SB Nation User Blog: calbers

Is 6 enough??

calbers — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:48:21 -0000

We have all been reading about the Braves surplus of pitching...we are all either advocating or reading about the Braves trading from this surplus to acquire a RH bat to play LF or RF. Yes-it would be nice to have a stud #4 hitter in RF....but ask yourself. Do we really have a surplus of starting pitching?

Lowe is not young, and while he has been the bastion of health for a number of years, would it be surprising if he broke down next year? No-He has ALOT of innings on that body.

Hudson is one year removed from Tommy John and isn't a spring chicken either. Would we be surprised if he had one..or two stints on the DL next year?

Vazquez has also been very healthy and strong-but he isn't exactly young either. He has also pitched A LOT of innings over the years.

KK-Seems ok

Hanson-No injury history but you also have to respect his workload next year.

All that being said....do we really have "surplus." I think the Red Sox proved that a planned "surplus" can end up being a deficit real fast. That being said...if we made a trade and moved one of our starters-who would be the emergency #5 guy? Medlen would have been the obvious choice but if he is going to be prepared to pitch all year in the pen we can't have him going back and forth. He needs to really work as a bullpen guy.

So if we trade one of our starters...we almost have to go sign (or have someone included in the trade) that could step in and be the long guy/#5 guy in the rotation when someone goes down.

Is trading a starter before spring training really a good idea then? So unless someone is willing to unload Lowe's contract for us-as is-do we really want to move someone?

Giants vs the Braves

calbers — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:04:05 -0000

Here is a question: why are the Braves 35-40 and the Giants are 41 and 34? I know the Giant's rotation and pitching staff in general, has been great. However, the Braves pitching-especially the starting pitching-has been really good. Both teams have questionable offenses. We all know of the Braves struggles but the Giants have Rowand leading off, and Molina batting clean up. The balance of their line up consits of the likes of their Rookie 1B who has hit only 5Hrs, Fred Lewis, Randy Winn, Renteria, etc. The only above average hitter they have is probably Sandoval. Now I haven't gone through and looked at the run differential, looked the schedule to date for the Giants, nor really seen much of them on TV yet so I thought I would ask this question...What are Bochy and the Giants doing to score enough runs to be 7 games above .500 that the Braves are not? Are they running more? Does everyone up and down the line up hit...just enough?

Any thoughts on what they are doing well (besides pitching lights out)? Anything that Braves good be doing similiar to help the offense move?

Are you #$(#% kidding me!?

calbers — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:32:20 -0000

They are now reporting that Griffey is going back to Seattle. What is up with this...twice we have guys in hand and now we have nothing! If Griffey wanted to go b back to Seattle why did he reach out to the Braves? I thought he wanted to be close to family? I thought he wanted to play for Bobby Cox? I thought he wanted another chance at the post season?

Were we used AGAIN to extract a few more dollars?

Now what? Garrett Anderson? No thanks. I will take my chances and money with Jones or Schaefer.

Do we have a starting LF right now?

calbers — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:59:41 -0000

If the season were to start today...who is our LFer? Heck you can even ask the question of who is our RF and CF the way last season went.

Joking aside we know that Frenchy starts in RF and CF will be a try out between Blanco/Schaeffer/Anderson. However, who is honestly our LF right now? Diaz? If we are going to do a mix and match type routine in CF and LF do we need more cheap but "upside" players? Are the Braves looking at Brandon Jones as the dominant part of a LF platoon?

We could debate this scenario for another 6 mos but I was wondering if the Braves have actually made any kind statement or indicator as to what the company line is at the moment.

Swisher?

calbers — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 04:06:31 -0000

There has been a couple notes in various sources indicating that the Yankees want to liquidate some of their depth in the OF-This includes Matsui, Damon, and/or Swisher.

Today there was a note on MLBtradeumors.com indicating that the Braves might have an interest in Swisher. At first I was not overly excited by this idea. However, the more I think about it the more it makes sense.

1) He probably won't cost us much to get.

2) He has some position flexibility-he is a fairly good corner OFer and has played CF( Though I wouldn't want to see him in CF for the Braves) and is an above average 1B.

3) He is a switch hitter (although if memory serves me he can't hit lefties at all..which plays well for Diaz).

4) This is his walk year.

5) His average...even in a good year...is not so good...but his OBP tends to be high because of his walks.

Not the pure impact bat many of us has been hoping for, but he could be someone that could play well in our lineup batting 5th or 6th and playing in LF>

Today is a whole new day...a fresh start!

calbers — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:02:23 -0000

If I am Frank Wren I wake up today feeling refreshed, relieved and MOTIVATED. Yes it would have been nice to take Burnett but as the deal went on the cost was getting out of hand for 90% of the teams in baseball. (I think people are forgetting that he has played about the same number of games over the past few years as Sheets and is asking for a lot of money over a long period of time). It could have been a great sign or a great bust. But now the temptation is gone and our risk has been averted. So now it is time to look at a couple different scenarios and move fast with confidence and direction. If I am Frank Wren waking up on this Saturday morning I see two directions...

Scenario #1-Trade for Pitching: This is something that we have already done with Vazquez and it has been talked about other places. Given the lack of quality starting pitching in the FA pool this may be the best way to get a good starter. Therefore I make three calls,in this order, as part of phase one:

1) Giants: There was talk that they could trade Cain for offensive help. The Giants have an embarrasment of riches with pitching but are running out just an embarrassment on offense. Their clean up hitter was Molina..not a good sign. The odds are that the Giants wouldn't be interested in what we would have to offer but you have to ask. I would think that a package of KJ, Kotchman, and a couple propsects would at least keep Sabean on the phone for a couple minutes. After thinking about it he might see that an up and coming offensive 2B with a decent hitting (with upside) 1B with an excellent glove, could help his team immediately. If nothing else you could put Rowand #4 and flank him with KJ in the #3 hole and Kotchman in the #5 hole...moving Molina to the #6 hole. No murders row but it would lengthen and strengthen their line up with some younger players.

If that doesn't produce immediate traction:

2) Call Dayton and tell him it is time to fish or cut bait for Grienke.

If that doesn't produce immediate traction:

3) Call Towers one last time and see if he still wants to sit on Peavy? (Not likely to go anywhere...but you have to ask).

Phase 2-Scenario#1: Offense-FA

1) I sign Wiggington immediately. Not exactly an offensive stud but he can play a little defense everywhere. By the time the music stops you may need him in LF, RF, 2B or 1B and he is a RH bat with some power.

2) As you are working on Wiggington you at least TALK to Texiera. You don't contact Boras you have Chipper call Mark and feel him out. If he is willing to consider an Atlanta discount you seriously press the issue. If you have a young pitcher under contract from the trade...Tex offers you the cornerstone bat you need and a centerpiece for the Braves when Chipper retires.

3) Go after Dunn. (Especially if you trade Kotchman as you can play Dunn at 1B or LF and him being LH isn't as critical with Kotchman gone).

Scenario #2

You can't trade for the pitcher you wanted so now you have to go Free Agent direction:

1a)You offer Sheets a heavy loaded 2 yr contract with heavy and profitable incentives and hope he and Smoltz can together put upr about 1.5-1.75 seasons next year.

1b) Make sure that Smoltz is staying put

2) Go after Derek Lowefor a 3 yr deal...not likely but you have to ask.

3) Look at Looper for a 2 yr deal. Nothing fancy but could be a decent #4.

4) At this point just look at a couple upside guys for one year deals: Benson, Penny, Capuano..and how someone pans out.

Phase #2:

Trade for a bat:

1) Sign Wigginton. See above.

2) Trade for Ankiel to play CF and let Wiggington play LF. You then let Schafer mature and assuming Franceor hits better then Blanco and/or ANderson then Prado or Johnson hit lead off.

LF Alternatives

calbers — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:16:29 -0000

We have all heard the same names in the LF scenarios for the Braves:

Dye

Ludwick

Dunn

Ibanez

Ankiel

and more recently names like Hart or Hermedia have come up. Given that many of these options appear to be expensive I was trying to look at some other options that may not have been mentioned but could provide some more creative solutions to the issues.

1) Edwin Encarnacio: He is relatively young and probably isn't destined for 3B for long. However, appears to be athetlic enough to make the transition to LF. He is a RH hitter and is only 25 yrs old. His numbers this year were a reasonable:

.251	.340	.466	806

Not awe-inspiring but decent numbers that you could expect would improve. His 26 HRs would help the line up a good bit.

2) Ben Francisco: He is part of the log jam in Cleveland for their OFers that include Sizemore, Choo, Francisco and Guiterrez. Francisco is probably the one with the lowest ceiling but could be an above average LF and can even play a little CF. I don't think he would be a stalwart in LF but might be able to add some depth and factor into the equation-especially if the CF scenarios don't pan out or if Frenchy can't rebound.

.266	.332	.438	770

3) Alex Rios: Probably not real likely but he could come in and play LF or CF for the Braves and given that the Jays already have Wells in CF the value to the Jays for Rios in RF is diminished. However, he is considered a 5 tool guy that is starting to put his game together-probably more pipe dream then reality.

.266	.332	.438	770

4) Eric Byrnes or Chad Tracy: I admittedly don't know anything about the health of Byrnes. However, assuming that he is coming back the DBacks have Byrnes, Tracy, Upton, Young, Jackson, and Romero all fighting for 4 spots. Given that they are supposedly cash strapped right now one would think that one of these two guys could be had for prospects. Granted they didn't want to trade Tracy last year, but twas for a rental.

Tracy

267

.308

.414

722

BYrnes-'07

286	.353	.460

Any other suggestions?

Bench

calbers — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:43:49 -0000

The bench was discussed on the telecast a good bit today and Wren brought up the need to have a proven PH on the bench. Someone that could strike some fear into the opposition when trying to determien match ups.

That being said I am not sure would might be available. I went through and was thinking abotu what teams need pitching and what team might take on a free swinging LH 1B with potential power upside.

Then it came to me: the Giants. They need EVERYTHING. So would Rich Aurillia fill the need of PH and back up corner infielder for the Braves? If so, would the Giants be willing to part with him for one of the Braves's extra arms and Thorman? Given how thin they look everywhere the could probably take someone like Thorman on and give him a few ABs in the hope of catching lightning in a bottle. Aurillia has no value for them as they are going to finish dead last anyway with that offense. I don't care how good your Starting pitching is.

Backup 3B

calbers — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:38:54 -0000

I honestly don't think Chipper hamstring is serious. But again, it begs the question. When he does get injured who is going to play 3B? I am guessing that Prado is the most obvious choice for extended playing time. Especially early in the season as Infante is still not even available. I would argue that if Chipper actually went on the DL that Infante can't hit enough to be an option either. Prado, however, I think can hold his own with the bat as a #8 hitter. Otherwise; who else is there? Pena?

Bench

calbers — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:43:45 -0000

This is one area I would have loved to see the Braves expand on. If just a little. Looking at the bench right now I just don't see that go to pinch hitter like a Dwight Smith, or a Franco of years past. Diaz had been that guy the last couple of years but with him in a quasi regular role I don't think they have that person.

I think we all saw last year the horror of watching Woodard, Thorman and Orr come up and swing...and swing with absolute futility as pinch hitters. Harris was hot for a little while and when Diaz wasn't starting he was a PH extraordinaire. However, who is that person going to be this year?
Infante? Infante may be a hell of a glove guy and can play everything but closer but he is not a "professional bat off the bench." His career OBP is .298. He is still young and could get better but my hunch is that he will hit ..well...not so good.

Lopez could actually be the solution as the primary bat off the bench, but is Bobby going to let his back up catcher take a crack in the game early? If that is the case does that mean that Sammons catches on as the #3 catcher and eat up that roster spot?

Ideally this is where I would like to have seen one more signing...one more trade.

I just saw that Cintron got signed by the Cubs. Funny how that works. We trade to get Infante and they take our prospect and sign Cintron for little or nothing? I realize that Infante is far better with the glove. However, Cintron to me could be a serviceable PH/Bench player. He is a switch hitter. He can play multiple positions. He has a little pop and he makes contact. I realize that his OBP is also poor at .313 but he doesn't strike out. I tend to believe that this has value for a pinch hitter. He could also have been someone who could have filled in at 3B if Chipper went down and not have destroyed the line up.

However, now that Cintron is gone who would I like to see for the Braves bench:

Jeff Kippinger: The guy does nothing but HIT. He can play multiple positions and hold his own. He doesn't strike out has a little pop...and did I mention that the man can hit? He could also be a platoon option for KJ at 2B when the urge to platoon strikes Bobby( That is a joke. Please don't platoon KJ again this year!). He is also a nice insurance policy if Chipper goes down. I don't want to imagine Chipper being out for 2 weeks and Inante getting 40 ABs. I doubt that he would be available from the Reds right now given that the Reds see themselves as potential contenders, but he would have been nice.
Robert Fick/Vinnie Rottino/Javier Valentin/Eric Munson/Matt LeCroy All of these guys are kind of the same guy: Not really good catchers but perhaps enough of a bat to help out and be a possible pinch hit option. Even better is that most of these guys were so bad as catchers that they also learned other positions. This would be valuable for depth of bench. It would also allow Bobby to use Javy Lopez early as a PH because he would have someone (besides Matt Diaz) that could catch if needed.
Mike Sweeney: I think Mike wants more of a fulltime job but if he would take a role as the Braves primary PH bat and occasional AL DH he would be great. He has said he would be willing to put on the tools of ignorance every once in a while if needed; again a way to have a 3rd catcher on the team without having to waste a roster spot.
Shannon Stewart: He can still hit and run a little. He is just not a good OFer anymore. If we have a bench with Brandon Jones and Omar Inante then you could get away with sending Josh Anderson and Greg Blanco to AAA for more work. If Kotsay got banged up either Infante or Brandon Jones would be able to get you by for a couple of innings..maybe even a game in CF. Why not put a valuable bat in that roster seat and give Josh Anderson or Blanco an opportunity to get ABs not sit on the bench and only get 85 ABs for the year. The only way either would get significant time would be if Kotsay got hurt. In that case they can take the Richmond shuttle in and be there in a day. Not a big deal.
Mark Lorretta: I think the Astros had to go to Arbitration with him and it probably ended up costing them some money. They are not going to contend this year. If they would be willing to trade him for a bag of balls and the braves pay his salary. I would take it. He can play the infield and is a good hitter. Again could be a gapstop at 3B if Chipper gets hurt.
Greg Norton: He is one of these guys that comes along and produces every couple of years. He has put together a couple good years for Tampa Bay coming off their bench. He is a switch hitter and could not kill himself playing 3B/1B/RF/LF.

I am open to other ideas but I think this is an area that could have been easy, cheap and a very effective way to improve the Braves team as a whole and they haven't done it yet.

SB Nation User Blog: calbers

Is 6 enough??

Giants vs the Braves

Are you #$*(#%* kidding me!?

Do we have a starting LF right now?

Swisher?

Today is a whole new day...a fresh start!

LF Alternatives

Bench

Backup 3B

Bench

Are you #$(#% kidding me!?