Time to finish up my player reviews. 48 players down, one last player to go.
Tyler Yates
-Yatesy had moments of absolute domination. Unfortunately, none of those moments came in the second half. In 27.2 ING, he allowed 32 hits, 21 runs, four jacks, walked 14, and struck out 31. He picked up a save, but that was only because Willie Harris pwned the Mets at Shea. Otherwise, his numbers could look even worse. He was rarely called upon in September, but sucked when he did get a call. Yatesy was fairly decent in 2006, but even then, he was hardly some reliable guy.
2008 Outlook: If Yates is a Brave next year, one of two things has occured. Either Yates is a sweet talker or Yates has pictures of Frank Wren with Boy George. Barring these two things, I doubt Yates will be with the Braves when spring training opens. Yates is eligible for arbitration and if Wren wouldn't keep Villy around, why would he keep Yates?
Showing posts with label Player Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Player Reviews. Show all posts
Friday, November 23, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
A-Z Reviews: W
Bob Wickman
-Thickman, or Fatty McFatty, or Blob, or whatever you called him went from a guy I didn't like as a player to a guy I didn't like as a player and a person in one short week. Wickman, who has had a few good runs, but struggled at times to get outs in 2007, was pissed in August when used in a non-save chance. Truth was, the guy didn't deserve to close anymore than Oscar Villarreal, but hey, that's why I don't manage, right? The decision made him blow a fuse, or at least get pretty angry, and he spoke up. Soon after, he was gone and the Braves saved a lot on fuel from lugging his big ass to places. He finished up with Arizona and had a barely noticable eight games in middle relief. Whispers are that he may have played his last game.
2008 Outlook: See 2007 write-up. If he returns, he will have to work his way onto some team and hope to prolong his career with middle inning work, something that bothered him so much in Atlanta. Otherwise, he's headed to the retirement line.
Craig Wilson
-Sometimes, things just don't work out. Craig Wilson's signing last offseason was a great move at the time for the Braves. Wilson was a strikeout machine, sure, but he had solid numbers across the board as a Pirate. However, the platoon with Scott Thorman worked against him and he never got started. In 24 games, he hit .172 with just one homer. His struggles eventually ended with a release from the Braves system. He hooked up with Charlotte, the White Sox AAA team, and was horrible for them in 15 games.
2008 Outlook: Wilson can still hit, I feel. Things snowballed on him. He may have to take an independent league contract, but I would be surprised if he never got another major league chance. But stranger things have happened, I guess.
Chris Woodward
-Woody somehow parlayed his lack of skills into a full season in which he played in over half of the Braves games. In 92 insertions to the lineup, he hit .199/.252/.279 with a homer. His best offensive production was four sacbunts, but he was horrible at bunting too. Yet, he stuck around. Like a bad visitor.
2008 Outlook: On the positive side, Cox stopped even playing Woody in September, showing that yes, Woody has no place in the plans for this team. With Brent Lillibridge, Martin Prado, Willy Aybar, and a possible veteran middle infielder for some backup in the mix, Woody can ruin another team's bench next year.
-Thickman, or Fatty McFatty, or Blob, or whatever you called him went from a guy I didn't like as a player to a guy I didn't like as a player and a person in one short week. Wickman, who has had a few good runs, but struggled at times to get outs in 2007, was pissed in August when used in a non-save chance. Truth was, the guy didn't deserve to close anymore than Oscar Villarreal, but hey, that's why I don't manage, right? The decision made him blow a fuse, or at least get pretty angry, and he spoke up. Soon after, he was gone and the Braves saved a lot on fuel from lugging his big ass to places. He finished up with Arizona and had a barely noticable eight games in middle relief. Whispers are that he may have played his last game.
2008 Outlook: See 2007 write-up. If he returns, he will have to work his way onto some team and hope to prolong his career with middle inning work, something that bothered him so much in Atlanta. Otherwise, he's headed to the retirement line.
Craig Wilson
-Sometimes, things just don't work out. Craig Wilson's signing last offseason was a great move at the time for the Braves. Wilson was a strikeout machine, sure, but he had solid numbers across the board as a Pirate. However, the platoon with Scott Thorman worked against him and he never got started. In 24 games, he hit .172 with just one homer. His struggles eventually ended with a release from the Braves system. He hooked up with Charlotte, the White Sox AAA team, and was horrible for them in 15 games.
2008 Outlook: Wilson can still hit, I feel. Things snowballed on him. He may have to take an independent league contract, but I would be surprised if he never got another major league chance. But stranger things have happened, I guess.
Chris Woodward
-Woody somehow parlayed his lack of skills into a full season in which he played in over half of the Braves games. In 92 insertions to the lineup, he hit .199/.252/.279 with a homer. His best offensive production was four sacbunts, but he was horrible at bunting too. Yet, he stuck around. Like a bad visitor.
2008 Outlook: On the positive side, Cox stopped even playing Woody in September, showing that yes, Woody has no place in the plans for this team. With Brent Lillibridge, Martin Prado, Willy Aybar, and a possible veteran middle infielder for some backup in the mix, Woody can ruin another team's bench next year.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
A-Z Reviews: V
Oscar Villarreal
-Villy was pretty solid in 2006, posting good numbers both in traditional and sabermetric categories, but really fell back to Earth last year. Though his ERA of 4.24 isn't that bad, he pitched worse. His DERA hit 4.66. He did get a bit more K's, but walked more hitters which is rarely a good trade. The Vulture didn't make a run on ten wins, but I refuse to think he would have been any worse than some of the guys Bobby turned to as a starter. I was surprised Villy didn't get any chances there.
2008 Outlook: Frank Wren's latest move was to send Villy to Houston for outfielder Josh Anderson. Good deal for the Braves because Villy was arbitration-eligible, likely to be non-tendered, and not that good. Villy will likely make the 'Stros bullpen and be a decent long reliever. I honestly expect him to begin to bounce from team-to-team pretty soon.
-Villy was pretty solid in 2006, posting good numbers both in traditional and sabermetric categories, but really fell back to Earth last year. Though his ERA of 4.24 isn't that bad, he pitched worse. His DERA hit 4.66. He did get a bit more K's, but walked more hitters which is rarely a good trade. The Vulture didn't make a run on ten wins, but I refuse to think he would have been any worse than some of the guys Bobby turned to as a starter. I was surprised Villy didn't get any chances there.
2008 Outlook: Frank Wren's latest move was to send Villy to Houston for outfielder Josh Anderson. Good deal for the Braves because Villy was arbitration-eligible, likely to be non-tendered, and not that good. Villy will likely make the 'Stros bullpen and be a decent long reliever. I honestly expect him to begin to bounce from team-to-team pretty soon.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
A-Z Reviews: T
No pictures...just trying to get through the reviews. Also wanna write about the Villy/Anderson deal. Anywho...
Mark Teixeira
-Teix was acquired at the deadline in a six-player trade that included three of the top five prospects in the system. It was a shrewd trade by a possibly desperate John Schuerholz. I felt the deal would give the Braves 3-4 extra wins than they would have had otherwise. Instead, the Braves finished a game over .500 for the final two months after being five over .500 the first four months. Nevertheless, the deal turned the Braves offense into a force and had the pitching been addressed at all, the Braves would have won more games because despite 160 runs in August, a monthly high, they allowed 148, also a monthly high. In general, Teix was everything we expected.
2008 Outlook: Teix's contract situation aside, he is a tremendous hitter. Over the past four years, his EQA has not drifted under .285 and he is good for 6-8 wins above a replacement player. Put that in perspective. Because Teix is a 1B, a traditional power hitting position with some of the best hitters in the game, Teix has to be that much better to be worth so many more wins. I felt his 1B play was an improvement, but he's not an incredible defender or anything - just pretty good. It will be unfortunate if the Braves get a year and a half out of Teix, but that will be an awesome year and a half provided he stays healthy.
Scott Thorman
-Teix replaced Thorman in a sense, but Thor had been replaced slightly before the trading deadline by Julio Franco. Odd because he was having some of his best success in July. However, he struggled down the stretch and would have been cut if he wasn't out of options. As the year came to a close, he was looking at a .216 year with just 14 walks. He showed explosive power (11 HR, 18 2B, .178 ISO), but never looked comfortable this year.
2008 Outlook: Not quite sure what to think about with Thor. His minor league career is hardly some shining example of prospect city. .276/.342/.452. He has looked pretty horrible with Atlanta since his callup in 2006. It might be time to cut bait if a trade can benefit the Braves. Otherwise, hold on to him for some power off the bench and a LH bat for 1B/LF. Still, he was probably at best a stopgap. Now...he's a man searching for a chance. He apparently is having a nice winter in Mexico so maybe he can increase his trade value.
Mark Teixeira
-Teix was acquired at the deadline in a six-player trade that included three of the top five prospects in the system. It was a shrewd trade by a possibly desperate John Schuerholz. I felt the deal would give the Braves 3-4 extra wins than they would have had otherwise. Instead, the Braves finished a game over .500 for the final two months after being five over .500 the first four months. Nevertheless, the deal turned the Braves offense into a force and had the pitching been addressed at all, the Braves would have won more games because despite 160 runs in August, a monthly high, they allowed 148, also a monthly high. In general, Teix was everything we expected.
2008 Outlook: Teix's contract situation aside, he is a tremendous hitter. Over the past four years, his EQA has not drifted under .285 and he is good for 6-8 wins above a replacement player. Put that in perspective. Because Teix is a 1B, a traditional power hitting position with some of the best hitters in the game, Teix has to be that much better to be worth so many more wins. I felt his 1B play was an improvement, but he's not an incredible defender or anything - just pretty good. It will be unfortunate if the Braves get a year and a half out of Teix, but that will be an awesome year and a half provided he stays healthy.
Scott Thorman
-Teix replaced Thorman in a sense, but Thor had been replaced slightly before the trading deadline by Julio Franco. Odd because he was having some of his best success in July. However, he struggled down the stretch and would have been cut if he wasn't out of options. As the year came to a close, he was looking at a .216 year with just 14 walks. He showed explosive power (11 HR, 18 2B, .178 ISO), but never looked comfortable this year.
2008 Outlook: Not quite sure what to think about with Thor. His minor league career is hardly some shining example of prospect city. .276/.342/.452. He has looked pretty horrible with Atlanta since his callup in 2006. It might be time to cut bait if a trade can benefit the Braves. Otherwise, hold on to him for some power off the bench and a LH bat for 1B/LF. Still, he was probably at best a stopgap. Now...he's a man searching for a chance. He apparently is having a nice winter in Mexico so maybe he can increase his trade value.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A-Z Reviews: S
Jarrod Saltalamacchia-Salty was called up on May 2nd on his 22nd birthday and immediately performed at a high pace for the Braves, where he split time at catcher and first. His impact was not as high as it could have been because simply put, when you're the only backup catcher, the chances you could get hurt, thrown out of the game, etc. really keep you from playing time elsewhere. Nevertheless, Salty played like a talented rookie and hit .284/.333/.411 in 47 games with the Braves before the trade deadline deal with the Rangers saw him traded. How good he becomes and how long Mark Teixeira is a Brave will decide the winner of the deal. Salty showed a great arm behind the plate, but looked like a bad first baseman at first. Not that surprising considering he was playing it for the first time in games.
2008 Outlook: As a catcher, Salty is an explosive star of the future. Quick, name how many switch-hitting catchers can post .200 IsoSLG's routinely and display solid on-base skills. Jorge Posada. Victor Martinez. Yeah, that's about it. Now whether or not Salty can get to that level is unknown, but I actually think it is highly likely he will and will do so within two seasons. Now, if the Rangers decide to use him at first, his value is lowered. He will probably be a good first baseman, but a far cry from being a great catcher.
Clint Sammons-Sammons is best friends with Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann and got his shot late in the season after Corky Miller welcomed a new child and the Braves still had little confidence in Brayan Pena's catching abilities. He appeared in a pair of games, starting the finale of the season where he received his first three plate appearances of his major league career. He went 2 for 3 with a double. He's a fairly light-hitting catcher who has displayed solid on-base skills. Right now, he is probably the best catching prospect in the system.
2008 Outlook: Sammons struggled at Mississippi last year after handling Myrtle Beach with ease in his second tour with the Pelicans. After Salty's promotion, Sammons replaced him with the M-Braves and batted just .243 with 15 EBH in 83 games. Expect a return to Mississippi this year. He could battle for the backup catching spot with a great spring, but chances are better he will be working on getting to AAA first.
John Smoltz-Smoltzie tossed 200 innings for the third straight year despite the occasional health problem. He started off the year trying to throw less pitches, but once he realized that wasn't helping, went back to his strikeout self and recorded 197 of them and had his second best season as a starter in what baseballprospectus calls Stuff. All in all, it was a normal Smoltzie year in which he put up a 3.50 DERA (.09 less than his career average). He became the first person in baseball history to win 200 games and save 150 and with 25 K's, will hit the 3,000 K plateau. He turns 41 next May so how much the Braves can rely on him is questionable, but as he starts his third decade of major league ball (made his debut in '88), Smoltze is just now getting the praise he has deserved as maybe the second best starter of the Atlanta Braves era (behind Maddux, of course).
2008 Outlook: His age is going to be a problem because you can never know when the other shoe will fall and Smoltzie will take one bad pitch, or feel something starting to creep up on his right shoulder/elbow, or whatever and it's going to be time to shut it down for good. But as long as he is pitching, he will have a few downers where he just can't reach back and get his splitter working and a lot of solid games that he will give his team a favorable chance to win.
Rafael Soriano-Acquired for Horacio Ramirez in one of the most lopsided trades of the year, Soriano started off incredibly, struggled a little, and then finished up with insanely solid numbers yet again. What amazes me about Soriano is that in 72 innings, he allowed just 46 hits and 15 walks. The only thing that hurt him was the gopher ball. He allowed a career high 12 of them. I believe that was a little flukish, but power arms that get so many flyballs will give up homers. Nevertheless, he finished second on the team in saves with nine and after officially taking over the ninth inning again in September, was unhittable in that month. In 13 innings, he allowed four hits (including a solo homer), walked three (one intentional), and struck out 17. That included a three game suspension that MLB handed down for no real reason.
2008 Outlook: Soriano should be the "closer" heading into next season. There is no reason for him not to handle the roll. He may be even better in that role because he won't be brought into so many tie games or ones the Braves are losing by a run. He set career highs in G and ING last year, but may be better suited for the 55-60 game, 55-65 ING type year than the middle man.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
A-Z Reviews: R
I'm watching the 4:00 NFL games as I hope for big days from what fantasy players I have left (go Maroney!) so I figured I would pick up with my reviews. Here are the R's. Yes, you can say it like a pirate if you want.
Mark Redman
-Oh jeez, must I start on this guy? "The day started out so good. I had a good night's sleep, I had a good B.M. I don't want to hear any bad news." Mel Brooks movie quotes aside, Redman was horrid. Horrible. Car-wreck bad. I never knew the sight of one person could make me so physically sick and scared at the same time. He appeared in six games with the Braves and the Braves lost the division by five games. Is it that much of a stretch that he killed the season? And then, in true Braves luck, he went to Colorado and didn't absolutely suck.
2008 Outlook: I'm not saying I want him dead, I'm just saying I'll ignore whatever curious circumstances bring that end upon us. I'm merely kidding. I don't want to see him do well, though. My God, there is a chance this guy might get a World Series ring.
Edger Renteria
-It is a shame how good Renty's season may have looked had he not suffered a high ankle sprain in one of the year's oddest games that saw Chipper Jones playing shortstop. Had he played in 155 games at the paces he put up, he would have finished with 205 hits, 109 runs scored, 38 doubles, and 15 homers. I do not even care much for the counting stats like hits and so forth, but damn, that's pretty sweet. He set a new personal high in AVG and finished with his second best season of his career. And...he wasn't an All-Star. Ya know, when people say, "the guy was an All-Star," I'll point to Renty's first half stats of .319/.384/.481 and say, "yeah, this guy wasn't. Screw the All-Star Game."
2008 Outlook: Renteria has one guarenteed year left on his contract and the Braves have Yunel Escobar. Seems like a perfect candidate to trade, right? Renteria to Escobar is in my book a loss of talent and production, at least offensively, but if Renteria nets players who make up for that loss, it is a good deal. Players like Jon Garland have been discussed and Garland would be a decent fourth starter, but if you add a guy like Glavine, you kind of need to either use Renteria in a deal for a bigger starter or in a deal for young talent that is ready and can progress into big time performers for this organization.
Jo-Jo Reyes
-In 2007, Reyes had a lot of ups and a few downs, but clearly showed that the Braves had reason to feel he was their top young pitcher in the upper levels in the minors. Reyes was a high school kid out of California when he was selected as the 43rd overall pick in 2003. He was a decent, but injury-prone, pitcher his first three years before taking off last year with a 1.24 WHIP and 3.51 ERA with Rome and Myrtle Beach. This year, he pitched well at AA, dominated AAA, and earned a promotion. Things stopped there, but Reyes rebounded in his second trip with the Atlanta. After a tough first start against the Reds on August 21st, Reyes pitched five more times (four starts) and posted a decent 1.33 WHIP and a 3.08 ERA. The biggest reason was that he was not walking so many hitters. He lowered his ERA nearly 3 and a half runs over this stretch.
2008 Outlook: Bobby Cox likes him, saying the Braves could be depending on him a lot next year. Whether that is Coxspeak for "hey teams, we like him a lot, you should overvalue him" or not, Reyes is the only real prospect ready to contribute next season as a starter, at least early on. There is some real potential here, though he will probably not be an ace-type guy. If he can be good through six, he would be a lifesavor for this staff.
Royce Ring
-The Braves had been searching for a LOOGY all season. Macay McBride faltered, Steve Colyer sucked, Wilfredo Ledezma sucked harder. Rob Mahay helped, but next season, it might be Royce Ring. He's a former 1st rounder out of San Diego State who the Mets got in the Roberto Alomar to ChiSox deal in 2003. Before last season, he was shipped off to San Diego and he had a McBrideish start with them (14 walks in 15 innings). After splitting time with Portland, the Braves picked him up in the Ledezma/Startup deal at the deadline. He got into 15 games with the R-Braves before his September 1st callup. With the Braves, in 11 games, he faced more than two batters just twice and in his last six games, faced a grand total of six batters. He faired okay, not allowing a run in five innings, but giving up two hits and three walks. Of 14 runs inheritated, only two scored.
2008 Outlook: Ring's pickup gave them a potential second lefty in September, but also a good LOOGY for next year. However, over his major league history, he has not been that dominating in that role (a .357 OBP against). He will need to pick up to be much more than a better Tom Martin.
Mark Redman-Oh jeez, must I start on this guy? "The day started out so good. I had a good night's sleep, I had a good B.M. I don't want to hear any bad news." Mel Brooks movie quotes aside, Redman was horrid. Horrible. Car-wreck bad. I never knew the sight of one person could make me so physically sick and scared at the same time. He appeared in six games with the Braves and the Braves lost the division by five games. Is it that much of a stretch that he killed the season? And then, in true Braves luck, he went to Colorado and didn't absolutely suck.
2008 Outlook: I'm not saying I want him dead, I'm just saying I'll ignore whatever curious circumstances bring that end upon us. I'm merely kidding. I don't want to see him do well, though. My God, there is a chance this guy might get a World Series ring.
Edger Renteria-It is a shame how good Renty's season may have looked had he not suffered a high ankle sprain in one of the year's oddest games that saw Chipper Jones playing shortstop. Had he played in 155 games at the paces he put up, he would have finished with 205 hits, 109 runs scored, 38 doubles, and 15 homers. I do not even care much for the counting stats like hits and so forth, but damn, that's pretty sweet. He set a new personal high in AVG and finished with his second best season of his career. And...he wasn't an All-Star. Ya know, when people say, "the guy was an All-Star," I'll point to Renty's first half stats of .319/.384/.481 and say, "yeah, this guy wasn't. Screw the All-Star Game."
2008 Outlook: Renteria has one guarenteed year left on his contract and the Braves have Yunel Escobar. Seems like a perfect candidate to trade, right? Renteria to Escobar is in my book a loss of talent and production, at least offensively, but if Renteria nets players who make up for that loss, it is a good deal. Players like Jon Garland have been discussed and Garland would be a decent fourth starter, but if you add a guy like Glavine, you kind of need to either use Renteria in a deal for a bigger starter or in a deal for young talent that is ready and can progress into big time performers for this organization.
Jo-Jo Reyes-In 2007, Reyes had a lot of ups and a few downs, but clearly showed that the Braves had reason to feel he was their top young pitcher in the upper levels in the minors. Reyes was a high school kid out of California when he was selected as the 43rd overall pick in 2003. He was a decent, but injury-prone, pitcher his first three years before taking off last year with a 1.24 WHIP and 3.51 ERA with Rome and Myrtle Beach. This year, he pitched well at AA, dominated AAA, and earned a promotion. Things stopped there, but Reyes rebounded in his second trip with the Atlanta. After a tough first start against the Reds on August 21st, Reyes pitched five more times (four starts) and posted a decent 1.33 WHIP and a 3.08 ERA. The biggest reason was that he was not walking so many hitters. He lowered his ERA nearly 3 and a half runs over this stretch.
2008 Outlook: Bobby Cox likes him, saying the Braves could be depending on him a lot next year. Whether that is Coxspeak for "hey teams, we like him a lot, you should overvalue him" or not, Reyes is the only real prospect ready to contribute next season as a starter, at least early on. There is some real potential here, though he will probably not be an ace-type guy. If he can be good through six, he would be a lifesavor for this staff.
Royce Ring-The Braves had been searching for a LOOGY all season. Macay McBride faltered, Steve Colyer sucked, Wilfredo Ledezma sucked harder. Rob Mahay helped, but next season, it might be Royce Ring. He's a former 1st rounder out of San Diego State who the Mets got in the Roberto Alomar to ChiSox deal in 2003. Before last season, he was shipped off to San Diego and he had a McBrideish start with them (14 walks in 15 innings). After splitting time with Portland, the Braves picked him up in the Ledezma/Startup deal at the deadline. He got into 15 games with the R-Braves before his September 1st callup. With the Braves, in 11 games, he faced more than two batters just twice and in his last six games, faced a grand total of six batters. He faired okay, not allowing a run in five innings, but giving up two hits and three walks. Of 14 runs inheritated, only two scored.
2008 Outlook: Ring's pickup gave them a potential second lefty in September, but also a good LOOGY for next year. However, over his major league history, he has not been that dominating in that role (a .357 OBP against). He will need to pick up to be much more than a better Tom Martin.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
A-Z Reviews: P
Chad Paronto-The Human Burrito had a great spring, but a groin injury led to ineffective play and a DL trip. After he got back, he received a demotion around the trading deadline and never seemed to earn the trust of the organization back. Really confusing because Paronto was one of the Braves only effective relievers the previous season, but 2007 was different. Paronto's control was a bit of a problem and the Braves bullpen was molding into form as one of the game's elite pens. With Richmond, Paronto was okay, though not great and then, didn't receive a callup in September.
2008 Outlook: The fact he did not receive a promotion in September makes me think the Braves were punishing him for attitude or conditioning. I doubt he will be back. If the Braves give him another chance, he could battle fairly well for a spot in next year's pen, but his chances of playing any sort of significant role for the Braves franchise is very low. (Props to Rowland for the pic.)
Brayan Pena-Pena was not really challenged for the backup catcher spot in spring training. He had hit .326 and .302 in consecutive seasons with Richmond and .268 in 41 AB with the big league club in 2006, even providing a pinch-hit single in that ridiculous September comeback against the Marlins when after giving up four runs to fall behind 7-2 in the 10th, the Braves scored five runs via some of the worst defense in MLB history. However, Pena's season came to a sudden stop when Greg Dobbs' backswing hit Pena in the head, giving him a concussion. The injury, suffered on May 1st, gave Jarrod Saltalamacchia a chance and Salty took over. Pena went to Richmond once healthy, playing C, 1B, 3B, LF, and RF, before getting a shot back with the Braves in September.
2008 Outlook: The reason for Pena's inability to stick at catcher had nothing to do with the amazing catching duo of Corky Miller and Iker Franco and everything to do with pitchers' dislike of Pena as a catcher. The TBS crew gave credence to that thinking and they rarely speak anything the major league squad doesn't okay. Out of position, Pena's offensive abilities would be suitable for a utility man or a middle infielder. The former is much more likely. Don't know if he has much of a future with the Braves, though.
Martin Prado-Prado's year can be split in two. From the moment he got called up (5 for 28, no EBH, 2 BB) and demoted to his second callup (12 for 31, 2 2B) and the end of the season. Prado was the guy I sorta liked coming into spring to start the year at second and giving KJ more time to defensively adjust to the position. His overall numbers of .288/.323/.339 in 28 G weren't that bad. Around those callups this year, he hit .316/.374/.420 for the R-Braves. Over his career, he is a .300 minor league hitter. Essentially, he is Brayan Pena with the ability to play up the middle.
2008 Outlook: Prado is a good backup possibility, better than the likes of Peterson Orr or Nicholas Green. It won't even be that big of a fallback when you need to put him in the lineup. All in all, a perfect backup who received time at 2B/SS/3B, but is probably best suited for only 2B and 3B. I still think given time, Prado has a chance to have a Polanco type career for someone.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
A-Z Reviews: O
Hey, I'm back for a few days and here is a report on the one O for the Braves. Not an orgasm, pervs, but a player.
Pete Orr
-Peter bothers me. First off, I'm never a big fan of people whose name can also mean penis. You can shorten it to Pete or go with Peterson, but the dick is still there, Mr. Canada. Second...ugh. He is a horrible offensive player. Sure, he hit .300 in 2005, but that just means he was that year's Nick Green. After slumping to .253, he was down to .200 this year, a season sandwiched around demotions. In 395 plate appearances over his career, Orr has drawn 14 walks. Come on, man! His SLG this year was .215. One extra base hit. Jeez!
2008 Outlook: On the plus side, Orr's a great guy. Which makes me think he'll be okay that he won't be a Brave next year. The Braves, if Willy Aybar is healthy, have eight infielders next year worthy of a major league spot. They also have the solid Brent Lillibridge, the better-than-Orr Wes Timmons, and coming off a surprisingly-good-year Diory Hernandez. It was a good run, Orr. My bet is that a AAA team will pick him up OR he joins the Can-Am league, an independent league that will allow him the opportunity to play some in Canada.
Pete Orr-Peter bothers me. First off, I'm never a big fan of people whose name can also mean penis. You can shorten it to Pete or go with Peterson, but the dick is still there, Mr. Canada. Second...ugh. He is a horrible offensive player. Sure, he hit .300 in 2005, but that just means he was that year's Nick Green. After slumping to .253, he was down to .200 this year, a season sandwiched around demotions. In 395 plate appearances over his career, Orr has drawn 14 walks. Come on, man! His SLG this year was .215. One extra base hit. Jeez!
2008 Outlook: On the plus side, Orr's a great guy. Which makes me think he'll be okay that he won't be a Brave next year. The Braves, if Willy Aybar is healthy, have eight infielders next year worthy of a major league spot. They also have the solid Brent Lillibridge, the better-than-Orr Wes Timmons, and coming off a surprisingly-good-year Diory Hernandez. It was a good run, Orr. My bet is that a AAA team will pick him up OR he joins the Can-Am league, an independent league that will allow him the opportunity to play some in Canada.
Monday, October 15, 2007
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.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A-Z Reviews: L
Ryan Langerhans-There is no bow to put on Langer's season in which he was traded twice and designated for assignment once. I had some high hopes coming in for Langer. After his rookie season of '05 in which he hit .267/.248/.426 was followed by a much worse year in '06, I was hoping he could rebound in '07. What happened...was horrible. After an incredible spring, Langer went 3 for 44 with the Braves before his trade to the A's, who traded him a few days later to the Nationals. Overall, Langer hit .167 last year. I have certain hope in Langer, built by him making an All-Star Game for me in OOTP and the fact that he was getting benched for the likes of Brian Jordan and Raul Mondesi in '05. I still miss him a bit.
2008 Outlook: Langer is in a very tough place. One, the Nationals will likely attempt to be players in the free agent market to open their park with a flourish. Two, Langer is arbitration eligible and after a season like he just had, you tend to close the door and move on. But I'm hoping Langer signs somewhere that will let him have a real shot at winning a fourth outfielder job.
Wilfredo Ledezma-In a strange deal last year, Schuerholz traded Macay McBride for Wilfredo Ledezma. It almost seemed like he said, "ya know, what the hell? I like alfredo sauce and his name rhymes." Friends don't let friends make deals under the influence. Ledezma, who was never that good the Tigers got worse after the trade, posting a 7.71 ERA, before the Braves said bye bye and DFA'd him. A few days later, he was packaged with Will Startup in another "huh?" deal for Royce Ring. The traded netted the Braves a LOOGY...for a potential LOOGY and another guy. Maybe Ledezma is code for really messed up deals.
2008 Outlook: He sucks, who cares? Though, knowing the Braves, how much you want to bet he turns into an average starter that Braves fans look at as an actual improvement over what we start? (see Minor, Zach) I couldn't actually find a picture of Ledezma as a Brave...so...I used this nice picture of a black hole because...he might be in there.
Anthony Lerew-Lerew was masterful in his first start on May 8th against the light-hitting Pads, striking out seven and allowing just two solo homers over six innings. However, that was only good enough for a no-decision as the Braves would win later 3-2. However, he failed to even pitch six innings in his next two starts, sucking against the Pirates (oh, vey) and the Red Sox (understandable) before a sore elbow was reported and Lerew hit the DL. Two months later, after it hadn't got better, he went the Tommy John way. Before his callup, Lerew was *decent* with Richmond.
2008 Outlook: He likely is targeting a September '08 return. His second half is shot and he will have to work his way back into the team, unlike players like Hampton and Gonzo, who if healthy are on the team. If he appears in one major league game, he has had a remarkable year.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
A-Z Reviews: J
Big review here with five players, four of which played big parts in the team last season.
Chuck James
-Charles, Chuck, or (as Chip nauseatingly calls him) Chucky had high hopes coming into the year. He had posted solid marks almost across the board in 2006, except for homeruns, and looked like the young pitcher the Braves needed to transition into the next era. However, there were critics. Like me. Who felt a lot of performance was sheer luck. A soft-tossing flyball pitcher who throws two pitches and neither are a breaking ball? Something has to give. Well, what gave was a bad season to follow. His 4.24 ERA again masks how poorly he pitched. His FIP and DERA were worse, his strikeouts were down, homeruns allowed went up. And again, he failed to get grounders. Even worse, in his 30 starts, James went six innings or better 12 times. Now, I wasn't a math major, but my dog tells me that's worse than half. Or less than. Whichever is worse.
2008 Outlook: James could be out of the long-term plans for the Braves for a few reasons. One, Jo-Jo Reyes is well loved by the organization. Two, if you sign Glavine and Hampton comes back, are you seriously going to go with three lefties in the staff (and three lefties who are essentially the same at that)? James probably isn't quite as bad as he pitched last year, but he needs to work on adding a sinker to his game. Or a curve. Or a slider. Or hell, a knuckleball. Right now, he throws two straight pitches. Even if you change speeds as well as Greg Maddux, you need to get some movement.
Kelly Johnson
-KJ. Dr. Sabermetric (I'm warming up to it). Start of the year, I was worried with KJ at second because this team defensively scares me. Keller put my worries to bed with a solid April and though he was not awesomely awesome over like that again, he was solid for the entire year. He finished with a .286 EQA and I believe he can only improve on that. 7.1 WARP1, third best VORP among NL 2B, 4.1 pitches per at-bat, and a lot better defense than I thought we would see. His 107 defensive rate means he was 7% better than average and 9 RAA is not too shabby at all. 14 errors look worrisome to most, however.
2008 Outlook: I expect better things out of KJ. A .300 EQA and a .900 OPS are not lofty goals, but real possibilities. If he can work on the grounder to his non-glove side, always a tough thing to do as my friend BFH pointed out, KJ will be an elite 2B for years to come.
Andruw Jones
-It's over. As I wrote in Raw Numbers #32, the Braves and Andruw Jones are no more and in many ways, I am both sad and excited about it. There is not much left to say about Andruw's year. As for as adjusted OPS goes, it was his worst full season. Taking 1997 out of the mix (a full season, yes, but he was mostly a part-time player), Andruw set career lows in runs scored, hits, doubles, and tied his career low in RBIs. His 236 total bases, a career low. And for Andruw, it just got worse. I was still pretty convinced into June and some of July, Andruw would turn it around to at least put up respectable numbers. I was so wrong.
2008 Outlook: This season, Andruw was absolutely horrible and there are many reasons to believe that Andruw will go down the same road players like Ruben Sierra (after his first seven years, he was never the same) and Darryl Strawberry (once he hit 30, it was all over). Andruw's over 30, though in today's game, that's not exactly a death sentence. Unlike Rusty Greer, he was not defensively reckless in center, but his body has taken a considerable amount of blows. His defense is already in decline. If he can keep it fairly average, he will still be a suitable CF, but once it falls, and I believe it will, he will be like Willie Mays in another way. Playing center field longer than he should.
Brandon Jones
-B.J. began the year with Mississippi and posted a very solid .875 OPS with them, complete with 15 HR and a .214 IsoSLG. He moved on to Richmond and his power slumped, but he still hit the ball well in 191 PA (.292 AVG/.354 OBP). That earned him a shot with the big club. He was only 3 for 19 with 8 K's, but did add a 2B and 4 ribbies. Jones is considered, by many, one of the Braves top five prospects and from what I heard, routinely flirting with a .900 OPS should be pretty easy for the kid.
2008 Outlook: Jones will turn 24 in December so he still has some time. Right now, I just don't see a lot of playing time available unless Bobby wants to platoon Diaz yet again with a new guy, this time the left-hand hitting Jones. Seems kind of dumb considering Diaz's last two seasons. If he is not traded this offseason, and I believe the chance is pretty high, Jones will probably fine-tune his game with Richmond next year, at least early on, giving the Braves a backup plan in case of injury.
Chipper Jones
-No matter how you slice it, Chipper Jones had an amazing 2007 campaign. An MVP calibar one. His .340 EQA ranked second in his career and his adjusted WARP's were the best he has ever had. He even reached 600 PA for the first time since 2003, which was the last year he reached the celebrated 100 R/100 RBI plateaus that he also reached this year. The 42 doubles were a new high and he walked more than he struck out for the eighth time in his career. His second place finish for the batting title got all the press, but for the first time in his career, he had the highest OPS in the league. Had he played just a bit more and the Braves been a bit more competitive, Chipper may have won his second MVP. All this...for $11M. Not too shabby.
2008 Outlook: It all comes down to health for Chipper because he remains one of the best hitters in the game. His career OPS is the tenth best active OPS. Defensively, he had one of his best years (though his range has gotten noticeably worse than it was and it never was that good). If healthy, Chipper is a candidate for any hitting award in the majors. I expect more of the same myself. 140ish games, incredible hitting, weaker defense. We're stuck with his defense so if he can do the Vinny Castilla thing (no range, but play everything you get to pretty well), he won't be too much of a problem.
Chuck James-Charles, Chuck, or (as Chip nauseatingly calls him) Chucky had high hopes coming into the year. He had posted solid marks almost across the board in 2006, except for homeruns, and looked like the young pitcher the Braves needed to transition into the next era. However, there were critics. Like me. Who felt a lot of performance was sheer luck. A soft-tossing flyball pitcher who throws two pitches and neither are a breaking ball? Something has to give. Well, what gave was a bad season to follow. His 4.24 ERA again masks how poorly he pitched. His FIP and DERA were worse, his strikeouts were down, homeruns allowed went up. And again, he failed to get grounders. Even worse, in his 30 starts, James went six innings or better 12 times. Now, I wasn't a math major, but my dog tells me that's worse than half. Or less than. Whichever is worse.
2008 Outlook: James could be out of the long-term plans for the Braves for a few reasons. One, Jo-Jo Reyes is well loved by the organization. Two, if you sign Glavine and Hampton comes back, are you seriously going to go with three lefties in the staff (and three lefties who are essentially the same at that)? James probably isn't quite as bad as he pitched last year, but he needs to work on adding a sinker to his game. Or a curve. Or a slider. Or hell, a knuckleball. Right now, he throws two straight pitches. Even if you change speeds as well as Greg Maddux, you need to get some movement.
Kelly Johnson-KJ. Dr. Sabermetric (I'm warming up to it). Start of the year, I was worried with KJ at second because this team defensively scares me. Keller put my worries to bed with a solid April and though he was not awesomely awesome over like that again, he was solid for the entire year. He finished with a .286 EQA and I believe he can only improve on that. 7.1 WARP1, third best VORP among NL 2B, 4.1 pitches per at-bat, and a lot better defense than I thought we would see. His 107 defensive rate means he was 7% better than average and 9 RAA is not too shabby at all. 14 errors look worrisome to most, however.
2008 Outlook: I expect better things out of KJ. A .300 EQA and a .900 OPS are not lofty goals, but real possibilities. If he can work on the grounder to his non-glove side, always a tough thing to do as my friend BFH pointed out, KJ will be an elite 2B for years to come.
Andruw Jones-It's over. As I wrote in Raw Numbers #32, the Braves and Andruw Jones are no more and in many ways, I am both sad and excited about it. There is not much left to say about Andruw's year. As for as adjusted OPS goes, it was his worst full season. Taking 1997 out of the mix (a full season, yes, but he was mostly a part-time player), Andruw set career lows in runs scored, hits, doubles, and tied his career low in RBIs. His 236 total bases, a career low. And for Andruw, it just got worse. I was still pretty convinced into June and some of July, Andruw would turn it around to at least put up respectable numbers. I was so wrong.
2008 Outlook: This season, Andruw was absolutely horrible and there are many reasons to believe that Andruw will go down the same road players like Ruben Sierra (after his first seven years, he was never the same) and Darryl Strawberry (once he hit 30, it was all over). Andruw's over 30, though in today's game, that's not exactly a death sentence. Unlike Rusty Greer, he was not defensively reckless in center, but his body has taken a considerable amount of blows. His defense is already in decline. If he can keep it fairly average, he will still be a suitable CF, but once it falls, and I believe it will, he will be like Willie Mays in another way. Playing center field longer than he should.
Brandon Jones-B.J. began the year with Mississippi and posted a very solid .875 OPS with them, complete with 15 HR and a .214 IsoSLG. He moved on to Richmond and his power slumped, but he still hit the ball well in 191 PA (.292 AVG/.354 OBP). That earned him a shot with the big club. He was only 3 for 19 with 8 K's, but did add a 2B and 4 ribbies. Jones is considered, by many, one of the Braves top five prospects and from what I heard, routinely flirting with a .900 OPS should be pretty easy for the kid.
2008 Outlook: Jones will turn 24 in December so he still has some time. Right now, I just don't see a lot of playing time available unless Bobby wants to platoon Diaz yet again with a new guy, this time the left-hand hitting Jones. Seems kind of dumb considering Diaz's last two seasons. If he is not traded this offseason, and I believe the chance is pretty high, Jones will probably fine-tune his game with Richmond next year, at least early on, giving the Braves a backup plan in case of injury.
Chipper Jones
-No matter how you slice it, Chipper Jones had an amazing 2007 campaign. An MVP calibar one. His .340 EQA ranked second in his career and his adjusted WARP's were the best he has ever had. He even reached 600 PA for the first time since 2003, which was the last year he reached the celebrated 100 R/100 RBI plateaus that he also reached this year. The 42 doubles were a new high and he walked more than he struck out for the eighth time in his career. His second place finish for the batting title got all the press, but for the first time in his career, he had the highest OPS in the league. Had he played just a bit more and the Braves been a bit more competitive, Chipper may have won his second MVP. All this...for $11M. Not too shabby.
2008 Outlook: It all comes down to health for Chipper because he remains one of the best hitters in the game. His career OPS is the tenth best active OPS. Defensively, he had one of his best years (though his range has gotten noticeably worse than it was and it never was that good). If healthy, Chipper is a candidate for any hitting award in the majors. I expect more of the same myself. 140ish games, incredible hitting, weaker defense. We're stuck with his defense so if he can do the Vinny Castilla thing (no range, but play everything you get to pretty well), he won't be too much of a problem.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A-Z Reviews: H
Willie Harris-He went by a few names at Chopnation. Willie Mays Hays Harris. "The Truth." But to me, he was the guy who replaced Ryan Langerhans and that did not make me very happy. Langer was one of my personal favorites, not this random addition to the team who was hitting at Richmond. But then, Willie kept hitting. In his first 36 games, he was hitting .412/.477/.546. 8 steals and caught just twice with a solid 12/16 BB/SO clip. I mean, I could hate on his fairly weak defense, but that offense was amazing. Then, on June 13th, the clock struck midnight and whatever pumpkin the fairy turned into a magic bat turned back and Willie was the Willie who hit .204 for the ChiSox in 2003. From June 13th until the end of the year, Harris batted .215. He couldn't even steal anymore and was caught in half of his attempts. He OPS'd .631. And yet, Bobby was iffy on taking him out of a platoon with Matt Diaz. Sometimes, I'm pretty harsh on Bobby, but I was really questioning if he was betting on the Braves _not_ making the playoffs.
2008 Outlook: Willie is arbitration eligible and his overall numbers of .272/.349/.392 might get him in the $1.5M range. If that's possible, Braves need to move on. Willie's not worth that much. Hopefully, JS non-tenders him, signs him to a much smaller deal with incentives, or finds some Southeast Australian team willing to overspend for him.
Tim Hudson-You are not going to find someone who was more ardent about trading Hudson than me. Through two years in Atlanta, he continued a trend that was becoming disconcerting. Less strikeouts, lots of homers, too many damn walks. Yes, Billy Beane didn't get a lot for him, but then, he wasn't playing that well either. However, he turned it around somewhat in 2007. He posted the fourth best Defensive ERA of his career at 3.60, and while the strikeouts still haven't returned, he struck out enough and walked less.
2008 Outlook: Hudson is exactly what you look for when you start thinking "who can be a good #2 pitcher?" I tend to not care much for the labels #1, #2, etc., but Huddy is that. In many ways, he is better than most team's aces, though he himself is not great. He's just really, really good. If he can continue the success he reached in 2007, he will be a big reason why the Braves are in playoff contention. If he is only the innings-eater of 2006, well...
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
A-Z Reviews: G
Mike Gonzalez
-Oh, what could have been? After an off-and-on start to his Braves career, Gonzalez was in need of Tommy John surgery and gone after just 18 games. Gonzo was fairly decent, especially when he was feeling it and not afraid to let go. However, that was few and far between. He walked a lot of batters last year, but overall, looking like he was capable of being the guy the Braves wanted when they gave up Adam LaRoche. Gonzo has at least one more year of arbitration if not more and should not get much more for next year than he got this year because he only appeared in 18 games.
2008 Outlook: The first two months of the season are pretty much shot for Gonzo. They say while Tommy John rehab takes about a year, it takes another year to get everything back so I can not expect too much from Gonzo next year. Anything close to what Gonzo would give in a healthy year should be considered an added perk. By the way, love the ass-out hug, guys. Vince Vaughn approves.
Monday, October 8, 2007
A-Z Reviews: F
Julio Franco-Ugh, the old man should have never come back and he scared the bejesus out of me when he did. 49 years-young, Franco was cast off by the Mets after hitting .200 for them and found a new home with the Braves because any old Brave that the Mets no longer want, the Braves will take back (see Glavine, Tom). Franco hit a bit better for the Braves (.250) but showed his age constantly by never getting around on fastballs. After Teix was acquired, Franco grabbed four games at both Rome and Richmond over the next month until he was reactivated for September. He went 1 for 4 with an RBI after returning.
2008 Outlook: His future with the organization is completely tied in to Scott Thorman. I could see the Braves bringing him back (sadly) if they trade off Thor. If not, Franco might be sitting around. Could play some independent ball to stay active and hope some team has a need for a non-power hitting first baseman who can't hit good fastballs. Hey, I can do that!
Jeff Francoeur-I do not like being wrong. It bothers me. Francoeur was never going to show much more improvement in OBP, I argued, after he posted a .293 clip in 2004. Then, he did. He batted .293 last year with a .338 OBP. While sabermtrically, his EQA of .268 and WARP1 of 5.6 really isn't that much to write home overall, it was a massive improvement over '06. Defensively, he was as weird as ever. If you watch Francoeur run, he reminds me of a cartoon character trying to run with his legs spinning, but not going anywhere. Francoeur is not slow, but he just does not have much top speed. He takes odd routes to the ball, too. With Andruw gone, he's going to need to do a better job to try to hide some of the defensive loss. Some people talk about his HR going from 29 to 19, but I just don't see him as that much of a power hitter at this point of his career anyway. He's a line drive guy. Some years, the 2B/HR just fluctuate for players.
2008 Outlook: How good can Francoeur get? I do not know. I give up trying to come to a conclusion. In general, I can see him improving on this year, but he's never going to be a superstar on his hitting alone. I expect him to have a long-term deal with the Braves signed before spring training. Next year, I will continue my long-standing rule of never calling him "Frenchy" and cringing each time someone does.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
A-Z Reviews: E
Yunel Escobar
-Mark Bowman called him dynamic and we at Chopnation adopted the name Mr. Dynamic in almost spite to the fact that he was taking time away from KJ and hitting singles. But then, he started to hit with some pop and kept hitting in general. He plays reckless, which is foolish and intoxicating to watch at the same time. All told, Esco hit .326 in 319 AB, hardly an easy task (in spite of what Matt Diaz might think). He also posted solid rookie numbers in IsoOBP (.059) and IsoSLG (.125) from a middle infielder. The sabermetrics were fairly kind to him, giving him a .286 EQA, good for fourth on the team among hitters with 300 PA. Defensively, I think he can hold his own at second, but might not be an improvement over Renty's often "ok" defense.
2008 Outlook: Gotta work it out with KJ, Renty, and Esco in some facet. Renty is often cited as the man mostly likely to be traded and it makes sense with one more year on his contract that is guaranteed to him. Esco probably brings back the smallest in terms of return unless a SS strapped team desperately puts up pitching for him. In some way, shape, or form, Esco is probably going to be a starter for the Braves next season. Just have to find out which position.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
A-Z Reviews: D
After so little to talk about with the B's and C's, D delivers some interesting figures.
Kyle Davies
-Hiram, as I called him, was exactly what I love in young pitching. Velocity, a solid curve, and the youth on his side. However, what he lacked was...production. In the slightest. It was straight up horrible at times, including last year. Even Lance Cormier would occasionally have a nice week or two. Davies seemed to have a game in which he might turn the corner, only to suck horribly. Such was the case on May 22nd, when he dominated the Mets over eight innings and even hit a homer. The next game, eight runs in 4.1 ING to the Phillies. He then gave up just a run to the Cubs before five runs to the Marlins. Quality starts were isolated. So, the Braves made the choice to listen to deals and they got one in the form of Octavio Dotel from the Royals. Davies continued his inability to stay productive for just consecutive starts in the AL, but then spoke of how the Braves clubhouse was part of the problem for him.
2008 Outlook: Even in Kansas City, Davies is running out of time to make something of himself. He stayed healthy last year and pitched a MLB personal best 136 innings, but that meant he wasn't quite averaging five innings in his 28 starts, hardly anything to write home about. I wish him the best cause I've always liked him, but at a certain point, you need to produce.
Joey Devine
-The Braves simply want Joey Devine to fail. From the 2005 horrible failures to this year as he got jockeyed between Mississippi and Atlanta so many times, he'd be forgiven for wearing the wrong uniform, Devine has had a certain mystique about him. Great movement, closer material, and after 2005 failed, the Braves tried to go slower with him. Injuries nearly took an entire 2006 campaign from him, but in between all the call-ups, one thing was for sure. Devine had a great year. In 57 innings between Mississippi and Richmond, Devine racked up 78 strikeouts and walked 19. Only two people hit a homer off him. Used almost entirely as the closer (43 games finished out of 50 overall games), Devine logged 20 saves between the levels. In the majors, Devine's control was a problem (8 walks in 8.1 ING), but the strikeouts were there.
2008 Outlook: It's now or never for Joey D. He burned his final option this year. But after initially looking like they were trying to screw up the kid, the Braves took a more reasonable approach this year and the results were great. He may still go through some growing pains next year, but at least the star is still lit and there is some hope.
Matt Diaz
-For the longest time, Matt Diaz was a mystery to me. On one side, the guy could hit. On the other, players typically don't go searching for a shot for that long of a time and finally get one as they get closer to 30. So, I've accepted in a sense what Diaz is. This year, he set career highs in nearly every category, including a sweet 16 walks (w00t!). Also new highs was the .320/.368/.497 clip he posted. His defense in left is oddly loved by stats when I have only seen a crazy man. Maybe, in his insanity, his defense comes out. I dunno. I do know the platoon he was in with Willie Harris was an absolute joke over the final two months.
2008 Outlook: There is a growing contingent of Braves fans who want to see Diaz get his shot. In a sense, he's earned it. For two consecutive years, he found a wake to post a BABIP in the very high .300's. In 2006, it was .380. In 2007, it was .392. That certainly puts a damper on the "it was a fluke" charge. The worst thing you can do is underscore what Diaz did do because it was pretty solid. On the other hand, Diaz is hitting arbitration and the Braves have Brandon Jones, a guy with a solid future in this game. It's a tough call, but I think he'll be back, though Bobby still may not give him a starting gig.
Octavio Dotel
-Traded around the deadline for Kyle Davies, Dotel was a solid pickup...for about two weeks before Dotel did as Dotels do and got himself hurt again. In the past three seasons, Dotel has appeared in 62 games and pitched 55.1 ING. While with the Braves, his strikeout arm flourished. He gave up a few runs, but pitched very solidly with a FIP of 2.23. This after saving 11 with the Royals and putting up decent numbers there (though a high WHIP of 1.52 is nothing to write home about).
2008 Outlook: Dotel has an odd player's option for next season. He finished 25 games this year, good for a bonus of $600K on his 2007 salary of $5M. His player's option came with a base salary of $5.5M, plus the $600K, making the salary $6.1M. Oh, but the team can decline the option. Why not call it a mutual option then? I'm sure the Braves would be interested in bringing him back, but not at that salary.
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Credit to Rain Delay for the Devine picture.
Kyle Davies-Hiram, as I called him, was exactly what I love in young pitching. Velocity, a solid curve, and the youth on his side. However, what he lacked was...production. In the slightest. It was straight up horrible at times, including last year. Even Lance Cormier would occasionally have a nice week or two. Davies seemed to have a game in which he might turn the corner, only to suck horribly. Such was the case on May 22nd, when he dominated the Mets over eight innings and even hit a homer. The next game, eight runs in 4.1 ING to the Phillies. He then gave up just a run to the Cubs before five runs to the Marlins. Quality starts were isolated. So, the Braves made the choice to listen to deals and they got one in the form of Octavio Dotel from the Royals. Davies continued his inability to stay productive for just consecutive starts in the AL, but then spoke of how the Braves clubhouse was part of the problem for him.
2008 Outlook: Even in Kansas City, Davies is running out of time to make something of himself. He stayed healthy last year and pitched a MLB personal best 136 innings, but that meant he wasn't quite averaging five innings in his 28 starts, hardly anything to write home about. I wish him the best cause I've always liked him, but at a certain point, you need to produce.
Joey Devine-The Braves simply want Joey Devine to fail. From the 2005 horrible failures to this year as he got jockeyed between Mississippi and Atlanta so many times, he'd be forgiven for wearing the wrong uniform, Devine has had a certain mystique about him. Great movement, closer material, and after 2005 failed, the Braves tried to go slower with him. Injuries nearly took an entire 2006 campaign from him, but in between all the call-ups, one thing was for sure. Devine had a great year. In 57 innings between Mississippi and Richmond, Devine racked up 78 strikeouts and walked 19. Only two people hit a homer off him. Used almost entirely as the closer (43 games finished out of 50 overall games), Devine logged 20 saves between the levels. In the majors, Devine's control was a problem (8 walks in 8.1 ING), but the strikeouts were there.
2008 Outlook: It's now or never for Joey D. He burned his final option this year. But after initially looking like they were trying to screw up the kid, the Braves took a more reasonable approach this year and the results were great. He may still go through some growing pains next year, but at least the star is still lit and there is some hope.
Matt Diaz-For the longest time, Matt Diaz was a mystery to me. On one side, the guy could hit. On the other, players typically don't go searching for a shot for that long of a time and finally get one as they get closer to 30. So, I've accepted in a sense what Diaz is. This year, he set career highs in nearly every category, including a sweet 16 walks (w00t!). Also new highs was the .320/.368/.497 clip he posted. His defense in left is oddly loved by stats when I have only seen a crazy man. Maybe, in his insanity, his defense comes out. I dunno. I do know the platoon he was in with Willie Harris was an absolute joke over the final two months.
2008 Outlook: There is a growing contingent of Braves fans who want to see Diaz get his shot. In a sense, he's earned it. For two consecutive years, he found a wake to post a BABIP in the very high .300's. In 2006, it was .380. In 2007, it was .392. That certainly puts a damper on the "it was a fluke" charge. The worst thing you can do is underscore what Diaz did do because it was pretty solid. On the other hand, Diaz is hitting arbitration and the Braves have Brandon Jones, a guy with a solid future in this game. It's a tough call, but I think he'll be back, though Bobby still may not give him a starting gig.
Octavio Dotel-Traded around the deadline for Kyle Davies, Dotel was a solid pickup...for about two weeks before Dotel did as Dotels do and got himself hurt again. In the past three seasons, Dotel has appeared in 62 games and pitched 55.1 ING. While with the Braves, his strikeout arm flourished. He gave up a few runs, but pitched very solidly with a FIP of 2.23. This after saving 11 with the Royals and putting up decent numbers there (though a high WHIP of 1.52 is nothing to write home about).
2008 Outlook: Dotel has an odd player's option for next season. He finished 25 games this year, good for a bonus of $600K on his 2007 salary of $5M. His player's option came with a base salary of $5.5M, plus the $600K, making the salary $6.1M. Oh, but the team can decline the option. Why not call it a mutual option then? I'm sure the Braves would be interested in bringing him back, but not at that salary.
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Credit to Rain Delay for the Devine picture.
Friday, October 5, 2007
A-Z Reviews: C
Buddy Carlyle-I was a big supporter of My Buddy getting his first real shot after 21 games in three seasons spaced over six years accounting for all of his major league experience. He started well. From his Braves debut on May 26th to my birthday on August 7th, Buddy was 7-3 with an ERA of 4.28 and a solid WHIP of 1.22. But as usual, the wheels come off a good story that involves my birthday. In his final eight games, seven of them starts, Buddy posted a 7.47 ERA, would be assuming if his last name was Boing. Batters posted a 1.027 OPS against him. It was ugly. I cried.
2008 Outlook: Buddy is what I like to call...not good. I'm marketing that. In one sense, he got his shot and prevailed by just simply sticking around. But he is not good enough to last. With the Braves not forced to make a decision with him (he has sometime before arbitration), I expect to see him stick around and battle for a spot next year, but likely will be cut.
Steve Colyer-Colyer was a late favorite of Bobby's last spring training and after being a last minute cut, got his chance in mid-April. In seven games, however, the southpaw was able to record just eleven outs. That's not good even of a LOOGY. He was designated for assignment in early May.
2008 Outlook: A minor league contract or another league is in his future. Colyer is only a semi-known name to people like me because he took off in my OOTP game one time. Became the Mets closer and I routinely blasted him.
Lance Cormier
-When Cormier came out of nowhere to have a great spring and suddenly get a lot of support in the franchise, I was quite concerned because I knew the real Cormier. The real one is a lot of sucktitude. Injuries kept him out until June 3rd and this is how bad his first game was. In his second game, in which he gave up five runs in 3.2 ING, Cormier lowered his ERA to 15.26. He was back out of the picture until the trade of Kyle Davies brought him back in August. After a relief appearence, he sucked again as a starter. However, a decent run followed. In his next four starts, he posted a 3.24 ERA and hitters batted just .234 against them, though they made five of them count in the form of homers. After reverting back to Real Cormier (not Rheal Cormier), Cormier made his last appearance on September 15th.
2008 Outlook: Cormier is arbitration eligible and he's the exact type of pitcher you should never pay more than the minimum for. However, I expect him to receive unearned raise and bug me next year like he did this year.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
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.
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.
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