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Braves Beat - 2nd Half, The Week Ahead & More

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 9:43:15 EDT

Welcome to another fun installment of the Braves Beat. Last week we enjoyed the festivities of the annual All-Star break and the beginning of the official second half of the baseball season. We got a lot to go over so here we go.

The Braves 2nd Half Chances

Seen a lot of these writings over the last week describing what the Braves need to do in the second half to make a run at a playoff spot. The answers were pretty much 1) Get another bat and get the offense going, 2) Continue to pitch well, and 3) By all means stay healthy. I pretty much agree with all of these sentiments.

Now with that said, object #1 will be intriguing to watch over the next 10 days as we inch ever so closer to the trade deadline. I have no idea what the Braves are going to do to help the offense, but I can guarantee two things; 1) Tommy Hanson, Jayson Heyward, and Freddie Freeman will NOT be part of the deal, and 2) The Braves will not acquire a half year rental. Whoever they get will be on the ball club next year. Keep an eye on the Marlins. They had a nice run in June and early July, but just like the start of the season we are not starting to see the Marlins come back down from their high. If they get any further back, look for them to unload some talent. It won't be a firesale we are all accustomed to seeing out of Miami, but a deal here or there. Cody Ross and Jorge Cantu would be nice trade pieces for the fish should they continue to slide and the Braves obviously have interest in Ross.

Braves News, Francoeur Trade, and More

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:38:54 EDT

Hello again fellow Braves fans. It has been awhile since I last put up a fresh blog, but this time of the year is a relaxing time for me personally and now all that is done it is time to get back to blogging.

I guess the news of the week and top banter for Braves beat writers and local sports moguls will be the trade of Jeff Francoeur on Friday. While I am not in disagreement with the trade nor am I shocked by it, it is a little suprising that the Braves would trade him within the division. Not only within the division, but to your arch rivals up in Flushing. Though I doubt, this may come back to haunt the Braves in a big way because of the fact that Francouer does have the talent (.293 19 HRs, and 105 RBIs in 2007 and .260 29HRs, and 103 RBIs in 2006) and if he ever gets in with a hitting coach that can get him right (Andruw Jones scenario in Texas anyone?) then he could be able to live up to the potential he had labeled on him coming out of the minors. Given the current regime in NY, I seriously doubt we will see this in 2009. However, next year will get very interesting in Flushing. It is no secret with the Mets struggles that both manager Jerry Manuel and GM Omar Minaya are on the hot seat with Owner Fred Wilpon. If the Mets continue to falter and lose ground in the NL East again, then major changes will commence in 2010. If a hitting coach comes in and elevates Francoeur's game and the Mets win, then Frank Wren will be viewed as the man who helped the rival Mets beat our beloved Braves. I am thouroughly surprised the Mets gave up (and the fact the Braves received anything of value for Jeff) Ryan Church. I don't think Church is a superstar or a difference maker, but he is a nice piece. Nice move so far. Only time will tell what happens here.

Braves Beat - June 12th 2009

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 17:33:40 EDT

A look back and its almost All-Star time

What a week and half it has been for the Atlanta Braves. Just a little over a week ago the Braves parted ways with future HOF pitcher Tom Glavine, optioned Jordan Schafer to AAA Gwinnett, called up top prospect Tommy Hanson, and traded for CF Nate McClouth, in which many fans in Pittsburgh and a few players immediately started questioning the Pirates decision. We'll leave that up to our good friends from Pittsburgh to decide, but it would be nice to see the Buccos develop and keep their star players and become a force in the NL again. As a Braves fan I do miss those classic series with the Pirates and the recent 4 gamer in Atlanta this week is very good reason why.

Back to our first topic and that is changes the Braves made. I think we have all beat the Glavine issue into the ground and you can gladly dive into my posts over the last week regarding that subject. All I am going to state on the blog is the Braves are a better team with Tommy Hanson and Nate McClouth and I am excited about the rest of the season. However I thought personally the Braves did a disservice to Tom Glavine and totally botched his release from the team. Definitely could have been handled better and I wish Tommy all the best with whatever he decides.

Atlanta Braves Beat Blog - May 31, 2009

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 3:09:05 EDT

Braves Eyeing Trade Market

Last week we discussed the Braves after 40 games and it was mentioned that an offensive upgrade is needed for them to get over the top in the NL East. This week has not been great and the offense has exposed for the lack of pop it has. Alot has been focused on the outfield and with great reason. The Braves outfield was last in the majors in 2008 with only 27 HRs as a unit and are last again this season with a putrid 8 HRs as a four man unit. Clearly the Braves need a power bat in the middle of the lineup, but they also might need someone to man CF because of Jordan Schafer's troubles adjusting to the big leagues. Since all of the future OF stars are in AA or lower, the Braves will have to look outside the organization to upgrade the OF.

Atlanta Braves Beat Blog

Sun, 24 May 2009 17:14:37 EDT

The Braves at 40 Games

As the Braves conclude their first interleague series with the Blue Jays, let's take a look at the team as it stands after forty games. The reason to look at forty games is because this is the benchmark that Bobby Cox has always used to gauge just how good his Braves teams are. With that said let me state that these are clearly my views of the team and not those of Bobby Cox even though I think Bobby would agree on some of these. So here is how things are going for the Braves:

What has gone right for the Braves:

Clearly coming out of 2008 and going into 2009 the game plan by Frank Wren and the front office was to improve the starting rotation and get the Braves back to the blue print that gave them all of the success during their 14 year run and that is a strong and deep rotation. The Braves took some flack for giving Derek Lowe ace money. Clearly though after starting 6-2 with a 3.45 ERA in 10 starts, Lowe is definitely pitching like an ace. However, if you ask him he would say (and he did say this in New York last week) that the Braves best pitcher is Jair Jurrjens. Whats great is he has the stats (4-2, 1.96) to back that assertion up. Javy Vasquez (4-3, 3.39) has been solid and been everything that the Braves have asked for since acquiring him in the offseason. These three starters are giving the Braves innings in each start as well as throwing out quality outings each time out. This has been the achillies heal so to speak over the last three seasons and is now the strong suit of the 2009 Braves. Kenshin Kawakami has battled back after a rough start to his Major League career with three solid outings in his last four starts and outdueled in my opinion the best pitcher in baseball over the last 5 years. The jury is still out on whether he will be the next Dice K or Irabu, but as a Braves fan you have to like the way he has battled back and pitched lately. The Jo Jo Reyes experiment is clearly done at the fifth spot and Tom Glavine is expected to be back on May 30th.

Hawks 2008-2009 Post Mortem

Fri, 15 May 2009 23:22:52 EDT

Ok fellow Hawks fans, the season is now over and it is time to look back and see what went right and what went wrong. We will also look at what the teams needs are going forward and discuss what are reasonable expectations for the 2009-2010 season.

What went right

- I think it is safe to say the Atlanta Hawks continued to improve in 2008-2009. Last season the team won 37 games and made the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. This year the goal was to be better, get back to the playoffs, and win the first round. The Hawks achieved that by winning 47 games (a 10 game improvement) and beating the Miami Heat in round one. This is the 4th consecutive season under head coach Mike Woodson that the Hawks improved on the previous season win total. The Hawks also saw the continued development of Al Horford and Marvin Williams finally started to play like an NBA player, though still not a lottery pick. Rick Sund started his tenure off as GM of the Hawks by picking up veterans Mo Evans and Flip Murray. Both played exceptional for the Hawks off the bench and were big contributors towards winning the 4th seed. Went 31-10 at home which helped secure the 4th seed and home court the first round. Joe Johnson made his 3rd All-Star team back in February and the Hawks are behind only Cleveland in ticket renewals and sales for the 2009-2010 season so Hawks basketball is back in the ATL.

2009 Braves

Mon, 11 May 2009 14:02:32 EDT

Here we are 31 games into the season and already some of my fellow Braves fans are throwing in the towel. I read three blogs on a daily basis about the Braves and see so many fans who just give up that I cannot help but forget about defending Atlanta from being a fairweather sports town. I am going to take the remainder of this blog to post a few things about what my fellow Braves fans think about this season so far:

1) Lets bring the young guys up and see what they are made of. This is just crazy thinking when the players some of you want to bring up are only in A ball and are still learning how to play in professional baseball. They will come up and more than likely stink up the place for a month or so and have a total loss of confidence as you send them back down. Then you start their arbitration clock and before you know it by the time they are good ML players, its time to trade them or lose them via FA. The only player in the minors that has any reason to be on the big club right now is Tommy Hanson. However the Braves obviously want to wait until June so as to start his arbitration clock later and get an extra full season out of him.

Atlanta Braves vs Brooklyn Dodgers

Mon, 11 May 2009 13:35:45 EDT

The great run of 14 consecutive division titles for the Atlanta Braves ended in 2005. Since then the Braves have been mediocre at best and have only gotten as close as 5 games from the postseason since losing to the Astros in the 2005 Division Series. Since the run ended many Braves fans clamor for the old days where the Braves penciled in anywhere from 95-105 wins a season and a NL East Championship. Well those days are now long gone and while the current team has hope and the future looks very bright, we may never see another run like that of the Braves.

I know alot of people will say the Yankees run from 96-03 was better and I will agree it was because they won 4 World Series Championships and got to play in 6 total. That run was better, but it was also shorter. The Braves had a consistent run from 1991-1999 where every NLCS and every National League Champion had to play in the southern city. Basically the National League and a trip to the World Series ran through Atlanta in the 1990s. Now with the streak over we hear alot of critics rightfully say that the Braves never won more than 1 Championship even with all of that success. They have this right, but what gets me is they downplay the success of the Braves run and fail to give it the respect it deserves. Many claim the Braves were the Buffalo Bills of Baseball during the 90s and others claim that the Braves were a lighter version of the Big Red Machine of the Cincinatti Reds of the 1970s. I say neither comparison is right. The Braves (unlike the Buffalo Bills) won a championship and only one (unlike the Big Red Machine). They and the fans had the mindset of "Wait til Next Year" which brings me to the correct comparison and that is the Brooklyn Dodgers.