Commentary on Schuerholz Interview - Part I

I was going to wait until the end of the three part interview to provide my own comments and observations, but seeing that others around the net are already way ahead of me, I decided to post a few thoughts of my own.

First of all, let me explain my relationship with the Braves, and other organizations for that matter, and why I have been fortunate enough to be granted high profile interviews over the last few years.

A few years ago I started Baseball Digest Daily, a baseball news and information web site that covered all aspects of professional baseball. Through a lot of hard work and persistence, we managed to arrange interviews with many minor league players and high profile personalities (such as Bill James) across the nation. From there, we became a credentialed affiliate of Major League Baseball, who apparently were impressed by our volumes of content. We jumped at every opportunity and capitalized on our newly accredited status.

In May of 2005, we arranged an interview with Braves phenom, Jeff Francoeur. The interview with Francoeur went so well that we approached Jeff about writing a weekly diary for the web site. Jeff agreed to do the diary, and he posted 6 updates over the next few weeks before his callup to Atlanta.

Our relationship with Jeff Francoeur afforded us the opportunity to get to know many members of the Atlanta Braves staff...who I might add, treated us wonderfully. We expressed great appreciation and began to build on our already strong relationship. To make a long story short, it is this relationship that has enabled us to remain in contact with the Braves and ultimately arrange interviews like the one we just posted with John Schuerholz.

Now on to some analysis...

Let me first address the Wilson Betamit situation. If I read John Schuerholz correctly, he truly is confident that the young infielder can make the transition to becoming an everyday player. However, he is not going to leave him out there to fail either. Any sign that Betamit is struggling will lead changes sooner than later.

As for Andy Marte, I've read between the lines like many others. I believe that the Braves will ultimately wind up moving Marte. However, I don't think they will rush to deal him. Schuerholz is very aware of Chipper's age and injuries the past few years, and unless the Braves are offered a deal they can't refuse, I expect to see Marte head to spring training with Atlanta. As for the talk about Pete Orr and others surpassing Marte on the depth chart, I think that's nonsense.