I would just like to start off by saying that I am in no way rosterbating, or suggesting we somehow acquire Evan Longoria. I am simply wondering whether you guys would rather have Longoria or Jason Heyward on your team. Another thing is that I am not well educated on sabermetrics like most of you, so forgive me for using simpler stats. Feel free to discuss the advanced stats in the comments.

Now to the post.  Me and my friend were having a discussion recently about this, and I would like to know your opinions. Evan Longoria is one of if not the best 3rd basemen in baseball. And his contract is very team friendly. He is currently 25 years old and is signed through 2016, when he will be 31 I believe. He is very slick on defense, and very good with the bat. His 22 homers last year was the least he had in his 3 seasons, with 33 being his highest. His lowest OPS was .874 in his rookie season, but he has never passed .900. But he is very capable of doing so. He is also pretty good on the basepaths, stealing 31 and only being caught 5 times in 3 years. His career WAR according to Baseball Reference is 18.1, which is an average of almost 6.1 per year.

Now for Jason Heyward. I probably don't have to explain much about him for you guys, but I will anyways, just so it can be an easier comparison between the 2. Heyward is 21 years old, and is under team control until 2016. He become arb eligible in 2013. So for those few seasons, he probably will be getting paid more than Longoria. You guys know what he can do. 18 homers, .849 OPS, and an OBP of nearly .400. All of this as a 20 year old rookie who played for about a month and a half with a crappy thumb. Who knows what he is capable of if he can stay healthy. He is also very good in right field. Some might even say he is capable of playing centerfield. He stole 11 bases last year, but was caught 6 times. Heyward had a WAR of 4.4 last year, again according to Baseball Reference, which is higher than Longoria's rookie season.

So there is it. Who would you pick? If I told you to disregard salary because it will be the same each year for both of them, then who is your choice?

Imagine, if you will, that it is the week before the Super Bowl.  Jeff Ireland was just fired from his job, leaving a big opening.  Well Stephen Ross calls....YOU! Thats right, you are the new GM of the Miami Dolphins. Fun right? Not so fast. Now suppose it is February 7, 2011. The day after the Super Bowl.  The Patriots won it all again.  Roger Goodell is tired of the NFL being so top heavy, so he decides it is time for a change.  At a press conference, he states that each team will get to put 5 players on a keep list, and the rest of the players on that teams roster go into a draft pool.  The draft will have a random order each round.  

Now it is your job to decide the 5 players you will keep. Being a GM sure is tough, isn' t it?  Who should you keep?  

Let's assume all the kept players will be assigned new contracts.  5 years and 5 million a year each.  Just to keep contracts and pay out of the argument. And on that note, I will now present you with my top 5.

1. Jake Long.  Goes without saying.  One of, if not the best, LT in the game. 

2. Cam Wake.  He leads the league in sacks. Cmon. You gotta keep him.

3. Brandon Marshall.  He is one of the top receivers in the game.  You really can't let him get away.

4. Vontae Davis.  He is a great young corner that will only get better.  I think these last 2 spots is where we are gonna start getting different opinions.  The top 3 are all no-brainers in my opinion. 

5. Karlos Dansby.  He is one of the better MLBs in the business, and those are very valuable in the NFL.

So maybe on second thought this isn't gonna be as diverse as I was expecting.  But I don't care.  Lemme know who you would keep and why.

Well I have seen many of you say that if Heyward begins the season as our Opening Day RF, which I hope he does, he will be a Super Two player.  I was just wondering what that means.  I'm guessing it's not a good thing by the way some of you talk about it.  But I want an answer on what that actually means.  I think that Heyward should start if he proves he is ready regardless of that.  Of course I might be wrong because I'm not sure what it means, but Jason most likely will give us our best chance to win more games and get to the playoffs.  Thanks.

So coming off of a tough loss, it might be a good idea to ease the mood and just have some casual football talk.  So who are your favorite non-Dolphin players?  Same for your least favorite.  Give any reason you want.  Or don't even give a reason at all.  It doesn't matter. 

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I was at the Georgia Dome to watch this game today, and it was not pretty.  I must say, I was surprised at the amount of Fins fans I saw there.  There were at least 2 areas that were all aqua and orange, along with many Dolfans scattered around.  But anyways.  We're 0-1.  We started 0-2 last year.  Plenty of time to turn it around.  But there was a things that I noticed this game that concerned me.  Things that we will need to fix soon if we want to contend.

5. Lack of the Wildcat

We only used the Wildcat on 2 or 3 plays today.  No, I wasn't expecting it 20 or 30 times, but maybe at least 8 to 10 times.  It was one of the most effective offenses last year when we ran it, so I am puzzled as to why we did not use it more.  I feel like we should use it more than we used it today.

4. Special Teams

I counted at least 3 times Ginn took a kickoff out of the endzone only to end up at the 15 yard line at the farthest.  You can probably put some of this on the blocking, because at least 2 of them were only 2 or so yards into the endzone.  You either have to block better or realize your guys can't block so don't take it out.  Bess did an ok job on punt returns, but there wasn't much to work with there.  He pulled one great spin move right after catching one to avoid a tackle, which was a good sign.

3. Pass Blocking

Pennington was getting pressured way too much in this one.  Every time he dropped back, he was rushed to get it off.  The line did alright run blocking, so they definitely need to work on the passing side of it. 

2. Pass Defense

Matty Ice tore us up today.  Short, medium, long, it didn't matter.  Great protection from their line and our secondary just couldn't cover Gonzalez and White.  We also couldn't contain them when they dumped it off to Turner or Mughelli, who scored a TD on a pass.  We did fine stopping the run, which was expected.  I wasn't expecting us to shut down their passing game, but I wasn't expecting them to tear us up either. 

1. Chad Pennington

Yes, I am questioning the almighty Chad.  On TV, you might not have noticed how many open recievers down field he missed.  I lost count.  He NEVER took a shot downfield.  Our only long pass was Pat White overthrowing Ginn.  To go along with missing open recievers, he never even looked downfield.  Every play, he would look at the tight end, then the running back, then choose one and dump it there.  Sure, he didn't have the best protection so not much time, but come on.  At least check to see what's going on out there.  The only time he threw one more than 10 yards was on 3rd down or 2nd and very long. 

So there are my 5 concerns from this one.  Our run game and defense did alright, and Camarillo had one amazing catch.  Other than that, not much positive here.  We lost 19-7.  Should have been 26-7 if Elam hadn't missed 2 field goals and one extra point.  But it's the first game.  15 more to go.  If we can fix these things, then we should be alright.

The 2009 offseason was long and complicated.  We made a few moves to make us a better team, but also lost on some moves.  Let's take a look at what could have been.  There were quite a few players we almost signed or traded for, but missed out on. 

Also, I am not much of one for all of the advanced statistics, so I am just going to be going over some basic ones.  But please, feel free to discuss any other stats you wish.

Rafael Furcal

Let's start off with the one we were closest to obtaining.  After verbally agreeing to a deal, he suddenly backed out to re-sign with the Dodgers, mainly because he wanted to remain a shortstop, not move to second base.  He would have given us the lead off hitter we have needed since he first left for the Dodgers in 2006.  But he has been underperforming this year, hitting only .256 with a .331 OBP.  Add a SLG of only .350, and you have a .682 OPS.  But a double play combo of Escobar and Furcal would certainly be one of the best in the league. 

While Furcal has not been doing too hot this year, the player we have been putting on second instead has been worse.  Hitting only .214 with an OBP of .286 and a SLG of .359, Kelly Johnson has certainly been the worse of the two players.  But the extra 5 million we would have to paid Furcal was probably not worth a mediocre improvement.  Now with Prado at second, we seem to have the position covered.

I would take him over: no one. N other acqusition this offseason would have taken so much money for an average performance.

Jake Peavy

Peavy was another one we had in our hands, but the Padres backed out at the last minute.  This year, Peavy has an ERA of 3.97 with 92 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP.  While he might be performing better if he was with us, it was probably not worth the cost of Escobar.  Add in the fact that we already have one of the best starting staffs in baseball, and the Peavy trade looks like it would have been a bad trade for us, considering we would most likely be without a good everyday shortstop. 

I would take him over: no one.  The Vazquez trade has given us a better pitcher for alot less, in terms of players cost.

A.J. Burnett

Burnett seemed like another sure sign, but backed away from us to the Yanks.  Burnett has a 3.77 ERA with 101 strikeouts, but 53 walks, the most in the AL.  At the time, it looked like we would absolutely have to get Burnett to have a decent starting staff.  Once he got away, it was looking bad.  But the Vazquez trade and Lowe signing have given us a great staff.

I would take him over: no one. Lowe has cost us less money, and performed about the same.  He has struggled recently, but if he gets back to the form he was in at the beginning of the year, we definitely got the better one of the two.

Andruw Jones

While we never actually decided to pursue Andruw, it was talked about.  Jones is definitely one of the candidates for comeback player of the year, with 14 home runs and a .869 OPS.  This is in limited action, as he has only played in 50 games this year.  His defense is not what it used to be, and that is the reason he is a DH for the Rangers.  But he could still be an above average corner outfielder.  His .231 average is low, but his OBP is .101 points higher, at .332. 

I would take him over: Garret Anderson.  Andruw would most likely provide better defense as well as more pop, which this team desperately needs.  GA gets on base more, but they are usually just singles and he often does not come around to score. 

If there is anyone else I might have left out, please, let me know.

I know your initial reaction to this is NOOOOO!!!!!!  But hear me out.  The Rangers really have no room for him.  He is their fifth outfielder and backup DH.  On top of that, he is having a pretty good season so far.  Granted, he only has 64 AB, but he has 16 walks and 14 strikeouts.  Much better than he has been the last two years.  He is hitting .297 with a .439 OPB and .594 SLG.  He also has 4 home runs so far. Once again, 64 AB, but even through this much time the last two seasons, he completely awful.  I know he was awful his last season with us, but can he be any worse than GA?  What we need is another OF bat, and he could provide that.  But what would we have to give up for him?  Jo-Jo and Brandon Jones/Blanco?  Or would the Rangers want more?  What do you think of the idea?  And what would we have to give up for him?

Why is everybody so tense here?  Almost every fanpost is "OMG our rotation sucks we are gonna get killed this year" or  "Frank Wren is the worst GM in baseball" or any other negative stuff.  I know we are coming off of a rough year and this off-season has not been much better.  But seriousy.  I love going to "The Phinsider" because it is always fun over there.  We make jokes.  I actually laugh at stuff I read online.  That doesn't usually happen.  Then I come here and almost everything I see is talking about how stuff is going so horrible for us.  We aren't the Pirates here people.  We aren't the Nationals.  We aren't the Royals.  We are Braves fans.  Sure, we had a bad year last year.  So what?  Did anyone watch the Rays last year?  Was anyone expecting the Phillies to win the WS?  I am in no way comparing us to the Rays or Phillies, but anyone can come from nowhere any season. 

I know some of you are going to comment this that if I love going to the other sites so much, then I just shouldn't come here and I should stay there.  I know that.  I know some of you will comment this about our rotation or FW or something else negative.  And you know what?  Go ahead.  I don't care.  Because I am staying positive.  We didn't get Peavy?  Oh, well we keep Yunel and Gorkys.  Furcal snubbed us?  Oh, well Kelly does a fine job at 2B.  We gave up Flowers?  Oh, well at least we got a good pitcher in return.  Besides, we got McCann, an All-Star catcher.  Yeah, it was frustrating watching us play last year.  But as someone said on here before, "I would rather watch bad baseball than no baseball at all." 

Over on AOL Fanhouse, blogger Michael David Smith posted an article saying that this year's Lions could beat the '72 Fins.  This may seem really crazy and out there at first, but he brings up some good points.

The 2008 Lions have the worst defensive line in football, and they routinely get pushed up and down the field. But they would destroy the 1972 Dolphins, whose best offensive lineman was the 247-pound Bob Kuechenberg. The 2008 Lions have an inept offensive line, but it's an inept offensive line that outweighs the 1972 Dolphins' defensive line by 50 pounds a man.

That is a good point.  Now bigger does not always mean better, but it does in most cases.  I think that their d-line could push around our '72 o-line.  He goes on to say Calvin Johnson would tear up our secondary, which I cannot argue with.  Being a Georgia Tech fan and watching him tear up every secondary since his high school days(yes, Calvin Johnson went to a rival high school of my high school), I cannot argue with this point.  He would easily tear up almost any NFL secondary if he had a good QB.  I was not alive to see the '72 undefeated season, but just by reading that, it almost has me sold.

I highly doubt you can do this, but Buster Olney makes a great point.  Furcal's deal was pending on a physical.  This is what he says

"...his representatives are assuming nothing about whether he will pass a physical examination and are working diligently to create a landing place in the event Furcal's deal with the Braves dissolves because doctors in Atlanta don't like what they see."

I did say that I doubt that you can work an another deal just in case you do not pass your physical, but I'm not quite sure.  If you can, then that puts a whole new twist on this whole thing.  He just wants to make sure he will play next season.  If you can't, then nothing changes.  He stabbed us in the back and we once again are left looking like a bunch of fools for the third time this offseason.

Here is a link to where Buster Olney says this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3774929&name=olney_buster

This is what Kinzer has to say about it:

"They know we didn't have a signed contract, that we didn't have even a verbal agreement. We had, 'Things look very good and Raffy's going to sleep on it,'" Kinzer said after a news conference for another client, Francisco Rodriguez.

Riiiiiiiiiight.  That is why you asked for a term sheet.

I thought about this in about 30 seconds, and it really could happen.  I will lay out the scenario.

It is nearing February, almost Spring Training time.  Furcal has injured his back after signing with the Dodgers by lifting a heavy box(I just had to throw that in there.  It makes no difference to the scene).  Ben Sheets and Adam Dunn have still not been signed.  Would it not be smart to give them 2 year contract offers each?  Really, that is all we would need them for.  After 2010, JJ and Hanson should each be nearing their potential, and Heyward, Schafer, Gorkys, and hopefully Francoeur will be good outfielders.  Sheets will fill in as our number 1 pitcher until Hanson can take it over, and Dunn fills in our power hitting outfielder until Heyward can take that over.  Really, this isn't that far out from reality.  Dunn is getting very little interest from anybody, and Sheets isn't exactly being talked about too much either.  Also, Griffey might still be available.  I know he isn't the best defender anymore, but he would be a LF, the same position Manny plays.  I know he is a better fielder than Manny.  What do you guys think?

Honestly, if someone told me the Braves would acquire Javier Vasquez and Rafael Furcal sometime during this offseason, I would have told them to go to the doctor.  They have some kind of mental disorder.  But we have them.  And they are two great acquisitions.  I don't know why so many of you are against both of them.  gondeee made a great point on his post.  When was the last time the Braves made the playoffs?  2005.  When was the last time we had a good leadoff hitter?  2005.  When was the last time Furcal wore a Braves uni?  2005.  In part, that is coincidince.  But really, most of it is not.  We have not had a good table setter since Furcal.  We have had many good 2 hole hitters.  Giles, Renteria, Escobar, Johnson, and Blanco just to name a few(ok, maybe all).  And you can't win in the MLB without a good leadoff hitter.  Yes, you might be able to offset this with power, but we don't have very good power.  Yes, we now have three middle infielders worth starting.  But is that not a good problem to have?  I would rather have three than only one or none. 

On to Vasquez.  Seriously, he isn't a number one starter.  But he is a better number one starter than JJ or Smoltz, unless he returns completely healthy.  JJ could be a number one in the future, but not yet.  Still unproven for the most part.  And by 2010, we will have a number one.  His name?  If he recovers completely, Tim Hudson.  Yes, he is good enough to be a number one starter.  Is he as good as Peavy?  No.  Is he as good as Burnett?  I think he is, and without too much of an injury history.  And by the time Huddy leaves, we should have a new number 1, if one of them doesn't pull a Chuck James.  Either Jair Jurrjens or Tommy Hanson.  Vasquez isn't here to be too much of a big pitcher for us.  More of a gap filler for Hanson and JJ to completely develop. 

Overall, Frank Wren has done a good job this offseason.  If you don't think so, then I will not hold it against you.  You are entitled to your own opinion.  And mine is that FW is doing a good job so far.

According to MLB.com, we have three of the top 50 prospects.  #38 Freddie Freeman, #24 Charlie Morton, and #3 Jason Heyward.  #21 is Elvis Andrus, who was one of the prospects we gave up to get Tex.  I didn't look to see how many each team has, but we have to be up at the top.  What suprised me(maybe not total shock, but a little suprise) was that Jordan Schafer was not on the list.  I don't know if they don't want to include him because of the HGH or they just don't believe he is top 50 caliber, but he is a very good prospect.  Definitely top 100.  One that I am shocked didn't make it is Tyler Flowers.  I know we just traded him, but he still is dominant.  But it's nice to know guys like Freeman, Hanson, and Heyward are getting respect.  Heyward and Hanson were not suprises to see on the list, but I wasn't really expecting Freddie to be on the list. 

I don't know how much he would cost, but he would be a nice addiction to our pen.  I understand that we have a very talented bullpen when they are all healthy, but they have problems staying healthy.  Yes, Mike Gonzalez finished last season great as the closer, but Hoffman is still the best ever.  I think he would be a nice addition.  But it is unlikely we even go after him.

Go Braves!

mlbtraderumors.com reports that we are close to a deal with catcher David Ross. 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

It is reported to be a two year deal.  I like this potential signing because it gives us a good backup catcher.  We have lacked that since the days of Estrada and McCann.  Ross gives us a reliable backup who has shown some power with a pretty good OBP.  The two years gives us a gap to develop a young catcher and not rush anyone, as we did with Clint Sammons.  The problem is now that Flowers is gone, who?

I would like to open this by stating that I believe we can and will make the playoffs.  Now, look at our schedule.

@Toronto, San Francisco, @KC, @ NY Jets.

Not too bad, right?  Well, I might be wrong.  Whether we play down to them or they play up to us, we cannot put away the bad teams and we make it too close.  Now a win is a win, and I will take a 2 point win just as easily as I would take a 20 point win, but one mistake could change the game or even the whole season.  4 of our 7 wins have been by 7 or less.  One pick-six, one big defensive meltdown, one play in each of those games and we could easily be 3-9.  Completely out of the playoff race.  Wondering who is going to the Draft this year and who we will take.  And honestly, that is where I expected us to be coming into the season.  But we suprised.  I do like that, but four little mistakes and we could be in such a different position.  The four teams that we beat by 7 or less points?  The Chargers, Raiders, Seahawks, and Rams.  Not exactly powerhouses. 

But two of our losses have been really close.  A fluke touchdown that should have at least been knocked down and a last second QB sneak by Schaub.  We could be 9-3 as easily as we could be 3-9.  That just shows we aren't a lock to make anything.  We could easily make it, but we could easily not make it.  We could almost be locked in the playoffs.  But we could be a lock for a top 10 pick.  Yes, I hope we make it.  Yes, I think we can make it.  But nothing is for sure.

Ricky and Ronnie need a nickname.  All of the other good two back tandems in the league have a nickname, and it's time our own two-headed monster gets one.  It's kinda hard to come up with one for them, because most two back systems have one power and one speed back and are named accordingly.  But both Ronnie and Ricky are fast and powerful.  I think Rock n' Roll Train would be good for a few reasons. 

1. That is a great song by AC/DC.

2. Once they get going, they pound you like a rock, and the whole team rolls like a train.

3. Both of their names start with R.

What do you guys think?  If not that, then what do you think it should be?

Would it not be smart to sign Furcal and then explore trading KJ?  I think we could get at least decent value for KJ, and I wouldn't want to trade Escobar.  Plus, having two shortstops up the middle woudn't be a very bad deal, either.  Worst case, we could get one or two decent prospects for KJ.  More likely, we could get a decent major league outfielder for him.  Someone who might not be exactly what we are looking for, but a good filler for Cody Johnson/Heyward/Gorkys Hernandez.  What do you guys think?