A-Z Reviews: M

Macay McBride
-McBride got off to one shitty start. After five games, he had pitched all of three innings and walked 11 batters. After a demotion that saw him get a lot of work as a starter for Richmond, he was back with the team in May and was generally decent. Over his next 13 games, he posted a 1.17 WHIP and a 3.00 ERA. And then, Schuerholz traded him to the Tigers for Wilfredo Ledezma in a deal that still does not make a lot of sense. He struggled at times with Detroit and appeared in his last game for the Tigers in August before being demoted. Not sure if he got hurt or anything.

2008 Outlook: While I was never that big of a fan of Macay...cause what kind of name is Macay?...McBride should stick around in this league for awhile. He's lefthanded and can throw hard. Still not sure why Schuerholz felt he had to deal McBride, but it was stupid at the time and it is more stupid now. He essentially traded McBride and Will Startup for Royce Ring. Seems like a lot of dumbassity.

Brian McCann
-The Braves catcher that Lauren likes to call "Baby" (shudders) did not have that good of a year last year. Yes, I know he was not going to hit .333 every year, but his IsoOBP (which wasn't that good) went down slightly to 0.50 and his power slumped to .182 IsoSLG. Still great numbers for a catcher, but hardly the numbers the Braves were expecting after his remarkable 2006. McCann has worked at improving his defense and it was better last year, but remains average at best. An average offensive campaign like last year won't help matters.

2008 Outlook: I still like McCann and think he can improve his offensive numbers. What I would like to see is a .065 IsoOBP and a .205 IsoSLG. That means, if he batted .285 next year, his OBP would be .350 and his SLG would be at .490. These are very makable marks and highly valuable at his position. Staying healthy would help, too.

Corky Miller
-The Life Goes On jokes are plentiful. Corky is your classic backup catcher. Can't hit, can play some defense, and oh, he can't hit. However, he was not that bad with the Braves, at least in limited at-bats. 7-for-29 (.259) with a pair of a doubles and a homer. All told, some good numbers. I still remember his first hit for the Braves because it was so effin strange. Called up after the Salty trade, Corky comes up in the 12th, Braves down by two against Brad Lidge. And the Corkster squibs a little swinging bunt toward second and gets an infield single, one of FOUR infield hits in his career. After a Willie strikeout, which he did often in the second half, Diaz hit a two-run bomb to tie the game up. The Legend of Cork lives on.

2008 Outlook: Brayan Pena is not a catching prospect anymore because pitchers can't stand him behind the plate, which might explain why no one has really tried to acquire him. Bringing Miller back just makes sense. He's great defensively and while he is a career .196 hitter, he does what he needs to do. If McCann went down, though, Miller would be a real weakness. Might want to bat the pitcher 8th when he hits.

Peter Moylan
-Last year, I referred to Moylan as a potential sleeper for 2007. He finished up well in 2006 and his deceptive delivery poised problems, especially to righties, and the movement he could get was just sick. But anyone who says they saw his 2007 year coming is a liar or has a time machine. Moylan rubber-armed his way to 80 games and 90 innings in which he allowed just 65 hits. Concerns of overusage were put to bed somewhat as he kept getting outs. With a 1.80 ERA, he became the first Brave to put up a sub-2.00 ERA over a full season since John Smoltz did it in 2003 in his final year as a closer. His metrics aren't too shabby, too, at least in the sense to say, "he was lucky." In general, anyone with that low of an ERA is benefiting from some luck, but Moylan was not abnormally lucky.

2008 Outlook: He probably won't post another sub-2.00 ERA, but he has a good chance to be solid yet again. He gets a lot of grounders, enough strikeouts, and keeps the ball in play. If he was any better, I would go gay for him. Well, maybe not, but his marks are ridiculously good. Relievers often sparkle and fade in equally quick fashions so it's not prudent to get too stuck on him. Nevertheless, the Aussie should be pretty awesome next year.