Show #87: The Braves Retool the Bullpen with Wagner and Saito
Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito join the Braves’ bullpen. Revisiting 1st base. And clearing up that Bob Rathbun hire.
447 Responses to “Show #87: The Braves Retool the Bullpen with Wagner and Saito”
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Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 [6] 7 8 9 10 11 … 18 » Show All
December 9th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
15 teams in on Mike Gonzalez. Boy, the difference 2-3 million bucks makes.
*Bangs head against wall*
December 9th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Heartburn…
December 9th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
More people saying The Rays.
If I’m Wrathy-hell Story-oh-no, I’m thinking to myself, “would I rather face Boston and the Yankees in the 9th inning a bunch this year and hope THAT puts me in the business for a big contract next year? Or just take my chances adding little innings to my great existing resume here in Atlanta? Hmmm… are teams REALLY going to not notice that the reason I didn’t close was cuz Wagner was here? Why am I the devil?”
December 9th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
How, Stark says the Braves are prepared to eat money on Lowe.
December 9th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
“How” is the new “wow.” More precisely, the drunk “wow”
December 9th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
“Wrathy-hell Story-oh-no”…drunk Bub makes me laugh.
December 9th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
“jaysonst: Soriano deal could get done today, sources say. Rays very interested but balking at $ and player(s) ”
No kidding? Just the money and the player(s)? That’s all that has to be ironed out? We’re home free.
December 9th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
lol, Bowman: Braves don’t view any team as a front runner for Soriano.
Man, I hope that dude knows what he’s doing.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Yeah, I’m 80+ of the first 133 comments. And if I don’t wash a dish, something from the kitchen’s gonna eat my soul.
I’m gone again. Happy Lives To Everyone!
(Back in 5?)
December 9th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Interesting little tidbit from DOB.
“To finalize a trade with the cash-strapped Rays, the Braves might have to consider paying a small portion of Soriano’s salary and receiving a better player or prospect than might otherwise be expected in such a deal.”
December 9th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
This Soriano thing is undoubtedly a mess and the Lowe trade will likely be weeks in the making, excruciatingly long, frankly – but, it’s all pretty interesting, don’t you think? We’re not standing pat. We’ve got a little money to play with. We’re not KC or Pittsburgh. This is the second straight off-season with lots of action, lots of twists and turns. I don’t have a huge point here, other than to say that I’m loving it!
December 9th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
“frankly” get it? So in the morning Soriano may go to the Rays per DOB. So is this a trade or just a purchase? I didn’t see another player named. Do the Rays have someone of interest to us? Do all you guys keep thousands of players names in your head or is that just Curt?
Bub, 5 minutes/hours/days is acceptable. Any longer and my name changes. Got it?
December 10th, 2009 at 2:02 am
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/card/images/headshot_47279.jpg
December 10th, 2009 at 7:27 am
I’m no genious but I’m thinking this is not ideal.
December 10th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Buh bye Soriano!! (thanks, Leo Mazzone and the morning radio show)
December 10th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Leah – this is a trade. We send Soriano and his 7 – 8mil contract to the Rays. And we get Jess Chavez who may or may not see the light of day in the bullpen and his 400K contract. This is a salary dump, plain and simple. The guy we got back (so long as his salary was small and he has a pulse) was somewhat inconsequential. The Braves had to get rid of Soriano and his contract.
December 10th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Other baseball news that doesn’t make me the least bit sad: “Barry Bonds’ agent finally acknowledged Wednesday that the home run king is done playing baseball.” Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/09/SPUI1B20LT.DTL#ixzz0ZIfM7RQ2
December 10th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Ok Steve, so it isn’t terrible? Sure feels like a huge let down but I’ll try to be patient. It may be a virtue but it’s certainly not my strong suit.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:20 am
“Chavez hasn’t been overly impressive in his brief career, and might not be what some Braves fans expected to get in a trade for Soriano, who had 27 saves and 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings pitched last season.
But in this unusual case, the important thing for the Braves was really just to get something of value in return for shedding a salary that would not have fit into their payroll after they already filled the closer and setup roles with Wagner and Saito.”
Seems like the key on all of this, as Steve was saying, is that we didn’t have to pay any of Soriano’s salary.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
…and besides, Leah: Bub’s going to be jealous (again) if you keep pining for Soriano. He left you without a wave or leaving a note. He’s not coming back. Deal with it. I suggest counseling.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I do need counseling no doubt. I’m definitely not going to miss “Wrathy-hell Story-oh-no”I just am nervous about filling the gaps in the lineup. I know it’s early. I’m trusting that you guys are right about this not being a complete disaster because a lot of people are saying it’s crap.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I honestly don’t know how this is a complete disaster. Based on the premise that not pursuing Soriano as a free agent was a good idea (an idea I wholly agree with: the dude had injury problems, lost pitch control at times and was a bit of a head case), then you either offer him arb or not. The general consensus around baseball (and according to the Elias rankings of type A free agents) was that he’d be a highly sought after commodity. So, you offer him arb. We’ve got a warm body in return for him. If we’d not offered him arb, we’d have nothing right now. Should Wren have held out longer on the trade and gotten something better? Should he have targeted a better player, but have to cover some of Soriano’s contract as a result? I think this went just fine. Get rid of him and his total contract and move on as expected.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
I feel much better. Stevie’s never been wrong as long as I’ve known him.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
From FanGraphs on Chavez (stolen from DOB):
Chavez is a right-handed reliever with a plus-plus change and velocity that sits in the 94-96 range. Thanks to that change he has a reverse platoon split, and is exceptional versus lefties. He figures to profile as a late inning reliever with the Rays, although he’s had issues with home runs which, if fixed, could really change the dynamic of his career arc. Whether that change actually occurs is up to Chavez and the Rays coaching staff to figure out….
December 10th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
“reverse platoon split” WoW!