Show #95: Our Interviews with Billy Wagner and Tommy Hanson
Spring Training interviews with Billy Wagner and Tommy Hanson. Plus, Derek Lowe named Opening Day starter and the mounting praise for Jason Heyward.
213 Responses to “Show #95: Our Interviews with Billy Wagner and Tommy Hanson”
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Pages: « 1 2 3 4 [5] 6 7 8 9 » Show All
March 4th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Correction, Chinese phone book
March 4th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Five of these things is not like the other…
Johnson
Kotchman
Francoeur
Garret Anderson
Schafer
Heyward
Glaus
McLouth
Diaz
Prado
March 4th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Really really excited about this season. Ok, I’m going to listen to the “if” show again. I’m setting myself up for a serious plunge to reality. I feel the need to temper my enthusiasm.
March 4th, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Comment #102 is EXACTLY why we will be in the playoffs this year. Last year, at the end of May, the team was 25 – 25. Not this year. 35 – 15 or better!
March 4th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
.700 baseball or better, Stevie? I want to see McLouth, Chipper, and Glaus get solid in ST before I can go that far (taking anti-homer medication. Wal Mart $4 plan). But the replacements listed above really are something. It happened so gradually. I had thought it was four, but really you have to count Loaf. If for no other reason than his sour puss.
Excited about Mike Minor. Having him and Medlen is very comforting, with such a gap until our two headed beast, Vizheran arives. Vizheran. Like it? I’m not sure.
Tehzcaino?
March 4th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Tehzcaino, for sure. And you’re damn right, .700 baseball!
March 4th, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Beer + Internet = I just asked a girl to marry me online.
Spiraling. Spiraling.
(She knows I’m joking, right?
I mean, I am joking right?)
GO BRAVES!
March 4th, 2010 at 10:56 pm
I meant Dr. Pepper, Leah. I’m a pepper. You’re a pepper. She’s a pepper.
Every time a Heyward swings,
An angel gets his wings.
March 4th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
*sigh*
March 5th, 2010 at 9:23 am
My aching head.
March 5th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Well, here’s an informative and thoroughly depressing read.
http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbdk2k10bravesinjuries
March 5th, 2010 at 9:38 am
You know, I’ve been thinking about it, and I think that I would like to be a pepper too.
I gotta say, other than Chavez on Monday, I am very pleased with how ST has been going. Which starter will give up the first run?
March 5th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Hammy – you’ve pretty much sealed the deal for Lowe today with that question, haven’t you?
March 5th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Let’s just hope that the answer to that question is “one of our starters has already given up a run and his name is Jo-Jo Reyes,” if you know what I mean.
March 5th, 2010 at 11:51 am
On another note, discuss this:
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2010/03/05/why-jason-heyward-might-not-be-here-on-opening-day/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog
March 5th, 2010 at 11:52 am
Is it worth the long term control of the Prospect to forego a couple of weeks of awesomeness? Bradley makes a pretty compelling case.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
Very good argument. I don’t mind waiting for a couple of weeks if it means we “control” him for an extra year (although I don’t like that term). Would it be anticlimactic for him as a player or would it be a nice break from the media? I really like that picture of him. Is it just me or is his build and form just like Frenchy’s? They look like “brothahs from anothah mothah”.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
I don’t mind waiting for a couple of weeks if it means we “control” him for an extra year (although I’m not crazy about that term). Would it be anticlimactic for him as a player or would it maybe be a nice break from the big league hype? I like this picture of him. His build and form look like Frenchy to me. They’re “brothahs from anothah mothah”.
March 5th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
See what happens when I post comments on the message board from my laptop? I’m sticking with my iphone from now on!
March 5th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Hammy – I understand that it makes sense in the long run. But, as a fan, it is incredibly off-putting. I get that we are really just rooting for laundry, the guys are in it for the money more than winning (in a lot of cases) and that our owners look at us nothing more than a smart tax-deferment transaction but … if the baseball people determine that Heyward is the best option in right, then can we just, please, start him!?!?! The team’s got to win 35 of their first 50! Do they not realize how satisfying it will be for me when Bub comes back and acknowledges that I was right about that?
March 5th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Stevie- The point about getting off to a good start is very valid. Imagine if we hadn’t made such a colossal poop in the first half of last year. Completely different season. I hate that baseball is not just baseball – i totally want to field the most competitive and exciting team every time out (and I also worry about the potential disillusionment for the Prospect). HOWEVER, what’s a few weeks vs. a whole season?
It’s sort of the classic conundrum. Do you invest in the short-term for longer term success (or as I like to call it “NOT the Texiera trade”)?
I keep going back and forth, but I keep coming back to the side of play him now. Who knows what the world will look like in 5 years.
March 5th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I hate the business end of our sport. Hate it, hate it, wish it would die. Even forcing Yunel’s and Tommy’s salary makes my stomach turn.
That said, I think a decend quasi-mid market strategy for running a ball team really might be to form a strong farm system and just plan on rarely keeping a player more than 6 years. Like a hot college player, except there’s 6 years instead of 4 (or 3, or 2). Supplement your young guys with solid role players you can afford (the Diaz’s, Ryan Church’s of the world) and veterans coming down from their peak years or finding themselves in a weird Free Agent Market or injury risks. Build depth to absorb the lost injury gambles. Hinske. Mitch Jones.
In other words, what Atlanta is probably already doing. If you can squeeze in one or two hometown discounts or safety signings (McCann, Hudson) and sign maybe one superstar to his first free agent contract (Hanson or Heyward or Jurrjens, anybody dreaming of having more than one of those in Atlanta for his 7th year is drunker than I was last night).
It’s not like this is a completely cheap way to go. Arbitration years for Yunel, Hanson, Heyward and the like won’t be easy on the ATL wallet.
Meanwhile, if you have to cut a player loose in his last arbitration year because even his arby dollars are going to be crazy high, that’s when you replenish your farm with a nice trade. Because without a completely solid farm, this will never work.
As for Hewyard: Right Field. Opening Day. Play Ball.
March 5th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Bub – the two questions we should really be asking today are:
1. Did she accept?
2. Are we invited to the wedding?
March 5th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
1. Yes
2. You’re all invited to the Mexican border. Bring Your Own Ammo.
March 5th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
The sky is blue. Can everyone agree with me so I can be right…just this once! Despite my confidence in Stevie’s brilliance I want Chipper to get a hit! Play Ball!