We've all been bouncing off the walls this off-season as other NL East teams have lit up the headlines with moves while we sat silent. In thinking about why we were so silent, you gotta think Wren at some point took a peak at what some of his players did in 2010. Or, more specifically, what Heyward, Uggla and Prado did:

Heyward - .277, 18 HR, 72 RBI

Uggla - .287, 33 HR, 105 RBI

Prado - .307, 15 HR, 66 RBI

Is it that outrageous to expect two of these three to rebound to their 2010 level? No. And expecting one is a certainty. Three feels optimistic, but considering the talent of these three, certainly possible. And I didn't even bother to include McCann and his 2011 late swoon in this.

Throw in a full season of Bourn and, all in all, it's a given that our offense will be better this year than last. Just sayin'

I have a brand new dynasty league. I know there are some good owners on here and I thought I would ask around It is a 16 team league with H2H scoring with
some adjustments made to the standard scoring system. This league is ran through CBS.. 18 active players including CI and MI. 25 minor
league spots. Let me know if your interested and you can send me
fantasy resume as we only allow good active owners. Thank you,

Joshua Barnett
Commissioner

Here is your February edition of the Off Season/Off Topic thread.

January's was closed to comments way before the month was over, so hopefully this one will make it until the 29th. Hey it's a Leap Year!

Hopefully your January was a good one. Mine was great!!! (yes, 3 exclamation points worth).

The workout started again, but I'll admit that my progress has been slowed by a lack of discipline and eating things I really shouldn't have this past month. February WILL be different.

I finally saw the movie "Moneyball". Loved every minute of it. I sure wish more movies like this were being made. I also finally got around to watching both "Fireproof" and "Courageous". I can recommend them as well.

I read this morning where in Wilmington, NC they are trying to get a minor league stadium approved to be built and then they will court the Braves organization for a minor league team to locate there. That would still mean a 4 hour drive for me, but I'd love to know that a Braves affiliate is in my state.

I am SO ready for some Braves baseball.

What's up with all of you?

I preface this post by saying that i am not an overly optimistic person in general however I think there is real reason to be optimistic for the upcoming season. To explain my logic i will go to every position and explain why we should expect better production.

Cacher- Brian Mccan is the best cather in baseball period Last year at one point in the season his average was at .318. While i am not saying he will hit that well this year i think a reasonable expectation for this year is .300. He would have hit that had it not been for a freaky oblique injury on a late, hot and humid night.

First- Freddie Freeman i my favorite player in a braves uniform. In fact when i had to write an ode for my english class i composed an ode to freddie freeman. But anyway, Freeman hit .282 last year. I think that we can look for his average to be higher this year as he wont have to deal with an adjustment to the big leagues.

Second- Dan Uggla had one of the strangest seasons ever last year. This being said if he can produce anywhere near how he produced in the second half of last year he could easily hit .270 along with 40 4 baggers.

Short- This is the only position at which we may not improove but expect pastro to hit better that (he's) gonzo.

Third- Chipper is old, but chipper is chipper.

Left- Last year prado did not live up to his career all star numbers. As someone who has had 3 staph infections i can say that they really sap the energy out of you and i expect a staphless prado to return to all star form.

Center- A full year with the fastest man in baseball will improove this position.

Right- I truly believe that Heyward's season was ruined by his shoulder which is now healthy. Look for a monster year.

'pen- With vizciano and medlen joining oventbrel this pen will be just as dominant but deeper than last years.

Starters- If we can stay healthy we can again be among the leagues best.

Addition by subtraction.

Gonzo

Nate

Derek

Parish

Schafer

I was checking out our schedule for 2012 and noticed the significance of April. The following 3 months feature mostly difficult series. However, April seems as though it should be winnable. It may have to be figuring that the "meat" of our schedule is during those 3 mid summer months. We would benefit greatly by getting off to a hot start during the easier portion of the schedule. The biggest change is the NL East games and our expectations. Obviously, the Mets are the only team that is expected to be weak in the division. While I'm not as high on the Miami Marlins as most, I'm higher on the Nats than most; still both will be competitive. And we see plenty of both teams in the middle 3 months of the season. But what stands out to me is the opportunity to be had during the first month. So my question to all of you is what would you be satisfied with on the morning of May 1st?

April

3@NYM 3vsNYM

3@HOU

3vsMIL

3@LAD

4vsPIT

4@ARI

May/June/July

3vsPHI 3@PHI 3vsPHI

3@STL 3vsSTL

2vsCIN 4@CIN

2vsMIA 3@MIA 3@MIA 2vsMIA(2 of 4 game series falls in AUG)

3@TB

3vsWSH 3@WSH 3vsWSH 3@WSH

3vsTOR

3vsNYY 3@NYY

3@ BOS

3vsARI

3vsSF

3@COL

3@CHC 4vsCHC

3vsBAL

3vsNYM

Day 3 (Thursday) of Fantasy camp started off with us again waking up early to make it to the ballpark in time to get dressed and get ready for our first game. After taking some hacks in the bullpen, we headed out to Field #3 to play our game against Zane Smith and Greg Olson's team. We ended up losing the game 9-3, but I did fairly well by going 2-3 with a single, double, 2 RBI's and a fielder's choice for the last at bat. One of my teammates did go yard for the first homer of fantasy camp by anyone during a game. However, that was all of our offense for this game. I also made a few god plays while playing third again, enough for Eddie Perez to say I would get his gold glove award (yes!).

Here are some shots of the batting cage (including a shot of Dale Murphy who arrived into camp today for his only day here)

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

After lunch we went out to play our second game on the stadium field. I actually tried my hand at pitching in this game as we needed someone to pitch, but it didn't turn out very well. Luckily I didn't hit anyone, but did walk almost everyone I faced. Eddie came in to relieve me (I retreated happily back to third) and we ended up coming back and winning the game 6-5. I went 3-4 with 3 singles a fly out and 2 runs scored. It was nice to notch our first win of the camp.

Murphy was kind enough after the games to sit and sign autographs and take pictures with everyone. I got a good shot of him and I with my camera that I'll post later as I haven't pulled it off the camera yet. Here's a shot of him being gracious and signing anything for everyone!

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

Later in the evening we had "man cave" night back at the same place we had the opening night dinner. Tom Glavine arrived and I got to spend some time talking to him while we were there. He was gracious enough to pose for a picture with me.

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

We are looking forward to playing on the stadium field again tomorrow morning if the rain holds off. I hope we are able to get in the morning games as that is what we are down here for. We are scheduled for a golf outing in the afternoon that we can't cancel. The rain should be be over by noon if we even get any at all (only a 50% chance), so we will get some golf in I am sure of it.

For now it's time to hit the sack and let the body recover. See you all tomorrow.

After a career worst season in 2011, Martin Prado was signed to a one year contract for $4.75 million. I think it's a good value for a year's worth of Prado. But is that the right move for the Braves? I think that Martin Prado was prime for an extension. Nothing too major, maybe 3 years at 14 million with some incentives (performance/award based-perhaps if he gets All-Star, contends for the batting title etc , maybe worth 4 million over the course of the contract.)

Martin Prado is a team-player with tons of versatility. Prado also has a strong work ethic. He was hurt in 2011 and appeared frustrated by what he must have considered was sub-par performance. Definitely not his year. I personally think that he will be supremely motivated to show what a healthy Prado can provide. It's a great value to get such a motivated player for 4.75 million dollars, but if you believe that you will get great value then you are assuming that Prado is a generally good player when healthy. And that is a valid assumption to make, because Prado is a very talented ballplayer who gives the team identity (think 2010, that team will forever be associated with Martin Prado in my mind for some reason) and has amazing potential to provide value.

Prado, at his true talent level- and he is 28 mind you- is a good starter. He's great if he is at 2nd, and good at LF and 3rd. But let's say he doesn't get there. At the worst case scenario, Prado is able to cover the OF and the IF as what we fondly know as the super-utility man. Considering that Jack Wilson was signed for 1 million with an addition 500k in incentives, imagine how Prado's value would be gauged as the super-utility he can be. That value alone is worth close to the $4.75 million he is getting paid this year if you consider that he can cover the spots of two bench players and provides line-up flexibility. But I think it is far more realistic that he stays a strong starter over the next 3-4 years than that he is relegated to the bench.

Martin Prado is a valuable commodity to a baseball team despite coming off a career bad year. His versatility, talent and intangibles are especially valuable for a team like the Braves, who we all know will likely remain mid-market for the foreseeable future. I think the time was ripe to get a great player and a long-term solution (in whatever form it might present itself) at a price right for the Braves. Thoughts?

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2012/index.jsp

Braves come in at numbers 4, 36, 42, 65,and 91. Pretty good showing considering the young guys already on the squad. I took the time to place the Braves players' analysis in the post but I'd recommend scanning through the prospects. The setup is quite user friendly.

4. Julio Teheran:

Statistically speaking: His FIP (fielding independent pitching) of 3.06 was a bit higher than his actual ERA of 2.55, meaning Teheran had some good fortune in 2011. That’s not bad by any means and his .288 BABIP (batting average on balls in play) was lower than the .300 average for pitchers. His hits-per-nine-innings rate of 7.7 was right in line with his career average as well.

Scouting report: With three pitches that grade as above-average or better, there’s good reason the Braves are excited about Teheran. With a clean delivery, he delivers fastballs in the mid-90s, and though he still looks like he could add some strength, durability and maintaining velocity have not been issues. To complement his fastball, Teheran also throws a curve and changeup, both above-average to plus, and he commands all three of his pitches well. The Braves were willing to push Teheran aggressively, then call him up at such a young age last year because of his outstanding poise on the mound. He’s not one to be fazed by taking his lumps at the highest level.

Upside potential: Pitching at or near the top of a Major League rotation soon and for a long time to come.

Other 4 after the jump...

Continue reading this post »

After not hardly getting any sleep Tuesday night, we had to get up bright and early to make the 6:30 AM shuttle over to the field to get ready. After arriving at the field we made our way to the Braves Clubhouse and located our locker. Here's a shot of one side of the clubhouse:

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

After finding my locker, I got to take in seeing my name and number on an official Atlanta Braves Jersey (both batting practice blue and home white).

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

We checked to make sure our uniforms fit and got dressed in the batting practice blues. We went out and stretched and did 2 hours of skills assessment on various fields for different stations. There was an outfield station with Mike Bielecki and Pete Smith where we took grounders and fly balls and working on hitting the cutoff man. There was an infield station with Zane Smith and Greg Olsen where we participated in PFP (Pitchers Fielding Practice), grounders at both shortstop and second base. There was a hitting station where Marquis Grissom or Sid Bream tossed you pitches underhand from about 10 feet away and you got to hit them out onto the field while under the cage at home plate. There was a catching station where Javy Lopez and Eddie Perez taught us the fine art of catching and we got to simulate throwing down to 2nd to gun down a runner while being timed. There was a pitching station with Charlie Leibrandt, Brad Clontz and Marvin Freeman taught us how to pitch and let us pitch off the mound.

After the skills assessment we went back to the locker room for lunch. After lunch Greg McMichael announced the teams and where we would be playing our afternoon games. So we headed off for Field #5 (the location of my game) and got warmed up again for the game. I was on Marvin Freeman's and Eddie Perez's team and played 3B. We ended up losing the game 10-9 after Marvin Freeman brought himself in to pitch (due to all the walks and we were running out of time). He got into a battle with 2 outs with one batter and ordered everyone to leave the field. He then promptly gave up a long shot to center for an inside the park home run that ended the game. It was an interesting end to the day to say the least. We then hit the showers/headed back to the hotel and we're about to head out to dinner with our coaches tonight.

I'm a little sore after being on my feet and doing baseball activities all day, but I'm ready for our double header tomorrow, that's for sure. Here are some more shots of Champions stadium that I took with my phone.

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

My roommate Kevin who won the trip to the Fantasy Camp from 680 the Fan radio in Atlanta.

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

More to come tomorrow for Day 3's edition!

So I wanted to create a writeup of every day of the fantasy camp so everyone would get an idea of what goes on at one of these things for the enormous price tag you have to pay. First I'd like to thank my beautiful and wonderful wife and my mother-in-law for purchasing the Fantasy Camp package for me for my Birthday and Christmas (for this year and many down the road!). it was a wonderful gift and I still can't believe they both did it!

Anyway, we arrived at Lake Buena Vista at the Resort on Tuesday afternoon. After checking in and getting my room key I unloaded all of my stuff into my room and met my roommate who I will be staying with in the suite. Thankfully it is a 2 bedroom suite and we each have a separate rooms. Later Tuesday night we went to a welcome dinner at a local Ale house here in the Orlando area and had dinner and drinks on the Braves and got a chance to meet all of the Alumni (former Braves players) and rub elbows with them, ask them questions and basically pick their brains about Baseball and anything else we wanted to ask them about. It was fun. Here's a shot of Greg Olsen being goofy with someone's camera while campers and Sid Bream look on.

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

Here's another shot of Charlie Leibrandt talking to campers and Greg Olsen

via www.douglasdigitalimagery.com

After drinking too much and grabbing some food it was back to the Hotel to try and get some sleep before we had to load up on the shuttle the next morning at 6:30 AM.