I am with Fink I think the Braves are going to be dookey this year....a lot of what they did this offseason didn't make sense...
Well I feel dirty defending the braves but here goes nothing... C gattis = AJ Pierzynski/Christian Bethancourt. Obviously Gattis had more pop but the duo is probably a more complete group defensively and Bethancourt has good upside 1b stays the same with Freeman 2b. Tommy la Stella was a 0 war player according to baseball reference. How can even a journeyman like Alberto Callaspo be worse? Answer: he won't be. Ss Simmons gonna Simmons. Decent bat, insane glove. 3B Chris Johnson (same as last year) OF obviously they take a decent hit here having traded both Upton and Heyward (neither of whom really became consistent there as both had real hot and cold streaks). However I think Joey Terdoslavich can at least replace some of the power lost and Nick Markakis adds a high OBP bat to the lineup even though he doesn't hit for the same power these days. It's a downgrade but I'm not sure it's as severe as people make it out to be. Terdoslavich has hit for power at every level. Plus his nickname is Terd (or Turd) Pitching staff: last year: Ervin Santana Alex wood Julio Teheran Aaron Harrang-a-tang and mike minor vs this year Teheran Wood Minor Miller and either Manny Banuelos or Mike Foltynewicz with the loser going to the bullpen giving them another power arm. They brought in some bigtime prospects and former prospects. Last years rotation was solid but offered little upside from vets like Harrang and Santana. Minor and Teheran made big improvements while Wood showed he belonged while battling some injuries. This year Wood and Miller may make the jumps that Minor and Teheran made last year. I think this years rotation offers more upside and more downside but it's the braves and they've proven they deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to whether or not they can develop big league talent better then most other organizations. I can understand the skepticism, I just don't see them being as bad as the media and some fans are saying. People have been predicting their demise for two decades already and it hasn't really happened. I wouldn't be surprised if they won 90 games. They're the braves and they've become one of the really consistent well run organizations the last 25 years
The only thing they did that didn't make sense was signing Markakis to that contract. Everything else I thought they did was fine. They realized that they probably weren't going to be good this year so instead of going through the motions they traded players who only had 1 year left on their contracts that they didn't think they could resign (Heyward, Upton) or traded guys that they were selling high on (Gettis, Carpenter) for players/prospects that have a shot to be part of the Braves future moving forward. I really think the Braves should also look to trade Kimbrel too. And yeah I'd be very surprised if the Braves are any good this year, relooking at that projected line up of: Pierzynski at catcher, an infield of Freeman, Callaspo, Simmons and Johnson and an OF of Gomes, BJ Upton and Markakis is just yuck.
Ok I'll bite too. Catcher: Downgrade. I'm no Gettis fan, I think he was overrated but I saw plenty of Pierzynski last year to know he's not a very good player anymore at hitting or defense. I sure as hell hope Betancourt has upside considering he's a career .270/.300/.379/.679 hitter in the minors, he's a hell of a defender though. 1B: Wash. 2B: Wash most likely. You ask how Callaspo could be worse than a 0.0 WAR player? How about Callaspo being a -1.0 player last year. SS: Wash. 3B: Wash, not that that's a good thing. But hey good for Chris Johnson getting that contract extension after a career year at age 28. OF: Major downgrade. You're replacing Heyward and Justin Upton with a platoon of Jonny Gomes/LHH and Nick Markakis? Especially considering Markakis is going to be coming off of neck surgery, so who knows how it will effect him. He's also a bit overrated, and hasn't had a high OBP since 2010. SP: Probably a slight upgrade only because I like Miller's potential and don't think Minor will be as bad as he was last year. Teheran is a stud no doubt. But you shouldn't knock Harang or Santana, both gave them 33 and 31 starts and 204.1 innings and 196 innings. So they both had value even if they weren't sexy name players. It's going to be hard to replace those innings from them. Don't think guys like Wandy Rodriguez will be able to help like Harang/Santana did. Like Mike Foltynewciz though, but he's probably on an innings limit. Doubt Manny Banuelos will have any impact this year after throwing just 76 innings last year after missing the 2013 season and most of the 2012 season. RP: Who knows, outside of Kimbrel, pens are tough to predict. Even with the roster they had last year they were 79 and 83 with a -24 run differential. They didn't really upgrade their roster or add any major player(s) while teams in their own division except for the Phillies and possibly the Mets (if you want to count Cuddyer as an upgrade or say Harvey coming back to hopefully full health is) did. I just don't see this being a good team, they just don't have a good roster. And just because they have been a well run organization for 25 years doesn't mean they can't have a down year or have a bad rostered team. They're in a rebuilding year.
Leading the list of Yankee spring training invites, right fielder Aaron Judge, pitcher Luis Severino and first baseman Greg Bird are widely grouped with the club's top five prospects. Also, Dante bichette, Jr, Andrew Bailey reliever Jacob Lindgren, who blitzed through the Yankees minors from rookie ball to Double-A, will also be there, as will infielder Robert Refsnyder. http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2015/02/yankees_spring_training_aaron_judge_luis_severino.html I find it particularly damming that cito culver is again left off. What a terrible draft pick.
1900 career IP 3.72 ERA/3.77 FIP 31.6 WAR (worth 3.7 wins last year) No one is calling him Greg Maddux. He's a good #2.
Obviously putting money/contract stuff aside, you don't think Shields will be able to put up similar numbers in the NL? I agree though, it's not about what you've done but what you're going to do.
I think regardless of which league he's in he's at the point in his career where pitchers normally enter a regression pattern
That's a 4 week injury depending on the type of tear. Seen people back in 2 weeks seen people go as long as 6 weeks. He wasn't going to play much during spring training anyway.
I think he probably has 2 or 3 good years left, especially if he goes t the NL, but of course predicting pitchers is unpredictable.
This should endure him to the Boston media...... http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-b...ll-marshawn-lynch--this-season-231638605.html Something tells me that wouldnt fly in Beantown like it does with Seattle....
Does the Boston media cover the PawSox? I'm actually surprised he's still in the organization but like Middlebrooks its probably only a matter of time before he gets shipped out and it's probably in his best interest to go as I can't see him having any future in Boston other than as a 4th OF (perhaps that's his future anyway).
ahahahahahahahahhahahahah Speaking of which the PawSox might move out of RI.....man I hope that isnt the case...
What? Last I heard the Sox ownership was trying to buy the franchise. I'd be shocked if they moved. Perfect location in regards of closeness to Fenway, right in Sox fan base. Been there for what over 30 years?
Nothing set in stone but the new Gov here after she got sworn in the first thing she did was take a meeting with the PawSox/Red Sox/ and the City of Pawtucket......hopefully they stay....
Uh. Oh. Call me crazy if the odds are good, like 15/20-1 I would take a shot with them winning the NLW
I feel like that could be a trap though. I'm glad SD is trying and are being aggressive this winter but I don't know, still think the Dodgers are much better.
Heyman (take it FWIW) thinks they have the 4th best rotation.....if that turns out to be true, you can do a lot with that...
What's their rotation? Shields, Kennedy, Cashner (for half the year if that), Tyson Ross and Josh Johnson (for half the year if that)? I mean it's a nice rotation but tons of injury risk there. I guess you could make an argument on paper it's the 4th best but I probably wouldn't rank it that high.
What's the realistic expectations of Alex Rodriguez this season? He is saying he's going after Barry's record. Anyone think he can actually get 30 homeruns this season? He would need 37 per season the next 3 seasons to do it. But I'm not even sure he gets 24... But who knows, maybe a season off has done some good for his health/body.
If he's healthy and can play 130 games or so I can't see why he couldn't hit at least 20, but then again he's 37 coming off of a missed year and has two bum hips so who really knows.
37? HAHAHAHAHAH he is turning 40 this July...... He doesnt hit more than 15 home runs this year....maybeeeeeeeeeeeeee if he full time DH's he hits 20 at 130 games...
They are pretty deep at SP, Johnson might not even make it.....go look at the stats last year, they had a couple of kids come up whom if they do what they did last year (which is def possible) yeah they have one hell of a rotation....it is becuase if Shields too....Shields put them over the top...I think Morrow in in the mix now too...
Yeah actually I was thinking about this post this morning when reading an article about Arod. I think I'm way off here. 15 probably sounds about right.
This article is a bit interesting: http://www.northjersey.com/sports/klapisch-girardi-stuck-in-middle-of-a-rod-mess-1.1270595 Apparently Girardi wanted to move Jeter out of the 2 hole last year but both ownership overruled him and Jeter made it known he wanted to stay in that spot in the order. I bet you're not going to read too many stories about that's not how a captain or a team player should do that. Imagine if it was Arod though?
People keep blaming Jeter for their failure last year, but moreover what about A-Rod, Tex, McCann, Beltran, and to a certain extent Ellsbury......Soriano granted was old but coming off what he did the year before to only get 6 home runs, 22 rbi's? Basic numbers but you get the point.... Bottom line is Jeter isn't stupid he knew they weren't making the playoffs and given after how that saga of his last contract played out so openly, I don't blame him for not budging...at some point there comes a time where you have to let your iconic players have their way.....
We shall miss him and his golden thong.... [QUOTEMark Feinsand @FeinsandNYDN 4m4 minutes ago Jason Giambi tells the Daily News he's retiring from baseball. His statement in his own words: http://nydn.us/1Di1KKw (Full story to follow)][/QUOTE]
Of course it isn't all Jeter's fault for the team's failure last year however I do think because he's Jeter he gets away with a lot of things other players wouldn't, whether it's on the field treatment or treatment by the media. Again if you replace Jeter's name with Arod or another Yankee player, the media and fans would be going nuts over that with the way he was producing that year.
Good morning! It's baseball season! This is a pretty lengthy, but great article on Alex Rodriguez http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12321274/alex-rodriguez-return-new-york-yankees
I agree but he earned it however, guy has been a classic act with everybody....are there always going to be politics within the team? Sure...
Jesus montero came into camp looking slim! Still hate the guy and wish he would go away. Hope he makes me eat my words. I say I don't want this cheater on the team but now we have Cruz so I'm a hypocrite [emoji20]