SB Nation User Blog: scottyboy10

Your favorite/least favorite players

scottyboy10 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:39:10 -0000

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.

My top 5:

5. Knowshon Moreno. As much as I hate Georgia, I always liked this guy. Just unbelievable talent. I hope it works for him in the NFL. On the other hand, I hope Stafford is a bust.

4. Chris Johnson. Dude is super fast. That is all.

3. Matt Ryan. The Falcons are my number 2 team, so losing to them was even worse, but it was a fun game to watch. He is a fantastic quarterback. They got a good one for many years to come.

2. Calvin Johnson. He is a freak. This mostly comes from me being a Georgia Tech fan. But it is very unfortunate he was drafted by the Lions.

1. Adrian Peterson. Awesome back. No question he is one of the top running backs today, probably THE best running back.

Not top 5:

5. Tom Brady. He deserves to be on here twice

4. T.O. Nuff said.

3. Jay Cutler. Crying his way out of Denver.

2. Brett Favre. Nuff said.

1. Tom Brady. Nuff said

5 concerns after the Fins vs. Falcons game

scottyboy10 — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:39:44 -0000

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.

Looking back at the offseason

scottyboy10 — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 22:11:59 -0000

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.

Poll

Which of these players would you most like to see on the Braves?

Rafael Furcal

4 votes

Jake Peavy

5 votes

A.J. Burnett

2 votes

Andruw Jones

41 votes

None. We are fine as is

26 votes

78 votes | Poll has closed

Andruw Jones trade?

scottyboy10 — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:45:34 -0000

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?

Tense

scottyboy10 — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 01:36:18 -0000

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."

2008 Lions would beat the '72 Dolphins?

scottyboy10 — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:13:38 -0000

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.

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/12/12/the-2008-lions-would-beat-the-1972-dolphins/#cont

Furcal's Physical

scottyboy10 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:32:42 -0000

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.

In fact, at Kinzer's request, the team had sent him a term sheet, which one Major League general manager said is only utilized after a verbal agreement has been reached.

scottyboy10 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:27:19 -0000

In fact, at Kinzer's request, the team had sent him a term sheet, which one Major League general manager said is only utilized after a verbal agreement has been reached.

Apparently, Furcal made a verbal agreement to us, and so we sent him a term sheet. Then, he goes and signs with the Dodgers. This is a breech in a verbal contract, and, if I am not mistaken, what Furcal did illegal. Technically, we could sue Furcal for signing with the Dodgers. I am not 100% certain about this, but I think it is right.

Waiting

scottyboy10 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:46:47 -0000

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?

Furcal chooses LA

scottyboy10 — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:23:18 -0000

Furcal chooses LA

Wow. Is he seriously going to give us a "gentleman's agreement" and then go sign elsewhere just because he would have to play second base? Seriously, it isn't that much different. I just lost all remaining respect I had for Furcal and his agents.

What I am waiting for is him to tell the Dodgers he will accept their offer and then come back and sign with us. I just have a gut feeling.