SB Nation - Garret Anderson

Braves Offer Arbitration to Relievers Gonzalez and Soriano

gondeee — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:23:16 -0000

In a move that many expected, the Atlanta Braves have offered salary arbitration to their two closers from last year, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano. The two now have a couple of weeks to accept of decline the offer of arbitration. If either player signs with another team the Braves will receive the other team's first or second round pick as well as a supplemental pick between the first and second rounds of next summer's draft.

The Braves declined to offer arbitration to first baseman Adam LaRoche and left fielder Garret Anderson. The LaRoche decision is surprising as it leaves Atlanta without a fall-back option at first base should they not land another free agent or player via trade, but he may have made as much as $10 million in an arbitration decision, so the team likely could not have afforded to let him re-sign.

Gonzalez and Soriano, meanwhile, would likely cost much less than $10 million if they accept arbitration, but it is thought that they will find plenty of bidders for their services on the free agent market. It was thought that the Braves would try to re-sign at least one of the relievers, believed to be Gonzalez, but that was before he retained Scott Boras as his new agent. It is now viewed that both relievers are out of the range of what the Braves would be willing to offer in terms of years on a contract and money per year.

This decision also allows the Braves to seek two type-A free agents of their own without the risk of any net loss in high-round draft picks next year.

Take the Braves out of the running for these free agents

gondeee — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:28:22 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Was it Divine intervention that prevented the Atlanta Braves from signing Rafael Furcal... or just his agents.

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Last off-season the Atlanta Braves announced they had come to terms with free agent Rafael Furcal on a three-year contract... but less than 24-hours later Furcal had signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the aftermath of that episode, Braves President John Schuerholtz stated that the Braves would never again do business with Furcal's agents, the Wasserman Group, headed by super-agent Arn Tellem.

As a side note to this, if we had signed Furcal, then we would have moved Kelly Johnson to left field, we never would have signed Garret Anderson, and Martin Prado may never have emerged as a bona fide major league starter at second base. And we might have traded Yunel Escobar somewhere. Things tend to work out for the best sometimes, as Furcal layed an egg in 2009.

Here are the free agents this off-season who are represented by the Wasserman Group, and are therefore off-limits to the Braves (courtesy of MLBTR):

Wilson Betemit
Aaron Boone
Nomar Garciaparra
Jason Giambi
John Grabow
Rich Harden
Shawn Hill
Reed Johnson
Jason Kendall
Hideki Matsui
Jason Michaels
Guillermo Mota
Vicente Padilla
Wily Mo Pena
Joel Pineiro
Matt Treanor
Randy Wolf
Omar Vizquel

I must say that there's no one I really want on that list, so for this year at least, no harm, no foul.

Braves Monday Odds and Ends

gondeee — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:37:22 -0000

Several things popping up on this Monday in the world of the Atlanta Braves

First... There are several people planning on attending Brian McCann's Celebrity Softball Game this Friday, November 13th at Georgia Tech. It's for a great cause, and we'll get a little bit of a Braves baseball fix here in the middle of the winter. For details and to purchase tickets go here. Respond in the comments if you plan on going. Oh, and I just read that the Varisty will be selling food and drink... as if we needed a reason to go, hello, Varsity and baseball (softball, really) in one stop. (Perhaps the Braves will take note and put a Varsity at Turner Field next year.)

Second... The Elias rankings came out today and there were no surprises for the Braves. We have four free agents eligible for draft pick compensation were they to be offered arbitration by the Braves but sign elsewhere. Relievers Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez are type-A free agents (meaning we would get a first round and supplemental first round pick), and Adam LaRoche and Garret Anderson are type-B free agents (meaning we would get a supplemental first round pick).

Third... David O'Brien of the AJC is now on Twitter, and he has this nugget from the GM Meetings (which started today):

I'm hearing the Braves have discussed trying to sign Javier Vazquez to a contract extension. Not sure if that's gotten anywhere yet or will.

And only this morning Buster Olney was saying we would trade him. Gonna be one of those winters...

Four Atlanta Braves file for Free Agency

gondeee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:35:24 -0000

The Atlanta Braves had four of five eligible players file for free agency yesterday. First baseman Adam LaRoche, outfielder Garret Anderson, pinch hitter Greg Norton, and reliever Mike Gonzalez all filed for free agency, leaving only reliever Rafael Soriano yet to file.

The two relievers, Gonzalez and Soriano, are both type-A free agents, meaning the Braves would receive two first round draft picks (1 and 1S) is they offered either arbitration and they signed elsewhere. Because they are expected to draw interest from several teams, the Braves will likely offer arbitration to both players, though they may only seek to actually try and re-sign Gonzalez, seeing him as the less costly of the two.

LaRoche and Anderson are both type-B free agents, and Atlanta would receive only one first round (supplemental) draft pick as compensation were they to be offered arbitration and sign elsewhere. It depends on how the Braves plan to approach this off-season and the stated goal of adding right-handed power bat as to whether they will offer LaRoche arbitration.

For the record, I'd like to see the Braves offer Gonzo, Soriano, and LaRoche all arbitration. If they did sign elsewhere with teams that had one of the 15-best records in baseball last year then the Braves could find themselves with 3 first round draft picks and 3 supplemental first round picks -- possibly 6 of the first 50 selections in the draft. By having extra picks, the Braves may also be less fearful about going after other type-A free agents and losing their own first round pick.

Poll

Which free agent would you most like to see the Braves retain?

Garret Anderson

25 votes

Mike Gonzalez

293 votes

Adam LaRoche

1061 votes

Greg Norton

21 votes

Rafael Soriano

308 votes

1708 votes | Poll has closed

Braves 2009 Season in Review: Matt Diaz

gondeee — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:19:00 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

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I think we can officially call the 2009 season of Atlanta Braves outfielder Matt Diaz a "breakout season." For all NL right-fielders with at least 100 plate appearances, Matt Diaz led the league in batting average and on-base percentage. He was behind six other players in slugging percentage in the NL, but he was behind only Adam LaRoche and David Ross in slugging percentage on the Braves. Diaz had a higher slugging average than sluggers like Hunter Pence, Jay Bruce, and Ryan Ludwick.

While he only hit 13 homeruns, he did that in just 125 games at a rate of 3.1 percent. That rate is second on the Braves to only Brian McCann, and is the same rate that Diaz posted in 2007 when he put up very similar numbers to last year (which begs the question, wasn't that the "breakout season?"). His 2008 season and the dips in every category can be attributed to the knee injury he suffered and some bad luck as viewed by the big dip in his BAbip -- 60 points lower than his career average. Take away that injury-plagued year and add in a full slate of games and Diaz could be a batter who puts up a 20 homeruns and has an OPS in the neighborhood of .875.

I often think that Diaz would be a valuable pinch hitter, but he doesn't seem to be as good at a pinch hitter as he is as a starter. His career batting average as a pinch hitter is 35 points below his career batting average. That number could be attributed to some bad seasons his first few years in the league, as he did post better-than-respectable numbers for a pinch hitter from 2006 to 2008.

But Matt Diaz needs to be playing full time somewhere. After all, he is the "hittin' fool;" given that name by the way in which he swings at just about any pitch and seems to make contact. There's no way that the Braves should be thinking about taking a .300 hitter with good power out of their lineup. The problem is that he is sort of a guy without a position, and while he has good power, he doesn't have elite corner outfield power, and that seems to hurt his chances when stacked up against other players. His defense, too, is less than desirable, though not terrible.

I'd like to see the Braves give Diaz a few more at-bats next year. The Braves still need to go out and get a bigger power bat, but maybe Diaz can be that ninth-man type player who spells the left fielder, the right fielder, and the first baseman, and gets some at-bats when the matchup is favorable. Diaz could spell Jason Heyward and LaRoche (if he re-signs) against left-handers, since Diaz hits 70 points higher for his career -- and last year hit 157 points higher -- when a southpaw was on the mound. If Heyward is not deemed ready out of spring training, Diaz could keep the position warm until Heyward is ready to be called up.

It was one of the great failures of 2009 that a guy like Garret Anderson got 100 more plate appearances than Diaz, while putting up an OPS 173 points south of what Diaz put up. If only the Braves had seen that there was no need to go out and get Garret Anderson... they already had a better player on the team in Matt Diaz. Let's hope they don't repeat that mistake again this off-season. If the Braves go out and get an outfielder, they need to make him a real impact player, not the consolation prize that's signed a week into spring training.

Talking Chop Round Table: Braves Left Fielders

gondeee — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:25:43 -0000

As part of season reviews for major league players and top prospect ranking for minor league players, we here at Talking Chop thought it would be a fun idea to get all of our bloggers together with the help of Google Docs and debate the various aspects of each position in the Braves organization.

The participants are, yours truly (gondeee, indicated by MG), yondaime4 (indicated by MF), royhobbs (indicated by DH), and cbwilk (indicated by CBW).

The round table for left fielders in the Braves organization is after the jump.

MG: No way that Garret Anderson even sniffs a Braves uniform next year, right?
DH: Nah, likely not. Even if the Braves relied solely on internal candidates to man the position, it's still a cheaper alternative with Diaz, McLouth, and Church, left to right. He didn't exactly win any fans over with his lackadaisical play, and I hardly think anyone's really going to miss him at all.
CBW: You'd hope not. A .705 OPS out of left field is pathetic enough, but what's worse is how bad he was toward the end. He started off like crap with OPSs of .551 and .681 in April and May, before actually being useful in June and July with .804 and .944 OPSs, and then went to crap again at the end of the year with OPSs of .658 and .533 in August and September. His statistical season was a pyramid and the only time he was worth having at all was for the 187 plate appearances in June and July. And yeah, nobody really liked him, cause he sucked in the field, and, however fair this assessment is, didn't seem like he cared. But, Bobby kept hitting him 5th, so who knows? Logic says he won't be around, but logic would have said hit LaRoche 5th and bench Anderson.
MF: HAHAHAHAHA. No. If for some reason we can't go out and get a LF I think with the way Brandon Jones closed out the season in AAA he would have to get a look and be considered a similar (if not better) option simply because he is cheaper, can probably put up a .700 OPS and play good defense in LF. No way does Anderson come back.

MG: I think the Braves would have done better with Ryan Ludwick in left field. I sort of wish we had pulled the trigger on that rumored deal.
CBW: While I will point out that I was absoultely right in my estimation that Ludwick wasn't as good as his numbers from 07 or 08, which he proved by coming back to earth in 09, there's no question the Braves would have been better with him in left field, if only because Anderson was so pathetic. I personally was against the trade at the time, because I thought Ludwick would come back to earth, which he did, and I thought Johnson was worth more than a hitter you couldn't really be sure of. Granted, with hindsight if you could have flipped Johnson for Ludwick that would have been a great deal, because Prado showed himself capable of being a starter and Johnson really floundered this season, but since you can't know the future, I still say it was better not to make that trade. And anyway, it was a rumor, who knows how much reality there was behind it.
MF: I wasn't believer in Prado at the time, but I still would have flipped Johnson for Ludwick. I think Ludwick will rebound next season and the Cards could be really good with three big bats (assuming holliday returns). But either way, Ludwick would have been an improvement over Anderson in almost every month of the year and would have been better than the almost nothing we got out of Anderson.

MG: Who do you want to see the Braves go out and get as a left fielder? I don't think we have any chance at Matt Holliday, nor do I really want him at the price we would have to pay.
CBW: I want a real hitter. Left field has been a black hole for years and it would be nice to actually get some production out of it for once. Frankly, it should be the easiest spot on the field to stash a slugger, even if he can't play the OF well, but the Braves have run out a series of weak hitters, capping things off in 09 by having a poor hitter and a poor fielder. Who should they get? I have no clue; obviously you'd love to have guys like Bay or Holliday, but you know the Yankees and Red Sox are going to shell out way too much money and keep those guys away from everyone else. After that, I don't know about the free agent crop. You don't want to give up a first round pick for guys like Damon or Abreu or Guerrero, and probably not even for Dye (if he becomes a free agent). And after that, you're looking at a bunch of guys who aren't that great, and you're left just like last year, scrapeing around for a guy to get you by. Ideally we could use some of our young Minor League pitching to trade for somebody, but I have no idea who'd be realistic. Frank Wren's the guy they pay to figure that out, so hopefully he can finally get us a real hitter for left field and the cleanup spot.
MF: I really don't know either. Bay will most certainly go back to Boston (remember when we could have had him) and I think Holliday will stay in the NL, but if we have any shot to pay him then we have to get rid of Derek Lowe. I actually think 16 mil a year could get Holliday, but like gondeee said, do we want to pay him that? I've always loved Vlad Guerrero but he is a butcher in the field these days and I don't know how he would take to a move to LF. It stinks that there really aren't a lot of options for us. We are going to have to be really creative.

MG: Does anyone think that Cody Johnson can develop enough plate discipline to be a major league starter? He's young, so we have some time, but it seems like he's got a long way to go.
CBW: It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Cody Johnson, and I really don't think anyone in the system consistently improves from one year to the next as he does. Does he strikeout a ton? Sure. But, he struck out in 34% of his plate appearances in 08 compare to 35% in 09, and in that same span he raised his OBP by .035 points, his slugging by .021 points, making his raise in OPS .056 points, all while moving up a level. That's improvement from one full season league to the next while keeping his biggest negative, the strikeouts, at a constant. It'd be nice if he could cut down on the strikeouts, but if he can keep them constant and keep the production up, that's something most teams can live with. Most of the guys who lead the home run lists, something Johnson looks poised to do, lead the strikeout lists. Frankly the Braves would have loved his kind of production out of left field this season, even with the strikeouts; he would have been a huge improvement over Garret Anderson. Granted, he's not likely to put up these kind of numbers immedately or even soon in the Majors, but you can't deny the power potential. AA is going to be a tough test for him, but he's only 21 years old and I personally believe in this kid's desire and ability.
MF: Mark my words now, Cody Johnson will spend two seasons in AA. I don't envision his 2010 campaign going well, but I do believe in his ability to improve. I don't really think his plate discipline is the problem as just his contact ratio kills him. He appears to be capable of not swinging at pitches outside the strike zone, he just can't hit half of what is thrown to him in the zone. CB is right though if Cody can put up a .350 OBP and a .450 SLG you are looking at a productive player at almost any position. I think to make a real judgment on him we are going to have to see what he does at Mississippi this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see him strike out 200 times and the only people in the pros I can think of that came close to that in the minors are Mark Reynolds and Ryan Howard and Cody has more extreme strike out totals and power than either one of those guys. Also, and I said this in the Top 5 list, Cody will have to learn to make 2 strike adjustments and start taking the ball the other way. That is something Ryan Howard is great at but Cody pulls nearly everything.

MG: I was ever-so-close to ranking Adam Milligan ahead of Cody Johnson for the top spot in left field. Johnson's homeruns are hard to ignore, but Milligan seems to have a better overall game.
CBW: I was really worried that when the lists were compiled that Milligan would come out ahead. Nothing against the kid, cause he looks like he's good, but he's 5 months older than Johnson and doesn't have the track record that he has, heck, he hasn't played a full season yet. I was very sceptical of Milligan when his season first started, but I definitely came around once he maintained his play. Yeah, he was maybe a little old for a true prospect in the Sally League, but it was also his first professional season, so that's a wash. The numbers he put up were outstanding. My question with him is, if he's really this good, why was nobody else aware of it? The Braves drafted him three times; nobody else took notice of this and they were able to get him in the 6th round? It just doesn't scream top prospect to me. I really want to see what he does next season, preferably at Myrtle Beach, because I want him to be this insanely good prospect, but I'm retaining some healthy doubt.
MF: Well I can actually speak to why Milligan wasn't taken by many people the first two times through. A lot of people thought he was committed to a football scholarship coming out HS so he didn't really show up on many radars and then the second time I believe there was talk of him going somewhere on a baseball scholarship from his Juco. Anyways he moved up from the 28th to the 27th and finally to the 6th RD so I think that by 2008 other teams were onto him and the Braves wanted to get it done. Two months ago I might have considered ranking Milligan higher because of Johnson's struggles and how hot Adam was but with the lukewarm reception Milligan has received from scouts in the post season I have reeled myself in a bit. I honestly think the only thing he needs to do is take a few more walks. If his K rate stays where it is now he will be fine, but he can't get by walking 30 times a season, but there isn't an excellent way to tell how much he will walk next season because most players walk less when they are in the middle of a hot streak and he was one for pretty much the whole season. We will see what kind of player he is next season when he starts at MB. If he tears it up I wouldn't be surprised to see him move fast. Hopefully one of these boom or bust LF prospects we have will pan out.

The Atlanta Braves Weekly Wrap

gondeee — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:45:03 -0000

Here's a look at the major stories in the world of the Atlanta Braves for the week ending on October 25th:

In the Press...

There were some suggestions by beat writers David O'Brien and Mark Bowman about the off-season direction the Braves will take.
Talking Chop first reported that Jason Heyward was sidelined with a leg injury, which was later reported by the Braves.com site.
The Braves "got the ball rolling" on contract extension talks with Tim Hudson.
The Braves hired another former member of the Orioles front office.
The AJC reported that Martin Prado is likely going to be the Braves 2010 opening day second baseman.

At Talking Chop...

The Atlanta Braves Fan Confidence Poll showed that Braves fans are already feeling better about the off-season.
We reviewed the 2009 season of third baseman Chipper Jones.
The 2009 seasons of Omar Infante, Kelly Johnson, and Garret Anderson were also reviewed.
Matt reviewed the top-5 Braves third base prospects and the top-5 left field prospects.
Matt Diaz chatted with fans on ESPN, we wrapped up the most interesting Qs & As.
The bloggers of Talking Chop conducted a round table on the third basemen in the Braves organization.
We continue to recap the Braves prospects' performances in the games of the baseball fall and winter leagues, here and here.

Notable FanPosts and FanShots...

GoBravesNY told us about prospect Jeff Lyman's Arizona Fall League blog, and cbwilk told us about L.V. Ware's blog.
justincredubil02 informed everyone how to get free Braves merchandise.
Dale Murphy for HOF gave us his top-5 best and top-5 worst Braves trades.
GoBravesNY asked everyone what their screen names meant, mine (gondeee) is a play on my last name, Gandy.
PWHjort expanded upon a link from the USS Mariner about roster construction theory.

Upcoming Events...

The first ever Brian McCann Celebrity Softball Game is set for November 13th... details here. We're making this a bit of a Talking Chop outing, so everyone get your tickets!
The Gwinnett Braves have a whole slate of off-season events planned at their ballpark, the list is here.

Braves 2009 Season in Review: Garret Anderson

gondeee — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:08:43 -0000

When considering the 2009 season of Garret Anderson, I think it's more useful to look at the alternatives to Anderson that the Braves were considering, or at least rumored to be considering.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Garret Anderson	135	496	52	133	27	0	13	61	27	73	1	0	.268	.303	.401

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Ryan Ludwick	139	486	63	129	20	1	22	97	41	106	4	2	.265	.329	.447

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Rick Ankiel	122	372	50	86	21	2	11	38	26	99	4	3	.231	.285	.387

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Ken Griffey Jr.	117	387	44	83	19	0	19	57	63	80	0	0	.214	.324	.411

Just about the only improvement over Anderson on this list is Ryan Ludwick, who we were rumored to be trying to get in exchange for Kelly Johnson, but the Cardinals wanted Rafael Soriano. I would have preferred Ludwick, but that's been said numerous times. While he would have represented a significant increase in homerun hitting power, he would likely not have been the perfect long-term answer in left field.

Still, Ludwick would have been an improvement over Anderson. Let's harp on Garret for a while. His on-base percentage, a Francoeur-ian .303 number, was 6th-worst among qualified National League batters, and even worse than the .309 number that Jeff Francoeur himself put up. The numbers that Anderson put up across the board -- .268/.303/.401 -- were all the worst of his career -- which he is pretty clearly at the end of. Is it even worth bringing up how bad he was in the field?

Would we have been any better with Ankiel or Griffey? Probably not. I don't know if that underscores how rare premier hitters are to find and acquire, or how quickly major league clubs will settle for mediocre veterans. Here is one more name to consider:

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Andruw Jones	82	281	43	60	18	0	17	43	45	72	5	1	.214	.323	.459

Better power, better patience, but not a better average. Still, Andruw Jones would have been better in left field than Garret Anderson -- that's pretty sad on multiple levels.

Pretty much all of Braves nation is looking forward to a major upgrade in left field next season. Settling for Anderson was one of the big failures of last off-season, and hopefully one that the Braves don't repeat again. I honestly can't remember the last player who spent an entire season on our roster in a starting role who was so maligned by fans and writers alike -- maybe Robert Fick.

The Braves need a right-handed power bat. Let the guessing begin!

gondeee — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:50:49 -0000

Last year it was Peavy-gate and all the Peavy talk you could handle for a solid month or two. This season, the press hasn't really nailed down anyone to pin on the Braves but several folks are trying. Here's SI's John Heyman:

The Braves may consider going after Matt Holliday, who made a huge error in St. Louis' Game 2 loss but is the biggest star who'll hit the free-agent market. Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt has said they are going to try hard to re-sign Holliday, and other candidates appear to be the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Giants. Over the last four years, Holliday ranks second in doubles (172), fourth in batting average (.325), fifth in hits (767) and runs (440), sixth in slugging (.563) and OPS (.962) and seventh in RBIs (448).

Hey, man, speculate much? This is even more speculative than the normal speculation. There's not even an anonymous front office source, or a rival GM who "has a feeling," just a bold statement of un-fact.

Our own David O'Brien fired up the hot stove of speculation this morning with this reference to who we might go after:

Anyway, here's a name that I think will come up next week: Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz. [...] If the Braves had traded for him instead of signing Garret Anderson, hey, they'd have probably been a better team. But the same could be said for Bobby Abreu and other relatively low-cost options).

But anyway, Cruz is right-handed and hit .260 with 33 homers, 20 stolen bases and an .856 OPS in 128 games, and while his .931 OPS at hitter-friendly Arlington was a lot higher than his .778 on the road, he hit almot as many homers (15) on the road than at home (18) in virtually the same number of at-bats.

Along with speculating, O'Brien plays the what-if game in virtually the same sentence.

At this rate, by the time the World Series is over the collective baseball speculativerse will have mentioned every single right-handed power bat... and probably a few lefties as well. Tim Dierkes of MLBTR doesn't have that kind of time to just wait around, so he goes ahead and lists everyone that the Braves might even be remotely interested in. Actually, he does a good job of pointing out a whole bunch of people I hope the Braves have no interest in...

Buckle-up folks, it's going to be another long hot stove.

Top-5 Off-Season Questions for the Atlanta Braves: #1

gondeee — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:36:52 -0000

More photos » by Erik S. Lesser - AP

Will the "hittin' fool," Matt Diaz, get a chance to break into the Atlanta Braves 2010 starting lineup?

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With the off-season upon us it's time to look at the five most pressing issues facing the Atlanta Braves this off-season, and what some possible outcomes might be. This is the first of a five-part series of posts that will be on the site today.

Question One: Who starts at the corner outfield spots?

The biggest buzz-phrase we've heard so far in this 48 hours of off-season is, "the Braves are looking for a right-handed power bat." Gosh, that seems an awful lot like what we were looking for last off-season, and we never acquired it (what a leap of journalism to assume we'll be looking for that this off-season). The most obvious place to put that big bat would be in the outfield or at fist base, so depending on how GM Frank Wren and company fare in that pursuit, that could solve one of the outfield spots.

The other outfield spot could be filled by the best position player to come through our system since Andruw Jones, the top prospect in all of baseball, Jason Heyward. Everyone will be keeping a close eye on him during the Arizona Fall League, and if he does well, they will be screaming for him to be given a job even before spring training starts. Some have suggested that the Braves will do with Heyward what they did with Tommy Hanson this season, and that is to have him start the year at triple-A and call him up around the All-Star break. The success Hanson had may actually help Heyward avoid this route, as the team may believe that it's better to put him on the major league roster from day one (as the probably should have done with Hanson). Of course, the Jordan Schafer failure could work against Heyward in this situation.

How about Matt Diaz?

If .313/.390/.488 doesn't earn someone a starting job, I don't know what will. The dude had the highest OPS on the team after Adam LaRoche and David Ross. Diaz deserves to be starting... somewhere... for some team. That brings me to the idea that Diaz may be used as trade bait, or rather trade fodder. If we are to get some sort of big right-handed bat via a trade, then Diaz could be part of a package that goes the other way. As good of a hitter as Diaz is, I get the feeling that the Braves have not always viewed him as an asset -- after all, they did try to sell him to Japan several years ago.

And then there's Garret Anderson. We should do as much as possible to stay away from this guy. He was our last minute stop-gap this season, and he doesn't need to be that again. There's too much risk in putting a veteran like this on the team because Bobby Cox seeming can't keep from playing him every day, and batting him in the middle of the order.

I really don't have much more of an idea of what the team will do with the corner outfield spots. Whoever starts in right field, if it's not Heyward, is only there until the organization is comfortable with calling up Jason Heyward, so that right fielder is a stop-gap at best. I don't think that will be Martin Prado. Cox is just being a homer when he says Prado can play right and Kelly Johnson can move back to second. I'd like to keep Diaz around -- the hittin' fool -- but he's not the pure power option that I think the team covets, and he's certainly not someone who Cox would ever bat cleanup on a regular basis. I know that I want to see Heyward in right on opening day, and if we can get a right-handed bopper to play left field, then that will add two formidable bats to our 2010 lineup.

Coming up later, Question Two: What do we do with six starting pitchers?