Andrelton Simmons began the year in spring training “competition†with Tyler Pastornicky for the starting shortstop job vacated by the jettisoned Alex Gonzalez. I say “competition†because the winner was all but preordained – Pastornicky was higher in the organizational depth chart (Simmons had not yet played at AA) and was going to get the first shot unless he completely fell on his face.
This despite Simmons getting the kind of raves for his defense that no Braves farmhand had received since Rafael Furcal. You could read between the lines of Chipper’s exultations in particular and guess at his preference.
Chipper knew what the Braves organization has historically known – while a young player’s offense may take time to develop, a truly elite defender is ready to take the field in the major leagues right now, virtually regardless of his amount of minor league experience. And so, as with Furcal and Andruw, the Braves promoted Simmons as soon as they were convinced he wouldn’t get the bat knocked out of his hands.
Simmons took his position at shortstop for the first time on June 2….and was immediately the best player in the National League. His June slash line of .333/.365/.522, along with defense that was not only flashy (you’ve seen this play before), but efficient (he converted some crazy percentage of DP opportunities, and despite playing only 1/3 of the season his 2.4 defensive WAR led NL shortstops), probably made a three-win difference to the team’s record in that month alone.
Alas, just as it appeared Simmons was passing Bryce Harper by as NL ROY favorite, he was felled by a broken bone in his hand that was slow to heal, and also missed time with a sprained ankle and sore shoulder. The injuries, along with some regression to the mean, likely contributed to a late-season offensive slide, but he still ended the season at .289/.335/.416, to which you would have said “yes please†at the beginning of the year.
Fredi Gonzalez seems to have red-lighted Andrelton on the basepaths in his rookie season – despite evident speed and willingness to steal (he had 78 SB attempts in 237 minor league games), he only attempted one steal with the big club.
It’s way too early for comps, but I can’t help myself. I get a Tony Fernandez vibe from Simmons – Fernandez was a spidery defender who put the ball in play a lot, and combined above-average speed with above-average line drive percentages. If anything, this might be selling Andrelton a little short defensively, but if I think too much about what his ceiling might be…well, my heart can take only so much excitement.
Thanks again, sansho1. Andrelton, it’s gonna be fun watching you. Stay healthy, please.
With a defender like Simmons, our ground ball pitchers will be so much more effective, especially lefties like O’Flaherty.
I still have a foul taste in my mouth from Andrelton in the play-in game. But it’s hard not to get excited about him.
Alex, my info on Moustakas came from DOB.
Once again, I don’t believe that the World Series winner had a better team than the Braves.
Good for you, Giants, and wellplayed,
but wait’ll next year.
Go Braves!
At least the Giants sweeping speeds up the decision making process with Bmac. Its time to start hearing rumors, new roster ideas, and I really just didnt want to watch Detroit/San Fran.
Nice work, Sam.
Having a hotshot SS is always a joy. It’s a little bit like having a effective closer in that, if you don’t have one, you really notice it. The failures seem to stand out more than others & it can make you nuts. (Think Kolb, think Pastornicky.)
I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again: Despite the bitter endings of the past couple seasons, the whole experience is a little tempered by the fact that we really do have good, young players on the roster.
What is life (or sports) if you don’t have something to look forward to?
(And on that note: Excuse me, for the moment, I must hunker down for this storm. Pretty strange looking out at Queensboro Plaza & the 59th Street Bridge, 2 of NYC’s busiest commuter hubs, where it’s… totally empty. Here’s to keeping power.)
I did not watch a single inning of baseball after the Wild Card game, and I don’t regret it one bit. Between the Gators doing their best to raise my hopes only to shatter them, and my 24/7 coverage of anything Skyfall, I just didn’t have any emotional equity in Major League Baseball. Screw this sport and it’s haphazard championships!
I am, however, really excited for the offseason and what the Braves will do with a payroll situation that is more reflective of what their market standing is. As much as I love Chipper, his resources could be better spent elsewhere, and I have a lot of confidence in Wren to make the right moves. We’re really moving in the right direction.
Olney…
Atlanta Braves: They will decide this week whether to pick up the $12 million option on Brian McCann and whether they’d rather use the money in their attempt to re-sign Michael Bourn.
@9
So it’s either/or, then? Hmm.
Stay safe, Jim. Hope to hear from all our eastern seaboard peeps ASAP.
All good in Boston, so far…
I would assume that the Braves have money for both Bmac and Bourn. Not really sure why they wouldnt, esp with Chippers money coming off the books. It could mean that we would look to fill the LF job with Gattis possibly though.
Now that the dust has settled, is there any consensus on whether our new batting coach(es) markedly improved anything?
The only good thing about the baseball season ending is that MLB Channel brings back the show discussing the new metrics (blanking on the name at the moment).
#13 – Good question. Tough to really tell since 2012 had a full season of Bourn and 1/2 season of Bmac. Anyway
2011 – .243/.308/.387/.695
173 HR’s, 641 Runs, 1345 Hits
2012 – .247/.320/.389/.709
149 HR’s, 700 Runs, 1341 Hits
Not sure 3.5 months of McCann is worth $12,000,000. He’ll probably be pretty iffy when he comes back too.
I still think the Braves need to take batting practice with RISP since they seem to become completely different hitters once we have RISP. It’s like they can’t concentrate with that guy out there running the bases distracting them.
Im sure some of that $12mil will be paid with insurance money and at this point we dont have another catcher ready. Ross could handle it for a month maybe,but we have to get him resigned also.
Ross does better with every other day off.
Infante broke his hand.
http://tinyurl.com/9cze7gy
@20 Man, feels like he’s broken it a half dozen times at this point.
I feel really bad for Marcus Lattimore.
I think the team will exercise its option on McCann. Who else can catch?
Now if Andrelton can avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.
Also glad the WS is over. Now lets get to the interesting stuff.
Just saw where they announced finalists for the GG awards, winners to be revealed on ESPN2 at 9:30 tonight and 4 Braves made the top 3 at their respective positions. Freeman, Bourn, Heyward and Prado (Simmons didn’t make it which is understandable given the limited playing time) are the ones. Noticed though that they list the finalists at each OF position, does this mean they will finally award the actual positions instead of just choosing 3 CF?
Another issue on McCann,
IF you exercise the option, then you can give him a qualifying tender. If he is horrible, that doesn’t affect you. If he is pretty good and if there is still an organizational hole, then you opt it. If he is really good, he gets a better / longer deal and moves on, BUT you get a pick.
That is also a reason to consider holding on to Hanson.
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but doesn’t McCann share agents with Chipper Jones? And isn’t that agent, BB Abbott, Chipper’s high school baseball buddy?
I don’t think there’s a huge risk of McCann and the Braves playing hardball.
I foresee a two year extension around 18-22 MM, that basically pushes McCann’s 12mm payday back a year, and pays him a fair salary for ’13 that takes in to account the fact that he’ll be out 1/3 of the year.
@25 – I’d take that gamble.
Apparently, some Gator fans bought a full-page ad in the UGA student newspaper before the game:
http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2012/uga-newspaper-florida-advertisment/
A question for Auburn fans:
There’s speculation that UK is about to open the vault for Tuberville. There’s no question he’s a significant step up from Phillips, but …
What’s the general consensus on Tommie?
Thanks!
@27
Harry Montevideo will run anything if it helps pay his bloated salary. $190K to publish a non-profit student newspaper.
While I (a former Red & Blacker) fully understand the level of annoyance that the ad might bring to the UGA community, the ad doesn’t really bother me one way or the other. Given the game’s result, the remarkably stupid ad’s kinda funny now.
I guess my question would be: Was the reported $2,900 ad-sale worth the bad publicity the newspaper got from it?
Also, it may be interesting to point out that Harry, a reasonable guy when I worked there, is a Univ. of Florida grad. Probably had no bearing on cashing that check, but I couldn’t help remembering that.
@30 I Think the ad will be treasured possession of all Georgia students and will be used every year on team’s bulletin board.
@28 Tuberville is a great coach. I am confident he could have been at Auburn for a very long time and kept us a solid team if not for the University’s meddling. He got a reputation as a bad recruiter, but Chizik won his NC with Cam, Fairley, and Tuberville’s seniors, and all his “top recruiting classes” haven’t washed out. I didn’t want him fired and I’d love to have him back, so I think he’d be an amazing get for Kentucky.
@28/30 – Tuberville also had some pretty serious neck/health issues if I’m not mistaken and one of the schools of thought was that he lost his passion for coaching. I don’t know if it was true, but this was the spin that I heard, along with murmurings about marital issues. As an Alabama fan, I’ve got to tell you that I always thought he was a good coach and was a good ambassador for Auburn. UK could do a whole lot worse and probably not a great deal better.
@33 Oh yeah, his wife is freaking NUTS. Forgot about that. But still. Texas Tech looks solid this year.
I’ve heard from some People Who Know Things that Cutcliffe is right there with Tuberville at the top of UK’s list. I think either would be an excellent hire.
Come on, UK — give Joker another year to get this thing turned around!
@30
I never got to know him. He’s gotten some bad publicity lately, including a light being shown on his compensation.
Then again, the R&B ran an ad from Holocaust deniers when I was there, so I should probably not throw stones.
I guess that should be “shone”. Oy.
People saw that Pastornicky got cut from his winter ball team? Yeesh.
Having a .530 OPS will convince people to do that to you.
All the links seem to be borked.
Hope everyone on the east coast is okay.
It really is the silly season, isn’t it? Now I’m hearing Jimbo Fisher to Auburn.
@42 ALL THE MONEY? FSU is good place to coach.
And Danny Sheridon is saying Chizik is out not because of the fact that he sucks, but because Auburn is in trouble with the NCAA. People are crazy.
Richmond got rain and few sticks off trees. without power 12 days after Isabel.
FSU is a good place to coach, but so is Auburn. Ego and $$ are what drive these coaches. Fisher to Auburn actually makes a lot of sense. His wife is from Birmingham and went to AU. He’s got two coaches, Gran and Craig that went to Auburn. FSU is paying him $1.8 and Auburn could easily double that offer. That rumor has some legs to it.
BOTH OF THEM.
David O’Brien @ajcbraves
I don’t think it’s either/or. RT @hermancueva7: @ajcbraves hey Dave! You think #Braves will pursue Josh Hamilton or stick w/ Michael Bourn?
@46 I’d take him, but I imagine that FSU seems like the more stable job, unless Jacobs gets fired, and if Jacobs does get fired, does that mean there’s even more meddling from Dye?
@47 ALL OF THE MONIES
We made it out OK, thnx. Just lotsa rain & howling wind blowing things around here in Long Island City. The lights flickered a few times, but we never lost power. (All our lines are underground.)
We didn’t live in an evacuation zone, because we’re on pretty high ground, so no flooding for us. We were lucky. A lotta folks weren’t.
So, that’s 2 hurricanes & 1 earthquake. In contests vs. Mother Nature, this building is 3-0. Small sample size, of course, but these are the biggest games of the year.
The Braves are expected to announce that they’ve exercised options on Hudson, McCann, and Maholm.
$ 12 mil for three month of post-surgery McCann? Ugh.
I’m not sure how these insurance policies for MLB players work, but it seems like common sense that McCann’s salary during recovery from shoulder surgery wouldn’t be covered by the insurance considering the Braves didn’t actually have to pay him.
Assuming last year was the exception, 100 games of McCann should probably be worth 12 million.
Id exercise the option on all 3 also. Bmac should be worth $12 mil and it keeps us from trading prospects for a lesser catcher on the market. We need to get Ross resigned.
That is being reported from Rosenthal so I wouldnt put a lot of stock into it.
Bringing McCann back for a half-season of iffy post-shoulder surgery play for $12,000,000 is nothing but sentimentality. Wren seemed above that when he told Smoltz to take a hike after 2008, saying he wasn’t going to pay him not to pitch.
Would rather have Greinke and/or Bourn.
Its official
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/10/30/braves-bringing-back-mccann-hudson-maholm/
I am expecting the Braves to sign McCann to an extension. And that would certainly be fine by me.
Whatever time McCann misses due to injury I’d expect to be paid through insurance for the most part rather than from the Braves’ coffers.
It’s still not a guarantee McCann will be worth the money once he is back, but I expect the Braves’ front office has a clearer picture than any of us and it’s not like there’s some kind of glut of cheap, good free agent catchers or viable options coming up the minors.
12 million is a pittance compared to what Greinke will get. Hell if Greinke gets 25 mil per year or thereabouts he is not too far below the cost of Hudson McCann and Maholm together.
$12 million doesn’t just buy his 2013 production. It also buys a window of exclusivity and goodwill to negotiate a new deal should he bounce back and play well, at a tough position to fill.
I’m not an insurance adjuster, but I don’t think a team can give a contract to a player, who is not already under contract, 3 weeks after he has shoulder surgery, and then submit his salary for insurance reimbursement.
Picking up Bmac’s option makes me believe that he’s part of the Braves long term plans. If Wren didnt feel comfortable with the conversations then Im sure he wouldve declined the option and tried to renegotiate something else.
@61
I thought about that, too. Is the option year considered coverable under the initial contract?
@63 – Maybe so, and maybe that’s what the supposed dithering was about: finding an answer to that very question before they inked him up.
I don’t have any insight whatsoever. But I just can’t imagine any insurance company paying a dime.
Although, I suppose it is possible that the Braves negotiated with some insurance company, and arrived at a higher premium and some kind of cap on disbursement… like, Braves pay 10% higher than you do on other contracts, and insurance company will insure up to $4m… or something like that.
See, this is the problem. We’re stressing over whether another party will be willing to pick up part of the salary of a guy who won’t be viable until June.
Damn, I hate being poor.
The Atlanta Freaking Expos. Bring me the head of whoever negotiated our tv deal.
@49 – I guess that building just knows how to win.
@14,
Clubhouse Confidential is the name of the sabermetrically-inclined MLB show.
So the White Sox declined Youkilis’s option. That would make him an interesting buy-low option for third base. Anyone think he’ll bounce back?
I’ve always just considered option years to be part of the original contract since contracts can have clauses that automatically vests those options for hitting whatever milestones is put in there.
I have no clue if that’s accurate and/or if there’s some difference regarding injury insurance. It was just my assumption of how it worked and I didn’t actually consider if that was a fact when I mentioned the insurance thing. Now I’ll have to see if I can find anything just out of curiosity.
I’d think Youkilis has entered his declining years to be honest, age compounded by injuries.
Taking a flyer on him if they could sign him cheap I would be quite happy with, but that seems unlikely and I don’t think I’d like tying money up in that particular venture.
@69
Looking at the White Sox’ other 3B options (awful), I have to assume they’ll try to resign him. If they don’t, the fact that they’d let him go and take their chances is mighty telling.
It is telling, but as successful as the White Sox have been under Kenny Williams’ tenure, he has earned a reputation for being extraordinarily bold. So though this may have been the right move, Williams is anything but conservative in his personnel moves.
Youkilis had a $13 million option and it was just a $1 million buyout. I bet that the White Sox and a lot of other teams will look to offer him a one- or two-year contract with an AAV well under $13 million. He may be able to look at some 1 year-$10 million contracts against some 2 year-$15 million contracts.
Unless, of course, the doctor’s prognosis is truly dire, and he’ll be lucky to receive a minor league invite. That’s information I don’t have. But at least for right now, he seems too young to be completely useless. He’s just 33, turning 34 in March. If he gets any BABIP bounceback at all, he’s a 2-3 win player.
I can’t believe TNT brought Shaq back for another year of Inside the NBA. He completely ruins what was a great dynamic.
Youkilis is a b-hole. Don’t think I’d enjoy rooting for him very much.
I’d pass on Youk
There ought to be more offense available in the form of LF than you can probably expect out of Youkilis.
Picking up Mac’s option is a no-brainer. It’s not like he is 33 years old catcher who has passed his prime. Keep the guy first and work on an extension. Besides, paying Mac 12m next year is already way better than paying Lowe 10m for not doing any further damage.
Heyward wins a Gold Glove for RF.
Freddie wins one too!
LaRoche wins the 1B award. Sorry about that. Jumped the gun.
Bourn somehow *didn’t* win the gold glove…
@82 He will win one next year when he is no longer with us.
Holy bejeezus, Dodgers gave Brandon League 3y/22.5m. That’s a truckload of money for a reliever.
Keep waiting, why don’t you, Wren? I’m sure Heyward’s just going to get cheaper and cheaper.
Yeah, I’m guessing Heyward is next on the docket. Picking up options is quick work, comparatively.
@85 Why do you think Heyward would want to talk? It takes two sides to get an agreement done.
Feel free to consider me scarred by recent memory, but I remember the left fielders we’ve rolled out the last several years — a group that includes Melky Cabrera, Garret Anderson, Gregor Blanco, Matt Diaz, and Ryan Langerhans. Youkilis is so fragile that he’s basically a platoon player anyway, but I bet he could still be worth a couple of wins. That would beat the hell out of getting a “veteran” like Garret Anderson.
Why wouldn’t he? If he signs for five years, he’d get paid a lot more over the next three years than he’d make in arbitration, then the team would save a few bucks over his first couple years of free agency.
kc: The Braves do have some leverage here, because they can (and would) offer to pay him more during his arb years than he would get otherwise. I think it should be possible to get a deal done; Wren just has to make it a priority in terms of future payroll commitments.
But, Alex, he’s gross.
@89, 90 I agree with your logic, but at the end of the day, that’s what precisely Frenchy rejected. What I am trying to say is, don’t blame Wren for not getting the deal done. Maybe there were talks and Heyward wasn’t interested. Who knows what’s happening behind the scene.
But, Alex, he’s gross.
So is losing.
@88 But AAR, I think you are overlooking the fact that we have some money to spend this winter whereas we had to cut budget when we rolled out those options you mentioned. I think we can do better than Youkilis. Besides, I don’t think the Braves would like to bring in such a strong veteran personality into a young clubhouse which Chipper just leaves behind.
So back to SEC coaches, it looks like there will be a few slots open this winter:
Tennessee (God please!)
Auburn
Arkansas
Kentucky
And probably one other job will come open because the coach left on their own (Miss St. Maybe Bama?)
That is a lot of openings in a conference.
Many congrats to Heyward for his Gold Glove! I hope he’s a Brave for a long long time.
Petrino to Auburn seems like a match made in heaven.
No way the AD would pull the trigger on that…right?
What a world!
I’ll not dispute Wren’s decision to pick up the options of three fine players.
But paying a man $12 million to play 100 games of baseball makes me shake my head a bit.
I think that I read on AJC that insurance would pay the prorated portion of the salary for the games he misses. But even without that in the equation I don’t think the Braves had any option. We have no MLB ready catching prospects and since every other team would understand our position of weakness a journeyman catcher could become an expensive trade.
I think its a good gamble that he will return to form or some semblance of it.
OK, my real objections to Youkilis:
– 34 is a collapse age for a player with old player skills. Hinske and Diaz were 34 this year.
– The only position he can play with us is 3B, and Prado fields it better than he does.
– He was beset with back and knee problems last year, and his batting stance seems designed specifically to exacerbate those types of problems.
– We already have two lineup regulars about whom we’re crossing our fingers they aren’t following a similar career track.
– The dude is gross, seriously.
Sounds like Jimbo Fisher to Auburn is getting legs.
Regarding UK’s next coach, Tuberville would be a best case scenario. He’s done well at Ole Miss, Auburn and TT. I am not interested in David Cutcliffe.
Cutcliffe is not in the same category as Tuberville. I think the latter would be a much better hire for them, but I don’t know if he’s keen on leaving T Tech.
The Auburn faithful is aghast at the idea of hiring Petrino because he’s “not a good guy” while simultaneously ignoring what we did to try to get him in 03. Word is the Auburn football czars didn’t like that Tuberville took control of the program away from them and didn’t give in to their meddling, and that’s why they wanted him gone so desperately and hired a good ole boy instead of the best guy available. Hiring Fisher would fall right into that line of thinking, but hiring Petrino might not.
I like David Cutcliffe, but not really as a head coach. The big knock on him is he hates to recruit and isn’t all that good at it.
I am glad he is doing well at Duke. He knows a ton about football and comes up with great game plans.
I just want the rumors to be true about the next possible Tennessee coach. I can’t even speak his name, it gets me way pumped. They will call him (probably have) and will make him say “no.” Will he, maybe.
I think Tuberville would leave for Kentucky (if they will pay him)or Arkansas (they may hire Charlie Strong or call James Franklin)
You want Gruden? Because that last NFL castoff you hired went so well.
Smitty: I noticed you snuck in that Saban could leave on his own @95, but that won’t happen. He signed an extension until January 2020 to finish his career at Alabama. If anyone gets lured to leave, my money is on Kirby Smart.
I don’t expect Saban to leave, but Texas can absolutely offer more money than Alabama (or anyone else) can.
And nobody realistically thinks Gruden would agree to coach at Tennessee. I’m hoping those moral victories against UGA and SC allow Dooly to hang around a while longer, though.
I think Petrino ends up at UT, though. A place like Auburn will have better (read: less toxic) options, but UT won’t, and they’re not going to worry themselves with his ethical record, as desperate as that fanbase is.
We dressed our 8-month-old daughter as Kris Medlen this morning.
…because he looks like a young girl.
@108 Bravo! I think he looks like a trailer park lesbian. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I’m sure your daughter was adorable and has an excellent change up.
@107
I don’t Saban will leave either, unless Jerry Jones or Hasslem offer him a boat laod of cash.
I’m not sure Tennessee will go after Petrino. They need someone to provide stability to the program, so the next coach will have to be a big anme and be able to provide stability.
Kind of like this past coach and the one before that were supposed to be.
@105
Gruden would be much different.
When Mike Hamilton did up Kiffin’s contract, he put a low buyout on it from Kiffin’s end, so there was little deterrent from him leaving for another job (Hamilton was terrible and is he main reason UT is in the situation they are)
I think the odds of Gruden coming are like 15%, so I am not getting my hopes up. If they did get him, I would expect the world to end.
Here are is the UT coacing odds:
Gruden 15%
Patrino 10%
Smart 15%
Strong 10%
Another canidate 40%
Dooley somehow shows he has an idea of how to coach and the fan base doesn’t murder him and he stays 10%
Stu, you’re a lawyer, so maybe you can tell me. If you sign your daughter to a long-term contract, is that binding on Medlen?
More rumblings today that Jacobs is out at Auburn.
New thread.
I wonder what Mikel LeShoure thinks about Simmons…