BRAVES NEWS
Add Cubs to the list of teams who have inquired about Shelby Miller
Shelby Miller's name has popped up in trade rumors a lot more often as of late. He's been linked to the Giants (and our friends over at McCovey Chronicles think that the Braves and Giants would be good trade partners, particularly for a deal involving Joe Panik and/or Matt Duffy), and now the Cubs are reportedly kicking the tires about possibly dealing for the Braves' 25-year old right hander. This could be the Braves' chance to actually get some position players back in a trade, so a potential trade of Miller (or Julio Teheran) should definitely be considered here.
Is Liberty Media getting ready to sell the Braves?
Meanwhile, there are rumors that the Braves' current owners could be preparing themselves to for a potential sale of the team. Apparently, there's an internet mogul with "strong ties to Cobb County" who could be in line to take the Braves off of Liberty Media's hands. Of course, it's extremely early and a sale could take a long time to go through, but speculation is fun and it's even more fun when we're talking about an ownership conglomerate that isn't exactly the most popular group of people in Braves Country.
Bourn looks set to be starting CF in 2016
After the Braves pulled off what seemed like an inevitable trade of Cameron Maybin (even if it was a bit too late for them to get anything of significant value in return), that has opened up the starting CF job. While Mallex Smith is hopefully the long-term solution to the CF position, Michael Bourn will probably be the starter in 2016 (assuming he himself isn't moved by then).
Mallex Smith will probably not start the season in center-field for the Braves, as he will probably require more seasoning at AAA Gwinnett. With Michael Bourn roaming the outfield, the Atlanta Braves become a better defensive team, and once Mallex Smith is ready to enter the show, will have a job mentoring the young outfielder.
Though Bourn has not yet gotten traded because of his contract, he may become expendable at some point during 2016 if he plays well and rookie Mallex Smith is ready to start. The Braves may want to sell high on the again outfielder, and give Mallex Smith a chance to spread his wings.
Fangraphs gives unique perspective on Braves prospect rankings
We've all gotten our fair share of Braves prospect rankings so far in 2015. Considering the state of the major league team, clinging on to the prospects of the future is about all we have left as far as hope goes. With that being said, most of the lists have been pretty similar when it comes to actually ranking the prospects. So, leave it to Fangraphs to see what everybody else is doing and say "Yeah, let's look at this from a completely different perspective." Case in point: Fangraphs has Ozhaino Albies as the Braves' #1 prospect, so you can imagine how the rest of this list is going to be.
Arizona Fall League ends
Speaking of prospects, the Arizona Fall League has come to a close. For the handful of Braves who went down to Arizona for fall ball, it appears that Lucas Sims was clearly the one who had the best time there. Mauricio Cabrera also emerged as a pitcher to keep an eye on, what with him topping 100-mph on the radar gun on a regular basis. Meanwhile, there are still plenty of Braves participating in winter ball (with Hector Olivera being the biggest name, by far), so if you want to see how they're doing then it's highly recommended that you give the above link a click.
MLB NEWS
Dodgers hire Dave Roberts as manager
The Los Angeles Dodgers have identified their new manager, and it's the 44-year old former outfielder Dave Roberts. It's a bit of a history-making move for the Dodgers, since Roberts will be the first minority manager in the club's long and storied history.
Roberts, whose father is African-American and whose mother is Japanese, will be the Dodgers first minority manager in club history.
Roberts has technically more managing experience at the time of the hire than Don Mattingly did when he was hired in 2011, though not by much. Roberts managed all of one game in 2015 as interim manager of the Padres, taking over the day Bud Black was fired in San Diego. Pat Murphy took over as interim manager the next game and managed the rest of the season, with Roberts returning to his role as bench coach.
Roberts was with the Padres for six seasons, starting as a special assistant in baseball operations in 2010, then was first base coach in San Diego for three seasons, then moved into the dugout as bench coach for 2014-15.