21 Jul
If we’re going to sell we better hurry up game thread: July 21, Braves at Marlins
Once again, this video is dedicated to a very special enormous whiny baby.
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Once again, this video is dedicated to a very special enormous whiny baby.
Continued from the last thread…
On Cox: The thing about second guessing managerial decisions is one must assume that the opposite move would have been successful. This is most likely not the case, most of the time.
We have also seen Bobby fail to make a move and it worked out anyway. Hard to know, but if he had pulled the trigger we wanted him to it might have cost him the game. The net effect of his unconventional in-game decisions probably have not cost us more than 2-3 games this year.
His roster management (by this, I include the use of the bullpen pitchers) is what I think hads been the real problem.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:04 pmAlso, I am hoping we lose a couple of games off the Division lead this week. Merely, losing to the Nationals and staying 6.5 games back may not be enough to get Frank to push the “sell” button.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:09 pmHeaded to the Bronx tonight & this is the recurring theme 3 years running:
Braves’ fortunes waning in late July;
Yanks/Mets on the upswing;
Sitting through a Yankee game listening to playoff talk;
Me watching some dumbass strut around a stifling Yankee Stadium in a 100% polyester Mets jersey, drawing very solicited abuse;
Me wanting to strafe the stadium with painful, yet non-lethal shot. (After a few $9.50 Becks, the fantasy becomes lethal.) Ya-freakin’-hoo.
Re: Everything Must Go?
I can’t commit to any specific idea on the immediate future of the team until I hear some genuine options. Sell, yeah, sure—but for whom? For what?
I don’t see any reason to chuck our good players, like Hudson, unless something becomes available that’s just too good to pass up.
Otherwise, keep him. If it’s true that we’re not that far from being genuinely competitive we’re gonna need him. That’s the debate.
But dumping him just because we can’t make the post-season this year? No comprende. In MLB, getting bad is certainly no free pass to getting good.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:10 pmFrom last thread:
Let’s call it like it is…Bobby’s bullpen mgmt has been beyond dismal for some time now. He was never a great offensive manager, it was always starting pitching and fundamentals with BCox.
By the way the Braves will beat the Marlins tonight.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:10 pmIf we lose our next six, we won’t sell
July 21st, 2008 at 2:11 pmper the website….Top prospect Jordan Schafer entered Sunday hitting just .135 (7-for-52) in July. After serving a 50-game suspension for using HGH (human growth hormone), the 21-year-old outfielder showed promise while hitting .274 (26-for-95) in June.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:22 pmEven if we don’t trade Tex, I think we definitely need to move Will Ohman unless we intend to spend the money to keep him next year. A lefty having the year he’s having should get us two decent High-A pitchers with moderate ceilings.
That said, management should only do this if they’re confident going forward with Ring and Gonzo as the two lefties in the pen. Frankly, I wouldn’t be disappointed if we kept Ohman around next year, but at the same time, he’s a very solid trade chip.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:24 pmDunno what we could expect back from the Yanks, but they could use Ohman. Their bullpen has no lefties; in fact, I think Pettitte is only LHP on the team.
Their bullpen has been strangely good since Chamberlain joined the rotation, but a lefty wouldn’t be bad for them to add. Ohman’s certainly a better roster fit than LaTroy Hawkins.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pmThere’s a lot of people out there interested in a lefty arm from the pen. Ohman’s ideal since he’s shown he can also get out RH hitters and is at his contracts end, giving the acquiring team the option to either re-sign him or just let him walk away and get a supplemental round draft pick in compensation.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pmI like what the Brewers are doing…Ray Durham was a great pick-up.
The Braves will probably win two out of three against the Marlins and then get swept by the Phillies. They have no confidence against the Phillies. It’s seems like yesterday when people were forcasting the Braves to run away with the division with Smoltz, Soriano and Gonzalez in the bullpen…sad.
The Phillies are trying to get Holliday too? It’s going down to the wire with the Mets and Phils, unless Wagner is really hurt.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:55 pmIf the Braves aren’t going to resign Ohman, then they should probably trade him. Plus, relief pitchers tend to be inconsistent so you don’t really know what Ohman would do next year; although his track record outside of Wrigley is pretty good, giving a relief pitcher relatively big money is risky. Still, if you start trading away useful players for prospects, you have to understand that this will effect your ability to contend next year. Does it make sense to bite the bullet for, say, a middling prospect?
July 21st, 2008 at 2:56 pmNow my day is GREAT!! Loudmouth Shockey can take his tired act to New Orleans. Good deal for both clubs.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:57 pmMet fans are funny.
Two days ago they were hating on Wagner something fierce—”He chokes in the clutch, even the All-Star Game!”
Today, they’re singing the blues about him—”We need him, at least to beat the Phillies.”
Obviously, they’re not content unless they’re somehow miserable.
July 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pmI can understand trading Ohman, but having a bullpen with Taverez, Acosta, Nunez and Ring is bad beyond words – heaven forbid, but we’ll probably call up Jorge Julio next! If 4 of the above stay in the bullpen the rest of the year, we’re in serious danger of suffering through a lot of blowouts (similar to Sunday’s 15-6 debacle) – at least we won’t lose as many one run games! Are there any updates of Stockman’s injury status?
July 21st, 2008 at 3:03 pmI just stumbled across one great site:
http://espn.inside-edge.com/
For starters, go to the scouting report section and compare the “chase zones” of Jeffy and, say, Chipper & McCann. Very impressive!
July 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pmLike we needed more evidence that Francoeur sucks
July 21st, 2008 at 3:18 pmI think they missed a couple of “chase zones” on Frenchy. Like the low-outside, I see him chasing sliders out there all the time. Oh and don’t forget the ones OVER his head and BEHIND him.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:19 pm“Like we needed more evidence that Francoeur sucks”
Absolutely the line of the day.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:20 pmplease keep Ohman unless you getting a starting OF for him. He has been good and you can always trade a lefty to the yankees in the future. 3 mill for 3 years is not a bad contract for him and he said how much he likes it here.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:35 pmtrade Ring for a bad of potato chips.
td@14,
Stockman got in a game at Richmond last night. Pitched an inning. No strikeouts. kept an inherited runner from scoring. No runs given up.
But, he threw something like 10 balls and 7 strikes.
If he can get his control back over a few appearances to where it is for him (not very good, but with 96 or 98 coming at you, that isn’t so bad), then he needs to come up and see if he can pitch at ML level the rest of the year.
I still think he can be a dominant right handed set up guy, maybe even a “CLOSER” tm.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pmJuly 21st, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I think Frenchy’s prime zone is balls bouncing in the dirt. Maybe he thinks he is playing cricket.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:47 pmExcept he falls in the “Bobby won’t ever put him in unless we are down/up 6 runs” category
July 21st, 2008 at 3:47 pmAs to Ohman,
I would LIKE to have him for a few years, but I don’t expect the Braves to offer a multi year deal and I expect him to get a multi year offer. So, it is time to either (a) trade him for something better than the possible pick(s) or (b)hold him, offer arb and take the picks.
Even thought I think we should be SELLING if there is a good outfielder (preferably right handed hitting) that can be had in exchange for something that we either (1) have in surplus or (2) need to move, then do it.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:06 pmWe are all joking and kidding but Jeff Francouer is the worse offensive right fielder in the NL, hell who are we kidding all of baseball.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting?split=0&league=nl&season=2008&seasonType=2&sort=slugAvg&type=reg&ageMin=17&ageMax=51&state=0&college=0&country=0&hand=a&pos=rf&startDate=null&endDate=null&minpa=0
What will make this season even worse, if Chipper doesn’t at least win the batting title and right now he is at .373, with King Albert sitting at .359. I don’t like the odds.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:09 pmIn honor of the previous thread comment “get back in there and SELL, SELL, SELL!!!
Frank the bird man: What would you do, Mr. Braves Journal, if faced with a market like this?
Braves Journal: I figure young Hank has got to be scared that he isn’t going to live up to the Boss’ standards. I say he knows he needs a left handed reliever. You let him stew and then you pounce and send him Ohman and get back that Jackson kid. Then you will have you an outfielder.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:09 pmOur boy Freddie Freeman hits the big time. Austin Jackson is also mentioned, by the way.
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080721&content_id=435199&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
July 21st, 2008 at 4:13 pmAlso, a good week for our return on the trade of the “earlier hard thrower.”
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080721&content_id=435316&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
July 21st, 2008 at 4:15 pmThis freeman guy has been unbelievable; out-hitting our uber-prospect hayward. Is this out of nowhere? Can Freeman play LF? Tex at 1B; Hayward in RF.
July 21st, 2008 at 4:53 pmno escobar again tonight.
blanco
July 21st, 2008 at 5:33 pmkj
chip
tex
bmac
little baby jeffy
kotsay
llillibridge
Lineups:
LF Blanco
2B Johnson
3B Chipper
1B Teixiera
C McCann
RF Francoeur
CF Kotsay
SS Lillibridge
P Campillo
Marlins
SS Ramirez
July 21st, 2008 at 5:35 pmRF Hermida
3B Cantu
LF Willingham
2B Uggla
1B Jacobs
CF Ross
C Baker
P Volstad
If we can, we should try to trade Kotsay too. He’s in the last year of his contract, and someone might be looking for a CF or some bench help.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:37 pmIf he comes back later in the series, I guess it’s nothing, but that’s a bit disappointing after Bobby’s postgame comments last night. Said the plan was to start Escobar tonight.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:40 pmdid Soriano get taken off the DL tonight?
July 21st, 2008 at 6:15 pmNo.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:23 pmany updates on that situation? they waiting till tomorrow to bring Soriano back? he have a setback?
July 21st, 2008 at 6:28 pmA run! And a chance for more!
July 21st, 2008 at 6:29 pmNo idea. You may want to check the comments in the AJC blog to see if DOB has said anything about it. His name is bolded on the comments so you can skip around the others.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:30 pmCampillo’s BA > Francoeur’s BA
Francoeur sucks
July 21st, 2008 at 6:32 pmSurprising that Francoeur didn’t whine about the (good) call.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:33 pmbrilliant! thanks.
this is what DOB said, if anyone else was wondering…
“Braves are sending down Vlad Nunez to open spot for Soriano. I thought it might be Tavarez, but maybe his couple of scoreless innings granted him a reprieve. That plus they know he might decline the assignment, like he did with Milwaukee.”
July 21st, 2008 at 6:33 pmtypical braves.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:34 pmJust one run. Typical.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:34 pmbraves14 dont be silly, once we load the bases with no one out, we can only score one run. Its a law
July 21st, 2008 at 6:34 pmIs he activated for tonight?
July 21st, 2008 at 6:35 pmAt least scoring only one run doesn’t surprise anyone.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:37 pmFrenchy fell on his ass.
Man, that was hilarious.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:57 pmWatching on gameday here, what was so hilarious?
July 21st, 2008 at 6:58 pmSorry, didn’t see the top part of your post. Did he fall during his swing?
July 21st, 2008 at 6:59 pmIn fuller detail:
Frenchy had beat out an infield single, but the throw got past Jacobs and Frenchy, already running through the bag, reacted, trying to run to second. But instead his feet flew out from under him and he pulled a near face plant on the dirt and had to get back up and dive back to first base to avoid being tagged out.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:00 pmThank you for the description. That was very detailed.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:04 pmI believe Soriano is available tonight.
Chipper sure botched that pop-up.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:05 pmAs for insane plays, we just had a routine popup, Chipper called off McCann, then the ball fell untouched and rolled foul.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:06 pmBut the umpires give the Braves a gift, for once, instead of the other team.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:07 pmIt would nice of the hitters to give Campillo just a little more to work with,
July 21st, 2008 at 7:09 pmThat was definitely a gift. Contrary to Joe Simpson’s commentary on the issue, that ball clearly grazed Chipper’s glove in the replay.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:10 pmSimpson finally confirmed that Soriano is active for the first time, here in the 5th inning. Way to be on top of things, guys.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:14 pmNice 2-out RBI by Chippa there.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:17 pmRBI double from Tex!
July 21st, 2008 at 7:18 pmTex is hot.
Whether we trade him or not, I kinda get the feeling he’s gonna tear it up the rest of the way.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:19 pmFrancoeur is not.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:23 pmWe’re not going to get swept especially Mr. ugly doesn’t come up with the bases loaded.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pmLillibridge’s defense is as good as advertised. Definitely Gold Glove caliber.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:45 pmI hate these stupid advert/contests but some guy named William Frisbee is involved in this one. What a sweet name.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:48 pmCampillo needs a nickname.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:05 pmGreat game from Campillo
July 21st, 2008 at 8:06 pmCampy
July 21st, 2008 at 8:07 pmI don’t mean a Bobby Cox “nickname”.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:08 pmBullpen better not mess this up.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:10 pmHow ’bout Senor Smoke?? oh wait….
July 21st, 2008 at 8:10 pmSenor Smoke & Mirrors?
July 21st, 2008 at 8:13 pmOh, I like that one.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:14 pmHe’s a junkball guy, right?
July 21st, 2008 at 8:16 pmHe is the junkballer of all junkballers.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pmOhman upped his value tonight.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pmJeremy Hermida with a tribute to Jeff Francoeur!
July 21st, 2008 at 8:20 pmBTW, guys… You know what that means! Gonzalez in a non-save situation!
July 21st, 2008 at 8:21 pmPrado with a pinch-hit RBI double. PH’ing should be his role.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:21 pmLadies and Gentlemen, the winner of the Best Picture Academy Award in 1955: Marty!
July 21st, 2008 at 8:21 pmWhat’d Hermida do?
July 21st, 2008 at 8:22 pmThe Tijuana Trashman
July 21st, 2008 at 8:23 pmI already gave him a nickname: The Garbageman, in honor of the Cramps.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:24 pmHermida trotted back slowly, waved his arm, and watched the ball go over his head.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:25 pmLike I said earlier the Braves would win tonight. They just match up better against the Marlins and the Mets. Against the Phillies….sweep. No answer for one pitcher and that’s JC Romero.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:28 pmOh and Cole Hamels, plus we can’t their hitters out.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:29 pmBraves better be buyers now!!
July 21st, 2008 at 8:43 pmThe only thing the Braves need to buy is a clue about roster construction. The players they need for a pennant winner are here- they need to make sure that millstones like Corky, Prado, and especially Frenchy aren’t.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:50 pmRecap up.
July 21st, 2008 at 8:52 pmThe thing is, I don’t necessarily believe in “buying” and “selling” per se. A Teixeira for Kotchman plus, or Bay for prospects deal are going to make the team better going forward no matter what happens this year, and may in fact make them better this year at the same time.
July 21st, 2008 at 9:04 pm