A-Z Reviews: B

Kevin Barry
-It's nothing personal, Kev. I just hate you. Maybe it's that big bulbous head. Maybe it's your complete lack of stuff. Barry is the latest Brad Woodall, a decent AAA pitcher who occasionally gets shots. He logged two major league innings with the Braves this year and trust me, that was entirely too much. With Richmond, Barry was 5- with 4.14 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. Toward the end of the year, he was desiginated for assignment and as far as I can see, should be a minor league free agent this year.

2008 Outlook: Will be a swingman for a couple of AAA teams, but his time in the Braves organization is probably over and he will likely want to move on anyway.

Jeff Bennett
-The Braves called upon Bennett when in dire need of another Buddy Carlyle and he delievered much like Carlyle did. But unlike the Carlyle Effect, the season ended before the real crap could be shown. So, we are left with some good numbers over three games, two starts. Bennett was 2-1 with 14 K's in 13 innings and a 3.46 ERA. However, with Richmond, Bennett struck out just 45 in 86 innings. Elbow issues cost him 2006 and he signed with the Braves for 2007. All in all, Bennett is a nice story, but likely not a key contributor to anyone's pitching staff.

2008 Outlook: The Braves will likely bring him back and maybe throw him a bone as a fifth starter candidate, but Bennett's best chance at making next year's roster is as a long reliever. However, chances are good he will be in Richmond next year.

Blaine Boyer
-Boyer is two years removed from his solid showing in 2005 when he had some control problems, but also got batters out for what was then a dreadful bullpen. Injuries have sapped him two consecutive full seasons. He spent most of last year with Richmond, getting some starts, and not fairing too well. His ERA wasn't too horrible at 4.30, but his WHIP was extremely high at 1.72.

2008 Outlook: Boyer's chances of making next year's roster are slim right now. His control was off-the-charts terrible last year (50 walks in 73.1 ING). There is no doubt there is some potential in his right arm, but he needs to find the strikezone more frequently to take advantage of it. He seems to be well liked by the organization that drafted him out of Atlanta in the 2000 third round, but at 26, his time with his first professional organization could be coming to close if he doesn't re-establish himself.

A-Z Reviews: A

Time for to start the reviews of the 49 players who logged a game with the Braves this year. Some are already gone, some could be around for years.

Manny Acosta
-Manny was a bit of a surprise callup in mid August even after pacing the R-Braves in wins (nine) and saves (12). In 59.2 ING with Richmond, he walked 35, continuing a problem for him since he debuted in baseball in the Yankees organization in 2000. Nevertheless, Acosta got outs at the major league level. In 23.2 ING, he allowed just six earned runs (2.28 ERA) and struck out 22. Walks were again a problem (14), but he didn't give up many hits, leading to a solid WHIP of 1.14. He was a bit too lucky to get excited about and as long as the walks are high, his success is questionable. However, it was a solid 21 games for someone without a shred of major league experience.

2008 Outlook: He will turn 27 next May 1st so his prospect days are behind him. He will go as far as his control lets him. He seemed to get a lot of grounders and that is key whenever you walk batters because it means that you're missing low instead of leaving pitches high. Those seem to get hammered. Acosta is a long shot to continue to have success next year. He will probably make the roster, but not stick around.

Jose Ascanio
-Along with Joey D., Ascanio was on the shuttle between Mississippi and Atlanta for a good portion of the year. He made his major league debut on July 13th and over the next six days, appeared three times. Then, presumably after a demotion, he appeared in 2 games out of three in late July. Back to the minors, he got recalled in late August. At Mississippi, Ascanio was a force. In 44 games and pitching 78 innings, the 22 year-old struck out 71 and walked just 18. He saved ten and put up a solid 1.08 WHIP. He was finally getting the arm back that had him a hot prospect after 2004 before an injury in 2005 pretty much wiped out the next two seasons of being at his best. Unlike his teammate Acosta, Ascanio struggled some in the majors. He had a memorable loss on July 18th when the Braves failed to beat the Reds in 15 innings and got swept. He also got roughed up on a pair of occasions against the Mets and Marlins.

2008 Outlook: I feel as if Ascanio will be more productive than Acosta. With Devine, I feel Ascanio can be a long-term arm with a lot of success if he can stay healthy. Could start the year with Richmond next year because of a numbers crunch, but I expect him to log 50 or so innings with the big league club. Last year, I felt good about Moylan and that turned out well. Not saying Ascanio will have such a great year, but don't be surprised if he puts up a very solid 2008.

Just when I thought I was done...

The AJC has to pull me back. Here's a fun dumbass bit from Jeff Schultz.

10: Say this for Tom Glavine: When he ends a relationship, he takes a statistical wrecking a ball to that sucker.

9: Tommy G’s final two starts with the Braves came in the 2002 playoffs: He lost both, allowing 13 earned runs on 17 hits and seven walks in 7 2/3 innings (ERA: 15.26). Glavine’s final three starts with the New York Mets: 0-2, 17 earned runs (including four home runs) on 25 hits in 10 1/3 innings (ERA: 14.81). So much for the goal of leaving them wanting more.

8: OK, that said, yes, Glavine would still be an asset to the Braves. Putting aside all of the warm-and-fuzziness of Glavine retiring as a Brave, we’re not about an objective of him being a staff ace. Given what we all saw this season, is there really a belief that he’s not good enough to be a No. 3 or possibly 4 starter in this rotation for one season? He threw 200 1/3 innings this season. His arm was dead at the end. But 200 1/3 innings would’ve ranked third on the Braves’ staff, right behind John Smoltz (205 2/3), and way ahead of Chuck James (161 1/3). What would that have meant for the rotation? And the bullpen? And playoff chances?

Jeff spends two paragraphs ripping Glavine's shitty final starts for the only two teams he has played for, then speaks of him being an asset. Now, I don't like Chuck James that much and Glavine definitely pitched better than James, but Glavine's like 60 years old by now (yay, 5 year contract!) and showed that he had nothing toward mid-September and, of course, the end of September.

Glavine won't come cheap either. It's not like he's on the street with a sign, "will throw six inches off the plate for food." James will be cheap next year. Advantage = southern boy. Tom Glavine has a player's option sitting out there for $13M.

Yeah, good job on that one, Omar Minaya.

He's not a $13M pitcher. Hell, I wouldn't give $6.5M for him. And it's a major suspension of belief to come to the conclusion that he'll accept much less than eight figures. Move on, people. Move the hell on.

Uh oh, it's Terence...

Terence Moore and I have a love-hate relationship.

To specify, I hate himself so much that I love when he comes out with such stupidity. I don't like Dave O'Brien and Mark Bowman annoys me, but they can't help being who they are. I feel Moore can...but chooses to not.

Braves make big mistake letting Andruw go

Oh, goody. Off to a great start. The Braves latest big mistake was letting the .220-hitting, rapidly aging Andruw Jones go. Hmm...maybe he likes the name of my blog, too.

Bad move.

Terrible move.

Actually, this is an atrocious move for the Braves, because manager Bobby Cox had it right for eternity when he said of Andruw Jones, who ranks 1a, 1b or 1c among baseball’s center fielders for the ages, “He has RBIs in his glove.”

Oh, the suspense. Was it bad or terrible? No, it was atrocious! I could have deleted bad and terrible, but I'm going for suspense!

It didn’t matter that Jones often looked ridiculous for long stretches after swinging and missing at pitches in search of reaching the farthest dark hole. Who cared that his batting average spent two seasons going south instead of north? No, he wasn’t much in the clutch this year, and yes, his agent is Scott Boras, the bogeyman for teams wishing to sign one of Boras’ clients below the amount of the national debt.

Who cares? Um, the Braves maybe? Jeez, Terrence, I don't know. By the way, whatever you define clutch by (I call it luck, but whatever), Andruw's career RISP is .254/.360/.444. This year? .231/.360/.439. A big jump in AVG, but a .005 point jump in SLG and OPS. No, he wasn’t much in the clutch this year

And, yes, the Braves can ease some of the post-Jones trauma with the signing of free agent Torii Hunter, the former center fielder and slugger for the Minnesota Twins. He also has a magic glove, and even though he can’t slug with Jones, he is more consistent at the plate with his ability to sustain hitting streaks.

Yes, Terence. The value of a player is not how frequently he gets on base, but whether or not he is "consistent" at "sustaining" streaks in which he gets one hit or more in a game. At value here with all the information on players that readily available is whether or not he can get a single in any amount of consecutive games. Hunter is not even that much more of a AVG hitter. He has batted .271 over his career, a wonderful eight points better than Andruw. Jeez.

That said, with the new folks at Liberty Media claiming they are willing to increase the payroll, the Braves’ Designated Geniuses should have discovered ways to acquire much-needed starting pitching while keeping Jones. In fact, Jones was part of the solution regarding that starting pitching. He is the hidden reason the Braves produced Cy Glavine, Cy Smoltz and Cy Maddux, along with all of those consecutive years of team ERAs that ranked first or second in baseball. He caught everything. He threw out everybody. He made the spectacular routine. He did so through an 11th year with the Braves that will produce a 10th Gold Glove, but management will shove Jones out the door by allowing him to become a free agent while yawning.

Well, mostly yawning. As a lifetime Braves player who contributed heavily to the franchise’s record 14 consecutive division titles, Braves officials will continue to say nice things about Jones as they wave good-bye. Still, the bottom line remains: He’s gone, and he’s only 30, and history comes to mind. Not in a good way, especially if the baseball gods wish to spank the Braves for their short-sightedness.

On one hand, Moore has a point. Andruw's defense was very helpful to the pitching success the Braves reached. Was he the hidden reason? No, but in a sense, again, his defense is underscored.

Andruw's RAA 1998-2007
98...22
99...19
00...13
01...10
02...11
03...18
04...-1
05...-5
06...-3
07...-1

Since Andruw's obvious lost step between 2003 and 2004, the Braves have only won one ERA title and have not had one Cy Young winner.

Here's Moore's problem. He doesn't account for that lost step. He also doesn't understand a lot about the relationship between defense and pitching. Yes, Andruw helps his pitching. His pitching also helps him out. His greatest numbers came before Glavine and Maddux left town. So, in essence, they were also the hidden reason Andruw looked so great. Their control led to balls he, from CF, could get a better read on because he was positioned correctly and they were hitting their spots.

Again, Andruw made them look better and he will be missed, but at the beginning of this column, Moore quoted Bobby. "He has RBIs in his glove." Yes, and they are measured by RAA. Listen, Andruw can't help the fact he gets little help from his corner outfielders and his pitchers and that does hurt him defensively and yes, he's still an incredible guy out there.

But at no time in Moore's column does he speak of what Andruw does at the plate in a positive manner except to say he outslugs Torii Hunter's career IsoSLG of .192. So, we're essentially talking about Andruw's defense and I'm here to tell you...it's great, but it ain't that great. I spent all season talking about what Andruw leaving will bring. I accept it, though, because this game, while it tends to ignore defense too many times in the modern age, is still a game played with a bat in addition to the glove. And while Andruw is a good hitter if you accept that he simply had a collassal failure of a year, Andruw's still just a guy with an adjusted OPS that is 15% better than the average. He is not, in no way, shape, or form a $15M type player.

Moore continues...though, truly, this next part is just Moore's personal masturbatory material.

Consider 1966. That was the first year Frank Robinson played for the Baltimore Orioles, and it was the first year of David Justice’s life.

Let’s start with Robinson, the undisputed star of the Cincinnati Reds for nearly a decade. He was traded to the Orioles for nothing worth mentioning before that 1966 season, because Reds owner Bill DeWitt said Robinson was “an old 30.” All that a creaky Robinson did in his first season with the Orioles was take the American League’s Triple Crown Award, lead them to their first world championship and grab World Series MVP honors. He eventually pushed the Orioles to three more pennants and another world championship (over the Reds), and then trotted to Cooperstown from there.

As for Justice, the batting hero of the Atlanta Braves’ only world championship in 1995, he suffered a shoulder injury early during that next season, and then he was dealt to the Cleveland Indians before the following year for nothing worth mentioning.

He was …

That’s right, 30.

Justice immediately slugged the Indians to their second World Series in three years. He later joined the New York Yankees, where he became the MVP of the AL championship series before helping to lead the pinstripe bunch to another world championship. When he ended his career with a playoff trip with the Oakland A’s, he had reached the playoffs six times after his trade from the Braves. He also retired as the all-time postseason leader in games played, at bats, extra-base hits, runs, hits, total bases, walks and RBIs.

This isn’t to say Jones will become Robinson or even Justice during his post-Braves career.

This is to say why even take the chance?

Why? Because David Justice allowed the Braves to keep Glavine and Maddux. Moore's love for David Justice is on par with Joe Morgan's dreamy eyes for Gary Sheffield. According to Morgan, the Tigers problems has nothing to do with their pitching not being healthy as an effective as it was in 2006. It was all Sheffield. Well, Moore's little obsession with Justice is an every column add-in.

Justice was an asshole. He wasn't traded because he was, but he was an asshole. He was also expensive and coming off an injury - and beginning to look injury-prone. In his career, he had played in 150 games once. The Braves needed to find money somewhere to keep the pitching together. They were loaded at the time with outfield prospects, too, including Andruw Jones. Yes, Justice had some great time in the AL. The DH was keeping him healthy, too.

The implication that Justice got his teams to the playoffs is laughable. He played on some damn good teams after his trade. But he didn't make his teams that much better.

Jones will make his team better, I believe. His defense will help out. But Andruw is not on his way out cause he's 30. He's on his way out because he doesn't provide nearly enough bang for the Braves buck. He's out because he has more trouble the past two seasons than ever with injuries.

Andruw's gone because it's best for the Braves.

Cry, Terence, cry.

I do like how you closed comments because you were being made a fool of.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Andruw Jones is no longer an Atlanta Brave. I'm split on this. I'm glad it's over and done with, but dammit man, what am I supposed to do about the title of this biannually updated blog?

You were my inspiration, Andruw. My silver lining. My...je ne sais quoi.

Now, you are gone and I feel incomplete.

Oh, what's this...

Not quite there, Thor, but close. Now, if we can only get you to stick around...

Just When You Thought It Was Safe...

Ryan Langerhans comes back with a fury!!!!!

Four days after scoring the winning run in a Nationals walk-off victory as a pinch runner, Langer attempts to start a seven-run rally all by himself with a two-out triple in the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately for the Nationals, they only have one Langerhans and lost 9-2 to the Braves, but the message was clear.

Ryan Langerhans is back and better than ever.

Yes, technically, Langer was only around for Tuesday's astonishing victory over Florida. He entered after Dimitri Young had walked and scored on a Jesus Flores double, but Langer is one of those guys whose impact is best explained by the unexplainable.

He is to baseball what Larry the Cable Guy is to bad redneck humor. Without him, baseball is incomplete.

Welcome back, Langer. Just when we thought the world was without saviors, Langerhans shows us all that greatness is just a recall away.

The Sweep

Three loses.

Three demoralizing days.

Three cheers for the end of the season...

There's hope and there's the real facts. I never got into religion much because of the idea that you ignore the more sensible in your face evidence for the figure in space you can't touch, nor feel in any tangible way.

Well, my hope is completely gone for similar reasons. The truth is that starting pitching is the name of the game and that won't change. Sure, you can get unreasonably hot at any particular time of the year and maybe you can even sustain it ala Cardinals of last year. However, the more likely outcome will be that the team with the most pitching will be playing in October while the other teams pack up their locker room belongings.

The Braves put up little fight as the Mets trampled them at the Ted. The score of the last game was close, a one-run affair, but anyone who watched the game knows that the Braves never seemed like they even had a shot.

Somewhere among the nagging Chipper Jones injuries, Andruw Jones going through the worst year of his career, and Schuerholz seemingly throwing away any young pitcher in the system, the truth about the Braves became abundantly clear. They are not good enough. Not this year, not with this pitching staff, not in a division that includes teams willing to get better.

So mark it down as two straight playoffless years after 14 straight division titles. Say goodbye to Andruw Jones, which I know will be easy for many of you. Adios to Octavio Dotel. We hardly knew you. And bon voyage to Roger McDowell. Someone will have to be the scapegoat and while I think Leo gets overrated and you haven't been given near the talent Leo was, someone's gotta get canned after this year, right?

Oh wells, hopefully my Cowboys will succeed where my Irish and Dukes failed Saturday. God knows I can't look at the baseball diamond with much fondness anymore.