Talking Chop: FanPosts

Adam Laroche should be signed

2009-11-21T13:35:32Z

I have been reading all fanposts about a new outfielder/slugger that has to come to the braves by trade or free agent signing. Of course there is always a lot of excitement involved with new players coming to our beloved Braves, but what is wrong with Adam Laroche?

In 2009 he hit avg 325 obp 401 slg 557 for the Braves in 212 at bats
For Boston he only got 29 at bats hit avg 263 same OBP and slugged 526 but that is only 29 at bats.
For the Pirates he hit avg247 obp 329 slg. 441

The guy just loves to play for the Braves. Last years performance and his latest full season with the Braves 2006, (avg. 285, obp 354 slg 561) show it.
The guy can smash and combines it with Big D. He is the best available first baseman by anymeans, defense, age, slugging, health.

Of course in a couple of years we have Freddie Freeman maybe as early as 2011, but it not a sure thing. I mean he has not played that many games in the higher minors and has not yet proven he is the next thing for years to come. Understand me well he might very well be. But also a 32 year old Laroche is very tradeable.

I say sign Laroche. he is a real power source and Gold Glove defender. If Freddie Freeman proves to be the man to hold the position for years to come you trade Laroche or him, there is no harm in that.

Would like to hear your reactions. I would really like the Braves chances with a full season of Laroche maybe as a number 4 depending on the leftfielder the Braves sign.

Bullpen

2009-11-21T05:22:55Z

This Offseason the braves have lost two very good relievers Gonzalez and Soriano which leaves a void in the bull pen that needs to be filled. These are some of the names of up and comming relievers that would be cheap enough to get. A few are free agents but most of them are still under contract with their respective teams. A good trade would be enough for an aquistion.

1. Ramon Troncoso LA Dodgers

2. Sergio Romo SF Giants

3. Clay Zavada ARI

4. Franklin Morales COL

5. Jose Mijares MIN

6. Mike Wuertz OAK

7. Neftali Feliz TEX

8. Ryan Perry DET

9. Mark Lowe SEA

10. Angel Guzman Cubs

Bring back my boy AJ

2009-11-19T20:23:13Z

After reading the fanpost, "Andruw Jones wants his job back," I realized that I had almost forgotten about my favorite former Braves player. AJ was my childhood favorite due to his incredible defensive talent, his ability to slug 35 home runs a year, and he was always smiling about something (most likely food) every single at-bat.

An idea that was brought up (and quickly shot down) in the comments section was "wait a second, could we really get Andruw back? Is he worth anything anymore?" I began entertaining the idea of having AJ back in the lineup if he were his old self, and to be honest, I liked the idea of seeing him back. I decided to do a little research to see if Jones's career really is completely done, or if maybe he could bounce back - in an Atlanta Braves uniform.

Last year with the Rangers, in 281 AB's, Andruw's line looked like this: .214/.323/.459 giving him a .782 OPS, with 17 homers and 43 RBI's. Now, that seems pretty bad.

Except for that home run total. In fact, for his number of AB's, that home run total is very good. His HR/AB ratio was 1/16.5 - that is very good. How many home runs does that translate to over the course of a whole season? From 1998-2007, he averaged 590.3 AB's a season. If you put Andruw's 2009 HR/AB ratio over the course of an entire season (590.3 AB's), he would hit a rounded total of 36 home runs. Hmmm...that looks just like his old home run totals.

Another thing stood out to me was that Andruw's OBP was over .100 points higher than his BA. The number of walks AJ took last season was surprising to me - 45! This is a huge improvement for Andruw, showing that he has more plate discipline. Over the course of an entire season, AJ would have racked up approx. 95 walks in '09 - which is, believe it or not, better than Chipper's season average of about 90 BB per season.

When I took a look at Andruw's 2009 monthly splits, I saw that he had a fantastic April, an okay May, a very bad June, a great July (.964 OPS, 8 homers in 67 AB's), and a bad August. However, in August, he only played in 14 games, and only had 48 AB's. AJ didn't see much playing time after mid-August, only seeing 38 AB's after August 17.

AJ received pretty consistent playing time before the All-Star break, and it resulted in 14 homers and an .870 OPS. But once he struggled in August, he was basically taken out of the lineup except for spot starts. I think that if AJ had consistent playing time, being the streaky hitter that he is, he could work through his streaks of hot and cold.

A lot of people may try to say AJ has lost it because of his strikeout total. Yes, his strikeout total was high in '09 - 72 K's, making an estimated season total 151 K's for AJ. However, strikeouts aren't necessarily a bad thing for sluggers. It's just an out. Two of the game's greatest sluggers, Ryan Howard and Adam Dunn, strike out even more than that every season - heck, Howard struck out 186 times last year, and 199 times in '07 and '08.

Another knock that AJ has on him is that he played in Texas last year, a hitter's park. While his home stats were better than his away stats, I'm not sure how much the park contributed to his numbers. He had 9 HR's at home and 8 on the road. Although the difference in OPS seems substantial - .858 OPS at home and a .705 mark on the road - that difference mainly comes from a difference of 6 more doubles and 7 more walks at home than on the road.

Another problem with AJ is that people think he has become too fat and too slow. I agree he should try Nutrisystem, but he still swiped 5 bags while only being caught once last year. Perhaps TP and the Braves could really work with him if we were to bring him back to keep him in shape.

If we did bring him back, I could picture Andruw Jones having a season that is good but not great, perhaps like the numbers he put up in 2001: .251/.312/.461 with 34 homers and 104 RBI's. If he played full time in 2010, I can see him putting up numbers like this: .235/.335/.465 with 35 homers and 100 RBI's, which is nothing to sneeze at! Just because his average may be low doesn't mean he couldn't be productive and valuable.

Does anyone else think it may be a good idea to bring back Andruw Jones in 2010? He would come cheap, probably around $500,000. Opening Day, I think we should start AJ in CF (only if his defense can be relied on), put McLouth in left and Diaz in right. IMO, Heyward will be up in June, giving AJ 2 months to prove himself. If AJ sucks terribly, we can get him out of there, put Heyward in right, and move McLouth back to center. However, if AJ bounces back, we could keep AJ in center, have McLouth in left, Heyward in right, and Diaz to make spot starts whenever needed. Is AJ worth the risk of having a hole in our lineup for 2 months?

Plus, if we sign AJ rather than an outfielder like Cameron, we save some money that we could spend on extending Laroche's stay, which IMO is the most important thing we need to do this offseason.

Now, I don't know about Andruw's defense. I saw that he was mainly a DH all year - he only played in the outfield 17 games last year. He didn't make any errors in OF, but has anyone seen him play? I have heard he is not very good anymore, but I'd like some confirmation. I still believe in AJ when it comes to taking good routes and getting great jumps on balls, but I don't know...

What does everyone think about reuniting the Jones brothers?

Freddie Freeman

2009-11-19T18:07:56Z

So I know that there is a witchhunt to prevent rosterbation posts right now, so hopefully this will make the cut, but I just wanted to comment on our in-house first base option of the future.

I usually am one to go around in circles to try and explain my beliefs on things, but on this I will just be straight out blunt. I am very skeptical of Freddie Freeman's Future. I really think a big part of why he has such a high prospect status is due to the lack of position player potential we have in our system, moer than his actual talent. With that being said, I am not questioning that Freeman will turn out to be a valuable major leaguer. However, I am saying that I think he does not have as high as ceiling as other might. I can see him being a .275-.290 hitter, no doubt, but I question his power, as I am on the side of the fence to where he will be a .275-.290/.340-.360/.430 to .450 type player.

With this being said, I really think that we should be less concerned about planning around Freeman's ETA, and go after a 1b as a FA or in a Trade who has shown what they can do at the major league level. I think our approach should be lets solidify that positon with a player for the next few years (as we thought we were doing with Kotchman), and then allow for Freeman to develop without any pressure, and when he is ready, handle the situation then, as it will be one of those "good problems to have" situations (the 1b we already have at the ML, or Freeman, could be used in a trade to fill another need.)

My question is, is there something I am missing? I know this is more of a brainstorming post, sorry for the lack of statistics, but I have looked at them in the past, and they seem to be more the numbers of a solid regular than a periennal all-star. I do undestand that he was injured last year, but I am talking about his stats since he was drafted.

And for those who have seem him play, is he one of those players whose minor league stats do not truly represent his skill set, and once he gets to the majors, he will produce at his max potential? I definately do hope that this will prove out to be true....I guess a good way to see that is by using one of those sites that shows a current list of players that Freddie Freeman projects to be like.

Again, if this is an unncessary fan post, I do apologize, but I just wanted to get some opinions on if I am missing something, or if the thoughts above are some that others share.

Minor League Free Agents

2009-11-18T23:37:29Z

There are several good minor league free agents on the market and this is a list of some that the organization should look at as possibilities to bring up to the majors next year. The Braves also have one or two of their own that they could resign. Both are listed below.

1. 1B Andy Tracy (Phillies)

2. 1B Ole Sheldon (Cleveland)

3. 1B Brett Harper ( Dodgers)

4. OF Brad Snyder (Cubs)

5. CL Mariano Gomez (Braves)

6. 3B Kody Kirkland (Braves)
Just to name a few.

Photos of Gwinnett Braves Infielders from 2009 - Inaugural Season

2009-11-18T23:33:24Z

Here are some shots of the Gwinnett Braves infielders that I took in their Inaugural season in Gwinnett Stadium. I had the weekend season ticket plan (25 games, of which I only attended about 18 unfortunately) and enjoyed going to the stadium. I'll try to post some more shots here later on, and if you want a shot of someone in particular, let me know and I'll see if I have it for you.

via ten1photography.com

Clint Sammons - #5

via ten1photography.com

Brooks Conrad - #15

via ten1photography.com

Van Pope - #8

via ten1photography.com

Barbaro Canizares - #55

Diory Hernandez - #11

via ten1photography.com

Wes Timmons - #19

Could Miguel Cabrera be had?

2009-11-18T16:41:52Z

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/10374040/Trading-Cabrera-makes-financial-sense-for-Tigers

The Braves' needs are pretty simple: A power hitting right handed hitter (most likely a OF or 1B) and bullpen help. I think the best solution to the hole in the offense is acquiring a 1B via trade and plugging the Matt Diaz platoon back in LF. If we were to get an OF I could see the brass moving Martin Prado to 1B and putting Kelly Johnson back at 2B. This would be less than ideal. Although, it is feasible that we could acquire a cheaper option at 1B if we were to acquire a big bat in LF (like Nick Johnson, Fernando Tatis, Nomar Garciaparra... just to name some possibilities).

RH OF's that likely could be had and fit our needs:

Nelson Cruz (Rangers)
Juan Rivera (Angels)
Corey Hart (Brewers)
Josh Willingham (Nationals)

The problem here is we would likely have to give up Javier Vazquez for one of these fellas, but he has that pesky no trade clause to the NL and AL West. If the Angels got desperate maybe they would consider a package for Rivera involving Lowe or Kawakami but that is wishful thinking at this point.

It is relatively slim pickins when it comes to a right handed power bat for the outfield. Matt Holliday is definitely out of our price range. Carlos Lee's power has steadily been in decline (not to mention he has a huge contract). A quick glance at the top 10-15 RH OF's in OPS shows that the other players not mentioned here are unlikely to be moved.

The Braves have been loosely linked to Corey Hart and Josh Willingham. While they would be improvements over what we have right now, they wouldn't really be the big bat we need to make a splash. Certainly neither of them merit the inclusion of Vazquez in a potential deal.

Adrian Gonzalez's name is being whispered in trade rumors, but it is likely that he will stay put. Besides, he is also on a West coast team, (one that is looking to cut salary) so it negates the ability to trade part of our wealth of starting pitching for him (Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson are obviously going nowhere and I also consider Jair Jurrjens off-limits). It would then take a minor league package that would knock their socks off, which is unlikely to happen.

The Brewers haven't committed long term to Prince Fielder, and they have been rumored to have interest in Vazquez... but I don't see that deal materializing. Fielder is due to become a free agent in 2011. Unless the Braves could work out terms for a new deal before trading for him then they would have no interest parting with the inevitable large bounty of prospects the Brewers would demand.

My long shot solution: Miguel Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera might be falling out of favor with the Tigers. The domestic violence incident before last season's play-in game allegedly rubbed some people in the organization the wrong way. Additionally, the Tigers are the LEAST profitable team in Baseball and probably wouldn't mind shedding salary if they were getting good value in return.

With Garret Anderson, Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, and Greg Norton becoming free agents plus the difference between Hudson's contract last year and this year we have some money to spend. Cabrera will make $19 million while Vazquez makes around $12 million. We definitely would be able to make up the $7 million difference in their salaries from contracts we have coming off the books. Even after this trade we would still have money to grab a closer. According to fangraphs Cabrera's value was actually around $24 million last season, so his contract seems less outlandish in context with his performance. Chipper Jones has maybe two seasons maximum (a generous estimate) left in him so we would be free of his contract in the near future.

Do we have what it takes to get Cabrera? Possibly. The Tigers would probably first ask for Jurrjens, Hanson, or Jason Heyward and get shot down by the Braves. They might hang up the phone right then and there, but would a Vazquez-Freedy Freeman-Julio Tehran-Jordan Schafer package get it done? Is that too much? Too little? Would we have to include Mike Minor ?I think we have the pieces to get him if we wanted, but it wouldn't come cheap. Cabrera is locked up through 2016, so it may be worth it to blow them away with a package if it ensured that we would have his bat in the lineup for the next seven years.

Potential Lineup:

Diaz
McClouth
Chipper
Cabrera
McCann
Escobar
Heyward
Prado

Potential Rotation:

Jurrjens
Hudson
Hanson
Lowe
Kawakami

Bullpen:

SU: Moylan
CL: Soriano/Gonzalez/Wagner/(potential free agent signing)

We have had success trading with the Tigers in the past... Assume for a second that this deal is possible. Would you do it? What would your package be?

Brian McCann Charity Softball Game; Andruw Jones wants his job back

2009-11-14T05:08:34Z

There's a reason why I call Brian McCann "Baby Jesus." Aside from the adorable chubby cheeks and the lovability towards our All-Star catcher, he's simply a phenomenal baseball player. Without question the most talented catcher in the National League, and arguably one of the best in all of baseball. But aside from his incredible skills and talents on the field, we should all know and respect that Brian McCann is a human being with a heart of gold and a person of great charity.

No, I'm not talking about the time McCann gave one of his spare 60" plasma televisions to Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen, but much, much better.

Brian McCann, along with his wife Ashley are spokespersons for the Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research, which is a non-profit organization for, you guessed it, childhood cancer research. And in order to raise money, Heap put together a good ol' fashioned "celebrity" softball exhibition game for his charity.

Now the reason I put celebrity in quotations just a moment ago is because after the experience, there really weren't many celebrities present. Some people don't even count professional athletes as celebrities. It was kind of a stretch, overall, but present were a handful of professional baseball players, a few retired Atlanta sports figures, Kip Pardue (from one of my all-time favorite movies, Rules of Attraction), but then the rest of the people there were pretty much all Atlanta radio deejays and other Clear Channel employees, a whole lot of Delta employees, and a handful of folks from some brewery or something. Not really "celebrity," but it was for a good cause, but I thought I'd point that out, because I'm a snarky internet basement blogger, here.

Regretfully, I had a pretty lousy day at my job, and I guess looking back on it, it might've had something to do with the fact that it was Friday the 13th, and I'll admit that the drain on my day did effect my mood going into this shindig, so if I sound especially cynical tonight, I dismissively apologize in advance, because I won't want to write this later, because I'm still wrapped up in trying to crank out 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month.

As expected, the two biggest draws of the event was the presence of event organizer, Brian McCann himself, as well as teammate, all-star third baseman, Chipper Jones, rocking the awesome hunter-orange knit cap, and the extra-urban sweat pants. But there would be some surprise appearances from several other players that went unmentioned:

Such as Kelly Johnson, who looks like he's doing his best impression of Dita, the character Mike Myers portrayed on Saturday Night Live's "Sprockets" skits

And of course, you can't have a charitable event that warms your heart without Mr. Charity himself, Tim Hudson

But the biggest surprise was the appearance of former Brave, Andruw Jones. Since I'm one of the few people that actually still listens to 99x, I found out that Andruw was going to be at this thing the day prior, but it was still a surprise to actually see him again. I wonder if he still has his home in Alpharetta with his collection of European supercars that are all silver, still?

Here are a bunch of children hanging over the dugout, acting way more poorly behaved than the two children pictured way above. I swear, it must be the weather or something, or the fact that it's a college campus that doesn't (legally) sell alcohol, but the sheer number of kids present at this event was borderline retardation. But 90% of the time, I know better than to blame the kids as much it should be the fault of the weak and spineless parents who let their brats go running around and making the atmosphere less than preferable for other people.

Anyway, one of the marquee events was that there was going to be a mini-home run derby with several player participants. First up was Kelly Johnson. It was funny, given all the constant debates here, and the 2B controversy experienced over the last season, the MC (who btw was that fat imbecile, Jeff Dauler of the Pujols-awful Bert Show) said "starting second baseman," and my first thought was "whoa, Martin Prado is here too?"

Kelly launched either three homers or one and then the money ball, and finished with a score of 3.

Here's Andruw taking his cuts, and he proved that he could at least hit some slow-pitched softballs a good distance. I was hoping for, more than anything, to see a mighty Andruw-whiff, and see him screw his left leg into the fake turf pad. It's nothing personal, I still like Andruw as a guy, but I was always amused whenever he struck out so dramatically. He finished with a score of 6.

Huddy taking some cuts. I can't remember if he hit only one homer (to the power alley), or if he managed to hit the moneyball as well. I can't quite recall.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, but the biggest surprise for me was that our minor-league hulk, Cody Johnson also appeared at this event. Now fans like us all know who he is, and are not the least bit surprised when he was smashing some absolute moon shots out of Georgia Tech's Chandler Stadium, but if people present didn't know who he was previously, they've all got a new name to pretend like they're savvy about baseball with their co-workers now.

Seriously, here's a grainy shot of the outfielders all running to the wall and going "o shit" as the ball futility soared out of the park, and probably into the frat houses' yards across the street on the other side of the wall. Maybe even smashed some windshields of any idiots who actually thought it was a good idea to park there. In the end, CoJo finished with a 6 as well, tying Andruw.

They went to a three-swing tie breaker, and Cody was unable to hit one more, while Andruw pulled the first pitch he saw, and the former Brave won the home run derby.

As for the game itself, I took some photos, but most of them came out looking like crap, so I won't bother posting them, but here are a couple of shots to share:

This is Mrs. Chipper. It's like you see her, and notice that she's carrying a hunting bag, and everything makes sense.

Huddy came up to bat only once, and he laced a single off of Brian McCann, who was pitching for his team. He had the biggest grin on his face after safely reaching first. It looked like he would've attempted to steal, but Kelly Johnson came up and homered him in shortly afterward instead.

And there were a lot of homers. At least by anyone who plays baseball. Kelly homered, McCann homered, Cody homered, and Andruw homered . . . twice. The only ones who didn't homer were Chipper and Huddy, and for the matter, each only batted once. Chipper must've injured himself or something, and Huddy saw no point as soon as it was someone else pitching.

The brunette is Mrs. Heap, and what looked like a case of sharing some first-base coaching duties turned out to be a girls' club ploy, as the two of them chatted up whomever was playing first base at the time, and the next thing they know, radio personality Jenn Hobby is marching down to first base with nobody covering it.

And this is Jenn Hobby. She might also be on the dreaded Bert Show, but she's still a cute little thing that I certainly don't mind looking at.

But yeah, the game. This crappy shot is still probably my favorite one, because it's something that nobody will probably ever see in the history of human kind ever again. Pitching, Kip Pardue. At that very moment, playing first base, Cody Johnson. I promise you, none of you will ever see such a tandem ever again. Ever. Again.

lol Willie Harris.

And a surprise pinch-hit appearance by Ron Gant. It was a crucial at-bat too, with runners on, with Mr. Muscles to break the game open, but instead, Gant pops out in this blur, to third, to end the inning. His team (McCann's), ends up breaking the game open later on instead.

Seriously, it was a little lopsided. The red team had Chipper and Huddy who both took one at-bat each, but Heap's team (blue) had him, Kelly, Cody, Andruw, and Kip Pardue, and each were getting multiple at-bats.

Okay, this is something I have to get off of my chest. And I'm sorry, in the apologetic way that I don't really mean it, if the guy pictured here is a member here, but you're about to be made into an example.

Now I like stats, sports trivia, and I can be a veritable wealth of pointless and useless sports information. I know Andruw always wanted to play shortstop, I know that Chipper came up as a shortstop, and I know that Huddy played in the outfield at Auburn. I also know that Heap played second base when he was really young, and that Kevin Nash played basketball at Michigan State before turning to professional wrestling, Sam Bowie was the guy drafted before Jordan, and that Allen Iverson was the first scrambling quarterback to come out of Newport News before the Vick brothers.

But as Pujols as my witness, I do not like, or ever like, when people like Napoleon Dynamite here feel the need to interject themselves into my whimsical conversations at the ballpark to tell me shit I already know. The smartest-guy-in-the-room routine works great on the internet, but not so much in the real world.

To add on to this little rant, I really do appreciate stats, analysis, and the great educational debates that are had here, or any discussion forum on the internet. I've learned more about baseball stats and analysis than I'd ever though I'd care about throughout the last few years, and it's great. But while at the ballpark, it's stuff I just don't really care to hear about. Something about being present in person that strips the game down to something that can be enjoyed at such a base level, instead of through a wealth of numbers.

I had a guy tell me about how Joe Mauer was on the verge of winning the "sabermetric triple crown," which in short, is the fact that in 2009, Joe Mauer's "slash" stats (avg/obp/slg) were higher in all three categories than anyone else in baseball. I looked at him for a few seconds, and then turned back around to watch baseball. And then in between innings, when he wasn't looking, I sent a text message to a friend to tell them how lame it was to drop advanced statistical discussion with a complete stranger, regardless of if they could follow it or not. There's just something about talking about sabermetrics and advanced stats, that just isn't my cup of tea, in person. On the internet, it's fine, because here, we're all nerds, so it's okay to nerd it all up here. But not so much outside the basement, because you just kind of end up looking . . . well, nerdy.

/end rant

Anyway, why did I entitle this "Andruw Jones wants his job back?" Because he was playing like Frank Wren was in attendance, or that he was auditioning for a job or something.

He went and won the home run derby.
In Chipper's only at-bat, Chipper popped it up to left field, and since it's co-ed slow-pitch softball, there's usually a weaker fielder in the corners, but Chipper being Chipper, the cerebral thinking-man's hitter, goes for the weak spot, but didn't account for Andruw Jones to do his best impression of Jose Reyes, and run all the way into the left field from almost second base, and cleanly record the put-out.
Andruw homered twice

Not impressed? Well, they happened to be from both sides of the plate. Apparently, Andruw thought maybe some switch-hitting could get him back in favor.

Anyway, because Andruw Jones stole the show, Heap's team won something like 11-7. The event overall was a little mediocre, but it was cool to hang out with Lizziebeth and 10-4 for a little bit. Obviously, since gondeee didn't make any effort to rally the troops, nobody really knew anyone, but I did bump into Lauren T. on the way out.

Too many kids, not enough celebrity, no booze, overall ehh.

And speaking of gondeee, I got home, where I had left my cell phone, and this is a text message I received:

"I'm bailing on the game, I need to get drunk instead."

lol'd. At least he can still feel good knowing that his $10 admission went to a good cause, as did all of us who attended, and that's why we did it. We love Brian McCann, and want to support his good cause.

Arizona Fall League Pics

2009-11-14T04:27:05Z

This is my first Arizona fal League expirence, although I live in Arizona. I was disappointed of course, because Jason Heyward is out, and also because Freeman was not playing this game as well. But I did get some pictures of Freddi, as well as Lyman, Hyde and Hicks, the only Braves to appear in this particular game. Enjoy!!

via farm3.static.flickr.com

We're Not Signing An Outfielder

2009-11-13T01:12:24Z

This is my first fanpost so be gentle.

I'm excited as the next guy about the off-season, but I really don't think we are gonna be major players for an outfielder. In fact, I wouldn't be totally surprised if we don't sign one at all. I'll be the first one to say that I wish we could get a bonafide cleanup hitter, but that isn't happening. I don't know that I'd even classify Holliday or Bay as such and look at the kind of money they'll bring in. I think we'll re-sign LaRoche and that's about it.

I just don't see how it makes sense to put much money into the outfield with Heyward right around the corner. I think the opening day outfield will be McLouth, Schafer, and Diaz. AAA would probably do Schafer some good, but his best chance to get playing time will be before Heyward comes up because it is gonna be hard to work two rookies into your outfield rotation at once.

I could see us taking picking up a 4th outfielder type that could hold down the fort for a few months, but even that seems like a waste of money when you could have a guy like Schafer or Brandon Jones (still better than GA) for a few months.

With this strategy, you will likely see our offense struggle out of the gates, but by July we would have Heyward and a true cleanup hitter (2nd half Laroche is a cleanup hitter you just don't get him for the whole season). This would put us in a position to make a run like this year.

Misc 2007-2009 Spring Pictures

2009-11-12T15:08:48Z

via farm4.static.flickr.com

The only one you may not recognize is Brandon Hicks.

Your first memory of the Atlanta Braves

2009-11-12T06:12:33Z

I'm sure everyone here has heard it before: "Where where you when JFK was assassinated?" or "Where were you when 9/11 happened?" well, "What is your first memory of the Atlanta Braves?" I was sitting there in class the other day, bored out of my mind as usual, and I was thinking of my very first memories of the Atlanta Braves. For me, there's always one that sticks out in my mind. It's just one of those things I'll never forget.

Growing up in Missouri, baseball was everything. You were either a fan of the Cardinals or the ~~Royals~~ Cardinals. For me, however, I was an odd kid. I thought it was stupid to root for a team with a red bird as the mascot. That, and everyone I knew was a Cardinals fan. I guess I just wanted to be different. My very major league baseball game was at Busch Stadium with my dad. The Cards were playing the Braves. As we hiked up to the very top of the nosebleeds, I remember looking back at the scoreboard and seeing the name "Smoltz". Being 6 or 7, I had absolutely no idea what this weird word was. Z's were never used in words! Surely, this had to be a misprint. It just happens (as my dad tells me) that Smoltzy went on to strike out 11 Cardinals in a Braves win. From that day on, I was a Braves fan. On my way out of the stadium, I remember seeing a vender on the street selling a Braves cap. My dad bought it for me, and the bond with the Atlanta Braves had officially begun.

Wanna know what the best part of this story is? It just so happens that this year was 1996. I've never seen the Braves win a World Series championship. Like all of us, we've all seen the Braves have their peaks and valleys, but I always feel like I brought the Braves bad luck. I guess we'll just have to win the whole damn thing in 2010 so i don't feel so bad. :)

So, what is your first memory of the Atlanta Braves? Oh, and a happy Veterans Day to any of you who served our country. It's definately appreciated.

Best Trade Partners

2009-11-11T19:12:20Z

Ok, I have avoided making a fanpost for quite some time now, but I had a thought today, and I want to hear what you guys think on the subject. First, I want to say that I don't want this to turn into a rosterbation thread, as I feel that those have no purpose. So, please refrain from saying stuff like "well, if we do this, and they accept, that will give us a lineup like this".

Now, on to my thought. Who do you guys think will make the best trade partners for the Braves? I see a few teams out there who could use some pieces that the Braves have, and I also see some pieces out there that the Braves could use.

I will name my top two possibilities. The first is the Rockies. They have two pieces in particular that Atlanta could use - Garret Atkins and Brad Hawpe. I am not sure, however that we have anything that they would be interested in. How well do you guys think the Rox and Braves match up?

The second team, and the one that I feel that we will end up making a deal with, is the Yankees. I read today that the Yanks are non-tendering Wang. I know that they just won a World Series, but gosh, if they plan on using that same starting rotation I think they may be in trouble. CC and AJ are ok as a 1-2, and Pettit MAY have another good year left in him, but after that, they are in trouble. Joba is not a legit starter - as long as the Joba Rules are in play, and Hughes has not shown that he is capable of staying in the rotation either. I think that New York may be the best hope in dumping Lowe's salary. However, I am not sure that the Yanks have anything to offer in return that would provide immediate help to Atlanta.

What do you all think?

AL Gold Gloves

2009-11-10T23:34:56Z

The AL gold gloves were announced today and as usual there is plenty of controversy.

C. Joe Mauer

1B. Mark Teixeira

2B. Placido Polanco

3B. Evan Longoria

SS. Derek Jeter

OF. Torii Hunter, Adam Jones, and Ichiro Suzuki

P. Mark Buehrle

Teixera, Longoria, and Buehrle deserved to win. Jeter, Suzuki, and Hunter won because of history. Mauer is a good catcher but I don't think he's the best. Polanco and Jones are both good defenders but others should have won it over them.

I don't know how many people actually take these things seriously anyway but we await the NL gold gloves anyway.

Former, Present, and the CF prospects that were Pictures

2009-11-10T19:33:07Z

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Gregor Blanco, Gorkys Hernandez, Mark Kotsay, Andruw Jones

For the Jamie Richmond Fans

2009-11-10T19:08:36Z

Personally and performance based this is one guy I wish they wouldn't have traded. Oakland made him repeat Low A after playing Rome already with the Braves. In his second year he moved to the pen. He finally got called up to High A where he struggle a little. His K's to BB are outrageous.

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The ones we gave away pictures

2009-11-10T14:30:09Z

Salty for money bags(Texieira)

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Elvis to Texas for money bags(Texieira)

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Jamie Richmond to Oakland for Kotsay.

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Joey Devine to Oak for Kotsay.

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Is 6 enough??

2009-11-10T03:58:00Z

We have all been reading about the Braves surplus of pitching...we are all either advocating or reading about the Braves trading from this surplus to acquire a RH bat to play LF or RF. Yes-it would be nice to have a stud #4 hitter in RF....but ask yourself. Do we really have a surplus of starting pitching?

Lowe is not young, and while he has been the bastion of health for a number of years, would it be surprising if he broke down next year? No-He has ALOT of innings on that body.

Hudson is one year removed from Tommy John and isn't a spring chicken either. Would we be surprised if he had one..or two stints on the DL next year?

Vazquez has also been very healthy and strong-but he isn't exactly young either. He has also pitched A LOT of innings over the years.

KK-Seems ok

Hanson-No injury history but you also have to respect his workload next year.

All that being said....do we really have "surplus." I think the Red Sox proved that a planned "surplus" can end up being a deficit real fast. That being said...if we made a trade and moved one of our starters-who would be the emergency #5 guy? Medlen would have been the obvious choice but if he is going to be prepared to pitch all year in the pen we can't have him going back and forth. He needs to really work as a bullpen guy.

So if we trade one of our starters...we almost have to go sign (or have someone included in the trade) that could step in and be the long guy/#5 guy in the rotation when someone goes down.

Is trading a starter before spring training really a good idea then? So unless someone is willing to unload Lowe's contract for us-as is-do we really want to move someone?

Jeff Francoeur Pictures

2009-11-10T03:46:01Z

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John Smoltz Pictures

2009-11-10T03:16:00Z

Hopefully most of you don't hate his guts but he is a Braves legend. I have a ton of Francoeur pictures anyone interested? I hope you don't hate him.

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