Don't fuck this up Freddy, or Fredi, or Freddee or whatever your name isAn overachieving team finishes the only way a Braves team knows how: with a loss in the playoffs.Time to play GMArbitration eligible:Prado (1st time, $440k): Offense was completely lost without him, and the defense was Brooks Conrad. 27 next year, which means this is his prime. Should get a decent-sized 3-4 year deal, assuming injury concerns don’t come up.Melky (3rd, $3.1m): The worst defensive centerfielder of our generation and he puts up replacement-level offense. Cannot possibly resign him. Non-tendered the second it’s possible.Diaz (4th, $2.5m): Still valuable against lefties of the bench, not sure why Bobby used him so much against righties late in the season. 33 next season and worthless outside of left field, hopefully he won’t see the same huge drop in production he saw this year. 50/50 on him, money could probably be better spent elsewhere.Jurrjens (1st, $480k): 25 next year, but had a bummer of season this year. I’d be happy if he went to arbitration and got <$2m, but he’s a Boras client, so who knows.Moylan (3rd, $1.1m): Numbers are starting to deteriorate and he got absolutely shelled by LHB this year. He was awesome in August and September and is still a huge part of the pen if used correctly. Definitely coming back.O’Flaherty (1st, $440k): There are three dozen lefties in the pen, but O’Flaherty is great against either LHB or RHB. Definitely back, probably through arbitration for cheap.Potential free agents:Glaus ($1.7m): Played like an MVP in May and June, then like a 33 year-old with bad knees the rest of the way. 17 PA in Sept/Oct says Bobby had no confidence in him off the bench. He’s gone.Lee ($13.2m): Bounced back nicely after being traded and was probably our second best hitter down the stretch. I’d really like to see him re-signed if the price is right, then shopped if FFF comes on. Probably too expensive though, doubt he’s back.Gonzalez ($2.5m ’11 club option): Basically a better defensive option than Yunel was, more power (that mostly disappeared in Atlanta). Completely useless late in the season, but we don’t have anyone waiting behind him. Price for next year is cheaper than this year, probably back.Infante ($2.5m ’11 club option): Fourth highest VORP on the team, but played like a utility player down the stretch. 50 points over career batting average this season, 60 points over career OBP. Probably will regress next year, but price is right (nearly $2m cheaper than ’10) to bring him back as the super utility guy. Should be back.Ankiel ($6m ’11 mutual option): Great arm, but still bats like a pitcher. Thanks for that bomb in SF, but no way he gets a near $3m raise. Definitely gone.Conrad (minimum): Provided the best and worst moments in recent Braves history, and will never work in baseball again.Hinske ($1m): Somehow he absolutely murdered LHP in limited PA. Career splits say he’s still a lefty-righty matchup guy, though. Valuable off the bench or in the corners. Should be back unless someone with a big checkbook gets involved.Saito ($3.2m): Surprisingly effective for a 40 year-old, but he ended the season hurt and I would think is considering retirement. If he’s re-signed, it should be ~$1m plus incentives.Farnsworth ($5.2 ’11 club option, can be voided by Farns): Fuck him.Under contract and worth discussing:Chipper ($13m, ’13): He’ll try to come back in ST, but it’s gonna be hard. 39 next season, his numbers before the injury were almost dead-even with 2009. Hopefully he can play replacement-level at third and not fall apart completely. He’s our hitting coach of the future. McCann ($6.5m, ’13): Worst year of his career offensively, but still one of the better defensive catchers in the league and the staff loves him. Needs to bounce back next year. $6.5m is still a good deal for his level of production from the catcher’s spot.Heyward (minimum): If not for the injury in June, he probably would have run away with the ROY. Still, a great first year for a 20 year-old. Plate discipline is good, but needs to protect better outside. I like him as a .290/.400/.450 guy, could put up 30 HR/20 SB in a year or two. No reason to give him a Longoria contract yet.McClouth ($6.5m, ’12 w/buyout): Who the fuck wrote this contract? Completely untradeable, useless at the plate, a joke in center. Should be the International League’s highest-paid player next year. Freeman (minimum): Showed us almost nothing. A good ST, though, and first is his to lose.Lowe ($15m, signed through ’12): Earned the shit out of his contract over the last month and half. Should be the opening day starter, but he’s getting pretty old.Hudson ($9m, ’13): Far and away our best starter last season, but had a rough September. I’d like to see the same numbers next year, pretty good chance we will.Kawakami ($6.6m, ’11): One of the perks of his contract is 8 round-trip business or first-class airline tickets between Tokyo and Atlanta. Hopefully he still has one left, otherwise the club is out $2k in airfare to ship him back to Japan.Hanson (minimum): Solid but inconsistent second season. If he can turn it up a little against righties, he’ll be an ace.Medlen (minimum): On the shelf until at least September last I heard. Shame, too, he was really coming on before the injury.Venters (minimum): I feel like Bobby really used Venters long after his expiration date. You could tell he was gassed the last few weeks of the season. I guess it’s down to him and Kimbrel to replace Wagner, we’ll probably see both early in the season.Projected opening day roster:C McCann1B Freeman2B Prado3B ChipperSS GonzalezLF Bill Hall (or someone of similar caliber. A shitty signing, but he’ll be affordable)CF Jason Werth (Absolutely no way we sign this guy. He’s old, he’ll be overpaid, but boy would he look nice batting 5th.) (Also, I wish Jordan Schafer was still on HGH)RF HeywardBN Ross, CBN Infante, UTBN Mauro Gomez / minor league IFBN Hinske, LFBN McClouth, PariahSP LoweSP HudsonSP HansonSP JurrjensSP BeachyRP MoylanRP O’FlahertyRP DunnRP VentersRP Julio Teheran (No way he actually breaks with the team, but I’m sure he’ll get a shot)RP Some FA ScrubCL KimbrelOne big bat and a healthy year from most of our starters and it's 90+ wins again. The Phillies offense is getting old (see also: my comments from 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010) and their bullpen is crap, but they're going to be contenders as long as that rotation stays together. The Mets are going to lose 100 games, the Marlins have no reason to field a contender before the new park opens. The Nationals, especially if they re-sign Dunn are going to play better than .500. They'll probably win the season series with the Braves again and could finish third. All told, I think we've got a great shot at the division next year.]
10/12/2010 11:24:15 PM
first!2011 NL East champs!
10/12/2010 11:25:31 PM
^^That's how you start a thread.
10/12/2010 11:29:46 PM
Dont forget about Mike Minor I think he should beat out Beachy for the 5th starter's spot.
10/12/2010 11:36:58 PM
I didn't forget about him. Minor and Beachy will fight for the last spot in ST, but Beachy is the more polished pitcher at this point. Minor is probably going to start at Gwinnett. He could be in the pen, but he wasn't very good in his one relief appearance this year.
10/12/2010 11:41:05 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5679565Fredi Gonzalez? Not sure what I would think of that hire if I were a Braves fan.
10/12/2010 11:51:06 PM
iop1Great first post Ernie...Love the Fredi hire. Like that he is willing to bench people who don't hustle and play well regardless of who they are. Hope it works out for him, but damn talk about some shoes to fill.
10/12/2010 11:55:08 PM
Yeah Freddiey has been on tap for at least a yearAnd I'm a fan, he's definitely a manager in Cox's moldIt won't be the same, but it won't be Jerry Manuel
10/12/2010 11:57:14 PM
10/13/2010 12:08:28 AM
Hopefully he hires a decent hitting coach. I hear chippers dad is available.
10/13/2010 7:45:45 AM
iop1 that i'm not very excited about the Gonzalez hire. But I will let it play out and see how the chips fall
10/13/2010 8:04:33 AM
Ernie w/ the homerun (if you will) of a thread start
10/13/2010 8:43:47 AM
iop1, and will be at Turner Field for the home opener. CHOPPIN' THRU THE NIGHT.
10/13/2010 8:45:56 AM
With the pieces we have in place already (starting pitching, solid young relievers, prado, heyward, mccann, and freeman) we have a bright future, especially considering our bench players that we will resign and our crop of a farm system. We obviously need to upgrade the offense with an outfielder and get a veteran reliever, but I have faith in Frank Wren to get all that done. I don't understand why people don't trust making Gonzalez the manager, I thought he did a great job in Florida with what he was given and he was very close with Cox while he was a coach in Atlanta and will make the transition smooth. Would you rather have Pendelton as the manager......? Don't think so
10/13/2010 9:13:24 AM
Fredi was about .500 with an ok team. So I'd say he did a pretty good job. Hopefully we'll be a good team, he's a pretty good manager, and we'll continue to make the playoffs.
10/13/2010 9:45:27 AM
Great first post to the 2011 thread Ernie.I'd feel a lot better about next year if Medlen was healthy. I'm still holding out hope that Chipper can convince Wagner to come back next season. I feel him being there one more year would really set up Kimbrel as his successor and give us time to determine if Venters was simply a one year wonder.
10/13/2010 9:52:57 AM
Good call on SnitkerI can't tell you how many times I was watching a game and said to whoever was next to me that Snitker has no clue what he's doing out there. I don't know if he or Hubbard are responsible for baserunning instruction, but we looked better last year than the few years before. Not nearly as many dumb mistakes -- and Heyward has baserunning instincts better than any young player I can remember.
10/13/2010 10:02:41 AM
^ Hubbard is worth keeping too. Guy helped Prado become a much better 2B and probably can help Infante too at 3B and 2B as a fill-in. 1B coaches have little impact on the game normally so I don't really care who is there as long as that coach is helping somewhere else and Hubbard seems to. Snitker just made too many poor decisions to send the wrong guys at the wrong time (i.e. stop sending McCann home from 2B unless the ball is in a gap or down the line) or was passive at the wrong times. I'd rather be aggressive as hell all the time or passive all the time, not that wishy-washy shit we saw last year that was fail after fail. I'm sure the players never really knew what the hell he was going to throw up which probably impacted how well they made the turns.[Edited on October 13, 2010 at 5:43 PM. Reason : j]
10/13/2010 5:42:01 PM
10/13/2010 7:32:22 PM
so they fired the two guys you agreed were good, and kept two that are bad? fucking sweet braves. at least terry won't be the hitting coach anymore.
10/13/2010 7:38:17 PM
Ugh. I was hoping they wouldve kept Hubbard and fired snickers and TP. How does that make TP feel? That's a huge demotion right?
10/13/2010 7:42:15 PM
Yeah, TP is a bitch for taking that demotion. No surprise about Cadahia. Manager's always gonna bring in his own right hand man.It's sort of surprising that both TP and Perez would stick around. Both were considered outside candidates for the job, but it's obvious that neither was ever even interviewed or considered seriously.]
10/13/2010 7:44:54 PM
What the fuck are the Braves doing? Why in the hell would you keep Snitker? TP must have zero options to accept that demotion. Keeping Perez is good. All bench coaches are worthless anyway outside of Don Zimmer. Managers still make all of the calls even if they are thrown out of the game. Glad McDowell is coming back too. Dude has been doing a good job and getting better each year. Pitching certainly is not our problem.
10/14/2010 9:01:53 AM
I really wish we would have kept hubbard, I've heard nothing but great things about him. He's been with the organization for almost 40 years I think, and he made marcus giles, kelly johnson and prado legitimate second baseman. We should have kept him and let snitker go. I'm happy with pendelton not being the hitting coach anymore though, depending on who we fill that position with
10/14/2010 9:56:59 AM
10/14/2010 12:22:49 PM
^^I've heard Nate McClouth is on the list
10/14/2010 1:16:22 PM
10/15/2010 9:56:38 AM
stupid stupid rumor going around town:Hanson, Freeman, Venters for Pujolshahahhahahahahahah
10/15/2010 9:40:13 PM
Melky's gone
10/19/2010 1:42:52 PM
10/19/2010 1:55:41 PM
article on yahoo about free agents/expiring contracts and where they could end up:http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ti-hotstovepreview102510Throws the Braves name in when talking about Grienke, Fielder, Werth and Kemp. Anybody think the Braves will go after any of these guys?
10/26/2010 2:29:20 PM
I'd love to see the Braves get Grienke. Fill the gap that Medlen and possibly JJ are leaving in the rotation. Probably no chance in hell it happens unless he signs for a discount, but one can dream.Also it would be awesome if the Braves could somehow add Kemp. He'd fill so many needs in one shot. Hope the Braves really make a run at him.Fielder makes no sense. They do not need another 1B.Werth will be the most overpaid player in MLB in about two years. Fuck that guy.[Edited on October 26, 2010 at 5:12 PM. Reason : df]
10/26/2010 5:11:02 PM
Linking Prince Fielder to the Braves is about the dumbest free agent rumor I've ever heardPlus dude was a bitch when he got beaned in Atlanta this summer--Also Hudson won comeback player of the year--And DOB mentioned a few trade scenarios for Rasmus. Prado, Venters, Vizcaino and some other minor league pitcher whose name I can't remember were mentioned[Edited on October 26, 2010 at 7:18 PM. Reason : ]
10/26/2010 7:12:25 PM
Rasmus isn't that good. I wouldn't give up much of anything for him, however I would take him over our current OF (except heyward of course)
10/26/2010 9:58:12 PM
^^Where did DOB talk about these trades possibilities? I looked on the blog and didn't see the article.
10/26/2010 10:43:15 PM
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/10/25/francoeur-in-world-series-chippers-rehab-update-etc/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blogAnd it was Kimbrel, not Venters
10/26/2010 10:57:54 PM
Its gonna be a disappointing season for Braves fans...who are hoping to see their manager get ejected a lot
10/26/2010 11:21:58 PM
10/27/2010 8:53:08 AM
Per the AJC, Jim Presley may be the front runner for the hitting coach job. He was with Freddi in Florida as the Marlins hitting coach. Just off gut feel, I hope they get someone else.
10/28/2010 10:59:02 AM
Ha ha triple post.Anyway Larry Parrish, former Tiger and Expo catcher, is the Braves new hitting coach. Hope he's better than TP.
10/30/2010 7:39:04 AM
should have gotten Bonds. Barry Bonds.
10/30/2010 8:57:56 AM
The Braves are keeping Gonzalez and Infante. Two good moves. They bought out Ankiel and Farnsworth - two no brainer moves. Looks like they are going to let Lee and Glaus walk and may still try and resign Hinske. I hope they do keep Hinske. Freeman will be the 1B next year.All of this per the AJC. Also they decided to keep Procter even though he pretty much missed all of 2010They also still have five other players to deal with:
11/3/2010 8:21:14 AM
Braves claim Joe Mathers off of waivers from the Cardinals. We also released Saito.
11/3/2010 3:16:22 PM
Chipper Jones is hanging it up.[Edited on November 5, 2010 at 10:23 AM. Reason : inside information. TWW news. You hear it, First!]
11/5/2010 10:17:48 AM
^ You're a f*cking liar!
11/5/2010 10:32:45 AM
and that's why i said chipper would be on the bench, with prado at 3B and infante at 2B. because his old ass is going to be coaching.
11/5/2010 10:43:58 AM
Uggla for Infante and Dunn.
11/16/2010 6:14:11 PM
11/16/2010 6:19:26 PM
I hate the Braves, but damn...that's a steal IMO.
11/16/2010 6:24:41 PM
Good dealUggla is pricey, but he's guaranteed to mash and his average is irrelevantHaving a player like Infante is awesome, but his stock will never be higher and Uggla/Prado/maybe Chipper make him dispensable
11/16/2010 6:43:35 PM