Show #209: Questions Remain for Braves in Left and Third
The BP hat. The crazy Bourn talk. A platoon at 3rd and Left? And the potential money at the trade deadline.
136 Responses to “Show #209: Questions Remain for Braves in Left and Third”
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Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 » Show All
January 9th, 2013 at 2:57 pm
I really do appreciate the work you all do. Trying to dedicate a podcast to Braves baseball is great. However the only one I can stand to listen to is Curtis. There just aren’t any solid opinions.
Ham still thinks Josh Hamilton is a free agent…? Also Bourn had a week to accept the Braves qualifying offer and he rejected it. Therefore if someone signs him, the team has to forfeit a draft pick. Come on guys pay attention a little bit. Not meaning you have to be the best “experts” but stay up to date please.
I’ll continue to listen because I love Braves baseball, but some of these embarrassing moments make me cringe when I hear them. It’s been numerous instances throughout last season and this offseason where this has happened.
Happy New Year. Go Braves!
January 9th, 2013 at 4:49 pm
Um…thanks?
January 9th, 2013 at 4:50 pm
So much for the fight for Dale Murphy and integrity regarding the HOF. He barely got much more love than he has the past few years. 18%. Shameful. Jeff Bagwell is a 59.6? Alan Trammell is a 33.6? Larry Walker is a more worthy HOF candidate than Dale Murphy? Are you joking?
January 9th, 2013 at 5:47 pm
MLB (other than the game on the field, for the most part) has become a complete joke. I think Murph’s greatness didn’t last long enough and his career numbers were below others.
I am just saying this to try to understand the voting, so Curtis, don’t defend his case to me. I get it. I think he should be in.
January 9th, 2013 at 6:03 pm
One man’s embarrassing moment is another man’s charming entertainment.
January 10th, 2013 at 9:05 am
I’m not going to argue whether or not Murphy belongs in the HOF. It’s borderline, and I accept that. I’m not even 100% certain he should be in there. I’m biased on this issue more than many others because he is my favorite all time player. But some of the names that are gathering more votes than him to get in. Larry Walker was a great player for a number of years. He was also helped by playing in CO, in the steroid era, in smaller ballparks across the league, with diluted pitching due to expansion. Jeff Bagwell got to play in Minute Maid, or whatever it is now, for a number of years. I’m not trying to take away from any of these guys and their skills. I just don’t see how Jeff Bagwell is considered 3 times the player Murphy is, according to that vote total. I will never buy that.
January 10th, 2013 at 9:10 am
Sorry. I had to add this. And I’m not trying to defend his case to anyone, despite this looking like exactly that. Like I said, I understand the arguments against him, etc. But this is pretty amazing stuff to be neglected. You think that MLB has effectively been around for 13 decades or so and for 1/13th of that time frame, he was one of the greatest players in the game.
Murphy compiled more total bases than anybody during the 1980s. Over that 10-year span, Mike Schmidt was the only player with more homers, and Eddie Murray was the only one with more RBIs. Both have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
In addition, Murphy led all Major League outfielders during the 1980s in home runs (308) and RBIs (929). He ranked second among outfielders during this span in hits (1,553) and extra-base hits (596).
January 10th, 2013 at 10:53 am
I like Bill Simmons’ idea about how to deal with the steroids era and the HOF. For any player that played during what is considered the steroids era (call it 1993 – 2007) they get an asterisk next to their name. Not that it denotes anything about them personally, but it denotes the era in which they played. This removes all the subjectivity and moralizing and teaching players a lesson bs that the sports writers are now doing.
January 10th, 2013 at 11:29 am
The thing that gets me is the voters seem to think steroids is the first thing that players (and others considered for induction) ever did to cheat the game. It’s saying some forms of cheating and less-than-ideal behavior are more acceptable than others.
This idea that the game and its statistics were once pure until big bad steroids came and ruined it all is false. The game has never been pure and never will be.
The character clause should only come in to play when a player’s behavior was so bad that it actually cost his team wins on the field. Plenty of players have cheated in one form or another, or did other things worse than cheating to shine a negative light on the game.
January 10th, 2013 at 11:40 am
From what very little I know about Gattis (looking over stat pages and listening to and reading prospect-focused writers), I’m thinking Gattis is a more athletic, right-handed Eric Hinske. He probably wouldn’t kill the Braves in leftfield but he’s probably not ideal.
I’ve heard Baseball America guys compare him to Josh Willingham, on their podcast. I would think that’s probably his upside. But he’s more likely to be something like an Eric Hinske.
January 10th, 2013 at 1:41 pm
And they weren’t banned at the time, to boot.
January 10th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
I tend to lean towards stricter standards for the Hall. But I wouldn’t have much of a problem with a big Hall, so to speak, with fame literally being a factor along with performance.
I am very in-tuned to the sabermetric and statistical arguments against Morris and Murphy and mostly agree with them. However, if a voter or two actually came out and said, “I think fame, not just performance, should be a factor,” I’d be just fine with that. I respect that a lot more than trying to ignore what actually happened and what Morris actually did and did not accomplish, and making up bogus arguments about pitching to the score and things of that sort.
January 10th, 2013 at 5:07 pm
First of all, number 4 was me. Don’t cringe.
Second of all, http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/47091/the-fallacy-of-the-baseball-hall-of-fame
January 10th, 2013 at 8:23 pm
I must admit, I’m excited to see Evan Gattis. I’ve been following him regularly since Spring Training last year and he seems to always be a potential homer. What I like about him much more than Ernesto Mejia is that he strikes out much less, about half as often. He also seems to hit well against good power pitchers. One bizarre and troubling stat about his offense that I did notice was he has what some call a reverse split, hitting great against right-handers and dismal against left-handers, thereby, limiting his value to the club as a right-handed bat. He also walks very little, but has somewhat of a compact swing and, I believe, would be more capable of driving in a run from third with less than two out. I got so tired of seeing Dan Uggla strike out with one out and a runner on third, and eventually being unable to score. I’m afraid, that we could see a little of that from BJ Upton, considering his strike out numbers.
I may be naive, but I’m content with the team the way it is. I feel if the Braves begin the season and they realize they don’t have the right person for LF, there will be ample time during the season to fill that spot…just my opinion. Right now, we really don’t know what we have. And rather than spend all the “money off the books” why not wait, because it might be useful to “lock up” players who could wind up being “cost prohibitive” in the future.
We gotta face it…we’re not the Angels or Dodgers; and right now the future of our finances look like the housing market.
January 10th, 2013 at 10:19 pm
@14 – I have no illusions about our payroll. It’s just that this was one of those off-seasons where we really did have some money to spend and STILL didn’t fill our needs.
January 10th, 2013 at 11:18 pm
I’m okay with Bonds and Clemons not getting in for now however they should eventually get in. In fact they better get in.Its not even for them. Its for me and all the kids that grew up watching the game during that era. There’s a story to be told and steroids is apart of that story and I refuse to visit Cooperstown 30 years from now and not see the time where I grew up watching baseball fully represented. I knew about steroids when I was 8. Why was there no testing ? It was an open secret and action was only taken when Canseco started talking. MLB was just a guilty. And character clause? Where was MLB’s character when the game was segregated which no doubt affected the game.
January 10th, 2013 at 11:46 pm
Hey Steve,
Y’all do a Great Job on the shows and I’m quite impressed; and thanks for the comment. It is just hard for me to quantify the upgrade enough to justify the cost…at least at this point. I look at teams like the Cubs, marlins and Red Sox and prefer not to experience that sense of “buyers remorse,” which we may have somewhat felt with the contract of Uggla, so far…though I thinking, or hoping anyway, that he’ll get that turned around…or DEFINITELY felt with the likes of Derek Lowe. I’m a little anxious about the acquisition of Upton, however, it was vital to get a High Grade defensive centerfielder to replace Bourn.
Braves management is DEFINITELY conservative, but I think they generally do a pretty good job…but, Fredi, honestly (IMO) not so much-results aside. In my opinion, the Braves have among THE BEST Scouting & Player Development programs in MLB, with the exception of a few players. How they unearthed Beachy & Gattis is beyond me. Anyway, I may be biased, but I feel Bobby Cox & John Schuerholz laid the foundation years ago to develop an organization & culture that has made it possible for the city/region to enjoy success over such a long period of time.
Other than a brief stint in the early 80s, the Braves were pathetic celler-dwellers with no focus or real philosophy. If it weren’t for Skip Caray and the couple of Miraculous winning seasons, watching baseball was a futile exercise simply awaiting the football season.
Happy New Year, Guys…look forward to listenin’ to ya and here’s to a new season…….Promise no more INFIELD FLYS!!
January 11th, 2013 at 12:41 am
The Upton to SEA non-trade is crazy. I’m convinced he’ll be a Brave within the next two weeks. Seriously, I think this happens.
January 11th, 2013 at 3:48 am
Steve, I hope your right, it looks like the stars could be aligning. I just read that Texas is also moving on. The thought of an outfield with Upton, Upton, and Heyward is very exciting! I think the braves need to make this big splash happen to help ppl (especially ME) get over the wild card game last year and look forward to this season. Not to mention I think it would put them right up with the Nats as favorites for the division!
January 11th, 2013 at 6:43 am
@1 that was me.
January 11th, 2013 at 10:42 am
@20 was me.
January 11th, 2013 at 11:32 am
I think the Braves had the money to fill needs but weren’t/aren’t going to spend just for the sake of spending. They were/are wisely looking for appropriate value for their money (and perhaps their prospects/trade chips) and it hasn’t been there so far. Hopefully that will all change with a Justin Upton trade. While I think Gattis wouldn’t do too much harm, I don’t think he’s ideal for leftfield.
January 11th, 2013 at 1:36 pm
@Curt
Jeff Bagwell was far and away a better player than Dale Murphy. I disagree with you on that.
January 11th, 2013 at 7:13 pm
I like this lineup.
Martin Prado
Jason Heyward
Justin Upton
Freddie Freeman
BJ Upton
Brian McCann
Dan Uggla
Andrelton Simmons
January 12th, 2013 at 12:10 am
I’m beginning to think it’s possible J-Up might get picked-up by the Braves, which would be a good move. They should have the necessary pieces not to be too depleted after a trade like that, and his contract is manageable. I’m not keen on trading Teheran though, after his resurgence late in the year and in the winter. I’d prefer to trade Delgado; we may have to trade JR Graham, who would be an excellent pick up by the D-backs. Definitely have to trade Ahmed, but Simmons should have that covered for us. If we have to give up a seasoned left-handed reliever, I can’t decide which would be more valuable between O’Flaherty or Venters. Both can be lights out, shut down pitchers, but both could have issues next year. Venters drop in velocity and step back from the dominance he showed in 2010 is somewhat concerning and I don’t know if O’Flaherty can maintain the pace he’s had. Plus, O’Flaherty has had back issues. I would be supportive of a reasonably aggressive trade for Upton; however, you gotta ask in the back of your mind why is Arizona so eager to give up on J-Up. I just hope he doesn’t turn out to be the next Ubaldo Jiminez.