I wanted to see what everything thinks about the battle for the back end of our rotation. Assuming Huddy is not healthy enough to start the season, and assuming Hanson and JJ are, then we can figure that the season starts with Hanson, JJ, and Beachy, leaving 2 spots left to battle for.

Everything I keep reading says that the battle for those spots comes down to Minor, Teheran, Delgado, and Vizcaino as the dark horse. Why am I not seeing more talk about Kris Medlen? I read 2 or 3 articles today that never mentioned his name. But I go on fangraphs to see if he has been projected, and Bill James thinks he will start 20 games with an 8.47/2.14 K/BB ratio, and 3.09 FIP. These articles also tend to mention how Teheran and Delgado, while great talents, could use some seasoning in AAA to work on their 2nd and 3rd pitches, while Minor wouldn't benefit nearly as much from more AAA time.

So the way I see it, Minor should be our #4, and Medlen should be our #5, which benefits the major league club in having the most experience in the rotation, while also getting Teheran and Delgado some more time to work on some other pitches.

Another option would be to try to stretch out Vizcaino again during spring training. Both Vizcaino and Medlen would probably be considered our 4th best relievers and potential multiple innings guys, so in the bullpen, they are fairly interchangeable. Maybe we should be trying to get Vizcaino back into a starting role so that we can see more clearly how our dream team of starters may look one day (Hanson, Teheran, Vizcaino, Delgado, Minor, Beachy, Medlen, choose 5 and in no particular order because any of them could be aces by the time thats the rotation).

That's it for my rant. My main point I wanted to bring up is that I think Kris Medlen SHOULD be the front runner for the #5 spot, yet he doesn't even appear to be the dark horse. Am I missing something?

Poll

Who do you think should be the #5 starter AFTER Hudson returns?

• Minor
• Teheran
• Delgado
• Vizcaino
• Medlen

  31 votes | Results

For anyone who wishes to follow where this year's free agents land, here's a list of them sorted by teams, including players signed to minor league deals. I'll try to update as often as possible. Discuss the signings if you wish.

ESPN.com's available free agents.

A.L. EAST

YANKEES

Freddy Garcia - SP: 1 year, $4 million

Andruw Jones - OF: 1 year, $2 million

Hiroki Kuroda - SP: 1 year, $10 million

Russell Branyan - 1B: minor league

RED SOX

Kelly Shoppach - C: 1 year, $1.35 million

Nick Punto - IF: 2 years, $3 million

David Ortiz - DH: 1 year, $14.575 million

Vicente Padilla - SP/RP: minor league

Cody Ross - OF: 1 year, $3 million

Aaron Cook - SP: minor league

Jason Repko - OF: minor league

ORIOLES

Tsuyoshi Wada - SP: 2 years, $8.75 million with option for 2014

Endy Chavez - OF: 1 year, $1.5 million

Wei-Yin Chen - SP: 3 years, $11.3 million

Wilson Betemit - IF: 2 years, $3.25 million

Luis Ayala - RP: 1 year, $925,000

RAYS

Jose Molina - C: 1 year, $1.8 million with option for 2013

Fernando Rodney - RP: 1 year, $2 million

Luke Scott - OF/1B: 1 year, $6 million with option for 2013

Carlos Pena - 1B: 1 year, $7.25 million

Jeff Keppinger - IF: 1 year,

BLUE JAYS

Kelly Johnson - 2B: arbitration

Darren Oliver - RP: 1 year, $4 million with option for 2013

Omar Vizquel - SS: minor league

Francisco Cordero - RP: 1 year, $4.5 million

A.L. CENTRAL

TIGERS

Gerald Laird - C: 1 year, $1 million

Ramon Santiago - MIF: 2 years, $4.2 million

Octavio Dotel - RP: 1 year, $3.5 million with option for 2013

Prince Fielder - 1B: 9 years, $214 million

INDIANS

Grady Sizemore - OF: 1 year, $5 million

Jose Lopez - 2B: minor league

Dan Wheeler - RP: minor league

Casey Kotchman - 1B: 1 year, $3 million

Jon Garland - SP: minor league

WHITE SOX

Dan Johnson - 1B: minor league

Kosuke Fukudome - OF: 1 year, $1 million with option for 2013

ROYALS

Bruce Chen - SP: 2 years, $9 million

Jonathan Broxton - RP: 1 year, $4 million

Yuniesky Betancourt - SS: 1 year, $2 million

Jose Mijares - RP: 1 year, $925,000

Kevin Kouzmanoff - 3B: minor league

TWINS

Jamey Carroll - IF: 2 years, $6.75 million

Ryan Doumit - C/OF: 1 year, $3 million

Matt Capps - RP: 1 year, $4.75 million

Josh Willingham - OF: 3 years, $21 million

Jason Marquis - SP: 1 year, $3 million

J.R. Towles - C: minor league

Steve Pearce - OF/1B: minor league

Joel Zumaya - RP: 1 year, $850,000

Sean Burroughs - 3B: minor league

A.L. WEST

RANGERS

Joe Nathan - RP: 2 years, $15 million with option for 2014

Yu Darvish - SP: 6 years, $60 million

Brad Hawpe - OF/1B: minor league

ANGELS

Albert Pujols - 1B: 10 years, $254 million

C.J. Wilson - SP: 5 years, $77.5 million

LaTroy Hawkins - RP: 1 year, $3 million

MARINERS

George Sherrill - RP: 1 year, $1.1 million

Hisashi Iwakuma - SP: 1 year, $1.5 million

Kevin Millwood - SP: minor league

Carlos Guillen - IF: minor league

ATHLETICS

Coco Crisp - OF: 2 years, $13 million with option for 2014

Bartolo Colon - SP: 1 year, $900,000

Jonny Gomes - OF: 1 year, $1 million

Yoenis Cespedes - OF: 4 years, $36 million

N.L. EAST

PHILLIES

Jonathan Papelbon - RP: 4 years, $50 million with option for 2016

Jim Thome - 1B: 1 year, $1.25 million

Brian Schneider - C: 1 year, $800,000

Laynce Nix - OF: 2 years, $2.5 million

Dontrelle Willis - SP/RP: 1 year, $850,000

Jimmy Rollins - SS: 3 years, $33 million

Brian Sanches - RP: minor league

Joel Pineiro - SP: minor league

Juan Pierre - OF: minor league

Chad Qualls - RP: 1 year, $1.15 million

BRAVES

Jack Wilson - SS: 1 year, $1 million

Peter Moylan - RP: minor league

MARLINS

Heath Bell - RP: 3 years, $27 million with vesting option for 2015

Jose Reyes - SS: 6 years, $106 million

Mark Buehrle - SP: 4 years, $58 million

Greg Dobbs - 3B: 2 years, $3 million

METS

Frank Francisco - RP: 2 years, $12 million

Jon Rauch - RP: 1 year, $3.5 million

Ronny Cedeno - MIF: 1 year, $1.15 million

Scott Hairston - OF: 1 year, $1.1 million

NATIONALS

Chien-Ming Wang - SP: 1 year, $4 million

Mark DeRosa - IF: 1 year, $800,000

Jason Michaels - OF: minor league

Brad Lidge - RP: 1 year, $1 million

Edwin Jackson - SP: 1 year,

Rick Ankiel - OF: minor league

Chad Durbin - RP: minor league

N.L. CENTRAL

BREWERS

Alex Gonzalez - SS: 1 year, $4.25 million with $4 million vesting option

Aramis Ramirez - 3B: 3 years, $36 million

Francisco Rodriguez - RP: arbitration

Cesar Izturis - SS: minor league

Brooks Conrad - IF: minor league

Norichika Aoki - OF: 2 years, $2.25 million

Corey Patterson - OF: minor league

CARDINALS

Rafael Furcal - SS: 2 years, $14 million

J.C. Romero - RP: 1 year, $750,000

Carlos Beltran - OF: 2 years, $26 million

Alex Cora - IF: minor league

Scott Linebrink - RP: minor league

CUBS

David DeJesus - OF: 2 years, $10 million with option for 2014

Reed Johnson - OF: 1 year, $1.15 million

Paul Maholm - SP: 1 year, $4.25 million with option for 2013

Kerry Wood - RP: 1 year, $3 million

Rodrigo Lopez - SP: minor league

Trever Miller - RP: minor league

ASTROS

Chris Snyder - C: 1 year,

Livan Hernandez - RP: minor league

PIRATES

Rod Barajas - C: 1 year, $4 million with option for 2013 at $3.5 million

Clint Barmes - MIF: 2 years, $10.5 million

Erik Bedard - SP: 1 year, $4.5 million

Nate McLouth - OF: 1 year, $1.75 million

Jake Fox - C: minor league

Juan Cruz - RP: minor league

REDS

Andrew Brackman - RP: 1 year, $480,000

Ryan Madson - RP: 1 year, $8.5 million

Ryan Ludwick - OF: 1 year, $2.5 million

Jeff Francis - SP: minor league

Willie Harris - OF: minor league

N.L. WEST

DIAMONDBACKS

Aaron Hill - 2B: 2 years, $11 million

Willie Bloomquist - IF/OF: 2 years, $3.8 million

John McDonald - IF: 2 years, $3 million

Henry Blanco - C: 1 year, $1.25 million

Lyle Overbay - 1B: 1 year, $1 million

Takashi Saito - RP: 1 year, $1.75 million

Jason Kubel - OF: 2 years, $15 million

Chris Jakubauskas - SP/RP: minor league

ROCKIES

Ramon Hernandez - C: 2 years, $6.4 million

Michael Cuddyer - OF: 3 years, $31.5 million

Casey Blake - 3B: 1 year, $2 million

Brandon Wood - IF: minor league

DODGERS

Mark Ellis - 2B: 2 years, $8.75 million with option for 2014

Juan Rivera - OF: 1 year, $4 million with option for 2013

Matt Treanor - C: 1 year, $850,000

Adam Kennedy - IF: 1 year, $800,000

Chris Capuano - SP: 2 years, $10 million

Jerry Hairston - IF/OF: 2 years, $6 million

Aaron Harang - SP: 2 years, $12 million

Mike MacDougal - RP: 1 year, $1 million with option for 2013

Josh Bard - C: minor league

John Grabow - RP: minor league

Todd Coffey - RP: 1 year, $1.3 million with option for 2013

GIANTS

Guillermo Mota - RP: 1 year, $1 million

Javier Lopez - RP: 2 years, $8.5 million

Eli Whiteside - C: 1 year, $600,000

Clay Hensley - RP: 1 year, $750,000

Ryan Theriot - IF: 1 year, $1.25 million

PADRES

Mark Kotsay - OF: 1 year, $1.25 million

RETIRED: Craig Counsell, Orlando Cabrera, Jorge Posada, Pat Burrell

What are all us peasants suppose to do when the there is no room is one fantasy league? We create our own. We may not have as much witty batter as the other league, but at least we will have one. Anyways to any Braves fan looking for a fantasy home, I just created a 12 team league on yahoo. It is a standard H2H 5x5 league. I'd like it to be a keeper league with us keeping 4 or 5 players each year if we are all decent managers. All are welcomed to join until its full.

League ID: 37621

Password: phuckthephillies (so original right?)

Hey all, been a long time since I posted on here. Hope everyone is doing well.

No clue if the majority of the people who were in the TC Fantasy Baseball League from last season are even still on this board, but if you are I'm just letting you know I set the league up just now so you should have received an email message asking you to join again. It would have been sent to whatever email address you provided me last year.

All people who participated last year have been re-invited, but if in about two weeks the league is still missing participants I may go ahead and open it up to anyone else who feels like joining. For those of you from last year who do want to play again, please sign up quickly so we can finalize any rule changes, roster changes, etc.

Go Braves.

First off I would like to say that I don't even know if this is a possibility. I don't know if there is some sort of binding agreement that says the Braves are bound to Atlanta. Secondly, I'm not promoting this idea. I've got no beef with Atlanta or its fine citizens. I was born after the Milwaukee era & the only Braves I have known are the Atlanta Braves. What got me thinking along these lines was the post about the new alternate uni's. I got on a Braves history site to try to find a uniform which matched the new ones. I discovered that the new uni's closely resemble the ones worn by the Milwaukee team of the early 60's. There was a side note that said that soon after removing the Tomahawk logo from the jersey that the team moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta.

And so the seed was planted. What if this is a sign? What if the Braves left Atlanta? Would there be weeping & gnashing of teeth? Sackcloth & ashes? Would there be heartbreak like when the Dodgers left Brooklyn or meh, no big deal? I started thinking which cities would be good candidates. Charleston has a rich southern heritage similar to what Atlanta has to offer but do they have the fanbase to support a MLB team? Then I thought Nashville would be a good fit since they already support an NFL team. Maybe they would go full circle & return to Boston? Maybe Boston could be like New York, hosting both an AL & NL team. And so I pose these questions to the TC faithful if you so care to partake. What if the Braves moved from Atlanta? Would you care or not? What city do you think would be a good fit if they ever moved? Thanks for the input.

These are my 2012 rankings by position. Feel free to ask any questioning you may have about the order folks are listed in. I have all players according to preseason ESPN fantasy positional eligibility, and they are ranked at the primary position where they would rank highest based on overall rankings. Enjoy!

Continue reading this post »

cant wait for the season to start. I love our club with such a good mix of veteran guys with so many young guys too. I hope J-Hey will bounce back and from what I've read and heard there is no question he will bounce back. I also like the pitching staff and the pen but my only question is can the younger guys continue to pitch well and late in the ball games. The pen got worn out in 2nd half.

My only questions are 1. Will (can) we keep Bourne? 2. Are we keeping Prado b/c he can be insurance if Chipper gets hurt?

I dont see the need to make any big trades at all unless we can pull off a big one before the all star break depending on any injuries.

I think we'll be fine at SS b/c we have enough bats in our lineup and bench that we can afford a light hitting SS.

What if anything do the Braves need at this point or with guys bouncing back and a full season with Borne are we okay?

Here is my partial guess at the rotations and closers for the minor leagues thsi spring

3A Gwinnett - rotation: Teheran, Delgado, Flande, Lugo, and Hoover/Vizcaino alternating as starters. Bullock, Pruneda in the bullpen.
2A 'sippi - Spruill, Hale, D.Delgado, Masters
A+ Hillcats - Gilmartin, Perez, Avilan, Martin . Lamm in the Bullpen
A- Rome - Graham, Gil, LaPoint, Filak. N. Moore as the closer.
Rookie Disney - Cabrera, Espinosa, Caicedo

Does anybody have opinions on how close this may be?>

George Carlin explains why Baseball is a far superior sport to Football.

Baseball > Football

Continue reading this post »

Since 1995, Chipper Jones has been the heart and soul of the Atlanta Braves team. Now that he is turning 40, what are the Braves going to do for a 3rd baseman in the future? I know that Joe Terdoslavich was switched to 1rst base, but he is a 3rd baseman. He is a doubles machine with 20+ home run potential and even though he performed well in the AFL, he's still at least a year away from being ready to play in the show. Edward Salcedo is still working out the kinks, but scouts continue to rave about his potential. He should develop into a solid 20/20 guy, but I don't see him in Atlanta until 2014. In the Braves organization, those two are really all we have in terms of potentially being solid everyday mlb 3rd baseman.

If the Braves front office was so inclined, they could pull of a trade to get someone to take Chipper's place after this season. David Wright is the first name that comes to mind, but we can wait till next year to worry about him. The player I would like to see in Atlanta is Blue Jays 3rd baseman Brett Lawrie. That cat can play some ball.