I asked Alex if I could have the Mat Gamel write up. I love marginal players like this. They amuse me. They open themselves up to a bit more than a straight “what to expect from them statistically” bit. It’s the same reason I picked Gerald Laird last year. You can get creative with marginal guys. You can spin them into stories. I love stories.
I had an outline for a really great spin on Mat Gamel. I was going to go into how he was not actually human, but the main character from Paul Wegener’s “The Golem,” enduring the endless existence of an unliving, undead, misunderstood monster. I was going to cross ref Mary Shelley and an episode or two of “Supernatural.” It was going to be awesome. But then my ethnic based comedy bits test marketed poorly. And now? I got nothing. Just…nothing. Mat Gamel. Anyone?
Good signing. Low risk, high reward minor league 3B caddy in case Regression regresses. Once premier prospect stick out of the Brewers organization who got derailed by a sequence of knee injuries before he ever really got started. If he puts it back together Atlanta gets a real player for pennies on the dollar. If he doesn’t? Gwinnett needs warm bodies. Mat Gamel is not, for the record, a half-living claymation monster fighting Nazi necromancers. Sigh. Turns out, Mat Gamel isn’t even Jewish. “Gamel” isn’t even Hebrew. Best I can tell, it’s actually a variant of an Old French/Occitan word meaning “oatmeal.” Great. Mat Gamel is apparently this guy.
Double existential put-upon disconsolate sigh. At least if Mat Gamel makes the 2014 squad we can call him The Oatmeal. I’ll take what I can get. The golem bit was going to be hilarious.
For the record, the Hebrew letter is Gimel, the third letter of the alphabet. This explains why he plays third. Now, if he can BAT third….
The porn stuff seems to test well, so there’s always that.
You would have been hard pressed to beat the Kimbrel analogy.
I’m probably too dumb for half of your humor. I had to click on the link to find out what The Golem was.
Gamel had a .304/.376/.498/.873 slash line as a minor league guy. Playing in the PCL will do that for you. At least Gwinnette will have a decent 3b this year.
@3
Gamel had great numbers well before his time in the PCL. His minor league track record suggests he’s a legit power hitter, with a decent strikeout rate (about 1 of every 6 PA), and good walk rate (10% of PA). A Gamel gamble is a good gamble.
Noted. When in doubt, work blue.
Anyone else weirdly excited about Luis Vasquez and his potential in the bullpen?
And yes, after last thread I SHOULD know better than use ‘weirdly excited’ when talking about a reliever, but dammit, I just can’t help myself.
No need to apologize! Throw him to the wolves and see if he sticks. The Braves have been extraordinarily effective at building bullpens in the McDowell era. I mean, who would have thought that we could replace O’Failurety and Venters with David Carpenter and Luis Avilan?
@7
Alex, I take that is a ‘Yes.’?
😉
How many spots do you guys think are available for ST battles? I’d guess 3 bullpen and 1 bench. Carpenter, Kimbrel, Avilan, and Walden seem to be the only for sure spots secured in the bullpen and Doumit, Laird, Schafer, and Pena all but have 4 bench spots secured. Any predictions on who gets the available spots? I’ll go Gamel, Vazquez, Hale, and Buchter.
Also, I think Varvaro and Gearrin get traded during Spring.
Ugh, The Oatmeal.
FLABTABULOUS REASONS WHY THE (random species of snail) IS THE BIGGEST MONSTERSAURUSIST MOTHERF***IN’ ROCKSTAR IN THE UNIVERSE (except for that one B****IN SANDWICH I HAD IN THIS AIRPORT ONCE, HA HA HAD TO POOP LATER)
9
I guess you assume Wood and Beachy have the last 2 SP slots filled and no chance Garcia works his way in there? Could see them starting with Garcia and Wood in the pen but I’m anxious to see Buchter and Vazquez too.
@10, that is the best Oatmeal parody I’ve ever seen. Nice.
I don’t much care for Jim Bowden — he’s a well-known charlatan who screwed the Nationals for years as he and his friends were busy skimming off of international free agent signings — but he just wrote something that I hadn’t been totally aware of:
I certainly wish the Braves had done more this offseason, but I liked the Floyd signing and Freeman extension, and I’m glad to know in retrospect that he was seriously in on Scherzer and Price. Am I forgetting something? Did we know about those deals? Anyone have any idea what we were offering?
It was widely reported that Wren was in on Price and talking to Detroit. We were clearly looking for a #1 starter. The asking price was too high. Wren specifically called out Tampa for asking the moon for Price. Sometimes the smart move is to say “no thank you” and move on.
It’s easy to get caught in the moment of things. Woe! We are going to give away the farm for David Price. Woe! We didn’t get David Price. Woe! We didn’t resign Brian McCann; we’ll never sign anyone again! Woe!! Woe!!!
The Braves have one of the smartest front offices in baseball. They have one of the best development organizations in baseball. They are hamstrung by payroll and ownership, but they are going to put together a quality product year in and year out. And they are *not* going to go into their new stadium on the heels of watching all of their home grown, fan favorite players leave to early free agency. They’re too smart of *businessmen* for that.
From your lips to God’s ears, Sam. I hope that they hang onto a lot of these guys.
@14
Preach it Brother Sam, Preach!
Those guys would’ve costs us a ton in terms of prospects and salary. Wren was smart to pass on them. Hopefully Medlen, Minor, and Teheran all step up this year and one of them takes control of the anchor spot needed. Add that in with Beachy, Wood, Garcia, Graham, Sims etc…it just shows how much depth we truly have. No need to go trade the moon for a guy like David Price when we already have the RH’d version (Medlen). Meds just doesn’t throw as hard.
“I liked the Floyd signing”
May I ask why? Four million for a pitcher coming off of UCL reconstruction surgery, who won’t be ready when the season begins and who was a mediocre starter even when healthy, doesn’t seem all that exciting.
The Braves are already awash in middle of the rotation starters, they could have really used something better.
@10, a.k.a. “Facebook humor.”
I remember when Gamel first came up he made some fantasy baseball “hey pick up this call-up!” type articles. As dumpster dive free agent signings go, this one’s got reasonable upside.
May I ask why? Four million for a pitcher coming off of UCL reconstruction surgery, who won’t be ready when the season begins and who was a mediocre starter even when healthy, doesn’t seem all that exciting.
Two things. First, when healthy, Gavin Floyd is significantly better than “mediocre.” Second, Eric O’Flaherty signed for two years, 7 mil. Adjust your thinking on what money will buy. Boone Logan makes 5 mil per year. BOONE LOGAN!
Yep. He’s a league-average starting pitcher. If he were going to be healthy on Opening Day, he’d have good hopes of getting $20-$30 million over three or four years. Instead, we signed him for about half that AAV, in the reasonable hopes that by the time he gets healthy we’ll be in good need of rotation depth.
For an insurance policy, he’s cheap at the price.
Bronson Arroyo just got $23.5 million, and he’s five years older than Floyd. That’s why Floyd’s worth it at $4 million.
“First, when healthy, Gavin Floyd is significantly better than “mediocre.”
What’s that they say about throwing good money after bad?
http://tinyurl.com/mm2344j
10 million is a lot even for Arod. What? 15 20 games?
@23
Floyd has played his entire career in a bandbox and the majority of it in the AL. His numbers should significantly decrease at Turner Field. He’s been victim of a career reverse home/away split…very telling.
Maholmie signs with dodgers.
The Mississippi Hawaiian Crip
A nice & amusing remembrance of Ralph Kiner’s on-mic days in the NY Times:
http://tinyurl.com/l32wygy
What is more ridiculous than the Cardinals’ “Competitive Advantage” draft pick?
Ryan C. at 21 and all,
But did you see the terms on Maholm? 1.5 with incentives to 5. One year only. If he is only a “decent 5”, he is worth more than that, isn’t he?
Also, Gavin Floyd who definitely will not be ready to go in April, may not be ready to go ever (unlikely) goes for 4 mill with incentives on top?
Bronson Arroyo gets 23 mill guaranteed over 2 (Tim Hudson money).
This is really really strange. I wonder if Maholm has an “opt out” if he is not on 25 man roster and figures he will work in the Dogger camp and get a better offer.
@30
What’s ridiculous about it?
New thread.