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May 05, 2009 Dec 24, 2009 68 7275

My name is Scott. Livin in the deserts of Southern Arizona. Oh, and I f'ing love the Atlanta Braves.

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Here are some of the questions from the chat. I'll put the questions and Badler's answers in bold and my imput in italics:

David (Queens, NY)
In regards to the haul the phillies got for Cliff Lee, Would you say Atlanta got more for their ace Javy Vazquez?

Ben Badler (2:12 PM)
Yes. I'd rather have Arodys Vizcaino than any of the prospects the Phillies got for Cliff Lee.

Now that everything is said and done with, I'm really pumped for this Vizcaino kid. He was definately a big reason for this deal.

Phil (NJ)
Who pitches in the majors first: Arodys (Vizcanio) or Aroldis (Chapman)?

Ben Badler (2:14 PM)
Chapman. I like Vizcaino but he will probably spend the entire year in low Class A, whereas Chapman should probably start in either high Class A or Double-A (though I wouldn't be surprised if the team that signs him gives him a more aggressive Opening Day assignment).

Man, the pitching at our lower levels will be stacked.

Zoey P (Augusta)
Ben - I hadn't heard about Arodys Vizcaino until yesterday? What's your take on him, and where would he be on your Top 100 list?

Ben Badler (2:24 PM)
Coming into the 2009 season I had Vizcaino as the No. 77 prospect in baseball when we had our BA top 100 meeting, and I've been talking the guy up for the last two years now. After the season he had this year, I imagine he'll move up, with a chance for top-50 status.

Again, I'm really pumped to watch this kid develop. With Vizcaino, we'll possibly have 4 top-50 players when the rankings come out.

Ryan (Roswell)
Heyward the real deal? Do you have him as the #1 prospect?

Ben Badler (2:38 PM)
He's not going to be a star this year, but I'll be surprised if he's not one of the top players in the league within the next few seasons. It's either Heyward or Strasburg for the No. 1 prospect, although the usual edge that a hitter has over a pitcher due to health might not apply here as much, since staying healthy is just about the only skill Heyward hasn't shown thus far.

Badler makes a great point here. The only thing Jason Heyward hasn't done in his career is stay healthy for a long period of time. Hopefully, as his body matures, he'll stop getting these nagging injuries.

Jason (Atlanta)
So where would Vizcaino rank in the Braves system if BA reranked them today? Ahead of Teheran?

Ben Badler (2:41 PM)
Either No. 3 or No. 4 behind Heyward and Freddie Freeman. I'd probably put him No. 3, right ahead of Julio Teheran.

Interesting the he has Vizcaino ahead of Teheran. IMO, I'd put him 4th right behind JT, but I'm not paid for my prospect coverage.

about 23 hours ago Heywardaaa_tiny mvhsbball 6 comments 2 recs

the Braves' 11th different Opening Day starting 1B in the last 12 years. Good lord.

Freddie Freeman, you better tear it up in Atlanta for a long, long time.

1 day ago Heywardaaa_tiny mvhsbball 9 comments 0 recs

Man, 3 months ago, who woulda thought this team would be #17?

Stein also gives some love to Casspi. Nice to see. Omri is going to be a stud.

3 days ago Heywardaaa_tiny mvhsbball 24 comments 0 recs

Opening Day Lineup Contest

Can you believe it?  Only 105 more days until opening day!  It does seems like that's quite some time, but with so many questions left on the Braves -- 1B, LF, RF, which of our 6 starting pitchers get traded, bench, etc. -- there's no doubt there will be plenty of stories to develop over the next 3 and a half months.

As of right now, this contest is just for bragging rights and a big air-five, but maybe someone will be able to round up a prize package or something.  I think it would be great to see everyone's predictions for the upcoming season...and heck, this is almost like rosterbating, so I'm sure we'll have a ton of participants. :)

All entries are due by 11:59 PM (Eastern Time) December 31st, 2009

Continue reading this post »

86 comments  |  2 recs

MattyD avoided arbitration today, signing for $2.55MM, a 106% raise going into his 3rd arbitration eligable season.

Gotta love Matt. And $2.55MM doesn't seem like very much money to have one the best hitters against lefties in Major League Baseball on your roster.

I really wish the Braves would find another CF, so we could create a platoon in LF of McLouth and Diaz. That would be a beastly duo.

12 days ago Heywardaaa_tiny mvhsbball 2 comments 0 recs

So....this kinda gives us an interesting situation if Raffy really accepts arbitration. It looks like Frank Wren might've acted a little too soon with Wagner and Saito.

17 days ago Heywardaaa_tiny mvhsbball 4 comments 0 recs

All I want for Christmas is...(the Atlanta Braves version)

The holiday season is here and it's time to make our Christmas lists!  For me, however, I'd much rather have a few things from the Braves this offseason. Here's my Christmas list to Frank, Bobby and Co.

Now, this is not going to be a serious post. It's not meant to rival the great writings from CB, RoyHobbs, Yondaime4, PWHjort, and so on.  If you disagree with something I say (like a stance I have on the All Mighty Marteeeen Prado), don't get all defensive and mad about it. It's just for a little fun.

So, here's an open letter to Santa from a Braves fan:

Continue reading this post »

73 comments  |  0 recs

Oh the weather outside is frightful...

and our old rosterbation thread is no longer delightful. And since we've got no place to go, let us rosterbate, let us rosterbate, let us rosterbate!

Alright, so maybe my calling in life isn't song writing (if you can even call it that), but I do know when it's time for something new.

We can really fill up a rosterbation thread. And it's definately time for a new one. The "old" one from a week ago has broken 300+ comments and the hot stove is only going to heat up with all the arbitration offerings and trade talks. A month and a half into the off-season, the Braves still have a ton of questions remaining:

Do we make a trade for the "impact bat"?

Which of our starters do we trade?

Do we invest all our money in one reliever, like the Muts did? Or do we invest money in multiple low-risk/high-reward veterans, like the Red Sox did?

Who mans 1B for us in 2010?

And so on and so forth. There's a ton of stuff worth discussing.

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Have at it boys and girls.

355 comments  |  8 recs

Finally. Finally. Finally. It's about time the old man steps down.

26 days ago Heywardaaa_tiny mvhsbball 10 comments 0 recs

Yeah, okay. What a joke.

I know this isn't Kings related, but it amazes me how stupid some writers can really be.

about 1 month ago Heywardaaa_tiny mvhsbball 0 comments 0 recs