2007 Atlanta Braves Discussion

[Brandon13]

Chipper with one of his annual trips to the DL.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2890221

[BaseballCtchr]

Lance Cormier countdown to first start: 4 days

[bravosfan]

Braves win, nice bounce-back start for Davies.

[Brandon13]

We were hitting so well today that we had Zambrano and Barrett throwing down in the dugout.

[tonybologna]

Nice to get the first one against the Cubbies. What's up with Zambrano? He is known for his temper & competitiveness but that was totally out of hand. There are problems in Chicago(both Chicago's) but Zambrano is certainly not helping his FA status at years end via showing his butt like that. He is struggling this year & I guess he let out some frustration but on a teammate is wrong. Anyhow, back on subject with our Braves.

Chipper to the DL is bad news indeed. We just don't have a player capable of coming close to giving the numbers of him even for a short time period. I heard on the broadcast today that the Braves are calling up Yunel Escobar. He is gonna be a talent but he's not gonna come in & start at 3B. I see Woodward & Orr platooning at 3B until Chipper gets back. Escobar might see a little action or fill-in in late game situations. He might even get a start too until Chipper gets back.

Chipper's DL stint dates back to May24th I believe so hopefully he will be back without missing any more time. I say give Escobar the chance over at 3B immediately. He is really a SS but can play multiple positions in the IF so shouldn't be a problem. He will eventually take over someone's position in the IF in the next couple years because he's got talent.

He's not going to take 3B away from Chipper unless he retires & that's what I was mainly hinting at with Escobar. Renteria isn't showing any signs of aging & Johnson is playing well too. Thorman has hot & cold spells but Escobar is mainly gonna be playing the left-side of the infield so that leaves either Chipper or Renteria but unless these guys retire/leave then there's no place there for him really. Thanks & GO BRAVES!

[Kohlstar20]

I was just looking over the Braves 40-man roster to see who we have for pitchers that aren't on the active roster and I saw Tanyon Sturtze. I totally forgot the Braves signed him in the off-season. Does anyone know if and when he is going to be able to pitch for us? The last I heard he was supposed to be healthy enough to pitch again starting in May but here it is June. Im not saying he would help our bullpen tremendiously but it couldn't hurt having him out there either.

Edit: As far as Escobar is concerned I agree with tony in regard that there isn't anywhere to put him right now so why not trade him for a quality starter?

[tonybologna]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kohlstar20

I was just looking over the Braves 40-man roster to see who we have for pitchers that aren't on the active roster and I saw Tanyon Sturtze. I totally forgot the Braves signed him in the off-season. Does anyone know if and when he is going to be able to pitch for us? The last I heard he was supposed to be healthy enough to pitch again starting in May but here it is June. Im not saying he would help our bullpen tremendiously but it couldn't hurt having him out there either. Edit: As far as Escobar is concerned I agree with tony in regard that there isn't anywhere to put him right now so why not trade him for a quality starter?

I'm not saying that Escobar needs to be traded! He is still young(23) & is someone that we need definitely in the future. He is a solid fielder & hitter & can hit for power & average. We can use pitcher's from the farm system I think to fill the void right now. Hodges is one option as well as a few select others. We have some really good-looking young pitchers(Harrison & Broadway) but they are not nearly ready for the big leagues.

If the farm system isn't good enough right now then let's try the FA route. We do need a couple starting pitchers to step in & help us out. Lance Cormier is another possibility but his injury problems is a concern now.

Back to the Escobar thing! The Braves have been very high on him since he defected from Cuba & signed him. I really don't see him being traded anytime soon anyhow. He nearly made the team out of spring training anyhow. Bobby was absolutely in smiles about his play & abilities during spring training. I agree that he would certainly bring a lot of stock for a trade but why get rid of your best IF prospect when you have a couple guys at the MLB level getting some age now?

Chipper & Renteria are not exactly spring chickens now so it would be wise for Atlanta to hold onto Escobar definitely no matter how bad the SP gets. Hopefully though we can sure up our SP issues because if not we are gonna struggle to even make a wild-card run this year. We have what appears to be a pretty strong bullpen(especially Soriano) so get our SP figured out then we may make a run at the Mets. Andruw is starting to look much better at the plate too. We need that with Chipper now on the DL.

[Kohlstar20]

Quote: Originally Posted by tonybologna

I'm not saying that Escobar needs to be traded! He is still young(23) & is someone that we need definitely in the future. He is a solid fielder & hitter & can hit for power & average. We can use pitcher's from the farm system I think to fill the void right now. Hodges is one option as well as a few select others. We have some really good-looking young pitchers(Harrison & Broadway) but they are not nearly ready for the big leagues. If the farm system isn't good enough right now then let's try the FA route. We do need a couple starting pitchers to step in & help us out. Lance Cormier is another possibility but his injury problems is a concern now. Back to the Escobar thing! The Braves have been very high on him since he defected from Cuba & signed him. I really don't see him being traded anytime soon anyhow. He nearly made the team out of spring training anyhow. Bobby was absolutely in smiles about his play & abilities during spring training. I agree that he would certainly bring a lot of stock for a trade but why get rid of your best IF prospect when you have a couple guys at the MLB level getting some age now? Chipper & Renteria are not exactly spring chickens now so it would be wise for Atlanta to hold onto Escobar definitely no matter how bad the SP gets. Hopefully though we can sure up our SP issues because if not we are gonna struggle to even make a wild-card run this year. We have what appears to be a pretty strong bullpen(especially Soriano) so get our SP figured out then we may make a run at the Mets. Andruw is starting to look much better at the plate too. We need that with Chipper now on the DL.

I agree that trading Escobar wouldn't be in the Braves best interest if they are planning for the future but John Schuerholz has always been a GM with the win now philosophy plus we have alot of great talent at the middle IF positions in the farm system including Brent Lillibridge and Elvis Andrus which in my opinion have just as much potential as Escobar. We need a starting pitcher that can step in right now and compliment Smoltz and Hudson because until James and Davies become more consistent every fifth day we could be in trouble down the stretch. I honesty don't see anyone in our minor league system that can do this not even our top starting prospects in Harrison or Reyes (they need more seasoning in the minors) therefore I was just throwing the option of trading Escobar out there.