SB Nation Blog: themurph

Opening Day 25 man roster

themurph — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 03:51:22 -0000

Humor me for a second:

MI: Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, Omar Infante

Corner Inf: Chipper Jones, Mark Teixiera, Scott Thorman

OF: Matt Diaz, Brandon Jones, Josh Anderson, Jeff Francoeur

C: Brian McCann, Clint Sammons

SP: John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, Tom Glavine, Jair Jurrjens, Chuck James, One of Jo Jo Reyes/Hampton/Bennett

Bullpen: Rafael Soriano, Peter Moylan, Manny Acosta, Will Ohman, Royce Ring, Blaine Boyer, Tyler Yates

Thoughts? Anyone know if Ring has any options left so he can go down to Richmond when Mike Gonzalez is ready in June?

Braves Top 20-John Sickels

themurph — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:44:30 -0000

[editor's note, by gondeee] - I promoted this from the diary so it doesn't trump the trade news. Damn! There's a lot of news today.

John Sickels top-20 list is out.

I've never seen this many B's in one of his lists. 11! Cody Johnson at 20?

All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change.

Jason Heyward, OF, Grade B+
Jordan Schafer, OF, Grade B+
Brandon Jones, OF, Grade B+
Tommy Hanson, RHP, Grade B+
Joey Devine, RHP, Grade B
Brent Lillibridge, SS, Grade B
Gorkys Hernandez, OF, Grade B
Jair Jurrjens, RHP, Grade B (worried about his health)
Cole Rohrbough, LHP, Grade B
Brandon Hicks, SS, Grade B
Jeff Locke, LHP, Grade B-
Steve Evarts, LHP, Grade C+
Jamie Richmond, RHP, Grade C+
Jose Ortegano, LHP, Grade C+
Kris Medlen, RHP, Grade C+
Julio Teheran, RHP, Grade C+ (all hype and scouting reports at this point)
Tyler Flowers, C-1B, Grade C+
Chad Rodgers, LHP, Grade C+
Jose Ascanio, RHP, Grade C+
Cody Johnson, 1B, Grade C+

MiLB 2007 Org Review

themurph — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 20:50:14 -0000

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/season_in_review/y2007/index.jsp?sid=milb&mlbid=atl

The winds of change are sweeping through Atlanta. Sort of.

Long-time general manager John Schuerholz stepped aside, and Frank Wren is in. There's a vacancy in center field in the big leagues for the first time in a long time, and some of the system's top prospects were traded away during this year's playoff hunt. But some things won't change -- the Braves will continue to develop from within.

Torii Hunter to Braves? - his own words

themurph — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:22:34 -0000

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071017&content_id=2270739&vkey=news_mlb&fext=. jsp&c_id=mlb&partnered

He is apparently good friends with Dmitri Young...

"I always talk to my wife about being interested in playing in front of the African-American fans and trying to get the African Americans back to playing the game," he said. "If I go to Atlanta or D.C. and make a difference that way, I would love it. Trust me -- D.C. is very interesting to me as well as Atlanta."

I admire that stance actually...I hope we can get him. Give Schafer plenty of time to learn and not rush him into the 09 lineup.

Prospects we have left

themurph — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 20:12:14 -0000

And by that I mean guys that 'could' be a part of the big club next season. I would think that our roster would be very similar to this one next season.

Yunel Escobar, Brandon Jones, Dan Smith, Joey Devine, Will Startup, Jo Jo Reyes, Tony Lerew, Brent Lillibridge.

That's decent enough...would've been nice to get Arroyo though.

BA Prospect Hot Sheet

themurph — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:12:08 -0000

Who's hot?

20. Cole Rohrbough, lhp, Rookie-level Danville (Braves)

Striking out more than one batter per inning in each of his previous four starts, Rohrbough followed that up with 11 strikeouts in six innings July 13, and another 11 strikeout performance Thursday in five innings. The 2006 22nd rounder from Western Nevada Community College, one of this year's highest-profile draft-and-follow signees, has used a fastball that has touched 94 and a power spike curveball with excellent depth and a changeup to record 42 strikeouts and just six walks in 25.1 innings.

Who's not?
Eric Campbell, 3b, high Class A Myrtle Beach (Braves)

It's not often that we get repeat showings in this category, but Campbell's .130/.213/.217 July average certainly justifies a second straight "Not Hot" listing. A 2004 second-round pick out of an Indiana high school, Campbell has yet to play his way to Double-A in his third full pro season and appears to be in Myrtle Beach for the long term with a .210/.293/.374 overall average.

Oscar Villarreal

themurph — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 21:45:46 -0000

We still haven't resigned him yet and the arbitration hearing he is facing is fast approaching...this week I think.

Anybody read or hear anything about what the numbers are that the two sides are discussing?

I know we will resign him, but I thought it would have been done by now. I believe he is the only Braves player that could potentially go to the courtroom.

SI.com Team Previews

themurph — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 20:44:11 -0000

Actually it is Athlons previews...http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/specials/spring_training/2007/athlon/braves.html

If you want to get discouraged go ahead and read the Mets outlook for CitiBank/Jackie Robinson Field and the revenues that will be created through just the naming rights and advertising revenue on the new tv channel. Here's a sneak peek...$20 million a year for 20 years...that's just the naming rights.

I'm sure Ted would be ok with Capital One(or whomever)/Turner Field if it would mean that kind of cheese heading in the direction of the Braves!

RotoWorld Prospect List

themurph — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:20:45 -0000

They have posted the top ten NL East prospects over on Rotoworld. Chalk up another expert thinking Salty will bounce back.

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/features/column.aspx?sport=MLB&columnid=2&articleid=27653

The Marlins are really loaded. Let's hope they get sent to Portland, Oregon sometime soon. What I hear about their stadium plans though is that they are getting close to something happening there.

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=584

Update [2007-1-29 20:8:29 by gondeee]:

Many thanks to "themurph" for pointing out the RotoWorld prospect list. Here are the Braves top-15:

Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Matt Harrison
Eric Campbell
Elvis Andrus
Joey Devine
Brent Lillibridge
Jo-Jo Reyes
Brandon Jones
Anthony Lerew
Yunel Escobar
Chase Fontaine
Kala Ka’aihue
Steve Evarts
Van Pope
Cory Rasmus

It’s an interesting list if for no other reason than it is the first "commercial" one we get after the trade that brought us Lillibridge. They rank him sixth, which is lower than we have him. They also put Jo-Jo pretty high – much higher than any other major site.

Ryan Langerhans

themurph — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 03:53:05 -0000

Has anyone read any stories lately on how Ryan Langerhans is doing?...I ask because I think he should hit leadoff against righthanders and Kelly Johnson should hit eighth.

I just don't like Johnson leading off and a two-year vet in Langerhans hitting before the pitcher.

He's got more speed than Jelly Belly Kelly (his nickname last year, I hope this is not true anymore) and some power...why not? I know Johnson walks a lot, but it's not that significant.

Whatever JS and BC decide I think this offense is top 3 in the NL when it is all said and done. I'm also a homer though.