So, as mentioned, the Braves prefer to make major player acquisitions through trades. Given that, we need to figure out who the principal trade targets are, and who the Braves are willing to give up.
People talk about the Cardinals trading Colby Rasmus, whom the Braves should have picked instead of Joey Devine, and no, I am not going to stop bringing that up, but Rasmus isn’t going anywhere in my opinion. It was just a flareup, the sort of thing that happens sometimes, and everybody seemed to have gotten over it by the end of the season. Rasmus is one of the 25 most valuable properties in the game, and his price would be very high, as in “start with Julio Teheran“. Teheran is probably the Braves’ one untouchable prospect.
The trade target of the offseason, right now, seems to be Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp. I’m convinced that with the Dodgers’ various divorce-related financial woes, they have to trade someone; trading Kemp instead of Andre Ethier or (better) James Loney is questionable to me, even if Kemp had something of a down year. Kemp will be 26, he is under contract for slightly under $7 million in 2011 with an arbitration year in 2012, he plays a key position, center field, every day (if not particularly well), and his two best comps through Age 25 are Carlos Beltran and Andre Dawson. So there’s a lot to like here. On the other hand, he hit .240 this year (while holding on to most of his secondary offense) and got labeled a malcontent. At any event, there will be a lot of teams bidding on Kemp this offseason if, as expected, the Dodgers offer him. Ethier, if the Dodgers shop him as well or instead, would also be a good target.
After picking over the Dodger roster, what other teams are maybe looking to deal an outfielder? There are, roughly speaking, three types of teams that would be looking to deal a veteran: teams that need to cut payroll, teams that are changing their front office and/or philosophy, and teams that just happen to have spare talent. Not all these teams are good targets. The Rays, for example, are likely to cut payroll severely, but to achieve that will probably just let some highly paid veterans leave as free agents. (It’s possible that they’ll shop The Enigmatic B.J. Upton, whose first name has been legally changed to “The Enigmatic”, but that doesn’t seem like a Braves sort of player acquisition.) The Mets might have a major housecleaning, but dealing within the division is always problematical, plus, well, would you take on Jason Bay‘s contract?
The Mariners no doubt would love to part with Chone Figgins, whose career OPS+ is exactly between his seasonal marks in 2009 (110) and 2010 (84). Figgins is a lot better than he looked this year, a lot worse than he looked in 2009, and is more interesting as a regular-at-several-positions than as a starting outfielder. (During the season, I supported maybe trading for him to fill in the left field black hole for the rest of the year, then replacing Chipper Jones at third base after the latter’s expected retirement, but that’s off the table now.) Little else the Mariners would trade is of interest, as you’d expect from a team that often hit Casey Kotchman third.
There are always the teams that are always trading players, but the problem with these teams is that they usually don’t have very many good players to trade. The A’s, for instance, shed salary every year, but their outfield is putrid other than maybe Coco Crisp, who has an option for 2011. As the A’s are regular Braves trading partners and Crisp has been a reported target in the past, that’s a maybe. Speaking of regular trade partners, there are always the the Royals. David DeJesus, coming off a career year, has a similar situation — a reasonable team option for 2011. Getting him, if that seems desirable, would probably be contingent upon Dayton Moore continuing to overvalue Braves prospects even now that few left in the system were his draftees. The Indians are rapidly turning into Royals-Ohio, and might be willing to part with Shin-Soo Choo, but if they were, that would be one heck of a bidding war, especially as Choo has three arb years left. Again, if the Braves got involved, the asking price would begin with Julio Teheran.
This is really just a starting point for discussion. I’m sure I’ve forgotten lots of possibilities.
FWIW, after some quick looking, I listed a few possible right-handed options here, yesterday.
Bossman Junior doesn’t seem like a truly bad guy, but he’s almost certainly a change-of-scenery guy. I’m not sure I ever trust him to tap into all the power he was supposed to have, but he’s still a decent player, and if we could get him on the cheap, I’d be very interested to see what he could do.
From last thread:
I don’t think anyone needs to be lectured on the value of OBP, not even Braves’ management. Especially with Wren and Gonzalez who, regardless of their personal failings, are far more friendly to “new” “sabermetric” thinking than were JS anc BC. Fredi Gonzalez is a paying member of SABR, after all. I doubt he made it through the 2009 conference without hearing something about the value of OBP. Similarly, I’m pretty sure most of us here are aware that a point of OBP is more valuable than a point of SLG. (Last time I checked with the real dorks, the vaule was about 1.4::1 but that was in the early 2000s. The math might have tweaked since then.
With that said, there is a limit at which the rule ceases to be controlling. There is a point where a batter’s ability to get on base has to be balanced with his ability to actually make contact with some authority. Players who can’t do that are marginally valuable at the top of the order – “get ‘em on and let someone else drive them in” – as long as they have baserunning skills. But they’re not notably more valuable than guys who post similar OPS with weights toward SLG. If the choice is between a .380/.300 hitter and a .300/.400 hitter, you are best served with the OBP. But if the choice is between .365/.320 and .320/410, that’s not obvious choice. Either is defensible, and you really have to start thinking of where they are hitting in the lineup and what roles they are meant to play in the overall offense.
So, yeah, OBP is very important. This isn’t news. We knes this way back in the ’90s. The Dodgers have been playing this game since Jackie Robinson was drafted, at least. But that doesn’t mean you run Gregor Blanco out there every day, even if his OBP is 30 points higher than Nate McLouth.
dont know if this is news or not
Please note, that’s Baseball America’s rookie award that went to #Braves’ Heyward, not BBWAA (writers) award. Writers’ awards are in Nov. 2 hours ago
#Braves’ Heyward edges out #Giants’ Posey as Baseball America’s Rookie of the Year http://bit.ly/bzywQ9 2 hours ago
I would send Teheran to Cleveland for Choo in a heartbeat.
5—Ditto. In fact let’s do that, then trade whatever for Rasmus, and just dare teams to load up on left-handed starters.
3—You might be surprised by the number of people who don’t realize that OBP is more valuable than SLG. And it’s tough to tell which people those are when folks are throwing around words that make no contextual sense in conjunction with one of the two.
Unlike his predecessor, Wren doesn’t seem willing to part with elite prospects. I really doubt he would move Teheran. Though without Julio on the table, I question how good of a hitter we could acquire. I think it’s a bad idea to trade Jurrjens this offseason – that would be the epitome of selling low. At any rate, I don’t see the Braves acquiring a true impact bat via trade without it including Teheran.
Joe PA knows how to solve the NFL’s hit issues
“Get rid of the facemask”
Maybe we should get rid of the pads also
How about putting spikes onto the pads? Then you won’t want to run into people so you don’t impale yourself.
Sign me up for NFL commissioner, imo.
Sickels weighs in on the Braves’ top prospects going into next season. (I had no idea this was coming — I’m so excited!)
There are some weird problems about Choo’s situation — whether he’ll have to perform military service, and whether he wants out of Cleveland or was misquoted/mistranslated.
A burning quote in my head from Moneyball was that OBP is 3 times as important as slugging.
Getting rid of the helmet is the only thing that would eliminate head injuries in the NFL. But if you got rid of the helmet, it wouldn’t be football.
There are some things that would reduce head and neck trauma — double-shell helmets, or padding the outside, mandating neck rolls. If you want to restrict the ability to lead with the face while continuing to protect it, ditching the traditional face mask in favor of a clear plastic shield similar to hockey’s might work.
10 — Nice. Thanks for sharing.
I just think the best solution is not to eliminate injuries, but to make the injuries so traumatic that nobody wants to risk inflicting them on themselves. But then again I don’t watch much NFL so I’m not too concerned with actually solving any problems and the Joker was always my favorite villain because I liked that he was a psychotic sociopath, so I may also be slightly biased in favor of psychotic sociopathy.
Actually, JoPa is right. The most efficient way to reduce injuries is to reduce helmeting and padding. Rugby players don’t get injured like football players, because rugby players don’t have the false sense of security the exoskeleton provides. Take away facemasks and people will not lead with the head more than once. That is true for both linebackers and running backs.
Of course, before they started wearing helmets and pads, players used to die on the field. Fairly regularly.
I still say that the guy we get will be a non tender.
Someone mentioned this already but,
Grady Sizemore anyone?
@12
They may have said that in Moneyball, but if they did they were almost certainly dead wrong. One point of OBP is worht about 1.4 points of SLG. That equation increases (in favor of OBP) the higher you get in the order, and decreases the lower down the batting order you go. (Especially in the NL an #8 hitter needs to do more than single and walk, because the pitcher behind him is a natural out.)
Yeah, I’m happy to go with Wren and make Teheran untradeable, as much as I would love to have Choo. I’d trade anyone else in the system for him, including Freeman. (I don’t think Korea will call him up for military service, since — with apologies to Chan Ho Park — he’s the greatest Korean player in the history of Major League Baseball.)
I’d take a flyer on Sizemore. Probably damaged goods, but a damaged Sizemore is still a hell of a lot better than McLouth/Cabrera/Diaz/Ankiel/Shanderson/Tanderson.
Moneyball was written in 2002 so I’m sure much more research has been done on OBP value against SLG value since then.
Speaking of Moneyball, are you guys excited about the movie? I know there was a lot of question as to whether or not it would get made.
@18, true enough, but the rules (and the breaking thereof) were significantly different. I don’t think a ban on facemasks would necessitate a return to the flying wedge and gang tackling
Make them play naked, I tell you. It worked for the Greeks.
——————–
Is there any chance McLouth regains enough to play CF on a contending team?
23- I was a little interested in it from the beginning, but then I got more interested when Philip Seymour Hoffman was cast as Art Howe. Jonah Hill worries me, though. Honestly wish Demetri Martin was still Paul DePodesta, or I should say I wish he was playing the character that’s based on DePodesta, because for some reason he wouldn’t allow himself to be portrayed in the movie.
WOW!WOW! I didn’t know mac, you had so much interest in Choo shinsoo. Sam you, too. However, personally, I am strongly disapprove of it. I wish nothing wrong with Mac and your site, bravesjournal. I bet believe me! Haha!
Anyway thanks for your deepest concerns, darling.
And also I am really against a popular sports club which is owned by the most stupid one, especilly Tom Hicks. He doesn’t love sports. Even he doesn’t know how to run a business. I hate him. Look at him. What did he do with the Rangers? nonsense a-rod’s contract, etc! stupid. poor Liverpool!
So ….
is it technologically possible to seamlessly officiate a baseball game without umpires?
19 – That somebody was me and I’ll agree with myself and say that Sizemore is the next best realistic trade target after Kemp. I just don’t think the Cardinals will be stupid enough to trade Rasmus. If they do, it’s going to be a knock your socks off offer, probably starting with Teheran.
@23
I still think it’s a goofy idea — but I thought the same thing about The Social Network, so what do I know? I do fear that the movie will exacerbate the hagiographic qualities of the book. And who will be cast as the drooling, moronic scouts? Can Randy Quaid be kept out of prison long enough?
I like that Jonah Hill replaced Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hoffman does a little too much **ACTING** for my tastes.
And Mr Remington,
For your very knowledge, Park chanho was exempted from military service because he won a gold in asian games. Choo shinsoo want to do the same way as chanho did , anyway.
I know no one has mentioned his name in awhile, but what about Conor Jackson? I live in AZ right now, and know that valley fever (which Jackson had while with the Dbacks) takes awhile to recover from. It will have been two years since he got that come spring training, and he’s arb eligible through 2011. If he can come close to what he was doing with the Dbacks (OK power, good OBP, right-handed bat that can play 1b/LF and not completely embarass himself again RHs), he might be a good buy-low candidate in a trade.
I know he’s not anything close to Shin-Soo Choo or Rasmus, but he’s the kind of guy the Braves have been targeting to plug holes over the last two years, and he’ll be 29 next season.
Just read where Tuesday’s Rangers / Yankees game lasted a little over 4 hours whereas 1960’s Game Seven (10-9 with many pitching changes) lasted a mere 2 hours 36 minutes.
If MLB wonders why ratings continue to decline, they might recognize that the incessant and protracted interruptions drive off an increasingly ADD viewing audience.
Increased use of instant replay will only make this worse.
Decreasing the amount of time between innings will make the situation better.
Sell less ads but charge more. Problem solved. Make me commish.
#33 – the major problem with Yankee games is that their pitchers make every pitch seem like its a life or death situation. I understand its the playoffs, but CC had a 6-1 lead with no one on yesterday and he called Posada out twice to the mound. They and Boston seem to be the biggest problems with the time issue. They can make a 1-0 9IP game last 5 hrs
23 – Sizemore could be next season’s Glaus, a player with a good performance profile coming off an injury. In other words a big time gamble, especially since he is owed 7.5 extra large for 2011. That he plays CF makes him even more enticing. So do the Indians sell low for a couple of pitching suspects?
We already have one useless CF that we’re paying multiple millions to next year. Not sure I’m on board with acquiring another one.
I would also trade Teheran for Choo in a heartbeat. Choo is one of the prime talents in the game, the big problem with him is the military obligation. I read somewhere that he can get out of it,if the Koreans win some tournament in Dec. (Asian games maybe? not sure) Just can’t believe the Indians would want to get rid of him, since in that division you’re realistically never that far from contending.
What we need is a Rico Carty type. Someone who would bash the ball, and damn the defense. In fact, Rico just turned 71 and I bet he could outproduce Melky.
Favorite movies of 2010 so far:
1) Winter’s Bone
2) The Ghost Writer
3) The American
4) The Social Network
5) A Prophet
6) Shutter Island
Sizemore is a really strange case. In just two years, he has gone from being an elite hitter and above-average center fielder into a liability both in the field and at the plate.
I’d trade less for Kemp than more for Rasmus, but it’s hard to overstate just how much Matt Kemp sucked last year.
MLB may adopt a 7 day concussion DL starting 2011
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5711010
On Choo: he’s basically as valuable as Rasmus. A few years older, true, but his contract is excellent and he is, at the moment, a much better baseball player. On the Braves, he’d be the best player on the team, or at least comparable to McCann in terms of value.
sansho1,
I’m looking forward to the Coen brothers’ remake of True Grit. How about you?
Brule, thanks very much for the information.
I liked Ghost Writer, The American, and The Social Network, but… I know the year isn’t over yet, but uh…
I’m not sure I’ve enjoyed a single movie more than Jackass 3D.
@42
Oh, absolutely. Some movies you just know are going to be great from the moment you first hear about them.
@40
MLB has now stated that they in fact do not intend to institute a 7 day concussion DL. A source close to MLB has said that MLB was upset by the press making assumptions about its intentions.
Also, the movie I’ve most enjoyed watching this year was The Road with Viggo Mortensen. I know it didn’t come out this year, but it was the first time I watched it and it was good.
The A-Team is the movie I’ve enjoyed the most so far, but Inception is probably the best one I’ve seen.
Is there anyone who’s been skydiving here? Tips, suggestions, etc.?
My tip: Don’t do it.
Inception has been my favorite movie of the year. It was a massive chasm between that and second place until the past month or so, with The Social Network, The Town and Let Me In, all of which I enjoyed a lot. Inception still No. 1, though.
I have not been skydiving, but I went with my friends this summer and watched as they did, and had my mind eased enough to the process where I’d probably do it if they go again. They all seemed to be glad they did it. Still, not exactly the most logical thing one could do, I’ll put it that way.
Hank @ 25:
Nate McLouth is, in my ever so humble opinion, the best bet around for 2011 Comeback Player Of The Year. He will not be as good as his 2008 numbers (never was that good, really.) He will not be nearly as bad as his 2010, either. If the Braves get a real LF – Ordonez or Crawford or Werth, etc. – they can easily live with Nate McLouth in CF.
Come 2012 it’s a different story. No way you ever pay Nate $12 mil per, so you take the option to buy him out and let him walk.
Inception was good too, but Toy Story 3 was sensational. In seriousness, I think that’s the best movie of the year as far as I’m concerned.
@44
and the Cohen brothers doing True Grit does that for you? While they’ve done genius work, they’ve also done some PRUE CRAP (The Ladykillers, Intolerable Cruelty) and some mediocre (The Hudsucker Proxy, The Man who Wasn’t There)
So that’s why your list of movies (not having Inception or Toy Story 3, mind you, is borderline asinine when you say “best films of 2010” fwiw) is so laughable.
RE: Choo
There’s very little I wouldn’t add to a package to get him to Atlanta. A core of Hanson/Jurrjens/Minor/Beachy/Medlen/Teheran/Delgado (minus whichever of those needed to be sent to Cleveland for Choo) backed up by an offensive core of Choo/Heyward/McCann/Freeman/Prado is a force to be reckoned with for many years. Augment the staff with your Hudsons and your Lowes. Augment the offensive with Chipper and a CF free agent. Bam.
52—LOL.
@52
I agree that those movies were total crap, I don’t really know what they were thinking making a light weight romantic comedy like that. My brother is convinced that the Cohen Brothers secretly broke up and one made The Ladykiller and the other made Intolerable Cruelty.
How about Jackass 3D? I’m dying to see it.
See it. It’s great. Not quite as good as the first two, maybe, but great nonetheless.
I’m looking forward to seeing “Jackass 3D” and “Paranormal Activity 2,” though bad reviews for the latter would make me wait.
@52
I was with you until you listed the Hudsucker Proxy as “mediocre.”
It’s brilliant, I say, BRILLIANT!
Andruw Jones’ most similar player is still Dale Murphy.
if we could get a good bat in LF, an Andruw/Mclouth platoon in CF wouldnt be awful
@34, true, but I’ve never seen a team look as bad winning 7-2 as the Yankees last night. Sabathia was very, very lucky. He needed those Posada chats
I’d trade Jurrjens for Kemp, sign Magglio Ordonez for two years at 10 MM per, and be done for the offseason.
Prado- 2B
Chipper- 3B
Heyward- RF
Kemp- CF
McCann- C
Ordonez- LF
Freeman- 1B
Gonzalez- SS
Probably have to play 5th starter roulette a bit, but Medlen should be back at some point. The lineup is good and the returning bullpen should be solid.
I don’t see how the team can be better than this without gutting the farm system.
2/15 gets Maggs I think
sdp – I’ve been sky diving but it’s been 30 yrs. I was on a static line in those days, so by myself instead of strapped to a jump partner.
I don’t care who it is I wouldn’t trade Teheran. He has true ace potential. Actually, as a team that usually relies on it’s farm system I probably wouldn’t give up Teheran, Freeman, or Minor.
I’d give up anyone of those for Choo. Each of those guys have a chance at becoming a force in the Major Leagues. Choo already is. Choo’s like Ryan Braun good.
sdp — been tandem skydiving five times. Loved it, and the jump partner really takes a lot of the details you have to worry about out of the equation. I would definitely go solo if I had the time and money — go if you get the chance.
Who knows maybe the Indians bite on both Teheran and Delgado. Instant pitching staff for your best player. Before you call me crazy, what would you ask for Jayson Heyward or Brian McCann?
Nice to fantasize but we’ll get someone off the scrap heap like Sizemore count it.
wow, pitching coach already out to talk to Halladay….no outs in the 1st, Giants on 1st and 3rd
Wow… Utley screws up another grounder. They’ll probably give him a fielder’s choice and a Prado, because it was a potential double play, but that should be an error.
He’s having a terrible playoffs defensively.
definitely an error
its a lot more fun watching Lincecum vs the Phils, rather than us
Halladay is pissed at either Pat Burrell or the home plate ump
Are the umpires intentionally being awful this postseason?
So that’s why your list of movies (not having Inception or Toy Story 3, mind you, is borderline asinine when you say “best films of 2010″ fwiw) is so laughable.
Didn’t say best, said favorite. I haven’t seen Inception or Toy Story 3, so the laughable thing would have been putting them on the list, don’t you think?
And yes, the Coens in the great outdoors + Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn = I’m there.
Sansho, you should see both of those films when you get the chance. I’m dying for Inception to come out on blu ray so I can see it again.
60TomL Says:
Andruw Jones’ most similar player is still Dale Murphy
you mean, since he retired?
For what it’s worth, Andruw Jones has 58.4 career WAR, 115th on the all-time list (and just north of Richie Ashburn), while Murph’s got 44.4 career WAR, 227th on the all-time list (and just south of Roy White).
http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/10/21/1766687/braves-could-trade-kawakami-back-to-japan
gondeee of talking chop is speculating that kawakami could be traded back to japan for matt murton. that would be AWESOME!
edit: this is a peanut piece…
I’d wanna go back to Japan if I were Kawakami.
Matt Murton was so a couple of years ago.
ha.
I’d be willing to take a chance on Sizemore.
Now Charlie Manuel brings in a lefty to face Huff.
Well, it almost backfired.
I have no idea how stupid this sounds, but I had no idea MLB players could be traded to Japan. Is it all of them? Could you move Heyward for a nineteen year old Hanshin Tigers shortstop?
Flipping Kawakami for Murton would be an awesome deal. Dump pitching, dump salary, add LH OF option that doesn’t suck.
Murton is a redundancy, but shedding KK along with part of his contract has to happen. I like the housecleaning aspect.
Lidge is gonna blow it.
regarding matt murton…
i never understood why the guy didnt catch on anywhere. he had 3 solid years with the cubs and has had 122 at bats at the ml level since. he had a great 2009 in AAA and had a great 2010 in japan. his stats from japan:
214 hits, .349 batting average, 17 home runs and 91 RBIs
i’ll take him and his redundancy.
I’d take Murton, too. God knows he’d be better than Garret Anderson or Melky Cabrera.
Here’s a buy-low RH, multiple-position option I don’t think anyone’s mentioned: Mark DeRosa. Thoughts?
Murton for KK, Im on board
@89
we have one of those. his name is infante and he’s much cheaper and not coming off of an injury.
Lincecum is so ugly.
Including postseason, Halladay has now thrown 272.2 innings this season and he averaged about 108 pitches per start. One might think he’s liable to break at some point in the near future.
@91, I didn’t realize he was under contract for $6 mil next year…misread that he signed in 2009. At his best, his bat is more suited for the outfield than Infante’s, but I see he’s also 36. Which makes me feel old. Nevermind, then.
mclouth and kawakami for matt murton. we eat kawakami’s contract.
get it done, bird.
braves14
but Halladay is part cyborg. He wont ever break down.
@18 Mac, that’s so funny…wait, that should not be funny…
Anybody who think we should trade Teheran is nuts. He will be even better than Hanson. I would rather trade Minor.
We would be lucky if we can dump KK back to Japan. You know what Murton did in Japan last year? The trade idea is just a wishful thinking for Bowman. It would never happen. I am happy if we can just unload KK.
Actually, I believe that Japanese contracts are not assignable to American leagues, and vice versa. Player rights can be conveyed, but a straight trade isn’t doable.
I just read DOB’s latest about Wren’s offseason plans, and a comment of Wren’s about Freddie Freeman playing 140 games next year and getting rest against tough lefties has implanted a thought: Why is there no developmental step between AAA and the majors, and how can young players continue the progressive development they see throughout the minors after being promoted out of them?
First, I think it’s important to note that the major leagues have multiple strata of skill and talent. It would be entirely possible to cull the top 10% of pitchers and hitters and form a 3 team league in which baseball is played at an extremely high level, a major major league. In reality, the top 10% of players are roughly evenly distributed around the league. In a given season, a young hitter will face this top 10% of pitchers (and the bottom 10%) at irregular intervals – it’s as if an A-ball hitter was to go through a season facing AAA-A and even rookie league pitchers at completely irregular intervals. What an inefficient method of development that would be. It’s like throwing a toddler in the deep end of the pool and saying sink or swim. Maybe he swims, but he’s going to lack the fundamental swimming skills that could have made him a great swimmer, not just an adequate one.
So in Freeman’s case, what if he played his first season or half season, however long it takes to call him maxed out on development, only against the bottom 10% or 20% of pitchers. Sit him whenever a tough pitcher comes out of the bullpen, and just don’t let him see very much of anything above his level. Then move him up to the next level of exposure.
Even better than breaking it down by talent level would be breaking it down by the opposing pitcher’s repertoire. His first 3 months he only sees low fastball speed guys or junkballers. Move him up to guys with good sliders after that, then high 90s guys, or however you want to do it. The point is to break up his development into digestible chunks and to allow him to master each before progressing, just like in the minors, only at the major league level.
Yes, you would get less playing time out of him, but I think you would also get more production out of that playing time, and after he graduated from his intro, he’d be a much more sophisticated and capable hitter.
AAA is that level. Hardly any top prospects spend more than a brief time at AAA before their first major league exposure.
The Braves are trying to sell Kawakami back to a Japanese team (though actually they’ll lose money on the deal, having to pick up part of his contract).
@33,
To me, the problem isn’t the time between innings, it’s the wasted time between pitches. I say, put a clock and make hitters and pitchers be ready within the period, no exceptions. Limit the number of times a catcher can go out to the mind–if they can’t figure out what to throw, that’s their problem. Maybe give them a certain amount of time outs like in football and basketball. Require pitchers to face at least two hitters, thereby eliminating LOOGY pitching changes. Don’t let hitters walk half way up the third base line to get their thoughts in order. MAKE THEM PLAY. These players are such prima donnas now; they act as if the future of peace on earth is at stake on whether they get the bunt sign or not. No one gives a quarterback extra time to get a play off just because it’s important. There is just no flow to these games because they spend so much time not playing. The commercials, IMO, are a minor point.
Bruce Pearl, LOL.
Mac is dead on @101. AAA is the “polish them up” step of the minor leagues. Your most common AAA roster will have two or three prospects the organization wants to get reps against replacement level ML talent, surrounded by a ton of lifers and back-and-forthers such as Brooks Conrad, J.C Boscan and Matt Young. AAA serves two purposes. On the one hand it allows kids like Freeman (i.e. non-Heyward level prospects) to get at least a half year of “seasoning” before coming up to the bigs. On the other, it is where you park your #6-9 starters, your backup-backup-backup infielders, and DeWayne Wise.
Typically a player like Freeman will “struggle” for a half year or more on coming up to the bigs, but that’s going to happen, regardless. The level of competition is never going to be equal. The difference between Kris Medlen and Jo Jo Reyes is not a small obstacle to overcome, much less the difference between Reyes-level starters and Tim Hudson. With that said, I doubt he’ll take more than a year to acclamate. He might – he could become one of those dreaded AAAA types (Jose Vidro was always called this until he finally put it together in Montreal) but I doubt it. He has too much talent.
http://30fps.mocksession.com/YANKEEDOUCHE.gif
That’s not Mark Teixeira!
@102 Poor KK.
I like the guy behind him just saying “F-ck you”
PeteOrr does present a fascinating concept, however – in any sport, actually.
Taking the top 10% of players and forming a 3- or 4-team league for, say, a 30-game season would be must-see-TV (if you could get the players to take it seriously).
It’s basically the World Cup formula. Works in soccer and in basketball (to a degree) but the best players aren’t distributed well enough for it to work in baseball.
Breaking: the middle name of Eduardo Nunez, the Yankees “shortstop prospect” (ie aspiring utility infielder) whom the Braves are supposedly interested in, is “Michelle”.
The Braves are going to have to eat at least 3.5-4 mil of KK’s deal in order to move him. Im fine with that
@112 So maybe we are looking to shop Infante? I don’t like the idea of getting rid of a very valuable piece like Omar, but he’s worth more now that he’s ever going to be.
113—It beats burying him and paying the full salary, but … I’d rather we just pitch him and trade another starter — Lowe or Jurrjens — for a bat. The Braves have really backed themselves into a corner on this, for some reason.
114—I doubt it has much to do with Infante. They’re probably just looking for someone better than Diory, and someone who could possibly start after AGony leaves.
Or, it may not even be true, since Heyman is the one reporting it.
I believe that Eduardo Nunez is Spanish for “Eduardo Perez.”
Mark Reynolds, anyone?
If he can play left, sure.
Isn’t he the one who breaks his own strikeout record every year?
RE: Skydiving. I did it once about 10 years ago and loved it. Swore up and down I would do more jumps but never did.
Now that I have kids I wouldn’t do it. It’s definately on my short list of “Things I’m Glad I Did While I Was Young.”
Bethany – yep, that’s him. But he also hits 40 homers a year.
Not sure what I think about him, myself …
—————
Never sky dove (?) but did enjoy a ride in a hot air balloon. Landed on Truett Cathy’s (Chick-Fil-A) farm. Came out and welcomed us – really nice guy.
@121 Looks like he is a creation of the park he’s playing in
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=reynoma01&year=&t=b#hmvis
Re: Mark Reynolds – he’s not purely a product of his home ballpark, but on the other hand, his career numbers aren’t that great.
Home – .249 / .345 / .507
Away – .235 / .323 / .461
He’s not so much a creation of his home park as a ticking time bomb. He’s already 27, and I expect his career to be over by the time he’s 30.
Mark Reynolds will come back to play first base for us one year.
Reynolds is such an extreme player, so close to the borderline of making so little contact so as to be useless, that he makes Adam Dunn look like Stan Musial.
I have no idea if this means anything, by the way, but I’m getting a lot of hits from the B-R page for Colby Rasmus. As in, maybe Cards fans think he’s going to be traded and want to know what I know. (Answer: nothing!)
No SEC picks?
I figured with it being UT week it was your favorite week to make picks.
Curious to see how bad you got Mallet torching our secondary.
I am boycotting SEC picks until Nick Saban stops pretending Donta Hightower can still play inside linebacker.
Alabama 223, Tennessee 0.
Sickels ranks for 2006. Just for demonstration’s sake. Not listed include Venters, Jo-Jo, Schafer, Blanco, Diory, Flowers.
Quite the fork-in-the-road game for Georgia this weekend. Win in Lexington and they’ll be favorites over Florida with a not-that-outside chance of winning the SEC East (really*!). Lose and Richt’s ergonomic office chair is back on the bonfire and the team could slide into f@$#-it mode**.
* South Carolina has lost 7 straight SEC road games and is notoriously crummy in November. They’ve got a home date with Arkansas and a trip to the Swamp left. Lattimore’s banged up. They’d be the first ones eliminated in a three-way tiebreaker with Georgia and Florida if it came to it.
** F@$#-it mode Georgia is still a dangerous, annoying creature to deal with; see also: Georgia @ Auburn 2006, Georgia @ Georgia Tech 2009. I mean, even if their gameplan was as half-assed as “whatever, just throw the ball to AJ Green 50 times,” that might actually work.
As for Reynolds, he batted sub-.200 and still would have led the Braves in RBIs. Most similar batter at his current age is this guy: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/schmimi01.shtml.
I’d love to have him, but that’s viewed from afar, I’m sure his bonkers line would have me ripping hair out when seen every day.
AND as for Schmidt, I’m amused by the age-comparison scores in reverse. Once he stopped hitting like Mark Reynolds, he started hitting like…Troy Glaus.
Guys, I live in AZ, have seen Reynolds several times at Dbacks games, and he’s got a lot of spirit (Scott Thorman, anyone?) and when he makes contact, he hits it a country mile. Thing is, he’s a human whiff machine the other 40%+ of the time he’s at the plate. Which is OK if he’s the only one who has a high strikeout rate on your team, but Arizona has 4 or 5 of those guys. Just consider him window shopping, and whoever said that earlier, a time-bomb waiting to explode.
Just as a thought, if the Braves are thinking about limiting Freeman’s games, why can’t we sign Dunn, play him for a year, and flip him next year. I’ve ready plenty of Peter’s reports on Freddie, he seems to think there’s some definite room for improvement in his plate approach, so why not keep him in AAA for another year? Sure didn’t hurt Jeremy Hellickson (and I know, that’s the Rays doing that out of a position of ridiculous depth, not us), and wouldn’t you rather have Freddie arb-eligible during his age-22-27 years instead of his age-21-26 years? I swear there was a lengthy debate about Heyward on this issue during spring training last year.
I’ll say it, again: Bruce Pearl, LOL.
I LOVE Hawkeye’s idea!
I don’t get it. What do you say to Freeman? You demolished AAA, and we have a vacancy at the position you play. So what we’re going to do is send you back to repeat a level and expend money and/or talent to bring in someone else? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
Well, Freeman is one of only two high school players (the guy who stole Mike Stanton’s name is the other) drafted in the second round of the 2007 draft to play in the majors. He’s ahead of schedule already, and would still be if he didn’t get the job until 2012. But I think the outfield is a much bigger problem, and one way you can afford outfield help is to have a first baseman making the minimum.
You saw how uneven Heyward’s first year was and he’s probably a Hall of Famer.
Easing Freddie in makes a lot of sense to me.
Are there any right-handed 1B mashers available? (Not named Lee, that is.)
Yeah, I kinda feel like Freeman’s earned the right for a chance to start, and LF is just so much more of a problem.
I’d take that.
Okay, that would be awesome.
Another bad umpiring call. Wtf MLB?
No kidding – nobody saw that?
You bring Freeman up and acclamate him to the bigs, because you want him and Heyward in the lineup together for five years. And because he’s good enough to start in the bigs, and you need to spend you limited money buying a real left fielder.
Ha. Swisher probably scores on that double.
Make em pay Vlad
Called it.
@146, there wouldn’t have been a double with a 1B holding swisher at first
Lovin’ it.
I think everybody pretty much had Nelson Cruz as a lock for ALCS MVP entering the series, right?
Ok Giants, close it out tomorrow. I would love a Rangers-Giants World Series. I am sure Bud would love it too.
New post.
Watching the Yankees lose is always enjoyable, but it lacks that special something from knowing the boss was blowing a gasket while preparing to fire everyone.
on choo:
as far as military thing goes, he’s not really concerned with it. He has two options. He can:
win the gold in the Asian games, but if that fails, or he can become a US citizen
He’s not saying anything about becoming a US citizenship because he just doesnt wanna tick off anyone in the korean government before he can be exonerated (if they win the gold), but there’s no way he’s going to the army…
as far as him as a player, the guy’s a beast. 20/20 .300 avg two years in a row… in a line up that doesnt support him in anyway. I believe he had .400 OBP… imagine if he batted in a line up that supported him… i can see him hitting 30+ hrs
has a cannon of an arm in the outfield, he has golden glove type defense, has power, can bat for average, speed, plays hard, on and on…
i highly doubt the indians will trade him. In fact, i know they wont trade him. my guess would be Boras will get him to sign a one year 3-4 mill contract or 3 year 20 mill contract with the Indians.