But please stay on the bench.
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But please stay on the bench.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
My All-Turner Field 25-Man Roster
Rules: Starters, of course, are starters, but to round out the 25-man, I’m including people that, at one point, were primarily bench players. While DeRosa was a starter at times, he was a bench player for the majority of his time in Atlanta. Would Rafael Furcal make the hypothetical roster over DeRosa? Sure, but a guy who was primarily a starter will not be on the bench.
LINEUP
RF – Jason Heyward
LF – Justin Upton
3B – Chipper Jones
1B – Freddie Freeman
CF – Andruw Jones
C – Javy Lopez
2B – Dan Uggla
SS – Andrelton Simmons
BENCH
David Ross
Mark DeRosa
Martin Prado
Omar Infante
Matt Diaz
ROTATION
Greg Maddux
Tom Glavine
John Smoltz
Tim Hudson
Julio Teheran
BULLPEN
Craig Kimbrel
Jonny Venters
Eric O’Flaherty
John Rocker
Mike Remlinger
Peter Moylan
Kerry Ligtenberg
Cool list. I might take McCann over Javy at C but that’s a close one. Maybe Prado or Giles over Uggla – longevity would be the issue for Prado I guess. Furcal vs Simmons is a close one at SS – I agree with Simmons as the pick but Furcal’s in the discussion.
Teheran and Millwood are probably interchangeable as the 5th SP. Smoltz has gotta be in the bullpen AND the rotation, right?
I can’t abide Uggla at 2B…can we stick the Lemmer in there on principle alone?
How about letting Chipper man LF in addition to 3B?
I might lean towards Furcal.
Rotation, bullpen and bench looks solid, though for the latter I’d love to have a slot open for Julio Franco.
Are we basing this on peak or full tenure at the Ted. If peak, then I think your RF has to be JD Drew. Man what a year he had. Gary Sheffield should be in the conversation, too. I miss having guys like that.
Marcus Giles was a very good second baseman for us. In 6 years, he put up 16.7 WAR, nearly all of which was in 2003-5, including an eye-popping 7.8 WAR 2003. Dan Uggla was worth +2.6 WAR in a mostly disappointing 3+ seasons, and he was one of the worst regulars in baseball for the last half of that.
I cannot endorse any “All” Team that includes Dan Uggla or John Rocker, unless it is used in a negative sense.
Chris Hammond was 7-2 in 2002 with a .95 ERA in 76 innings and allowed 1 hr all year. He definitely should be in the conversation for a bullpen slot. I would have to go with Marcus Giles at 2nd since most of the Lemmer’s best years were spent at Fulton County Stadium.
@5, I was gonna say Giles but his light has kinda dimmed in my eyes what with the juicing rumors (which seem credible to me).
I did not realize Javy Lopez was so dominant in 2003. 43 HRs, .328 BA, and a 1.065 OPS. McCann’s 2006 with 24 HRs, .333 BA and a .961 OPS is pretty close but is a little short. McCann had his breakout year at only 22.
Javy hit 43 HR in 457 AB. He was beastly. Could’ve hit 60 if he’d been able to DH on off days. I have no idea what got into him that year…
I like the idea and most of the choices. But Uggla does not belong anywhere near this list. Prado made an All-Star game as a 2B and finished in the top 10 in MVP balloting there. Two years as starter and several more as part-timer there gives him the chasm, and he gets length of team tenure over Giles. And yes, Julio MUST be on that bench. I also would probably replace Jupton with Klesko. Agreed with Javy over McCann, although it’s very close.
I wouldn’t ding anyone for suspected steroids, as I SUSPECT that everyone on the Sheffield teams was juicing (along with several others beforehand).
https://twitter.com/Braves/status/776876306210234368/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
we’re apparently switching our high-A affiliate from Carolina to Brevard Co., Fla. from the release: “‘We are thrilled to reach this agreement with the Manatees,’ Braves general manager John Coppolella said.”
really glad to hear our long cold war with Manatees is over. I wonder if the new agreement involves manatees working for us somehow, i.e. really tall periscopes to spy on rival front offices with close-to-water locations, & a secret code by which they can communicate with Kiley McDaniel.
Trouble with Klesko is that he only played three seasons at The Ted, 1997-1999, and they weren’t as good as Brian Jordan’s three years or Gary Sheffield’s two years in corner outfield. If we’re just looking for a third outfielder or a second corner outfielder, it should probably be probably be Sheffield or Jordan.
The left fielder of record at Turner Field is the same as the third baseman of record: it’s Chipper Jones.
Top single-season WAR, position players, Turner Field Era Braves
1. JD Drew, 2004 – 8.3
2. Andruw, 2000 – 8.2
3. Marcus Giles, 2003 – 7.8
4. Chipper, 2007 – 7.6
5. Andruw, 1998 – 7.4
6. Chipper, 2008 – 7.3
7. Andruw, 1999 – 7.1
8. Chipper, 1998 – 7.0
8. Andrelton, 2013 – 7.0
10. Chipper, 1999 – 6.9
11. Javy, 2003 – 6.8
11. Sheffield, 2003 – 6.8
13. Andruw, 2005 – 6.7
14. Andruw, 2002 – 6.6
Top single-season WAR, pitchers, Turner Field Era Braves (shorter list because the team leaderboard for WAR is dominated by 19th century ballists – I’m just pulling these from bref’s top 50 team WAR lists)
1. Maddux, 1997 – 7.8
2. Maddux, 1998 – 6.6
2. Maddux, 2000 – 6.6
4. Jair Jurrjens, 2009 – 6.5
(what a weird list)
I’m assuming that Rob’s rule is the LF had to play LF. Clearly JDD had the best single season…but it was just a single season and I can’t help but remember Chipper having to go to the whip on him (that and the subsequent years of truly hilarious “Ol’ JD” columns over at Rowland’s Office).
Braves moving their high-A team to Kissimmee, FL into the Florida State League, which happens to have 3 teams within 30 minutes of me! Riley! Allard! Demeritte! Fried! Acuna! Soroka! Put ’em all in high-A, baby!
Dansby sure is a fun guy to root for.
Yeah he’s handsome
Mallex! I have missed you.
So the Manatees are leaving Brevard County for Osceola County, and the Braves are leaving Carolina for Kissimmee… I think I got that…
Braves lose to the Nats 7-2, which is more or less precisely how much worse we are than them.
Please no more Gant, no more De La Cruz, no more Williams Perez. Please…
Well, Gwinnett is done, so perhaps we see Ruiz? We’ve got Mallex up too. But none of this matters when Wisler has an ERA in the 5’s, 2/5 of our rotation is even worse than that, and we can’t score 8-9 runs a night. Geez, can no one pitch 5-6 solid innings out of these minor league playoff teams?
Max Fried for Rome tonight: 7ip, 4hits,1run, 3 walks and… 13 k.
Last night Allard: 6ip, 6 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 9 k.
Not that I’m suggesting anything…
I was figuring one of Jenkins. Gant, Whalen, Perez would emerge as a 5th starter. I’m feeling doubtful now, but Whalen deserves a longer look.
Recapped.