Why is Janderson the center fielder in the could have been lineup while schafer is the center fielder in the actual lineup? Couldn’t it have been either one of them in either case?

I would have loved to see furcal back at the top!!

I truly believe they wouldn’t have signed Glavine if they picked up Smoltz – they didn’t want a repeat of last year. Instead, they may have still gone after Kawakami (get a foot in the door to the Japanese market).

it was either esccobar or hanson and the throw ins were what broke the deal apart.i dont think the Braves or Padres were ever talking about giving up both

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Respectfully, there are a couple of things wrong with the above scenario:

1 – The Braves acquired Vazquez (12 million per) before pursuing anyone else. So had Peavy been acquired to go with Vazquez, there wouldn’t have been $$ for Burnett.

2 – If Braves had acquired Vazquez, Peavy, and Furcal… there would not have been enough $$ left to sign either Griffey or G.Anderson.

So if everything had gone according to “Plan A”, it would have looked like this:

Peavy
Vazquez
jurrjens
Glavine/Reyes
Smoltz/Hanson

1 – Furcal 2B
2 – Johnson LF
3 – Jones 3B
4 – McCann C
5 – Francoeur RF
6 – Kotchman 1B
7 – Diaz/Jones LF
8 – Anderson/Schafer CF

I actually think we’re better off with Lowe than Peavy. I’m not denying that Peavy is a better pitcher than Lowe over the 162 reg. season games, BUT…

- Lowe is more dependable and less injury prone.

- Lowe didn’t cost us a HUGE bundle of talent, as Peavy would have.

- Peavy has only made 2 post-season starts, but he got SHELLED in each of them (and didn’t look great in the WBC either. Lowe, on the other hand, consistently excels in big games.

AJ Burnett MIGHT have been a better pickup than Lowe… but again, Lowe is far more durable and dependable.

And if we had signed Furcal, there would have been no Kawakami or G.Anderson. Are we better off with KK and Anderson than we would have been with Furcal? Time will tell.

But overall, I don’t think this would have been a significantly better team had Plan A come fruition.

I screwed up the positions in my last post. In that scenario, KJ would have remained at 2B, and Furcal would have taken over SS.

Hey folks, just wanted to extend an open invitation for those of you in ATL…

Braves Opening Day Viewing Party – Sun. April 5th, 7:45 PM

Jocks and Jills at Galleria Mall (near junction of N 285 & I-75)

Email: kccjr1@gmail.com

I mean we’re talking about losing Flowers, Lillibridge and the low level minor league pitcher vs losing our starting shortstop in Yunel, plus our ace-to-be Tommy Hanson, plus a minor league pitcher with big upside, Jeff Locke and our workhorse of a reliever Blaine Boyer. The first package getting us Javier Vazquez and the second possibly, getting us Jake Peavy. I think it’s safe to say Wren and co. made the better choice in getting Javy instead, when you consider the price in terms of prospects.

As for Burnette vs Lowe (the two free agent pitchera that required only a big contract to play for your team) , you can make a strong case for either one. Pay $80+million contract over five years for a pitcher who has the better stuff of the two, but can also be very inconsistent between starts. He also is known for his health considering he rarely puts together 30+ starts in one season. The other pitcher however is 4 years older and is asking to be paid premium money until he’s almost 40 years old.

As for Griffey Jr vs G. Anderson, I think it’s silly to think one would make that much more of difference over another this season. Both are near the end of their careers and neither really fit that “big bat” mold that Wren was looking for entering the offseason.

Here’s the offseason I would of liked to see happen for the Braves (all of which was possible):
1.) Sign Lowe to a 4yr/$60 million contract (didn’t like the deal at first, but the guy has proven that he’s a workhorse who relies heavily on his sinker).
2.) Make the exact same trade for Javier Vazquez (Flowers, Lillibridge, and the minor league pitcher).
3.) Instead of signing Kenshin Kawakami AND Garrett Anderson, sign Adam Dunn (that big bat we needed) to be the (almost) everyday leftfielder.
4.) Instead of resigning Glavine (BIG mistake Wren made), use that money to resign Will Ohman, the lefty we need A LOT more right now.

The “could have been team” is better than the current team, but that’s the most useless fact one could possibly cite. Major league baseball is a marketplace. Every team would like to sign the best players. Within the constraints of his budget, I for one believe Frank Wren did a good job of dealing with the marketplace and putting together the current team. The current team is the best Wren could manage, and it’s better than last year (which is actually a useful fact).

The thing that jumps out as you is that both the lineups for current team and the “could have been team” are too lefthanded. Opponents will cause a lot of havoc for this team with lefthanded pitching.

You ask a good question. But, the problem with your potential lineup is that it was never possible. The Braves did not have enough money going into this offseason to afford all of those contracts. If the Braves had pulled off the Peavy trade, almost none of those other moves would have happened. They definitely would not have tried to sign Burnett. He was plan B. I’m personally convinced that John Smoltz wanted a better chance to play in the post-season over playing for the Braves one more year. They might have gone after Furcal, but it was obvious he was never going to sign with Atlanta. And, the same can be said about Griffey.

The moves that never happened cannot be considered as separate moves. Each potential decision was based on what happened before it. You can’t compare what is to what was never possible.

i think JJ is a bigger part of the picture than anyone is giving credit for