*Official 2009 Atlanta Braves Thread*

The Braves just scored three off of Nolasco with a McCann homer in the first. Great way to start things off. Lowe has not been good against florida and this run support sure won't hurt anything in a very important rubber game. Guess it's not unreasonable to expect more than two against Nolasco after all.

 

Huge win today to move ahead of Florida with a weak San Diego team heading to town. McCann had a big game, they left a lot of runners on base but did what they had to do. The bullpen had an outstanding day pitching four innings. Florida barely even threatened while they were out there.

 

Nice win Braves.

 

Any news out there on Hudson's rehab start in Gwinett yesterday? They were saying during the Braves broadcast a day or two ago that he was facing Jake Peavy. What a treat for those minor league fans.

 

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/...t_id=6583226&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

sounds like he was pleased, threw 89 pitches in 6 innings, gave up three runs (all in the second) on 6 hits, with 5 ks and 1 walk.

 

good news about timmy, Im still wondering what they do if he comes back........

 

well, the Braves are screwing the pooch against SD... leading up to this series, every time i heard Joe and Boog reminding us how bad SD is, i thought to myself that they were jinxing us.

 

The Phillies did the same thing against the Mighty Pirates......Hamels and Happ both threw great games and lost. Ohhhh well....just 37 games left in the regular season.

 

Pedro's going down tonight. I'll be interested to see how Hanson attacks this Philly lineup.

 

Rainouts and delays are so annoying. I think Philly already has two doubleheaders they have to play due to rainouts. Moyer/Martinez have combined on their last two rain delays for wins. Cliff Lee tomorrow versus Lowe.

 

Matt Diaz can not be stopped. Not by Cliff Lee, not by anyone. This is by far the hottest he has been in his career. Nobody can get him out right now.

 

After beating Johnson, we have an excellent chance for a sweep and 3 of 4 at worst. It'll be interesting to see how Hudson fares tonight.

 

I agree, this is good news because I'm not sure how many more series they can afford to drop and have a realistic shot at the wild card spot. They're only three back now so with a good month who knows.

 

Especially when you consider we have the Reds, Astros, Mets and Nats coming up. We do have a tough series against the Cardinals (possibly against Smoltz) and another series with the Phils, at home.

I think our schedule is pretty favorable this month TBH.

 

A three game series against San Diego was also favorable, they can't afford to blow anymore like that one. It's way too close to the end. A Marlins sweep would have me feeling pretty optimistic. I wonder how much I can get some good seats for the NLDS at Turner Field for?

 

The Pads were a hot team. They proceeded to take 2 of 3 from the Marlins after beating us. Tough luck.

 

Excuses won't get our Braves into the postseason. And neither will blowing a chance to win a four game series vs. the Marlins. I think they have a lot to build on for next season though. Add a little power and speed and I think we'll see them playing ball in October 2010. I guess anything can happen this last month but they haven't left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling the past week or so.

 

Nice winning streak, though too little too late. At least it's something good to build on maybe. I hope they're thinking of how to add some power and speed to the lineup for next year.

 

It's too bad the bullpen has blown a number of Tommy Hanson's starts. He could easily have 15 wins and would be a lock for ROY. He's simply unhittable at times. His curveball is absolutely devastating. Looks we have a future 20 game winner and possible CY candidate for years to come.

 

Looks like it is down to the Rockies and possibly San Fran in the wild card spot.

Go Rockies.

 

OR, we could sweep you guys like we did St. Louis and the Mets and take the Wild Card.

 

They are keeping things interesting. Only nine games left but they're only three and a half back of the wildcard I believe.

 

yup we have washington and marlins next in their house i believe. won't be easy.

 

Talked to Jennifer LaRoche again today and told her I selfishly wanted the Braves to make the playoffs (this was after she said they couldn't wait to go home to Kansas).

Anything is possible. 3.5 with 9 to go will be tough, but it's not impossible.

 

Certainly not. I took a look at Atlanta's last ten and Colorado's last ten this morning and discovered that over that span Atlanta has been four games better. So who knows? I'd love to see a little playoff baseball in Atlanta next month with the Fins disappointing me so far.

 

damn i dont think theyll be able to do it this year. but its going to be close. 3.5 games back on the rockies. rockies have st louis, then a day off then the brewers in their house then la in la's house. its possible but I dont see it happening. Nice to be in it still though.

 

Much tougher than Atlanta's remaining schedule. We'll keep our fingers crossed I guess.

 

you think so? we have the marlins who are still in it then washington in our house. I guess its a bit easier. brewers arent in the wildcard this year though. Dodgers are the big one for them, but I don't know I don't think their schedule is that much tougher. Hope they prove me wrong though.

 

The Nationals are not a good team. The Brewers are much better. The only potential problem with the Dodgers is that they've clinched already. But they are certainly better than the Marlins, though the Marlins of course are pretty good.

Don't look now, only two and a half back.

 

Well it's over. Even if they would have won every game I don't think Colorado would have slowed down enough. I hope Frank Wren knows that nothing short of playoffs next season will be good enough after almost winning 90 this season.

 

The Braves have signed Tim Hudson to a three year deal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4647417

Now all six starters are set to return next season. I'm sure probably Vazquez will be traded now.

 

word is they would prefer to get rid of lowe. either way we still have to sign gonzo, soriano and whats his face the first baseman i keep wanting to say escalante but thats not right lol

 

Bowman says they def want to trade Lowe before Vazquez. ans Vazquez has made it known he wants to stay and signing him to an extension would be doable. but Lowe's salary makes him realistic to only a few clubs. so basicly if the Yankees sign Lackey, thats a no go... etc.

 

looks like Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan are being traded to the Yankees for Melky Cabrera, lefty reliever Mike Dunn, plus cash rumored to be around $500k.

don't know how long Melky's remainging contract is for. but the MLB article says the Braves will clear up $9 million dollars and want to put it toward an outfield bat.

with this trade though, if they sign another OF, then they have will have a glut of outfielders with Melky, McClouth, Diaz, and possibly Schaffer and Heyward getting looks this spring. maybe Schafer is trade bait at this point?

wonder who the Braves will target. they need a first baseman as well, though i have read there is mutual interested with Xavier Nady. and also, i have read that Chipper would move to 1st if they sign Mark Derosa to return to Atlanta, who would play third and can also play outfield, like Nady.

the Yankees are also interested in Derosa though, and Atlanta won't outbit them. Derosa wants 6 mill a year, and the Braves are thinking 4-5.

 

I hate that trade. Melky Cabrera is a waste IMO. If they do acquire a nice outfield bat with the money they saved I'll be happy, but dammit I don't like the deal. If you're going to trade Vaz, you want to get the bat IN that deal.

 

Well, at least we got Vizcaino in the deal. This kid could end up being a future stud in our bullpen. Still hate this trade though.

If Wren doesn't flip Melky, I'll be pissed we gave up arguably the 2nd best pitcher in the NL last year.

 

yeah, i wanted them to dump Lowe and keep Javy, but the market wasn't there apparently. the Angels were offering up pretty much nothing in trade value, at least nothing in the way of MLB ready talent, and obviously the Yankees weren't interested in him, so that didn't really leave many other potential suitors willing (or financially able) to take on his salary.

and to compound the problem, other teams know it is a buyer's market with the Braves because of the financial restraints they operate under and the contracts Lowe, Kawakami, and to a lesser degree Vazquez signed last year.

i would've loved to see them trade Lowe, and sign an extension with Vazquez, who openly stated he wanted to remain in Atlanta. i am not a huge fan of Melky, but he can play all three outfield spots and is a switch hitter.

and apparently both the minor leaguers the Braves got are thought to have alot of potential.

 

Here are some random thoughts that may make you feel generally fine about it:

• The regression: Vazquez probably just put up his career year. He's going to backslide a bit, and I think that even if the Yankees didn't give up too much for him, they did buy high and will find that Vazquez is a good, but not great pitcher for them in 2010 - plus remember the horror of 2004 (and the Launching pad of New Yankee Stadium);
• The comeback: By the same token, I don't think Derek Lowe is done, and I could totally picture him having a bounceback season. Sure, it may be a bit awkward for a week or two with all of that "sorry we were shopping you" and "sorry I was complaining about being shopped" talk, but they'll get past it. Upshot: the Braves still have a very strong rotation for 2010.
• The alternatives: The Braves could have done way, way worse to fill their outfield hole than Melky. Remember Garret Anderson last year? Remember the zombie incarnation of Brian Jordan in 2005-06? At least Cabrera has functioning legs. And having him may allow Cox to slide Nate McLouth over to a corner, giving the Braves some decent outfield defense for the first time in a while.
• The platoon: And maybe you don't just hand Melky a job. Matt Diaz is still around. Diaz destroys lefties. Melky, a switch hitter, is better against righties in his career (though not profoundly so, and not last year). Keep everyone fresh, let Diaz do what he does best. I could talk myself into this.
• The money: the Braves just saved $10 million for 2010, which they could use to give to Adam LaRoche or some other option at first base. Or to make some other sort of deal. Maybe they trade for Uggla now. That's certainly not my preference, but the point is that they now have flexibility to add some offense.
• The prospect: Arodys Vizcaino is supposed to be pretty good. He struck out 52 in 42 innings in the New York-Penn League this year with a 2.13 ERA as an 18 year-old. People are tweeting highly of him this morning, most notably Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner.
• The competition. The Braves aren't gunning for a division title against the Yankees. They're in it against the Phillies and the Marlins and the Mets and Nats (sorry -- I need a laugh this morning). Along those lines, Cameron tweets that the Braves got a better return for their ace than the Phillies did for Cliff Lee. I agree. I'll also note that Vazquez was not the Braves' ace. Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson have the best claim to that title going forward, and Tim Hudson may have something to say about it this year.

 

I'm hearing rumors about Melky being flipped in a possible Dan Uggla or even Derek Lee deal.

 

Melky to the Marlins doesn't make much sense as again he'd probably be their 4th OFer and I doubt they'd be looking to pay him, or any 4th OFer, 3 million plus.

I also can't see the Cubs trading Lee for Melky unless there were a lot of moving parts in the deal with the Braves possibly taking Fukudome or another player making money and the Braves shipping a few prospects the Cubs way.