What ends up happening is that the Braves wait for The Second Coming of Mays from somewhere, and they end up settling with Melky and Hinske. Guys that are bad at defense AND offense.
Does anyone know why AAG is out of the lineup today? Is he hurt, in Bobby’s doghouse for poor base running yesterday or is Bobby just giving him a day off?
I suspect it’s just a day off. And a chance for them to try Infante at short.
Infante hits what .380 against RH pitchers
Yeah, AAG’s played everyday pretty much since the All-Star Break.
Bobby giving Freeman his MLB debut against Santana. That’s a good confidence builder. 🙂
Edit: Whoops, that’s tomorrow. Didn’t realize this was a four game series.
Maybe, they are trying to find a way to get Glaus some regular ABs (Infante to short).
Wren was just on the Fan and would not comment on whether they thought Troy could play 3rd b/c they haven’t talked to Troy about it yet. What do you read into that?
127—No, it’s Pelfrey tonight. That’s why so many lefties are in the line-up.
Game thread is up.
128 — Sounds to me like he’s saying that he’s not going to announce that Glaus will sit on the bench until he’s told him personally.