Braves News
An interview with Braves prospect Kolby Allard
Grant McCauley catches up with 2015 first round pick Kolby Allard where he discusses his successful 2016 campaign and how he hopes it is a springboard for 2017 and beyond.
“Honestly, it’s just fun. Every day coming to the yard, we all just came out and did our thing. Obviously, everyone is on their separate programs during the day, but everyone was just excited to be there and happy to be there. That’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, baseball-wise. Even in high school and growing up, there’s the guys who don’t want to be there. They’re kind of a sour apple on the team, but last year, everyone just wanted to be there. Everyone had the same goal of winning. It was just such a winning atmosphere, something I’ve never been a part of before. I hope we can continue doing it for a very long time in Atlanta.”
Honoring the Braves first African-American player Sam Jethroe
Our own Eric Cole takes a closer look at Sam Jethroe who was the first African-American player to wear a Braves uniform.
However, his impact on the game of baseball and the Braves organization cannot be accurately measured by counting stats and analytics...not even close. After baseball, he worked in a factory and eventually opened a bar in Pennsylvania that he was forced to live in due to financial issues. He began a legal fight for Negro League players to receive a MLB pension on the grounds that racism prevented himself and others in the Negro Leagues from being able to play major league baseball at an earlier age or, in far too many cases, at all.
Shoddy Carpenters Aren’t the Only Bad Framers
Baseball Prospectus’ Bryan Grosnick was not impressed by the signing of Kurt Suzuki and says “this is a stupid deal” for the Atlanta Braves.
To all of you who say that there is no such thing as a bad one-year contract, I present to you the Braves’ signing of Suzuki. The last season Suzuki had that was above replacement level by WARP was 2011, thanks to defense that can only charitably be described as “bad.” Over his career, Suzuki had given back more than 10 wins on defense, owing to a combination of being a very bad pitch framer (-7.1 Framing Runs in 2016) and a below-average thrower (-1.9 Throwing Runs in 2016).
Of course, you can cover these flaws by earning your keep at the plate, but Suzuki has undershot his .246 career True Average in each of the last two seasons. Given that he’s a below-average hitter and a well-below-average defender, he’d need to be an unbelievable clubhouse presence or at least a platoon partner for regular backstop Tyler Flowers to make this deal make sense.
Bridges preparing Braves’ road map to Draft
While we are still a week or so away from pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training, Atlanta Braves scouting director Brian Bridges is already busy in his preparation for the 2017 MLB Draft.
As the Braves prepare to make three of the first 80 selections (No. 5, 41 and 80) in the 2017 Draft, which will unfold June 12-14, Bridges and his staff have already planned for the next few months. The collegiate and high school seasons will kick into full gear during the middle of February.
"You try to maximize your time as best as you can," Bridges said. "Sometimes that means two flights a day, or possibly a third flight in order to get in position to watch a game the next day. There's a lot of flying, there's a lot of hotels and there's a lot of rental cars in my near future here."
Bullpen could be Braves strength though questions remain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien takes a closer look at Atlanta’s bullpen situation heading into 2017. The Braves have a number of bullpen options returning but there are a couple of holes that they will be looking to fill during spring training.
MLB News
Cardinals sign Carlos Martinez to 5-year, $51 million deal
FanRag’s Jon Heyman reports that the Cardinals have locked up right hander Carlos Martinez on a five-year, $51 million deal that reportedly contains a couple of option years.
Jason Heyward, Hard at Work
Jason Heyward was a disaster at the plate in 2016 and he has spent the offseason refining his mechanics in hopes of turning things around.