AJC Exclusive: Changes coming to Braves’ broadcast team
The Braves will move Joe Simpson to mostly radio with Jeff Francoeur becoming lead TV analyst.
The easy reaction is that it was more than time for Simpson to move on. He wasn’t ever very good at his job, but he had become curmudgeonly and annoying in the past couple years. He’s a dinosaur; he has no place on television. I would imagine he’s moving over to mostly replace Don Sutton.
Not sure how I feel about Frenchy. He’s one of the best among the roving guys, but is he deserving of the lead TV color spot? I say no. Why can’t we just go outside the organization to get these guys?
My position is unpopular; I like Chip Caray. He’s not very good at his job, either, but he’s entertaining, and he has a good heart. He probably shouldn’t be allowed to be so erroneous, but whatever. It’s really hard talking for 3+ hours while trying to be both accurate and entertaining. There are more accurate guys out there, but it often is at the expense of being entertaining. I’ll deal with some errors to get the other side.
Good for Joe. He seemed miserable. Good for Frenchy. Good for Chip that he gets a better person next to him. And while still not good for us, it’s better than it was, I guess.
None of Don Sutton, Joe Simpson or Chip Carey were from within the organization. I prefer Frenchy to the Old Man Joe act. This is them taking the old guy that got mocked (by MLB itself even) to replace the very old Sutton on radio, and pulling in a guy that maybe doesn’t get upset when Acuna smiles.
I think Rob is asking why they couldn’t (again) go outside the organization to find a replacement. Citing that none of Sutton, Simpson, or Chip were from within the organization just raises the question even further: why not look outside the organization to find someone new?
“None of Don Sutton, Joe Simpson or Chip Carey were from within the organization” — by this logic, neither was old Yankee farmhand Bobby Cox. Chip was the son of their old PBP guy, and all have been with the organization for decades, notwithstanding Don Sutton’s brief decamping to join the Natinals. That’s “within” enough.
Also, the Braves DID go outside the organization not too terribly long ago, and they found a couple of good ‘uns: Powell, who came from Milwaukee, and Boog Sciambi, who was previously with the Marlins.
Don’t get me wrong; Frenchy is a big upgrade over Joe. But could they have done better by going outside the org?
I like Francoeur getting more TV time. I think Jeff and Chip are easily the two most popular guys the organization has. Hopefully the pairing will work well.
Say it ain’t so, Joe.
But Frenchy is welcome. Fun and quick.
Keith Olbermann for Chip and then we’ll be off and running.
My point is that they do go outside the org regularly, when they think that’s the best hire. They also give loyal organizational soldiers who don’t seem to have any future in minor league managing or coaching an opportunity to break into the media market where they can. It’s a way baseball clubs take care of their people after they are done playing. The Braves have given Glavine, Smoltz, Mark Lemke, and Ron Gant long leashes as “learn how to do radio and television commentary” options.
Glavine is likely to remain a Braves spot caller. Smoltz turned it into a national gig. Lemke was just terrible and is only on radio locally when they have a need. Ron Gant turned it into a morning show host gig on local Atlanta TV.
I think Francoeur has a decent ability to not be terrible. He’s much, much better than Gant was when he started, and better than Lemke ever has managed to be. And he has a HUGE fan following in the local market. Local high school star. Local baseball star (to regular fans.) Goofy grin. He screams “do regional television and open some car dealerships around the metro” retirement plan.
Where are you jetting off to now, Rob? Headed to Atlanta for the SEC title game perhaps? I have a Dawg shirt you can borrow. Lord knows we’ll need all the help we can get.
#7
Paul Byrd would also fall into that category.
absolutely never Keith Olbermann
Yes. I remembered Byrd after pressing “send.”
Did anyone mention Paul Johnson’s retirement yesterday?
@6
JC’d in Madagascar
with hardly time to ask her
or him for that matter
WTF? Just name the next batter.
Keith Olbermann!!?? Bringing him in would be worse than the Andrelton Simmons debacle.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say I “like” Chip, but I don’t mind him as much as I used to. The one I do like is Jim Powell; I wish we could get him on the tv. Not sure what it means for his future that he will not be doing as many games on radio. (BTW, although he came to us from Milwaukee, Powell grew up in ATL as a Braves fan)
Of course, like so many of the oldsters on here, I’ll never be fully satisfied with any crew that’s not Ernie, Skip, and Pete.
I’m just absolutely shocked by this news…shocked, I tell ya!
To Rob’s point, I guess they could’ve gone outside the organization, but that’s clearly not what they were going to do given the rotating cast of Don fill-ins last year were all from within the organization. I also think it’s fine to have broadcast analysts be from within the organization and that you’re probably better off doing it unless you have someone you just love. The fans already have a connection with them and they already have an affinity for the team. And if you watch MLB Network simulcasts on a semi-regular basis, you know that other MLB teams are not exactly awash in brilliant game analysts.
I think this is kind of an interesting move. Probably won’t do much to change the overall tenor of the radio broadcast, though it at least will switch it up a bit. Also, from what I remember, Joe is a better play-by-play caller than Don, so that’s a plus (though it’s admittedly been awhile since Joe’s called a game).
On the TV side, I think this will be a net positive in that it might lead Chip in a different direction than he’s been going with Joe as his partner. I’m not a big Chip fan at all, but I think this is worth a try given they’re clearly not going to just boot him. And Frenchy was probably my favorite of the rotating cast of fill-ins last year. (Everyone seemed to like Paul Byrd, but I did not…at all, really. He’s OK in his current role, but I was not a fan of him in the booth.)
This will also bring in a more rotational aspect to both broadcasts (according to the article). I think that’s probably a net positive, as well, as it’ll keep things a little more fresh. Whenever we had a game on both national TV and Fox Sports South at the same time last year, I almost always picked the national broadcast, not just because I was sick of hearing Chip and Joe prattle on, but because I felt I already knew everything they were gonna say unless some big piece of news had happened that afternoon or something. Giving Frenchy 100 games and Joe 30 games and Glavine a handful of games might help alleviate that problem to an extent.
I think I would like Jim Powell and Paul Byrd as the two main TV guys personally.
Every person named in this discussion is male.
This will not do, MLB are likely to mandate one contralto in each booth within 3 years. And about time too.
But we are lucky, we have one waiting in the wings…
Kelsey Wingert
else she’s again winged, hurt
will brighten our nights
booth pulchritude raised to unimaginable heights.
With the surprising general lack of real enthusiasm at the suggestion of bringing in KO we will accept her as a gallant runner up.
Only a matter of time until we get Sam in the booth to tell Millennials what’s what.
Sounds like the Mets are close to finalizing the Cano/Diaz trade with Mariners
I will laugh at the Mets if they eat Cano’s contract and trade away good talent to do it.
They won’t just be eating it. The guy can still play a little. And IMO it’s no bad thing if more teams in baseball are comfortable discussing transactions involving 9-figure contracts. Last year’s offseason freezeout was shameful.
I stand ready and willing to do analysis, commentary, and insults to people who name their children “Bryler.” I am your public servant.
Sam…
you had a big win the other day…deserved?
I’m okay with Frenchy, he’s a huge upgrade over Joe Simpson. I am actually very happy that he’s out. Paul Byrd would’ve been even better but hey.
@22
He’s on the wrong side of 35 and will be paid $24 million every year through age 40. Yes, they would be doing some eating if they traded for Cano.
So, if last offseason’s freezeout was shameful, do you also think the Braves finance situation is shameful? I just want to understand who should be juggling 9-figure contracts, because I keep hearing about teams who can’t afford it, which I sorta feel ruins the whole baseball experience for fans of those teams.
If you really care to know what I find shameful, it’s when the New York Yankees decide they want Bryce Harper when they already have Judge and Stanton along with a roster that has often been comprised of the best talents from other teams. That sort of thing gets really tiresome.
If this is a reference to AU’s first leg playoff victory over RBNY Sunday afternoon, then yes. 100% deserved. The most complete, sound, satisfying win in club history, over the one team in the league that has owned us since inception.
I for one hope we don’t pursue an “ace” (I personally define as top 15ish in WAR) because the prospect and dollar cost would be too high, with the exception of maybe Zack Wheeler.
His xFIP isn’t too far from Folty and the injury history might allow us to drive the prospect cost down.
Frenchy has potential that will probably be stunted from blossoming as the other half of a pair with Chip. I’m not into that. Would much rather have seen Jim Powell graduated to the role. In that case, Chip would have probably learned a lot from Jim.
@18, “Every person named in this discussion is male. This will not do, MLB are likely to mandate one contralto in each booth within 3 years. And about time too.”
A female in each baseball broadcast booth? Talk about a solution in search of a problem. But you’re right: This will probably be mandated.
@29, I think we’re getting close to the no-politics line here, so I’m trying to tread carefully, but I’ll just say that a) I disagree with your last sentence, and b) I also think that the emergence of a number of great women writers over the last decade has made the baseball blogosphere a whole lot better.
@26, Just about no one on a long-term contract is good when they’re 40. But yeah, there are 20-25 teams in baseball who can definitely afford to spend a bunch of money. The fact that many of them refuse to do, and the fact that fans are often more focused on contracts than on players, kind of sucks.
Once you get past the rather stupid idea that the only valid analysts or play by play people are ex-ball players, you move quickly past the “no girls allowed” rule from Calvin’s clubhouse.
I like Glavine the best.
@32
Glavine’s input is very good, but the problem is he goes huge swaths of time without saying anything. He’s basically completely silent unless somebody directly asks him a question.
@33 – That’s probably what I like. Seriously, I wonder how much of that is from working mostly in a 3 man booth.
@31, Strawman, which is typical. I don’t think that.
My preference is for a professional broadcaster to run the booth, with someone who actually played the game and shows a knack and knowledge base for storytelling (what they call “color”) to support. That this may result in a color-commentator class that overwhelmingly resembles the product on the field isn’t in my mind a problem that needs fixing. If there are women, meanwhile, who can handle the Jim Powell role, bring them on. But for anyone who thinks that this is something important to focus on is frankly prioritizing things other than baseball.
@34, I’m not a fan of three-man booths. The only reason you need a third color commenter is if your top guy isn’t pulling his weight. But then just get rid of the crappy guy. That fixes that.
Seems like Cano and Diaz are going to the Mets. Mets being the Mets….having Cano on the book up to 40 years old at 24m per is probably not the best idea for that team. They must think that they can compete now.
I really like Kelenic as a prospect. Surprised the Mets would trade him for a closer and a 35 year old 2B.
Well…it’s the Mets, so surprised is maybe the wrong word.
You got to think though, if they’re dealing Diaz, Haniger could be had…
Regarding the booth, I’m the opposite of Rob. I can’t stand Chip. I agree he tries, but he’s just bad at his job. Every broadcast he flubs something, or is just wrong. The fact his last name is Caray is the only reason he’s in the booth, and for me, it’s not a good enough one.
I know it wasn’t his intent, but Joe amused me in a Walter Matthau Grumpy Old Men/Dennis the Menace type way.
Frenchy is fine, but given his enthusiasm and the fact I expect Chip to just play off of him, my only concern would be that the booth picks up the freneticism of a Jack Russell Terrier that’s been locked in a cage all day.
Chip comes from Chicago, so for me, he’s my lovable loser.
Notice how details of every stage of the Mets’ negotiations seem to leak out even before the trade is finalized, let alone made official.
Also notice how eager Noah Syndergaard’s former agent is to trade him away.
@40 I agree. Seems like it’s the Mets who wants to get the deal done more than the M’s. And seems like there is an injury coming soon for Syndergaard.
But for anyone who thinks that this is something important to focus on is frankly prioritizing things other than baseball.
We may have agreed not to talk about it on here, but saying something that’s not baseball is in fact more important than baseball seems like something people might expect MLB to do from time to time, for a variety of reasons.
I love this move. I really enjoyed Frenchy last year. He’s sharper than one might expect, especially on recalling seasons, awards, trades, etc. He was in the game very recently, so he still has many peers, friends and former teammates in the game, for whom he can give insight or better yet, amusing stories. Most importantly, he’s a fun guy that brings a positive attitude and seems like he enjoys being there. I was hoping for this to happen, and it did. Also, when Glavine is in the booth too, he seems to tease and rib him, which is fun. I remember a game last year where he said “Oh yeah, that was the year we signed Glavine back, so we couldn’t afford to draft anyone good.”
Taking on Cano’s contract seems dumb, but I don’t know.
@18: “This will not do, MLB are likely to mandate one contralto in each booth within 3 years. And about time too.”
Are you making this up? Sounds really hard to believe they’d “mandate” such a thing.
Chip just doesn’t seem to have anything to say, and when he says something he often messes it up. If you have to talk for a living you have to be better than this.
I suppose Cano will play 1B for the Mets?
I enjoy Frenchy and Glavine in the booth. Great hire
I was done with Simpson when he turned on us in the Infield Fly Game
It’s depressing that some of the best trade candidates are in our own division so we have no chance to even compete for them.
I vote to just let Kelsey do everything.
@47. I agree Smitty. Thanks for reminding me that. And to be frank, I love Skip, I love Pete and I love Don. I honestly have very little feeling for Chip and Joe. The change is long overdue. This team deserves a new voice.
She is pretty dreamy.
Along the lines of the conversation about a 40-man crunch, today is the non-tender deadline. Bowman has been saying Vizzy could be non-tendered. Duvall and/or Freeman could be too.
I don’t mind letting Viz and Freeman go. I want to keep Duvall.
Greinke’s no-trade list via Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) RT:
Let’s go git ‘im.
So, are the Mets in win-now mode? Cano ought to have a couple of really solid years left in the tank. As sad as I am to see Diaz going to a different NL East team, I think it’s generally a bad sign for a team when the rival fans are happy to see them make that deal. I’m really happy to see the Mets tying that boulder of a contract around their neck. I would have to think they are all in on next season.
coop, my wife and I were on vacation across Asia. We were in the airport to board the first of our flights home. 21 hours of flights and layovers so far, we’re hoping to be home by 6:30 EST. Whoever said trips to Asia are fun must really enjoy being in the air.
With three years on Greinke’s contract, I can’t believe the Braves would trade for him. I’ve been looking over the rosters and there’s no way to make it work unless the D’Backs throw in a lot of cash over the two years after 2019. Our only semi-bad contracts basically have only one year left on them (Teheran, O’Day). What with AA not wanting long term commitments, it just seems impossible.
I was thinking something like Greinke, Peralta, Bradley for Teheran, Inciarte, O’Day not including other pieces on either side that might be included but I don’t think the Braves would go for that.
I’m not sure it’s fair to say that because we seem to be concluding the Braves don’t want 10 years of Bryce Harper, they wouldn’t want 3 years of Zack Greinke. You may be right, but I don’t think we really know that 3 years is beyond the pale just yet.
No bull, does Georgia have any shot against Bama?
We could get three years of Greinke for market value without giving up any elite prospects. Got to seriously consider that.
I don’t think three years remaining on a contract is what AA qualifies as a long term commitment. I’ve understood him to mean contracts of a length where the player is guaranteed to undergo changes (like 7+ year long contracts) and it’s really unpredictable — there’s analytics around these sorts of contracts that show how likely they are to be bad deals after x number of years. Like, Freddie Freeman’s extension was a long term commitment but if Acuna would sign that deal then I believe AA would do it because an 8 or 10 year deal for a player who will be just turning 31 at the end of it is fairly safe. The same is not true of a 26 year old.
Anyway, I wonder whether the Braves would want a $35 million player on a short deal. Grienke would be 38 in the final year of the contract. I suspect he has it in the tank, though, but wouldn’t be elite.
@44
re contralto…yes in the sense there’s nothing yet set in stone…no because it’s inevitable…and maybe because the whole charade is amusingly chaotic. Title Nine for all ages.
@ 57, 60: I worked for DOD for five years in Yokosuka and Singapore and had to fly to DC two or three times a year. It always kicked my can.
A chance, maybe. A realistic chance, probably not. A dawg can dream, at least until Saturday evening.
Welcome home.
The Max from Zack
No lax from Zack
you’d assumed he’d stay back
but we’re not excluded
so very rich the maximum must be extruded.
Title Nine
we might define
as succor for the Ladies
but in the booth
those long in tooth
can make it sound like Hades.
You poor little snowflakes worried about the woman folk getting uppity. Sad.
blazon, I don’t think I understand your position on this at all. Are you taking issue with there being no women announcers in the booth, or are you stirring the pot over mandates and title 9?
I don’t think I need to make this point, but it wouldn’t come to this if highly skilled and talented women were getting the same consideration that men do. I’d be quite happy if the Braves were the first and they hired a really good one — read: not just hire one for the sake of having one and then forcing us to mute the baseball games to get away from the bad announcing, which is what I fear a mandate would cause.
@57
Rob…the midday sun and sore behinds on the plane no more, welcome back
@60
As a neutral who finds both teams…well, if not equally distasteful, then close, I give Georgia a puncher’s chance, but not much more than that. Alabama hasn’t exactly been lighting the world on fire the last few weeks, but I have a feeling they’ll correct that this week.
I know this is overplayed, but if Georgia can just get it into the fourth quarter as a one-possession game and force Alabama into some pressure, any pressure, maybe even bring the Tide’s crappy kicking game into play, their chances will increase from puncher’s chance to toss-up.
@60 Of course they do! GA is a good team and Bama hasn’t faced anyone of that quality yet. My gut tells me they will at least get closer than 22 points (the lowest win margin for Bama this year).
GAs offense has been stepping up lately and may be as good as last year now. I think the D is still a little behind but they think they have a secondary that can stop the receivers. The key is the rush, though – pressure on Tua.
It’s possible GA got beat last year because they prepped for Hurts and got Tua in the 2nd half. If they prep for Tua, things might be different. Kirby is supposed to be a defensive mastermind after all.
@68
Donny, a bit of both I would say…with the usual dash of whimsy.
Let’s just be clear: if we could give Ronald Acuna a massive multiyear contract he will be worth it, whether it’s 8 or 10 or 12 years (e.g. 3, 5, or 7 years after team control).
When Mike Trout had just 3 years of team control left, the Angels gave him a 6-year, $144.5 million contract, buying out his three arb years for about $40 million total and his next three post-arb years for about $100 million total (plus a $5M signing bonus). It is, obviously, a ludicrous steal for the best player in baseball.
The Buster Posey deal is probably an even better model: after two years of service (I believe would have been a Super Two), they signed him to a 9-year, $167M contract (with a club option that could make it 10 years, $186M).
If Acuna would be willing to take that, we should absolutely give it to him.
@ 71, Roger.
On Georgia’s defense, since Kirby and Mel took over, they have in every game except one, come out after half time and taken away everything (seemingly) the other team tried. That one is the loss to Alabama in last year’s championship. Rather than getting the usual boost, they had a shock effect that they weren’t fully ready for.
Georgia’s problems:
Offense on short yardage. Not able to move the pile.
Fromm hasn’t consistently handled one count throws (like Aaron Murray and Fromm will need to do that because of Alabama’s rush).
Defense has rarely brought a strong pass rush (could be a design feature in the defense that can be adjusted).
Georgia’s plusses:
The ability to overmatch anybody with speed on offense. Mecole Hardman, JJ Holloman, Nauta (for a tight end), Terry Godwin, D’Andre Swift. Chaney and Fromm have been able to dial up touchdowns like this.
Kicking game. Much better placekicker. Better return men.
Heavy play of youngsters all year. Most positions now have lots of fairly experienced players with high athletic ability mostly ready to go.
The Fields package can get the tough yardage and at some point, Fields will bomb the Tide, successfully, because of that.
It could be anywhere from a 30 point Alabama win to a 10 point Georgia win (unless Tua goes down, and then Alabama is ready for a fork).
This discussion of salaries is exactly what prompted my Modest Proposal of last week. I bring only one economist’s observation to the table: since everyone knows (and if the casual fan knows it, you can be completely sure that the front offices do) that the outyears of long term contracts aren’t nearly worth what you pay for them, you realize that this is a game to hide *current* salary. You can say all you want that Pujols is making $28MM this year, but he’s not. This $28 million is deferred compensation on his 2012 salary, which wasn’t “really” $12 million — it was more like $20 million but owners like to maintain a figleaf of annual salary payments and players make them pay with deferred comp that it is very unlikely that they will be worth. Of course, it used to be even worse, but it was impossible to even maintain the fiction that Bobby Bonilla would be paid money in 2034 to play baseball, so contracts today are signed to make it look like they are for future services. They aren’t. The right way to look at any contract is to divide the total contract by expected years of useful MLB service. This inherently creates salary dump deals, since the nominal value of pay exceeds productivity.
@67 You’re totally trolling.
@75 That was put really well.
76,
Like Claude Reins “I am shocked”
On SEC football and UGA – AL more particularly, how many of you know that this year the SEC East outdid the SEC West. It had been since something like 2009 when the East won more games in inter division games. This year it was East 9, West 5. Vanderbilt and Florida were 2 and 0. Tennessee, Missouri, SC, Ky, and UGA were all 1 and 1. No East team lost twice to the West.
If you take out Georgia and Alabama, then it is 8 to 2. Just showing how Alabama may have run up some big scores, but it was in the little boy subdivision.
I am all but certain that UGA will narrowly win a hard-fought instant classic, only to be thoroughly Processed in a rematch in the Natty.
@78: Like Tim Raines, I am Rock.
The other good thing about salary dump deals is that the words in that sentence make me giggle.
@28: I agree with this. From two days ago:
“Alex Anthopoulos #Braves GM made it clear to us….he’d like:
1. A corner outfielder
2. Top of rotation starter
3. Impact closer
Also said it is unlikely they’d be able to financially or be willing to trade the depth it would take to accomplish more than 1 or 2 of them at the most”
I prefer the Braves getting a good closer and outfielder over the “top of the rotation starter” myself.
I disagree. Top-of-the-line starter outranks impact closer any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Closers can come from almost anywhere.
@79 That analysis is not so obvious when you consider Arkansas is in the West and the West has four ranked teams to the East’s three. I would say that the top of the West is better than the top of the East and the bottom of the East is better than the bottom of the West. After all, LSU did squash GA.
As for the rest, I had already mentioned that the pass rush was the key. No pass rush = no win.
I do not believe GA has a speed advantage at all. Bama has the statistically fastest player in the country (Ruggs) as measured by MPH and the other receivers are not far behind. Bama’s receiver corps is better than GAs including Josh Jacobs out of the backfield.
Statistically, Mecole, the Bulldogs top receiver would be fifth best on Bama right now. Jerry Jeudy has twice as many yards as Mecole.
Both of GAs running backs have more yards than Bama’s top rushers but that’s only because Bama has spread the wealth to three not two backs. And two of those backs have less but comparable receiving yards as Swift.
The reason Bama struggled in the first half of the last two games is that they came out intent on establishing the run and then gave up and opened it up in the second half. If they do that again, you will see the same result. Receivers were cutting off their routes to run block in the first halves which led to several overthrows by Tua.
I’ll certainly agree with you on the kicking game, though. Bama’s is terrible. But don’t sleep on Waddle in the return game. He’ll light it up if he gets a chance. Even though he’s a true freshman, he is Mecole’s equal.
With regards to youngsters, that is not much of an advantage either. Almost the entire Bama secondary is freshmen or redshirt freshmen and they have improved greatly this year as have the linebacking core which was also almost totally turned over. Hence the late shutouts of top 25 teams.
Also, if you knock Tua out, Hurts is greatly improved as a passer. If you don’t watch every week you’d miss it, but I’d probably take Hurts over Fields at this point.
And Bama has 14 INTs this year to GAs 6.
I think Bama is better than you think but GA is certainly capable of making a game out of it. And GA has improved over the course of the season.
Wow, I just noticed that Bama has 40 sacks to GAs 20. I didn’t realize that.
A number of pundits are reporting that Wilmer Flores will be non-tendered by the Mets. I bet he ends up in Philadelphia.
I don’t see how anyone could want to go into 2019 with the Vizcaíno/Minter show in the ninth. I like them both, but I agree with Anthopoulos that a closer is a top priority.
Also, acquiring a closer via trade costs a lot less than trading for a #1 or #2 starting pitcher.
“Top-of-the-line starter outranks impact closer any day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
I’d agree twenty years ago, maybe not so much in today’s game where top of the rotation starters throwing six innings is apparently fantastic and all of seven NL pitchers even threw 200 innings in 2018.
I’d agree twenty years ago, maybe not so much in today’s game where top of the rotation starters throwing six innings is apparently fantastic and all of seven NL pitchers even threw 200 innings in 2018.
I think you’ve just outlined the extraordinary rarity of a true top-of-the-line starter. The value remains pretty evident.
Unfortunately Georgia can definitely beat Bama, but I would give Bama a 60-40 shot. I don’t think Georgia is quite as good defensively as they were last year and Bama’s defense is definitely not as good as they were. Obviously Bama’s offense is greatly improved.
Imo Ga will play a bend but not break defense and try to stop us in the red zone and leave it up to our fg kicker. They also will try to control the ball on offense. Below 60 total points favors Georgia. Anything more than 60 leans heavily towards Bama.
Interesting non-tenders: Jonathon Schoop and Avisail Garcia. I think Schoop can be fixed and it wouldn’t hurt to have Curacao combo on the team. Orioles talked forever about turning Schoop into a RF. At 2B, his range was very limited but he has a great arm. Plus he played a lot of “short field” during shifts. And he’s only 27.
If AA can solve any one problem by making something out of nothing then we might be able to solve all three goals.
Colome traded a second time this year. Why can’t we get a closer trade done?
Bama 52 – UGA considerably less. This is a rebuilding year for UGA and they’ve done well to get to Atlanta.
Wilmer Flores is a good utility guy. Don’t get the Mets not giving him a contract.
I don’t want Grienke at this age at this price. It has nothing to do with contract duration. I would love to trade for him if he is 3 years younger.
Ok seems like we are not cutting anyone.
Yep, tendered a contract to everyone. I like Vizzy at inevitably what he’ll make as long as he’s simply a 7th/8th inning guy or whatever we’re calling high leverage, non-closers nowadays.
Brad Boxberger non-tendered. That may be interesting.
I’m also glad they tendered everyone. I like that AA is believing in what he he did (i.e. trading for Duvall) enough to give him a longer leash. I mentioned way back when that Duvall still has an option left so he could begin the year at AAA and get his stroke back.
At some point Viz is going to have to prove he can go a full season, but for now he’s a good reliever when he’s well.
Other than Folty and Gaus, the rest are pocket change. And I like that Venters got a bigger contract than his arb estimate. He deserved it.
Other than the obvious long term major leaguers, the Braves have very few players with no options remaining which leaves a lot of flexibility in designing the regular season roster. The only significant players with no options are Culby, Biddle, S. Freeman, and Jackson. Hopefully, before the offseason is over, we will have better relief options than Freeman and Jackson.
@97. Considering how bobby and Fredi killed his arm, the Braves are doing the right thing to take care of Jonny. Bobby and Fredi murdered him.
Natspos got Gomes.
Seems like the Marlins are playing old school as I predicted. They will not trade Realmuto within the division unless they get a ton in return.
@100 Last I heard, they insisted on Ozzie being included in any package for Realmuto. A definite deal breaker.
@101. I would be asking for that as a starting point too if I am the Marlins. And I am sure they are asking for one of the Natspos young outfielders as a starting point.
Not surprising that both teams immediately headed to a different direction.
New post.
Joe Simpson has the best part of the Braves broadcast for years. I absolutely loved his commentary and his sarcasm is hilarious! Chip is highly annoying and Joe picked up the slack and anchored the broadcast.
I absolutely loved Joe Simpson. He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind and his comments were hilarious. Unfortunately we live in the United States of the offended now so you cant make fun of anybody about anything without a lot of people whining and crying. I do like Chip myself, but may have to start listening to the radio broadcast to get my old time TBS feel back.
Jeff does not respect Chip and I would rather hear Joe! Apparently the author of this article is not very good at HIS job.