2009 Atlanta Braves

[tonybologna]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

Albert Pujols has something to say about that no. 1 spot that you claim belongs to Teixeira.

And sure, no hard feelings here either. Hey I'm just glad I have someone else to talk to about the Braves on here. At the end of the day though I wouldn't want LaRoche back here with his price tag.

Dang! Pujols slipped right through my mind Matt! Yeah, he's certainly the best not only at 1B but probably the entire game.

Let's just hope we can make all the right moves & get our team back into contention like were were a few years back. I don't want to go back to the 80's & beyond for sure & remain a no show for years to come.

I'd like to see Chipper get on one more championship running team before he calls it quits.

[mattlanta]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

Dang! Pujols slipped right through my mind Matt! Yeah, he's certainly the best not only at 1B but probably the entire game.

Let's just hope we can make all the right moves & get our team back into contention like were were a few years back. I don't want to go back to the 80's & beyond for sure & remain a no show for years to come.

I'd like to see Chipper get on one more championship running team before he calls it quits.

Agreed. One for Chipper and one for Bobby Cox as well. This is probably Cox's last season managing the Braves before accepting a higher position in the organization's front office.

I'm willing to sign Church and Nady. Still thinking of a roster though.

[tonybologna]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

Agreed. One for Chipper and one for Bobby Cox as well. This is probably Cox's last season managing the Braves before accepting a higher position in the organization's front office.

I'm willing to sign Church and Nady. Still thinking of a roster though.

For me, I'd take Nady over Church but perposnally I wouldn't sign either one. Church didn't do much in his time last season with Atlanta but had some injury problems though.

I miss Francoeur but hey he didn't live up to his potential so that trade for getting Church didn't seem too bad at the time. Look how Jeff performed after he left for New York though. I'd like to have him back but we need a 1B more than we need another OF guy. I think we'll miss Gonzalez & Soriano more than anything.

Wagner is pretty much washed up & Saito isn't exactly a fireballer. Saito has been pretty consistent though pitching but has no gas unlike what we had last season from the bullpen in Gonzalez & Soriano. We'll see though!

[tonybologna]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091218&content_id=7828946&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

May I ask why we're considering both Lowe & Vazquez to trade? I perfectly understand us wanting to trade Lowe but Vazquez shouldn't even be in the works. They both have a lot of money tied up into them but we need Vazquez badly.

Vazquez has proven to be a stud. He had the best year of his career last season & has been solid all through his pro career. Hopefully, we trade Lowe & offer Vazquez an extension in the end. It's gonna be hard to get rid of Lowe with that enormously overpaid contract.

Hopefully, we can find some takers but may have to send some minor league players as well just to get rid of him. This is a rough situation between Lowe & Vazquez but we need to keep Vazquez. He still has it for sure while Lowe has lost it. Wonder how we're gonna use Kawakami now? We have quite a bit of money tied up in him as well.

If we can get rid of Lowe then almost sure he'll be starting but if not then I don't know. We would have 6 starting pitchers to open the season if Lowe stays. I'm sure we'll get rid of somebody but I hope it's the right one in Lowe. I agree we need to trade one of the starting pitchers to have 5 but I'm afraid we might get rid of the wrong player. Thanks!

[jt45]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/12/four-teams-interested-in-chris-duncan.html

Scroll to the bottom of the post to see an interesting idea

Personally, I think it would be pretty cool to see some team platoon the lefty hitting Chris with his righty hitting brother Shelley Duncan, who became a free agent earlier in the offseason.

I think this would be a great low risk/high reward platoon for Atlanta at first base. We could then sign someone to play a corner outfield position or use whoever we acquire for DLowe. I really like the offensive potential of that platoon.

Note: There is nothing mentioned about Atlanta in the article, just an idea I had. Discuss.

[Heisman316]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

Shelley Duncan is a high-risk but high-reward player. I like it.

He can either be that projected power threat, or the guy he is now.

[tonybologna]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

Not a bad idea for sure. I take the Duncans in a platoon any day over Nady or Church. Shelly could be the power guy & Chris the more for average player with some pop.

[mattlanta]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

For me, I'd take Nady over Church but perposnally I wouldn't sign either one. Church didn't do much in his time last season with Atlanta but had some injury problems though.

I miss Francoeur but hey he didn't live up to his potential so that trade for getting Church didn't seem too bad at the time. Look how Jeff performed after he left for New York though. I'd like to have him back but we need a 1B more than we need another OF guy. I think we'll miss Gonzalez & Soriano more than anything.

Wagner is pretty much washed up & Saito isn't exactly a fireballer. Saito has been pretty consistent though pitching but has no gas unlike what we had last season from the bullpen in Gonzalez & Soriano. We'll see though!

Looking back on that deal, I would still do it... Francoeur was not happy in Atlanta, and it was just not working out. A change of scenery was better for him as it showed. And he was arbitration eligible, and it seemed like we gained money by getting rid of him and taking on Church's salary instead (although I'm not sure about this one).

Wagner, if healthy, is probably better than Gonzalez maybe even Soriano. He came back extremely strong last season, and I'm happy with the signing. Saito is a smart deal because he has closer experience. We basically have three-four closers in our bullpen, and would be one more when Kimbrel is ready.

[mattlanta]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/a...=.jsp&c_id=atl

May I ask why we're considering both Lowe & Vazquez to trade? I perfectly understand us wanting to trade Lowe but Vazquez shouldn't even be in the works. They both have a lot of money tied up into them but we need Vazquez badly.

Vazquez has proven to be a stud. He had the best year of his career last season & has been solid all through his pro career. Hopefully, we trade Lowe & offer Vazquez an extension in the end. It's gonna be hard to get rid of Lowe with that enormously overpaid contract.

Hopefully, we can find some takers but may have to send some minor league players as well just to get rid of him. This is a rough situation between Lowe & Vazquez but we need to keep Vazquez. He still has it for sure while Lowe has lost it. Wonder how we're gonna use Kawakami now? We have quite a bit of money tied up in him as well.

If we can get rid of Lowe then almost sure he'll be starting but if not then I don't know. We would have 6 starting pitchers to open the season if Lowe stays. I'm sure we'll get rid of somebody but I hope it's the right one in Lowe. I agree we need to trade one of the starting pitchers to have 5 but I'm afraid we might get rid of the wrong player. Thanks!

Because no one is interested in Lowe, and the only way we get the big bat that we want is to trade Vazquez. Maybe not in a straight up deal because Vazquez can veto any deal to the west coast, but we can trade him somewhere for top notch prospects (in which he could definitely command in a trade) and trade those prospects away or keep those prospects and trade ours (Schafer, Freeman, etc. - just listing them) for a big bat.

I've not given up hope on Lowe yet. He statistically had a down year, but he still won us 15 games. His year wasn't really as bad as it looked since if I remember correctly he only had eight or nine string of starts where he performed really bad, but it's not out of the question yet that he can come back with a strong season next year.

And Kawakami's contract really isn't that bad. We have him for the '10 and '11 season for $6.6667MM according to Cot's Baseball Contracts, and it's really not as bad as it looks. Kawakami is still a solid pitcher in this league, and in some teams he could be one of their top pitchers. For example, Texas. Kawakami is also the first Japanese player we've had so I don't think Wren will just throw away that 'bridge' to Japan after working so hard to open it.

[mattlanta]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/1...is-duncan.html

Scroll to the bottom of the post to see an interesting idea



I think this would be a great low risk/high reward platoon for Atlanta at first base. We could then sign someone to play a corner outfield position or use whoever we acquire for DLowe. I really like the offensive potential of that platoon.

Note: There is nothing mentioned about Atlanta in the article, just an idea I had. Discuss.

Ehh it's not the worst idea ever, but............ Shelley Duncan is Triple A fodder... trust me. Having a massive hole in his swing, he just strikes out way too much in the minors already, and he got exploited at the major league level.

If you bring in Shelley Duncan now, you're basically hoping he figures it all out now or lose him in free agency again next year. Unless, ofcourse, you'd like to make him an important part of the bench... which would be pretty darn insane.

[jt45]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

I'm wondering if Lowe might be the starting pitcher that the Yankees are allegedly on the verge of acquiring.

[mattlanta]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

I'm wondering if Lowe might be the starting pitcher that the Yankees are allegedly on the verge of acquiring.

That would be the dream scenario especially if we get Swisher in return. But I hear it's not a "salary dump" type of trade so there goes Lowe...

[Speedy]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

I'd rather simply get a prospect or 2 for Lowe and spend as much as we can luring a top FA. Chipper is set to retire and we need a bat to establish the lineup besides McCann...Heyward, Freeman and even Cody Johnson (who needs a lot development still) can provide a lot of pop but they're still prospects and at this point unproven and mere potential.


I think I might cry if Holliday signs here.

[Heisman316]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

Javier Vazquez headed back to Yankees for Melky, RP Dunn, and a minor leaguer.

This is really dissapointing, Melky isn't the BIG bat like we desperately need.

[mattlanta]

Re: 2009 Atlanta Braves

Javier Vazquez headed back to Yankees for Melky, RP Dunn, and a minor leaguer.

This is really dissapointing, Melky isn't the BIG bat like we desperately need.

The 'minor leaguer' is 19-year old SP Arodys Vizcaino who's another top prospect from the Yankees system.

I'm disappointed with this deal. Melky isn't that good and he doesn't have much power.

This also leaves us with a disgruntled Derek Lowe. Hope Wren sends him a bouquet of flowers to try and mend things out.

If we don't get Holliday after this trade, I'll call it early and say that this offseason is a disaster.