The 2015 Atlanta Braves entered a game in late July in a position to sweep the almighty, NL West-leading Dodgers, proving that no matter how things look on paper, you still gotta play the games. A good team may have the advantage when facing a bad (or mediocre) team, but, as a broken clock is right twice a day, even the worst major league teams will win 50 games. On top of that the Braves lucked into a series against the “pray for rain” portion of the Dodgers’ rotation, which definitely helped even things up a bit.
Julio Teheran was the Home Julio (or should that be the Jome Julio?) and looked sharp. He started the game in a dominant fashion, recording strikeouts for five of the first six outs he recorded, and getting a pickoff at second base for the sixth. Tom Glavine pointed out how confident Julio’s body language was on the mound, and it was a valid point. There have been games where his emotions on the mound have been obvious, and it looks like he just wants to throw a temper tantrum out there. Today, though, he looked ready to pitch as soon as he caught the ball and treated us to a vintage Julio game. Neither his defense nor his offense, however, seemed inclined to want to take advantage of that.
A day game on a hot day combined with the Braves “A” offense still on the disabled list led Fredi to start his “J” offense to support Julio, and the results were pretty predictable. KJ, CJ, and AJ went a combined 1-for-9 in the heart of the order (add J. Peterson‘s 0-for-3 and J. Terdoslavich…JT?…’s groundout as a pinch hitter and today’s “J” team ended up more resembling jolly jokers learning jujutsu than ballplayers.)
Mike Bolsinger looked vulnerable in first few innings, and, in hindsight, the Braves should have taken Chip’s sage advice from last night when he said, “if the Braves want to think about early offense, perhaps they should do so in the first inning” (yes, Chip, that very well could be a good time to think about early offense).
The Braves recorded hits in each of the first two innings, then looked to be in serious business in the 3rd when Andrelton Simmons led off the inning with a single with Julio coming up to bunt him over. Julio couldn’t get the bunt down, though, and with two strikes hit a line drive to shortstop that Jimmy Rollins leaped up and appeared to snag. In his haste to turn a double play, though, he didn’t close his glove all the way and dropped the ball, and then proceeded to kick it away from him. Although the play produced a better situation than a successful bunt would have, Fredi appeared bummed that the inning might not include a good bunt, and so, as any self-respecting NL manager and advocate-of-the-bunt would do, he ordered his leadoff hitter to bunt the runners over. Jace did what he was asked, and the Braves nicely handed the Dodgers an out.
When you play for one run you rarely get more, and sure enough, the Braves picked up their only run of the game that inning. Get ’em on, error ’em over, bunt ’em over more, and score on a groundout is good ol’ fashioned ABE Baseball, NL style. Following that, Bolsinger was dominant, allowing only a walk in the four more innings he completed. The Braves couldn’t get a hit off the Dodgers bullpen, either, so they really should have thought about early offense in the first inning.
Julio was striking everyone out and pitching merrily along until the fifth inning, when Yasmani Grandal hit a ball to right field that Nick Markakis misplayed so badly he couldn’t even be charged with an error on the play. The ball ended up over his head and Grandal ended up with a leadoff double. Julio couldn’t pick up his right fielder, and following a groundout that advanced the runner, he gave up a single to, naturally, former Brave Alberto Callaspo that put the Dodgers on the board. A Rollins double and Joc Pederson single later, the score stood 3-1 and the damage was done.
The Braves bullpen continued their stellar post-All Star Break work and kept the Dodgers off the board over the last two innings, but some offense is mandatory for winning and the Braves had none of that over the last six innings (which, apparently, was the Dodgers fault for throwing too many curve balls, as AJ and the Braves bench appeared to start whining about in the 7th inning.)
Still, the game might have ended differently had this not been the year of Former Braves Coming Back to Exact Revenge Against Their Former Team. In the 9th Cameron Maybin walked to start the inning and Markakis followed that with what seemed destined to be a double down the third base line. Before you could fully formulate the thought that the Braves might have men on second and third, no one out, and down two, Callaspo made an amazing play to stop the ball and get Nick out at first. Of course he did.
The Braves are off tomorrow and open a series in St. Louis on Friday. If they couldn’t manage to get through a Dodgers series without Callaspo—Alberto Callaspo!—beating them, I shudder to think of the damage the Braves are going to experience this weekend at the hands of Jason Heyward.
Hurry back soon, Freddie. Pretty please.
You write a great recap, ‘Rissa. Thank you. Jomie Julio: wonderful.
‘Rissa…formidable. Thanks.
My new favorite drinking game: Let’s See If. You take a shot whenever Chip says “Let’s See If…” For strong livers only: a double shot when the rest of the sentence involves a Braves player hitting a home run. What’s interesting about the game is that it only really gets going around the fifth inning (As his father said, “We come to the bottom of another fifth…”) and you drink about six times as much when the Braves are behind as when they are ahead, as is appropriate.
I hasten to add that no one should actually play this game. Instead, simply shout loudly at the television whenever Chip does this “WE WILL!!! THAT’S WHY WE’RE WATCHING THE GAME!!! WE HAPPEN TO KNOW HOW MANY RUNS A HOME RUN IS WORTH!!!!” Your neighbors will complain, but you’ll feel better.
Cubs and Braves match up so well! I hope Hart can make it happen to get Baez, and hopefully he has the arm to play 3b.
@Rob previous thread,
I set up ebook libraries for libraries (but I only read real books and Bravesjournal.) Virtually meeting-free, and I spend a lot of time in front of the computer during the daytime. As many of you could probably guess. It doesn’t make many demands on my mind at work, and it doesn’t make any demands on my mind at all after work. You should transfer!
I guess that the Chip and Joe hate vibe is kinda lost on me. They’re not HOF broadcasters, but I come from having to listen to the Nats announcers, and in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is truly king. Maybe it’s just the bad roommate thing — having to look at/listen to them every day? Lots of people around this neighborhood venerate Chip’s dad, and I think he was atrocious.
Most announcers have trouble coming up with insightful and creative things to say and thus fill the air with the same thing they said yesterday or an inning before. McCarver: “It’s not a hit and run, it’s a RUN (pregnant pause, wait for it) AND HIT.” “It’s not a foul pole, it’s a FAIR POLE.” Joe with the hit it the other way stuff, etc.
I never expect much out of any broadcast announcing crew, and thus am rarely disappointed. Heck, I watch with the sound off most games. But I’d advise watching the Nats guys for a week and you’ll be dying for the dulcet baritone of Chip Caray.
@6
That’s a good point, and as much as I can snark about Chip’nJoe, they’re hardly the worst I’ve heard. They aren’t blatant homers and are willing to call out the local nine for their failings, yet remain mostly positive. I believe bledsoe has it right that they suffer from the curse of familiarity, in that we hear them all the time and their tics are magnified.
I however, still reserve the right to snark at them occasionally. Heck, I snark at my wife and have been married almost 22 years, so why should C’nJ get a pass?
@6: I agree, they aren’t the worst. And repeating yourself with your own little “insights” into the game is, at least to me, only mildly annoying, and they all do that. And excessive homerism, which isn’t their problem, is really bad, both in DC and, worst of all, on the South Side of Chicago. But the “let’s see if” thing is just so grating to me… It’s one thing to anticipate (“What’s he going to throw here? Should they steal? Is the center fielder playing too far in?”) but describing what will happen if the next batter happens to get a home run isn’t announcing, it’s what a ten year old does.
@4
Is that being discussed?
I think its wishful thinking, but I’d be on board. Seems like a player that we could/should potentially target.
Stud prospects have been flipped for rental relief pitchers before. It’s just hard to imagine Theo doing it. But yes, please.
Announcer love/hate is pretty subjective. I’d take Hawk Harrelson over Vin Scully. The former makes me laugh and the latter puts me to sleep. Our guys aren’t too bad. My problem with Chip is that he says stuff sometimes that shows a fundamental lack of understanding about the game. I take it he didn’t play baseball much as a kid. Joe is usually pretty good if you can look past his play-the-right-way-get-off-my-lawn rants.
I know some people will watch the opposing team’s feed rather than listen to Chip and Joe, but I don’t find them that bad. I’ll watch the Braves feed every night. In my job I have to talk all day, and I know from personal experience that sometimes what you’re trying to say doesn’t come out the way you intend it to, so I generally try not to laugh at other people when that happens to them. But sometimes Chip says things I just have to laugh at; there’s no two ways around it. I do miss Tom Hart on the Braves broadcasts, though (even if he did insinuate on Twitter last week that Simmons may not be the best defensive shortstop in baseball). I actually learned stuff from listening to him.
I hate Chip Caray and I agree that the Nats’ guys are even worse.
I don’t want Javier Baez, though. I have trouble believing he’ll ever make enough contact to be a major league starter. I get him as an upside pick, and if we could get him at an affordable price, I’d be willing to bite, but I really see him as a utility guy.
Agreed, Alex. Baez is fool’s gold.
Chip and Joe can certainly be annoying, but their awfulness is overstated. See the DC pollyannas, see Hawk Harrelson, etc. Hell, even among teams that I watch on a regular basis…if there are any somewhat local Hawks fans in the audience, the Bob Rathbun-Dominique Wilkins duo for Hawks games on SportSouth is just awful. Rathbun’s his general average workmanlike self (Braves fans will remember him from the old once-a-week Fox Sports South broadcasts before they got the main rights and hired Jon Sciambi and Joe), but he’s not good enough to keep the ship from sinking due to Nique’s rampant homerism and non-sequiturs. And since it’s mainly Nique’s fault, that means that nobody will ever point out how freaking bad it is. I would listen to Chip and Joe…well, 162 times before I would listen to Rathbun and Wilkins 82. So it can definitely be worse.
See, I really like Dominique during the Hawks games. Rathbun’s fine as long as he stays off-screen. That man is a vampire.
And my least favorite announcer-y thing is baseball is whoever the Angels guy is who always explodes “BIG fly!” when the Halos hit one out (which is a lot this year).
You know who has a terrible announcing team but seldom gets called out for it? The Cardinals. Horrible.
@6 – Why does no one ever argue that the foul line is the fair line? It’s the same logic.
I have a theory that it is because intuitively people realize that it would be a stupid thing to argue about. Please, nobody tell McCarver.
Baez may be the next Andy Marte, but if we can get him for JJ, I think it’s a win. I’d be shocked if we did that well for JJ.
And it’s actually called the foul pole because it was invented by Guy Foulet to demarcate the furthest boundaries of fair territory. Originally the “Foulet pole”, it was shortened to foul pole for convenience.
@18
Especially Mike Shannon. He makes Don Sutton look like Vin Scully. If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t even know that there’s a game going on half the time.
And he’s got the absolute worst home-run call in the history of everything.
I still expect JJ and CJ to be a package deal somewhere for salary relief only.
I was never a fan of either Carey. I preferred Ernie and Pete, even Joe or Don with either of my favorite two. I guess you have to be older than dirt to say this, but for me Ernie Johnson was and ever shall be the voice of the Braves.
From MLB Trade Rumors:
•Some rival executives believe that the Braves are willing to deal Julio Teheran, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. But an Atlanta source indicates that the team sees too much upside in the young righty (and his reasonably-priced extension) to consider such a move. Teheran, 24, has not matched his excellent results over the prior two seasons, but it does seem hard to imagine the club selling low on him unless president of baseball operations John Hart is just not a believer in his future.
We should be able to get something worth writing home over for a pairing of JJ and another veteran, such as KJ or Uribe. No? They could provide a great boost for a contender.
I cannot imagine Julio Teheran will be dealt, unless it’s for a return similar to a player with his contract and 2013-2014 level performance. I can’t imagine the Braves will be content to sell low on him. They would have to be internal convinced that he won’t regain his form, but some time will have to offer a package as if he will/is currently providing that production.
It’s refreshing to read that there are at least a few moderate supporters of Chip. It’s almost like I should be embarrassed to write this, but I think he’s good. A bit corny, but his knowledge of the history of baseball is interesting to me. Joe annoys me much more; he’s become a grumpy old man on the air while I’ve watched him over the years.
Just curious, but….. Am I the only Braves fan who feels this way?
They both have their faults. Chip is the worst on the lazy fly balls that he thinks are HR’s and his love obsession with the Cubs. Joe gets off on every ball hit the opposite way. Other than that, I tolerate them.
I wouldn’t say I’m a Chip fan — he just strikes me as kind of a blah, really. I just can’t get excited one way or the other.
I am as old as Coop and agree that EJ and Pete were the best we had. I actually liked Don Sutton too. Sorry.
Milo Hamilton was worse than any of them (with the standard “product of his time” disclaimer). My dream booth would be Ernie and Glavine.
Milo was the worst. I like Glavine too.
From MLB Trade Rumors:
The Braves have been asked about outfielder Nick Markakis, who still has three years left on his free agent deal, but the team is not making him available. And while Juan Uribe could well be dealt, the club reportedly prefers to attempt to move Chris Johnson first.
If there’s any truth to the statement that “the team is not making [Markakis] available,” then I am confused and dismayed.
@27
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I think he’s good. But I do find him at worst moderately irritating. When he gets going on the freaking Cubs, that’s the only time I want to punch a hole in my TV screen. Or a couple years ago when he wouldn’t shut the hell up about how totally awesome Derek Jeter was during a Braves-Yankees game. The other stuff is pretty standard announcer blather.
So, would our front office be willing to part with Markakis if the interested team was willing to take CJ and all his contract, too?
I bet an offer like that would make Markakis available real fast.
Kershaw perfect thru 6 IP in Flushing.
@35, yup–I am tuned in
@32, I cannot imagine why Nick markakis would not be available. The chances he is an albatross in 2017 are high.
So it appears we’ll pick up a half-game on both DC and NYC. It’s like War Games: “The only way to win is not to play.”
I like Chip. When he gets it right, his emotion can be very exciting. I also agree that he’s very knowledgeable, except when he’s… not.
I think I’m simply emotionally over the trading of Braves players. You can only be a fan and watch so many players get traded away. At the end of the day, there needs to be some continuity in the roster. Hopefully 2016 and 2017’s teams stay largely in tact, because the rotating carousel of the 2015 roster is starting to get old.
With that said, I’d love to see them trade off the pieces for more prospects, and then deal some prospects in the offseason for some power hitting in the lineup and some reliable, veteran bullpen pieces. We’re two power hitters and a healthy bullpen away from contending, methinks.
I’m sure Markakis is available for the right price, but the Braves have no reason to announce he’s available. I’m sure it’s not ideal to sign a FA to a 4 yr deal and trade him during his first season though.
As I recall there is (was?) a rule that a player traded in the first year of a contract could opt out, not that Nick would want to.
The thing that irritates me about Skip is the constant really moronic statements he makes like “two out runs are a great thing to get when there are two outs.” Well, duh, the only time you get “two out runs” is when there are two outs. You don’t get “two out runs” when there is only one out! Just idiotic and that kind of thing is obviously talking before thinking which drives me crazy.
Chip is terrible. I don’t spend much time listening to anyone else’s announcers, so I’m not comparing him to his peers, but to other Braves guys and my ideas about what baseball announcing should be like.
Joe was so much better with a better partner; really enjoyed him with Skip and Boog.
@39, it doesn’t help that it’s difficult to have any emotional attachment to players who are plain lousy. One of my favorite Braves acquisitions was Mike Devereaux in 1995. He was only here for a few weeks, but being named NLCS MVP sure did endear him to us.
Spike at 41,
I think that is if traded prior to approx. May 1.
On the bigger question, I doubt anybody is really going to offer much for Markakis. The odds are only somebody in need of a left handed outfield bat for this pennant race and post season. Then, they would look at this similarly to us. Maybe they don’t get slammed for the next 3 years, but it isn’t a big plus there. So, what they offer is going to be based on how important it is for them to fill a hole.
Then, if it IS important and Markakis is somebody the other team thinks can help and the offer is pretty good, I think Braves would go to Markakis and let him decide if he wants to have a shot at postseason or stay in ATL.
There is an upside to keeping Markakis. Right now, we have 1 outfield slot to fill for next year even if we keep Maybin. Mallex to Center and Maybin to right (trading Markakis) would still leave us searching for a leftfielder.
Wondering if there are some salary dumps we ought to check in on? Those are scary, so it depends on how much dumping is going on. Maybe trade CJ for Hanley or Sandoval with some money coming our way? Maybe trade a young starter to the Dodgers for a good prospect and Ethier with most of his salary paid?
That Dodger idea isn’t a bad one, Cliff.
Signing a guy to a significant free agent deal and then trading him in the first year of it sends a bad message to all future free agents the team might want to sign. There are enough teams with money in the league that the Braves can’t really afford to display bad faith in their negotiations.
It might make baseball sense to trade Markakis, but there’s more to it than that.
Spike, I think I remember that your new band was debuting tonight at Eliot Street -is that still happening? What time do you go on?
@47, this is the best point. We should definitely consult Nick as cliff suggested.
I’m with Tanto on this. A few years back after the Marlins spent all that money on free agents and then traded the whole team to Toronto the next offseason there was a lot of rumbling around baseball that it would probably take awhile before free agents would want to sign with them again. The Braves don’t have the kind of money other teams have that they can simply blow free agents away to entice them to sign with the team, so even in a rebuilding stage, the team has to be careful with the way they handle free agent signings so they don’t do anything that may jeopardize their chances of attracting a free agent once the team is in a position to compete again.
@47, @50
One could potentially employ that logic to draft picks as well. If Atlanta continues to wheel-and-deal prospects, that could also create a signability issue with future picks. Obviously draft picks have much less leverage than free agents, though.
Hanley could be a complete head-case, but I’d love to have him in left under the right circumstances. After playing in Miami and LA, he may be struggling to acclimate to a new position and the city of Boston. While Fredi poses a challenge, without a doubt, perhaps that’s water under the bridge at this point. Fredi has become more comfortable as a manager, and Hanley could have grown as a player. There’s just not a lot of power available, and Hanley is a true 5-tooler.
I think he’s misplaced a couple of them this year, though.
I think Markakis probably understands how things work, and would not at all be surprised to be included in trade talks. Would future potential free agents really be thinking “yeah, but look how they did Nick Markakis”? I’m not seeing it.
@48, the info I got was “between 9 and 10” which generally means 10, but I will update here after I get to the venue this afternoon .
53—Agreed. And it’s not like the Braves signed him to a hometown discount and are abusing that.
@53 — Wouldn’t you? If you’re a premier free agent, the team is trying to sell you on signing with the team over Dodgers or Cubs or whoever, isn’t it just smart to wonder whether they’ll dump you on some city you don’t want to go to the moment your WAR/$ drops below a certain threshold? Front offices gain reputations on how they honestly they deal with the players. (C.J. Nitkowski wrote an article earlier this year talking about how, when negotiating with some teams, it’s important to get certain provisions in writing because those teams are known to break handshake deals.) I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wonder if those reputations cost them money or players down the line.
@55 — They kind of did, though. Markakis is a Georgia native, and he didn’t exactly sign for outrageous money, and he certainly didn’t sign here expecting a ring (at least not immediately). Markakis is exactly the kind of free agent contract people dream about signing every offseason — it just might not have been for the right player, skills-wise.
The Georgia connection is a nice story, but the Braves got him because they offered the most money. I would agree that honesty and transparency are important, but there’s a reason the Braves don’t hand out no-trade clauses, and players know that reason.
Because Dayton Moore is just a phone call away?
The story at the time was that general confusion abounded around baseball about how long the Braves signed him for. There was no discount. And the Marlins had pulled that trick multiple times before the most recent sell off to Toronto, but it didn’t stop Reyes, Buehrle, or Heath Bell from signing there in the first place. Free agents follow either the money or the perks, period, and as they should.
As far as the treatment of free agents by trading them thing, it certainly doesn’t mean you don’t do it, but it is something to consider. I definitely wouldn’t just drop Markakis in an obvious salary dump deal or a 50/50 one where you’re just doing a deal for the sake of doing it. However, if a worthwhile deal comes along that clearly makes the team better, I can’t justify nixing it based on what a free agent a couple years down the right might think.
And as far as Rob’s point, I honestly don’t think draftees care as long as they get the signing bonus they want. I can’t imagine somebody who otherwise would’ve signed deciding not to because it’s a team that has been known to trade a few prospects. Everybody trades prospects.
This discussion is missing the fact that the Braves want Markakis for his veteran leadership (in addition to his on-field contributions). This may be something you disagree with, but it is certainly something the team values. Recall Peanut’s off season reporting on last year’s clubhouse problems. I believe the team sees Markakis as a veteran to bridge the lean years before the move to the new stadium when the young guys will have matured into a winning team.
And in a sense Markakis is their cover for trading any or all of their other vets.
Jay, there’s no room here for non-sabermetrical decision-making processes.
Is the discussion missing that fact or just not about anything having to do with that fact? I thought the question being discussed was “Should the Braves trade Markakis?” and not “Will the Braves trade Markakis?” — I think most folks understand that the Braves view his veteran presence as a real source of value.
I don’t see us as a that young of a team. Freeman and Simba seem like they’ve been here 20 years. Jace is the only rook that plays most every day. Pitchers don’t count since they aren’t really baseball players (lol).
Certainly I expect we’ll get younger next year as far as the everyday lineup goes…
We’ll see Cishek by the seashore this weekend. Stupid Marlins and Cardinals.
I think Markakis is a nice piece for what we are trying to build. His power will come back and I think he has been a solid player for us. I wouldn’t want to trade him, just to unload his contract.
That being said, the only guys in the ML roster I would not be open to moving are Freeman and Simmons.
I think it’s relevant to both the “should” and “will” questions, Stu. The discussion seems to be about the pros and cons of dealing him, and that hadn’t been mentioned as far as I could see.
In addition to his on-field value, I think there’s some added value to his leadership on this club, as well as the cover he provides when dealing off the other vets. How much is that worth? I don’t know. I also don’t know what would be on the table from other teams (which makes the “should” question pretty hard to answer, right?). But the Braves would want to get equal value back in a trade, and I don’t see that happening because I think they value him more than other clubs do (which is also why they ended up with him in the free agent auction for his services).
Why does ESPN suddenly say Nick Markakis has been worth 4.5 WAR this season?
http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/6478/nick-markakis
Baseball reference, whose WAR stat I thought they used says 1.3
@66 I’d add Shelby & Wisler to that list.
@69, and Perez–I wouldn’t want to split up the Williams at this stage of their career. It would have to be a package deal.
Admission: I have not watched a single inning of Braves baseball this year, so I’m approaching this from a position of ignorance. But I wonder, what leadership attributes is Markakis supposed to possess? And who on this particular team is in need of being led in a way that any among KJ, Gomes, Pierzynski, Uribe, Freeman, Simmons, Maybin, etc is not capable of providing?
Apparently, we’re close to trading Uribe and Kelly Johnson to the Mets for — you guessed it — young pitching. https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/624711951206195200
Furcal rule is in effect, but the rumors are swirling.
Sorry if this has been posted already but it’s being reported on EPSN that the Braves and Mets have reached a deal to send Uribe and Johnson to the mets. No other details.
*edit*
You beat me by mere seconds, Alex… >=/
We will have strong arms all over the field with these pitchers
Scratch Uribe and KJ from above list. Too bad, I’d always admired KJ’s stolidity….
Looks like 930 at the latest
RHP’s John Gant and Robert Whalen are the return. Neither came from much pedigree, a 21st anda 12th round pick. Neither seems to rank in the Met’s top 10 prospects, though Whalen was around 15-20 on a few lists I found.
Would have liked a greater return considering the ancillary punishment will be having to watch CJ trudge and mope every day the rest of the way.
Braves are saving $2.7MM in the deal.
The guys at Amazin Avenue seemed to like Gant better than Whalen.
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2015/7/24/8984681/midseason-prospect-update-all-our-lists
Basically, these guys are like one step up from organizational filler. The Braves save money and get back a couple of warm bodies for the farm, while weakening the major league team. I like the deal a lot more for the Mets, who can actually use the major leaguers, than I do for us, unless anyone actually sees Gant or Whalen as having a likely future as anything better than a middle reliever. Middle relievers have value, but I don’t really see that as an area where the team had serious need.
Okay … Very disappointing return it seems … Why even bother?
Jace to 3b now, with Peraza coming up and playing at 2b? We jettisoned a good chunk of what little pop our lineup had for …. This.
Yes.. How EVER will we win the division NOW?
… and to the Mets. We helped the Mets. Gross.
I’d say I’d hoped for more; but since I never heard of either of the guys we are rumored to be getting back, I have no idea what these kids might turn out to be.
Ah! Well yes, we were just THIS CLOSE to cruising past the Mets and Nats. But–as to the “rebuild”–it doesn’t seem to do terribly much in that regard.
Gwinnett removed both Adonis Garcia and Daniel Castro from tonight’s game in the 3rd inning. #Braves
— Kevin McAlpin
Edit: Now that’s veteran leadership, Jonny.
This is the first move that I’m scratching my head on. The Braves basically sold both working pieces of a third-base platoon, and we didn’t get anyone who is very likely to help at the major-league level. And what good is freeing up salary? To pay Bronson Arroyo?
This is a nothing trade. You weren’t going to get real prospects for two months of a couple of role-players, so you might as well shoot for some depth pieces. How many times have the Braves given up some nobody pitching prospect for a minor stretch upgrade?
As for the Mets, the fact is that KJ and Uribe will likely be retired by the time the Mets/Braves rivalry means anything again.
Kiley McDaniel thinks both pitchers have major-league upside, if not as frontline guys, for what that’s worth.
I had no idea Heyward was up to .284. He might get his $200 million after all.
Uribe was one of my favorite Braves this year. Trading him should help us finish bottom 10 at least
Sigh–I’ll miss Kelly Johnson. We save money—-who cares? I hate Liberty. BTW—-Ernie Johnson will always be the voice of the Braves to me. I also liked Skip, Pete, and Don, but always felt that Ernie was the anchor.
We still won the first Uribe trade.
According to Rosenthal, the mets didn’t want Uribe.
I’ll miss Uribe the way I miss Renteria. Really enjoyed watching them play.
I like Uribe, and I like Kelly Johnson. I’d call each of them in the offseason and see if they have any interest in coming back.
But you weren’t ever going to trade either or both of them for Javier Baez. I might have hoped that if we were packaging guys together, we’d trade two for ONE better prospect, but there’s value to mitigating risk by having “more hooks in the water.”
It’s a common refrain that “There’s No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect,” and the reason that’s bandied about is because guys get hurt. But the other side of that is, you never know who its going to click for. Doug Fister was a 7th round pick. So was Matt Wisler, who we’re all excited about. Jordan Walden was a 12th round guy. Nathan Eovaldi was an 11th round guy. Brandon Beachy went undrafted entirely.
But hell, JJ Hoover, who we sent away for Juan Francisco, was a 10th round pick. He got to the big leagues at 24 and has put up 200 innings of 122 ERA+, and recorded 5 career saves. If one of these guys becomes JJ Hoover, that’s a fine deal.
Cameron’s looking a little like a pumpkin lately.
It’s time to get Terdoslavich some more PAs to find out if he is a major leaguer.
We need to get some bats at some point, right? Maybe some of this money we are “saving” can buy us a few.
I predict Terdo will eventually play ball in Japan–not that there’s anything wrong with it.
Yeah you gotta look past all the “rankings”. We traded guys who are about to retire for a couple guys that might pitch innings in the majors one day. Right now they are just names. They might be useful one day, they might not. At one point I bet O’Ventbrel all looked like just-three-minor-league-names too.
But yeah, some of you also needed to dial back your expectation levels for what our veteran players would fetch. Nobody is giving up a stud prospect for AJP or Gomes or Uribe or really hardly anyone on this roster.
If you want a prospect haul then trade Simmons.
My one hope out of life is to see something — anything — go wrong for the Cardinals, ever. I hate that organization top to bottom, front office, players, city, fans. The Nationals dream of being as impossibly insufferable as the Cardinals, but even with Bryce Harper trying his hardest I fear that is one mountain that will never be scaled.
We need to find another possible corner stone. Right now we have a bunch of future number 2-3 starters, 7-8th inning arms and second basemen.
We have a second baseman?
Didn’t intend to be that snarky. Just saying the jury is still out for me on Jace, and on Peraza and all the other mighty-mite prospects. I don’t like the fact that we have zero OF prospects anywhere close to the majors.
I think I’ll call it a night. Go Braves.
@102
I think Rome is all second basemen and relief pitchers
I don’t think people are disappointed in the level of prospects we got back. If it had been the Mets’ 15th best prospect but it was an outfielder, they’d probably like it a bit more. You can never have too much pitching, but boy do we have a lot of middling pitching.
@100, I don’t really want to be that guy, but it’s been less than a year since their best prospect was killed in a car accident
Terdo is not a MLB player. Weak bat and terrible glove. There really isn’t a position that he can play average defensively
@108
I agree. He is a AAAA player at best
Sad to see KJ go. I loved having him back this season. Our lineup tonight…yikes.
Ralph Garr might be able to make our team this year.
We need power hitting at all levels.
Jonny Gomes up with the tying run on base with 2 outs in the 9th tells you all you need to know about our plight.
@48, thank you and your pretty girl for stopping by.
Forgive me if I don’t have this quite clear yet but we traded Uribe and Kelly Johnson and still have Chris Johnson who is now our de facto starter third-base?
@108 and 109
You’re very possibly right about Terds not being a MLB caliber player. But he doesn’t have anything else to prove in the minors and we just made a lot of room for him to get some more PAs. He hasn’t really had much of a chance, unless you consider sporadic PH appearances and a weekly start a chance. There is power potential there, and we don’t have much of that in the organization.
115 — Uribe and KJ are free agents at the end of this season if we would like to bring them back for 2016.
This deal either clears roster space for another move, or can be seen as conceding the rest of the season. That lineup with CJ and Terdo is pretty ugly. The defense is even uglier. That may be the worst defensive infield corner combination in the league. (Freeman’s return will improve it of course)
Go for the top 5 draft pick.
2 useful veteran rentals who Braves are selling high on should have brought back a bit more than this. Hopefully Braves know more than we do.
Next?
Not sure, but I bet it holds off ’til HOF weekend is over. I would bet my left one that it’s going to be a package deal again.