SB Nation User Blog: scstrato

Frank Wren was interviewed this morning by MLB on XMRadio. Thought everyone might like to hear...

scstrato — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:08:28 -0000

Frank Wren was interviewed this morning by MLB on XMRadio.

Thought everyone might like to hear some of his responses:

On if there is money left to sign an impact bat: "... Yes, there is money left."

He briefly addressed Andruw Jones saying that is something the team will internalize and discuss quite a bit over the next few days. Basically nothing new here except it's clear that Andruw coming back is not a "lock" as some have proposed.

He also talked about trade options for acquiring a bat indicating there were 3 or 4 really good players that are available that he is interested in. He also made it very clear the team is going to take their sweet time before making a move. I'm speculating here but obviously Swisher and Nady come to mind, anyone want to guess at the other two?

Cafardo on Lowe, Dunn and Sheets

scstrato — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:31:29 -0000

Cafardo on Lowe, Dunn and Sheets

The Braves appear to be an "emerging" suitor for Adam Dunn. Granted it's from a Boston sportswriter, so take it with a grain of salt.

Ben Sheets is also mentioned, the writer speculating that he and his agents are realizing there is no "big" deal out there for him. Whether this means he's actually on the Braves radar or not I don't know, but I am liking the fact that Sheets name is being linked much more often with the Braves recently. Maybe this will get Frank to at least make a phone call.

You will have to back track to page four for the update on Lowe, granted it's not much. He's speculating that all three NL East teams are still in the running, which I can guarantee you is exactly what Boras wanted in the first place. Honestly I wouldn't care if the Braves passed on Lowe and went straight to Sheets considering the potential difference in cost/terms.

Jordan Schafer profiled at Fangraphs

scstrato — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:36:40 -0000

Jordan Schafer profiled at Fangraphs

Peter Bendix compares Jordan Schafer to Grady Sizemore though he does note some differences as well. Nice read, does a good job of putting Schafers '08 stats in perspective. Love the closing paragraph ...

"Schafer is still young and may struggle in his first taste of the big leagues. Don’t expect him to storm into the majors like Jay Bruce did last year. However, if Schafer gets 300 at bats, he could hit 10 homers and steal 10 bases, while scoring and driving in a fair amount of runs and hitting .250 or so. There is some value in a player like that, especially a mid-season waiver-wire pickup. Schafer’s long-term star is very, very bright, but his 2009 may be somewhat of a disappointment."

Pettitte over Sheets?

scstrato — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:16:38 -0000

Pettitte over Sheets?

River Ave. Blues has a new entry that agrees with a Newsday article (full article) on why Cashman and Co. now prefer to sign Pettitte over Ben Sheets.

It seems Sheets and his agent just lost a bunch of negotiating leverage. The poster wonders what this will do to the market for Sheets. It leaves me wondering IF there is a market for Sheets now.

Note to FW - would it really hurt to offer a low-ball type contract? If the market really has disappeared maybe he might accept. There is always the possibility that the Brewers pony up the cash, but we have no chance if you don't try!

Axelrod pissed, Peavy Dismayed

scstrato — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 03:28:32 -0000

Axelrod pissed, Peavy Dismayed

Absolutely love this article. This proves that Towers totally botched it, Peavy has no clue and Axelrod is a whiner!

My guess is Peavy gets stuck with SD and falls deeper into depression (if only he and his agent had played along instead of trying to control things). Axelrod will continue his whining, at least until the trading deadline. AND Towers will now have a permanent scar (Moores boot half way up his ass!).

A month ago the Braves were willing to provide the Padres with a package highlighted by Escobar. ...

scstrato — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:39:09 -0000

A month ago the Braves were willing to provide the Padres with a package highlighted by Escobar. But because they used Brent Lillibridge to acquire Javier Vazquez last week, they no longer are willing to entertain thoughts of dealing Escobar, who one veteran Braves player considers, "the best shortstop in the National League."

http://hotstove.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/12/braves_still_not_ready_to_revi.html

Bowman basically says the Padres would have to initiate talks in order for them to even consider trading for Peavy. Even then they would not be willing to include Escobar. If this is true I'm back on the "Get Peavy" bandwagon.

CC Sabathia is not going to play on the West Coast. He is not going to play in the National League....

scstrato — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:03:43 -0000

CC Sabathia is not going to play on the West Coast. He is not going to play in the National League. CC Sabathia is going to be a Yankee, The Post has learned exclusively.

Joel Sherman | New York Post

This may be good news or bad news depending upon your desire for A.J. Burnett to pitch for the Braves. Either way, I believe this will keep the Yankees from over bidding for his services.

What if the dominos fall just right?

scstrato — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:05:57 -0000

Fangraphs has an article up regarding a potential 2009 Braves rotation. Marc Hulet does a lot of speculating, the signing of Burnett / Smoltz returning to the rotation / Glavine not being re-signed, but it's a good read none the less.

I've said it before but I'm one that agrees with the prediction that Smoltz will return to the rotation if at all possible. I'm also hopeful we cut ties with Glavine. Love the guy, but I feel he's lost a little too much to be competitive. Another question mark is whether Burnett could throw 190 IP's. I'm sure that one will spur a lot of debate.

Click Here

Update: Hanson/Schafer/Heyward off limits?

scstrato — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:17:05 -0000

Hat tip to NEBravesFan33 for the link.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3659970

FW has apparently sent an email to the associated press debunking "most" of the rumors that have been posted lately on who's being offered for Peavy. I for one am happy Wren has tried to clarify the Braves position, but I'm afraid he's left a few too many loose ends untied. I want to say i'm clearly speculating here, but the lack of definitives in his statement opens the door for misinterpretation. Unfortunately we don't get to see the entire email, so we're still left to "some" guessing.

Wren's first statement: "From our perspective we still feel the same and we are looking to the future when that next wave of talent I spoke of arrives in Atlanta,". What does this mean? It could mean exactly what most of us hope it means in that Heyward, Schafer and Hanson (among others) are not being offered. BUT, it also could mean something else. Rather than speculate, let's see what else is in the article.

Next we have: "Many of the trade speculations that have been written over the past few weeks are inaccurate,", He goes on to clarify: "For the most part they are simply an outsider speculating what we might do and not what we would do.". I have a love/hate opinion with this comment. I love the fact he's proving some of our points about "don't believe everything that's written" but I hate the fact that he didn't specifically target some of the rumors. Then again, why should we expect him to? Unfortunately this leaves us right where we started, at least IMO, trying to guess who is on the board and who isn't.

Last, and probably the most important sentence in the entire article, the writer indicates that Wren believes Thomas Hanson will make his MLB debut at some point in 2009. He also adds that we should not expect him to make the rotation right out of spring training. Although it doesn't specifically state that his debut will be with Atlanta, I think it's safe to assume this will be the case.

So, does this article give us definitive proof of who's safe and who's not? In my opinion, outside of Hanson, it does not. What is your take?

Yep, he said it ...

scstrato — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:27:36 -0000

Or wrote it actually. From Mark Bowman, Braves beat writer for MLB.com

" During the Arizona Fall League last year, Jordan Schafer legitimized himself as a top pitching prospect".

Link to the article: Here

I realize this is probably a simple oversight, but c'mon ... this guy is supposed to be a professional beat writer. Anybody else have any funny beat writer/blogger gaffes they'd like to share?

I need ten more words to reach the quota.