-Been a cold week at times for us Virginians, but alas, no one cares. Not even the weather Gods, who chose to surround Virginia with wintery mix, but never actually enter Virginia to give us some. Bastards.
-The Hattisburg American out of Hattisburg, Miss. is ready to call the NL East for the Braves. Jason Munz writes, "Braves over the Detroit Tigers in the 2008 World Series in six games." This is problematic because Munz, while he does write about the Braves to some degree, doesn't actually indicate the x-factor, the je ne sais quo that gets them over the hump. Just says there are reasons to be optimistic because the Braves have brought older people back. He does talk up Glav, but man, when did the quality start ever become some big number? This is monster cherrypicking in my opinion. A quality start is defined as six innings and three or less earned runs. This is nice, but it's hardly that noteworthy.
-McCann gets the DOB treatment with an article that while promising, seems to be regurgitated from last year. A year ago, the buzz was that despite such a huge year in 2006, McCann wanted to be a more complete player in 2007. I hope to see it this year and focusing on his diet/exercising might be a first step to getting better. To me, he just needs to work on his footwork.
-Speaking of Braves catchers, here is DOB again with an article on the faux battle for the backup catcher. This idea is to use Javy as a pinch hitter and Diaz as the emergency catcher. Now...that's going to be fun. I think as long as Javy stays healthy and doesn't completely suckass, he has the job. That's not a competition, though.
-THE MOST PROMISING part of the article was that Bobby said this. "Either way you go with the first two guys, it doesn't matter, with Kelly and Escobar." Aww, I love you again, Bobby. And shut up, Chipper. Mark Kotsay shouldn't be hitting second. You are a terrible manager!
-By the way, Chipper's mouth was yapping about the proposed two-horse race in the NL East. However, according to Chipper, the problem the last two years hasn't been pitching, Andruw Jones, or anything close. It's the fact that the Braves young guys don't have a "killer instinct." See, whereas Chipper's KI is worthy of a Hall of Fame induction, Francoeur and McCann just don't have enough KI to get the team to the next plateau. Kelly does, but he's Texan and its expected. Moylan doesn't because Aussies are not a war-loving people. Maybe Chipper should strap them down like they did that monkey in 28 Days Later and show footage of teams with lots of killer instinct until they are infected with enough KI to start a dynasty.
-Elsewhere, it seems the Braves are becoming the critics choice to be the NL East spoiler. In Macon, they also talk up how forgotten the Braves are, despite the fact they have been there the last two years and still retain beaucoups of hitting talent, not to mention a good pitching core that can compete with the better staffs in the NL.
-Speaking of pitchers...Matt DeSalvo is already impressing Bobby. You know Bobby...he absolutely loves those all-guts, no stuff pitchers. Jair Jurrjens is also getting a bit of play. First, the fantasy sports blog SportsJudge has a bit on Jurrjens being a bigger prospect than many might believe. I think that's accurate. His minor league numbers seem to give me the idea that he'll be a productive pitcher over the next dozen or so years. I don't think he will be dominating, but much like good pitchers, he'll be productive. Also on Jurrjens, here is a bit on him getting a shot with his favorite team. I didn't know he was from Curacao.
-If you need yet more info on Jordan Schafer, here you go. I really think he's getting blown up a bit too much, but maybe that's me desperately trying to keep my expectations low.
-Oh, the Braves East (Nats) signed Odalis Perez, who I believe becomes the first to complete the triangle with playing with the Braves, Braves West (Dodgers), and now Braves East. Congrats Odalis.
Showing posts with label Schafer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Schafer. Show all posts
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Busy week, ya know?
Baseball is finally getting fun again.
-Spring training previews are up and running. The Sports Network actually considers Chris Resop an addition to talk about. That's scary. Basic premise - Braves will improve this year because of the acquisitions of old Braves. Not that abnormal, I suppose.
-Elsewhere, Dugout Central has their very own preview. Much more informative and includes the very fun "The aforementioned Jurrjens could be getting starts as early as May, or whenever the annual Mike Hampton injury occurs." I'm glad we got such a joke as a starter. I think it's very fair to say that the Braves are, yes, headed in the right direction, but this might not be their year. Still not convinced that this staff is as deep and talented as people might think.
-Spring Training 08 has a theory that Matt DeSalvo is the best non-roster invitee to make an impact on the Braves. Consider the lists of NRI includes Javy Lopez, Jordan Schafer, and Brent Lillibridge, the choice of DeSalvo is a interesting one. I doubt he will get more than five innings myself.
-Here's a little didy about Josh Anderson. Is "didy" even a word? Not according to my spell check, but if it's not a word, than just what the fuck was John Cougar Mellencamp singing about? Didy isn't a word...ditty is, however. Learn something new every day.
-There's been a slew of Bobby Cox articles, mostly about his proposed retirement. Bowman and DOB both touch on it, so really, it's just one brain. I frankly think this is it and everyone is kinda in on it. There's that, "win one more for the Coxer" feeling to this season with Glav and Javy back in the fold. My sources tell me Sid Bream is coming out of retirement to compete with Thor for the backup first base job.
-DOB's article also said the Braves have brought back Damian Moss. You know he just wants to attach himself to Glav's hand again.
-Jayson Stark gave Glav his own article, too. A lot of people can't stand Stark, but I think he's merely a pompous ass and as one myself, I see a lot of pluses in that. But what the hell is up with that pic? It scares me.
Thing is...all the words in the world are worthless if Glav can't turn a few things on its head. He needs to prove that he do basically what he did two years ago. Drastically improve his K/9. Last year, it was 3.9. There is no amount of "well, take out those last few starts" arguments that avoid one truth. Glav was lucky to be having a "good" year until September. His defensive ERA also ballooned.
His projections are not promising. The Bill James ones are always the most positive, but his Marcel is just not good enough. 4.50 ERA, less than 100 K's, less than 200 innings. These things will keep Glav from being significantly helpful to the Braves, especially in the way Stark projects.
-DOB also talks up the Glavine subject, but he provides some other nuggets on Jeff Bennett, Mark Kotsay, and Jeff Francoeur. Bennett must have Bobby's support because he keeps getting mentioned. I'm dieting too so maybe I can be the fifth or "sixth" starter as well. Francoeur is blowing up and Kotsay has a beard. Thanks for the big time insight, DOB.
-Um...go Braves?
-Spring training previews are up and running. The Sports Network actually considers Chris Resop an addition to talk about. That's scary. Basic premise - Braves will improve this year because of the acquisitions of old Braves. Not that abnormal, I suppose.
-Elsewhere, Dugout Central has their very own preview. Much more informative and includes the very fun "The aforementioned Jurrjens could be getting starts as early as May, or whenever the annual Mike Hampton injury occurs." I'm glad we got such a joke as a starter. I think it's very fair to say that the Braves are, yes, headed in the right direction, but this might not be their year. Still not convinced that this staff is as deep and talented as people might think.
-Spring Training 08 has a theory that Matt DeSalvo is the best non-roster invitee to make an impact on the Braves. Consider the lists of NRI includes Javy Lopez, Jordan Schafer, and Brent Lillibridge, the choice of DeSalvo is a interesting one. I doubt he will get more than five innings myself.
-Here's a little didy about Josh Anderson. Is "didy" even a word? Not according to my spell check, but if it's not a word, than just what the fuck was John Cougar Mellencamp singing about? Didy isn't a word...ditty is, however. Learn something new every day.
-There's been a slew of Bobby Cox articles, mostly about his proposed retirement. Bowman and DOB both touch on it, so really, it's just one brain. I frankly think this is it and everyone is kinda in on it. There's that, "win one more for the Coxer" feeling to this season with Glav and Javy back in the fold. My sources tell me Sid Bream is coming out of retirement to compete with Thor for the backup first base job.
-DOB's article also said the Braves have brought back Damian Moss. You know he just wants to attach himself to Glav's hand again.
-Jayson Stark gave Glav his own article, too. A lot of people can't stand Stark, but I think he's merely a pompous ass and as one myself, I see a lot of pluses in that. But what the hell is up with that pic? It scares me.
Thing is...all the words in the world are worthless if Glav can't turn a few things on its head. He needs to prove that he do basically what he did two years ago. Drastically improve his K/9. Last year, it was 3.9. There is no amount of "well, take out those last few starts" arguments that avoid one truth. Glav was lucky to be having a "good" year until September. His defensive ERA also ballooned.
His projections are not promising. The Bill James ones are always the most positive, but his Marcel is just not good enough. 4.50 ERA, less than 100 K's, less than 200 innings. These things will keep Glav from being significantly helpful to the Braves, especially in the way Stark projects.
-DOB also talks up the Glavine subject, but he provides some other nuggets on Jeff Bennett, Mark Kotsay, and Jeff Francoeur. Bennett must have Bobby's support because he keeps getting mentioned. I'm dieting too so maybe I can be the fifth or "sixth" starter as well. Francoeur is blowing up and Kotsay has a beard. Thanks for the big time insight, DOB.
-Um...go Braves?
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Week in Review
When I work during the week, I rarely if ever keep track of the Braves, baseball, my cat, or my bathing routine. Perhaps I've said too much. Anywho, here is a recap of the week's events involving the Braves. Some of this may be old news to you, some of it may have been mislooked, but all of it is NEWS! I feel so Dan Ratherish.
The Savannah Morning News mentions that maybe John Schuerholz's decision to move to President was due in at least part to the fact that he didn't want to deal with Glavine or try to replace Bobby Cox. Hear that, John? The SMN calls you a pussy. What now?
Meanwhile, the favorite target of this blog, the AJC, had a Frank Wren piece from Jeff Schultz. It's your basic fluff piece with a little history on Wren that you probably will never be asked about on Jeopardy. This Schuerholz/Wren shake-up is kind of reminding me of the Bill Parcells/Wade Phillips shake-up in Dallas. One guy is the bigger personality - both in the media and the way he is portrayed. However, Wren won't have direct contact.
I'm still not sure this setup will work so well. If Schuerholz feels the itch to do the GM job, it could break down rather quick.
Crooked Pitch had a look at the Braves outfield in 2007. Decent objective piece, though he is dreaming if he feels Brandon Jones can be the starting center fielder in 2008.
Speaking of center field, Torri Hunter has expressed a desire to play in Atlanta next year. Last year, I railed against getting Tom Glavine and this year, I would rather have Glavine than Hunter. If you look at Hunter's career, he has two pretty good years, three pretty shitty years, and four average to slightly better-than average campaigns. Why the hell would I want to pay $13-$15 million for that? Yes, he is coming off a solid year, but he still posted a pedestrian .334 OBP and a hardly notable .505 SLG to go with his 122 OPS+. All told, his year wasn't that much better than any other year.
Put it this way. As I was preparing for my next chopnation column, I came to the conclusion that on a money paid, production received scale, Mike Cameron trumps Hunter and I'm hardly that much of a fan of Cameron.
DOB is hyping up Jordan Schaffer. Hopefully, the kid keeps progressing, but this lovefest is getting a little scary. I believe a lot of people are convinced that Schaffer will be the starting center fielder. You have to learn from the Andy Marte's of the world that just being great in the minors and having solid potential doesn't make a star right away. "Think Grady Sizemore meets Steve Finley?" I hope he is more on the Sizemore side than Finley. The latter was a good guy, nice defender, but an average hitter. Sizemore is a damn force.
Finally, news came out today that Paul Byrd bought $24,850 of HGH between the summer of 2002 and the winter of 2005. 2002 was Byrd's career season with the Royals when he came out of nowhere to suddenly win 17 and post solid numbers. The Braves signed him in 2003 and he spent two years in Atlanta in which he started just 19 games. Maybe the HGH made him more prone to injury.
Now I'm of the camp that really downplays the impact HGH has on a player, especially a pitcher. HGH simply buils immature muscle which would be good for someone who needs girth like an offensive lineman, but not so helpful for a guy like Paul Byrd - who is a finesse pitcher. Nevertheless, this is the kind of stories that you kind of get used to. I tend to like Byrd, but jeez, you were an idiot.
The Savannah Morning News mentions that maybe John Schuerholz's decision to move to President was due in at least part to the fact that he didn't want to deal with Glavine or try to replace Bobby Cox. Hear that, John? The SMN calls you a pussy. What now?
Meanwhile, the favorite target of this blog, the AJC, had a Frank Wren piece from Jeff Schultz. It's your basic fluff piece with a little history on Wren that you probably will never be asked about on Jeopardy. This Schuerholz/Wren shake-up is kind of reminding me of the Bill Parcells/Wade Phillips shake-up in Dallas. One guy is the bigger personality - both in the media and the way he is portrayed. However, Wren won't have direct contact.
I'm still not sure this setup will work so well. If Schuerholz feels the itch to do the GM job, it could break down rather quick.
Crooked Pitch had a look at the Braves outfield in 2007. Decent objective piece, though he is dreaming if he feels Brandon Jones can be the starting center fielder in 2008.
Speaking of center field, Torri Hunter has expressed a desire to play in Atlanta next year. Last year, I railed against getting Tom Glavine and this year, I would rather have Glavine than Hunter. If you look at Hunter's career, he has two pretty good years, three pretty shitty years, and four average to slightly better-than average campaigns. Why the hell would I want to pay $13-$15 million for that? Yes, he is coming off a solid year, but he still posted a pedestrian .334 OBP and a hardly notable .505 SLG to go with his 122 OPS+. All told, his year wasn't that much better than any other year.
Put it this way. As I was preparing for my next chopnation column, I came to the conclusion that on a money paid, production received scale, Mike Cameron trumps Hunter and I'm hardly that much of a fan of Cameron.
DOB is hyping up Jordan Schaffer. Hopefully, the kid keeps progressing, but this lovefest is getting a little scary. I believe a lot of people are convinced that Schaffer will be the starting center fielder. You have to learn from the Andy Marte's of the world that just being great in the minors and having solid potential doesn't make a star right away. "Think Grady Sizemore meets Steve Finley?" I hope he is more on the Sizemore side than Finley. The latter was a good guy, nice defender, but an average hitter. Sizemore is a damn force.
Finally, news came out today that Paul Byrd bought $24,850 of HGH between the summer of 2002 and the winter of 2005. 2002 was Byrd's career season with the Royals when he came out of nowhere to suddenly win 17 and post solid numbers. The Braves signed him in 2003 and he spent two years in Atlanta in which he started just 19 games. Maybe the HGH made him more prone to injury.
Now I'm of the camp that really downplays the impact HGH has on a player, especially a pitcher. HGH simply buils immature muscle which would be good for someone who needs girth like an offensive lineman, but not so helpful for a guy like Paul Byrd - who is a finesse pitcher. Nevertheless, this is the kind of stories that you kind of get used to. I tend to like Byrd, but jeez, you were an idiot.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Baseball America Minor League Notes
BA finished off the top 20 lists and added All-Stars for both the minor league as a whole and each level. Here is a review for our interests.
International League Top 20
7. Brent Lillibridge, ss, Richmond Braves
8. Yunel Escobar, ss, Richmond Braves
14. Brandon Jones, of, Richmond Braves
The IL was very deep last year with the many big prospects that headed through it on their way to the bigs. Lillibridge was ranked lower than expected in the Southern League, but made up for it in Richmond. Had BJ showed more of his power, he would probably be pushing his way into the top ten. Of course, no pitching on this list.
2007 Classification All-Stars
A Advanced: OF Jordan Schafer
Rookie: OF Cody Johnson, SP Cole Rohrbough, SP Jeff Locke
Low showing due in part to the quick promotions some players earned, but this is a sign of how deep the Braves' system is with real impact players. They badly need some luck and/or some good trades to restock this system, especially the upper levels.
International League Top 20
7. Brent Lillibridge, ss, Richmond Braves
8. Yunel Escobar, ss, Richmond Braves
14. Brandon Jones, of, Richmond Braves
The IL was very deep last year with the many big prospects that headed through it on their way to the bigs. Lillibridge was ranked lower than expected in the Southern League, but made up for it in Richmond. Had BJ showed more of his power, he would probably be pushing his way into the top ten. Of course, no pitching on this list.
2007 Classification All-Stars
A Advanced: OF Jordan Schafer
Rookie: OF Cody Johnson, SP Cole Rohrbough, SP Jeff Locke
Low showing due in part to the quick promotions some players earned, but this is a sign of how deep the Braves' system is with real impact players. They badly need some luck and/or some good trades to restock this system, especially the upper levels.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Baseball America: Carolina League Top 20
Braves development is well recognized with the Carolina League best prospects of 2007.
1. Jordan Schafer, of, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
3. Elvis Andrus, ss, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
4. Max Ramirez, c, Kinston Indians
8. Tommy Hanson, rhp, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
18. Jairo Cuevas, rhp, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
...
Schafer has quietly climbed up the rankings from near-unknown to possible long-term center fielder in the span of, oh, a year. Schafer is a former Top 13 year-old in the country, according to Baseball America, who the Braves selected in the 3rd round of 2005. A former top prep pitcher who had a scholarship to Clemson, Schafer was quickly moved to the outfield by the Braves.
He struggled in the Gulf Coast League in 2005 and didn't show much more talent in 2006, but this year, the player who has been compared to Mark Kotsay, J.D. Drew, and Shawn Green absolutely took off. He reached double digits in 2B-3B-HR, stole 23 bases, and posted a clip of .312/.374/.513. By the way, he played most of the season in the Carolina League (after a month with Rome to get going) and the Carolina is a tough league to hit in, especially his home park in Myrtle Beach.
I didn't even rank Schafer when I did a top 30 prospects last year for chopnation. He is probably a year-and-a-half away (making a stopgap in center field all the more likely as opposed to a long-term contract). Before the season, Brandon Jones was the only major outfield prospect the Braves had. That much has changed.
Of the others ranked, of course Andrus is with the Rangers organization now and Max Ramirez was traded to the Indians for Wickmoo last year. Hanson's the guy I really like. In his first full professional year, he started at Rome and finished with Myrtle Beach. All told, his record of 5-9 is deceptive. Neither team hit for him. Solid ERA, but what grabs my attention is the 154 K's in 133 innings. He gave up a lot of homers, but if you can keep the K/9 rate high, you got a lot of good things going.
Jairo, or J.C., Cuevas is a bit of a surprise. I don't really see him one of the top 20 prospects in the Braves organization...not even sure he's in the top 30...so him making the top 20 for the league grabbed my attention. He has a good arm, probably projects to be a reliever though he started this year. Needs to do something about the walks (71 in 132 innings), though.
1. Jordan Schafer, of, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
3. Elvis Andrus, ss, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
4. Max Ramirez, c, Kinston Indians
8. Tommy Hanson, rhp, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
18. Jairo Cuevas, rhp, Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Braves)
...
Schafer has quietly climbed up the rankings from near-unknown to possible long-term center fielder in the span of, oh, a year. Schafer is a former Top 13 year-old in the country, according to Baseball America, who the Braves selected in the 3rd round of 2005. A former top prep pitcher who had a scholarship to Clemson, Schafer was quickly moved to the outfield by the Braves.
He struggled in the Gulf Coast League in 2005 and didn't show much more talent in 2006, but this year, the player who has been compared to Mark Kotsay, J.D. Drew, and Shawn Green absolutely took off. He reached double digits in 2B-3B-HR, stole 23 bases, and posted a clip of .312/.374/.513. By the way, he played most of the season in the Carolina League (after a month with Rome to get going) and the Carolina is a tough league to hit in, especially his home park in Myrtle Beach.
I didn't even rank Schafer when I did a top 30 prospects last year for chopnation. He is probably a year-and-a-half away (making a stopgap in center field all the more likely as opposed to a long-term contract). Before the season, Brandon Jones was the only major outfield prospect the Braves had. That much has changed.
Of the others ranked, of course Andrus is with the Rangers organization now and Max Ramirez was traded to the Indians for Wickmoo last year. Hanson's the guy I really like. In his first full professional year, he started at Rome and finished with Myrtle Beach. All told, his record of 5-9 is deceptive. Neither team hit for him. Solid ERA, but what grabs my attention is the 154 K's in 133 innings. He gave up a lot of homers, but if you can keep the K/9 rate high, you got a lot of good things going.
Jairo, or J.C., Cuevas is a bit of a surprise. I don't really see him one of the top 20 prospects in the Braves organization...not even sure he's in the top 30...so him making the top 20 for the league grabbed my attention. He has a good arm, probably projects to be a reliever though he started this year. Needs to do something about the walks (71 in 132 innings), though.
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