Gil in
Mechanicsville, VA
As we head into June, we have seen a slight up tic in Braves win/loss percentage. Currently, the Bravos are in a head to head race with the Twins for the privilege of having the overall first pick in the 2017 Draft. At this point, I don’t think it will make that much difference in the broad scheme of things as far as the immediate direction the team is headed in. The baseball draft is really all about the future. While I don’t have the answer at my immediate disposal, from observations made over a lifetime, it is my opinion that those players who are drafted and make it to the big leagues often take four years or more before they become truly productive.
The Braves helped speed up the process by trading for so many good prospects last season but they are still a ways away. I suspect the emphasis will continue to be pitching for the Braves because they are just so fragile it seems. Hopefully, the Braves will also find the next David Justice or Jermaine Dye, too. I hope the Braves have learned their lesson with Cuban players. Sure, guys like Cespedes are out there but so are players like Mike Trout. You just have to be lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.
Perhaps the biggest failing of Frank Wren was the loss of so many seasoned and talented scouts to other organizations. I’m not talking about guys who advanced up the ladder but personnel who took lateral moves. What we were left with were people who left the cupboard bare of talent.
In any give draft, I think a team is extremely lucky to get two players who actually make it to the big leagues. Not just on the team that drafted them but any big league team. There are so many pitfalls facing players on their way to the Show, the probability of making the right choice is akin to hitting all five numbers plus the powerball number in the lottery.
So, keep watching and praying the Braves hit the lottery this summer. As we watch the progress of kids like Kolby Allard and Austin Riley as they mature, I hope the Braves brass are watching the progress of nearly 2000 other kids who were drafted last season. We know the Braves’ needs, so do twenty-nine other teams in major league baseball. All are looking to pick each other’s pocket but trades should not be about who got the best of the trade but long term it should be how a trade helped each team meet their goal.
MLB.com 2016 Top Prospects
Braves & Stuff 
Many thanks, Gil! I sure hope the FOTs get this team back on the right course soon. And, my apologies for the weird looking pictures. WP strikes again! I think they are clickable so you can see what in the heck they’re supposed to look like.
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exxceeeelllleennt Gil!
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Good morning folks, well, some good news out of LA. No, the US did not sell it back to Mexico, the populace will cede it back to the cartels without any extra cash being thrown around…
No, the Braves scored 6 runs. unfortunately, they gave up 12 in a game where Matt Wisler just had a rookie game. It happens, he could not throw strikes, got into a lot of deep counts and the Dodgers hit every mistake hard.
The Braves could have survived that but a worn out bullpen was exposed yesterday too. It’s only June folks, what is it going to be like by the time we see August and September? Oh, the humanity….
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Well, I missed every pitch of the Dodgers series. Can’t stay up that late anymore. I learned a while back that there is more value in going to sleep next to my bride than staying awake next to a glowing TV. I did catch up on the mornings after. And in the case of the Lord’s Day, I caught up in the evening. One doesn’t have to be on top of things in real time to follow the action these days; one must only have a Twitter account. It’s sort of like instant replay without the pictures.
Yes, Gil, Frenchy looks as if he’s auditioning for a playoff stretch. I’d hate to see him go, but I wish him success at this stage of his career.
That said, I don’t look for Coppy or Hart to trade off our few productive players for more prospects. I believe the days of collecting prospects for any and every veteran is over. Oh, I imagine they’d take a good deal if it came along, but at this stage of the game they’re either shipping off old guys (Grilli, Chacin) to make way for younger guys, or they’re plugging holes.
Of course, plugging holes could mean a position prospect in the upper minors, too.
I still think they’ll trade Julio, even though Coppy says they won’t. Coppy is simply putting the world on notice (read that as letting the fans know) he isn’t trading Julio for a guy that might contribute in 3 years. Nope, he;s letting the world know that Julio can be had for a high price that includes an impact bat. And if you don’t have that, then don’t come knocking.
I think somebody will come knocking. I think Boston has the best match in OF Andrew Benintendi. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe thinks so too. He also brings up other top prospects 2B Yoan Moncada, 3B Travis Shaw or C/LF Blake Swihart. All but Swihart would be major acquisitions. Swihart would be big, but would need some sweetener added as he’s currently injured and has lost a little luster as a less than stellar defender. But the dude can hit when healthy.
And Boston needs starting pitching in a bad way.
But I digress…
Yes, this month will be an active one. I expect to see more names than Frenchy start popping up. I expect KJ (already has) and Inciarte to start making the rumor rounds as well. I’m afraid Nicky has squashed his own chances of going to a contender. And of course, there’s no reason to mention Chicken Bone.
It’s possible that the current hot streak of newcomer Brandon Snyder might even grease the skids to a deal involving Frenchy. And to give credit where credit is due, Snyder was a nice under-the-radar acquisition this off-season, being signed to a minor league deal in November. Coppy has hit on a few gems there. Of course, he hit a few clunkers, too. But that’s why you sign a bunch, right? You hope that 1 or 2 might work out. Frenchy has; Snyder seems to have. Alexi Ogando has. Ian Krol has been better than his record.
So over the month of June, I expect to see more movement in the upper minors as guys begin to be positioned for future callups. I expect to see the trade talks heat up. And I expect at least 1 deal of a veteran, although most will probably come in July.
Those on the move will likely be (in no particular order) Jim Johnson, KJ Frenchy, and Ogando. In the case of Ogando, he’s actually very quietly having a pretty good season in our ‘pen. He’s one guy I won’t be surprised gets traded in June. Who knows… he might not make it back from the west coast with the team. Relief pitching is in high demand, and Ogando was signed cheaply, so he’s a big chip in Coppy’s bag of tricks.
The pitchers are much more likely to be moved than KJ and Frenchy since it’s bats we need to bring back. Trading off productive (or semi-productive bats) from an offensively challenged team doesn’t make very much sense, so the deals would have to be dialed in just right to make it work. Or one of those guys, or Inciarte, could be packaged with Julio to bring back a big bat to the Braves.
Stay tuned. This month promises to be an interesting one off the field if not on the field.
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I would think the price for Julio would be Texieriaesk. The cost for really good pitching is high. either in prospects or in cash. Pay me now, pay me later, take your pick.
I expect Nick to heat up, I don’t think Freedie will until he realizes he can only take what he is given. He feels compelled to hit homeruns and he can’t do it when pressing. He needs to get back to his game and understand he cannot carry this team. it is too bad for one guy to do it.
Orgando looked bad yesterday but it was telling his fastball was 5mph slower after being used for the third day in a row. Like I said, used up.
Dodgers DFA Carl Crawford yesterday. Ouch! They can afford it. Something like $36MM still on the books, I say trade Olivera back to the Dodgers for him. Okay, no need to trade, just pick him up for ML minimum and drop the Cuban, same difference.
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And the 2016 MLB amateur draft is in just 3 days. Nice addition of the event calendar, CL. I like it!!
Gil alluded it to this in his lead, but having 5 of the top 80 picks is huge. They pick at #3, 40, 44, 76 and 80. As has been described by many, this draft does not have a Mike Trout or Bryce Harper sitting at the top, but it has a ton of quality depth through the top 100. It’s a great year to have multiple picks as the Braves have.
The Braves top pick at #3 is their highest in 25 years. Coppy has said many times that he wants to take a college bat, but at #3 I still can’t see him pass up the best overall talent… and he shouldn’t. As bad as we need an impact bat, even the best available college guy won’t help for at least a year, more realistically 2. And at #3, you simply cannot pass up on the best available talent, even if it’s a HS pitcher. You can afford to be more choosy with the subsequent picks, but not #3.
That said, OF Kyle Lewis would still be that guy if he doesn’t go to Philly or Cincy. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on that one. Most publications are in agreement that A.J. Puk is still #1, but it isn’t the unanimous opinion. Philly hasn’t tipped it’s hand. Cincy could go any number of ways, so they’re a complete mystery. In other words, there is no clear direction for any of the teams sitting at the top. But if Lewis is still there at #3, I’ll be shocked if the Braves pass on him.
And if he does go to Philly or Cincy, don’t discount OF Corey Ray. But the numbers are easy to work out here. If Lewis goes ahead of the #3 pick, then either A.J. Puk or Jason Groome will have to be still available. Oh, and click on Riley Pint (above) too. He’s on a par with Groome. MLB has him ranked as #2 in their draft rankings, behind Groome and ahead of both Lewis and Puk.
TV coverage begins at 7pm EST Thursday evening on MLB Network. You can be assured that I will be all over it. The only thing that would prevent me from sitting on top of it will be if Mrs. Vox has another idea. Honesty, that’ll do it. But otherwise…
I would say that any one of the names in the top 8 shown above is a possibility, but the top 4 are most likely. Still, you never know.
One more thing to consider, and then I’ll hang up and listen.
MLB now allows the trading of new draft picks, such as that which brought Dansby Swanson to ATL. The Braves could also take a guy like Groome or Pint and send him in a package deal for the bat they need to a team that has no chance of sniffing the top picks otherwise. Just something to think about…
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Dodgers DFA Carl Crawford yesterday. Ouch! They can afford it. Something like $36MM still on the books, I say trade Olivera back to the Dodgers for him. Okay, no need to trade, just pick him up for ML minimum and drop the Cuban, same difference.
I’m on board…
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Listening to the pundits on MLB talk about the top talent available in this year’s draft, they were kind of all over the place on who was really number one. What they did agree on was a lot of talent was available. No Bryce Harpers but deep pool of talent. Like I said, no immediate help, just a lot of solid prospects.
I think a lot of teams are going to be happy with their early picks. We’ll have to wait and see how long it takes for them to surface in the big leagues. Of course it also means a lot of kids will be going home. Got to make room for these guys.
Something I remember from when David Ross gave an interview to DOB and he talked about some guys being “exposed” when they are forced to play everyday. I think Enders might be one of those players. A really good fourth outfielder but maybe a little out of his depth when forced into an everyday player. Gregor Blanco is one of those guys like that.
Anyway, I have to believe the Braves are stocked with a lot of guys right now who are not really everyday players. That is the harsh reality, the Braves have become the Cubs…. I just hope not for long.
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So many things to take into consideration when drafting a kid. Signability, make up, talent, projected talent. Do they think they can go higher next year? Do they want to play somewhere else? Do they want to finish school? How much money is available? How much do they want? Is Scott Boras their agent? We shall see…
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Ha ha ha ha…
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Oh… and has anyone mentioned the Braves moving Tyrell Jenkins to the bullpen in AAA as an audition for a callup to the ML bullpen?
That’s right, I remember we had a very brief mention last week. I love Tyrell’s reaction to it. He said, “As long as I have a jersey on, my dream is still alive!” Then he proceeded to make his relief debut tossing 2 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 3 on Friday evening.
Keep it alive, Tyrell. You’re a big part of the future in Atlanta… hopefully sooner than later.
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Guys, right now….Inciarte is not someone to trade… .202 BA(just a mere 101 points below last year), .278 OBP 3 steals, caught 3 times. 2 RBI’s in 114 ABs. That’s Larry Bowa territory…he would have to show some offense for a month before anyone would offer anything for him….
We really don’t need Mallex Smith and Inciarte.
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We really don’t need Mallex Smith and Inciarte.
As much as I like Inciarte, and I still do even though he is slumping (but who isn’t in Atlanta?), I have to agree. We don’t need both as long as we gain someone with some power to slot into a corner OF spot in return. Julio + Inciarte could bring back such a hitter.
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And then overpay for Yoenis Cespedes this offseason. 😀
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I still want Javier Baez from CHI. Betcha Arodyz Vizcaino could bring back Baez.
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I know the Braves got Arodyz back from the Cubs for LaStella. I wonder if the Cubs would like a do over?
Vizcaino was signed by the Yankees in 2007 as an amateur free agent.. Kind of gives you an idea of how long it takes to go from prospect to star. I know, Arodyz has not been to the All-star game yet but he could well be. He is arguably the Braves best reliever.
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VOX, The Braves would have a better chance at signing one of the Toronto sluggers who will be free agents at the end of the year.
The mystery is no one really knows how the park will play next season. I know the orientation of the field is like that of the Texas Rangers. Air density, prevailing winds etc. always play a role in how a park plays.
I think how the Braves play in August and September of 2016 will have a great impact on how willing the Braves are to spend money for players. Real Estate seems a safer bet at this point.
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Then we’re even. I vomit every time I see him strike out with runners in scoring position… which is often.
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He shouldn’t have been in being that sick…I wonder if Snit has any say in anything the team does, or is Coppy telling him what to do?
I mean he missed a 90 MPH pitch right down the middle…if I was throwing up like that, it would be a day off for me.
Joe and Brian Jordan said he should be given the day off…we shall see…Lefty pitching Weds, might make more sense then…
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I mean he missed a 90 MPH pitch right down the middle
He’s been missing those sick or not. Until he stops uppercutting every swing, he’ll continue to miss pedestrian fastballs down the middle.
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2 hitters in the lineup with a BA above .245 (at least at the end of the game) Frenchy and d’Arnaud . d’Arnaud has really hit for a bit…amazing…KJ will keep playing cuz they hope someone will want him….but he ain’t hittin’ like last year….Inciarte got 2 whole hits…didn’t see the first 1, but the 2nd was a weak ball just over the infield…
he is basically worthless as a trade “piece” right now…Nick M had one good game, than another 0 for….There wasn’t one guy on the field last night a team would trade for, save Frenchy….and that’s only as a backup outfielder/PH’er…sad
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To be honest, I think the entire team needs a week off. It’s just sad.
If hitting is contagious, then not hitting must be too. Lots of really sick bats right now.
To me, the Braves have plenty of opportunities, they just are not capitalizing on any of them.
The whole team plays like they are just going through the motions right now. Kelly Johnson is only playing second base because.. well, I don’t know why he is playing second base…. Lefty on the mound last night.
If it were spring training, a lot of guys would be heading to the minors or released. Really, really sad and tough to watch.
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*If it were spring training, a lot of guys would be heading to the minors or released.
Bingo.
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Take 2:
If it were spring training, a lot of guys would be heading to the minors or released.
Bingo.
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So Folty is out for 3 weeks with elbow discomfort, and now WillyP had to leave early with triceps tightness/soreness. To be further evaluated later today.
Ugh…
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Here is a great article from Jim Callis, a writer that I really like alot. Let me frame it for you… he mentions the 2005 draft as the most talented in many years as it sent 26 of the 30 1st rounders to the major leagues. (For the record, the Braves took college RP Joey Divine that year and rushed him to the majors to shore up a depleted bullpen for the playoffs. That was the infamous 18-inning loss that sent the Braves home and the psyche of Joey Divine into a perpetual tailspin after he gave up the late game and series winning HR to Chris Burke.)
Anyhoo…
He goes on to talk about the 2011 draft, one also rife with talent. In that one, Frank Wren & Co. took college lefty Sean Gilmartin, whom Callis describes as a high-floor/low-ceiling finesse lefty. That was the hallmark of the Frank Wren draft – high-floor/low-ceiling. Want evidence? Here are his 1st rounders:
2007 – high school OF Jason Heyward (meh; highly paid mediocrity)
2008 – high school LHP Brett DeVall (currently pitching in the indy leagues)
2009 – college LHP Mike Minor (embodies high floor/low ceiling)
2010 – high school OF Matt Lipka (in 6 years has reached AA)
2011 – college LHP Sean Gilmartin (ugh; a less talented Mike Minor)
2012 – high school RHP Lucas Sims (Hey, 1 out of 6 ain’t bad, right?)
And people wonder how our farm system sunk so low… but I’m chasing another rabbit. Let me get back on topic here.
In this article, he goes back and “re-drafts” the draft. Quite fascinating, really.
http://m.mlb.com/news/article/182532366/fernandez-a-pirate-redrafting-the-2011-picks
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And just for grins and giggles, who was still available when Frank and the Wonders made those stellar picks? Let’s just look…
2007 – took Jason Heyward; left Todd Frazier and Josh Donaldson
2008 – took Brett DeVall; left Wade Miley and Tyson Ross
2009 – took Mike Minor at #7; left Mike Trout and Mike Leake
2010 – took Matt Lipka; left Noah Syndergaard and Nick Castellanos
2011 – took Sean Gilmartin; left Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Joe Panik
2012 – took Lucas Sims; left Steven Piscotty and Joey Gallo
Is it fair to look back with current perspective on the mystery that is a draft? I think so. That’s their job. They get paid alot of $$ to get it right.
Brett flippin’ DeVall? Really?
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Can you imagine an OF of Piscotty, Trout and JBJr.? How about either Todd Frazier or Josh Donaldson at 3B?
No, we have Mallex, Inciarte and Markakis… and Adonis Garcia.
Yippee…
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VOX, We currently have a lot of utility players masquerading as front line starters. It happens. There is a very good reason the current team is 16-41 and riding a 5 game losing streak. I think we fooled ourselves into thinking this team could be respectable. I think the Phillies and their soft schedule fool a lot of people into think the are better than they are.
So, two starters down with arm.shoulder/elbow problems. Any reason other you think a team doesn’t need 8 major league starters to begin a season. Young arms are high risk.
Lucas Simms… He ain’t here yet VOX…
It’s a mind field. All those great numbers a kid puts up in high school. they have not faced major league hitter yet. They are the best of their group. Doesn’t mean the are ready for the gauntlet of major league hitters.
The Braves are just the worse of the current crop of major league teams rebuilding as currently staffed. Rome was not built in a day and neither will this franchise. The Braves are currently focused on building a real estate development that happens to have a major league baseball team as an anchor. Kind of like when Ted Turner used the Braves to take a small UHF TV station nationwide by using the Braves as the anchor. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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Unlike the NBA draft or the NFL draft. Baseball is a lot more gamble with first round picks. Agents oversell the talent they represent because 10% of ten million is a heck of a lot better than 10% of 100,000… Plus, a team will give a bonus baby a keck of a lot more opportunity to fail. The real problem is MLB teams are looking for PED numbers in a post PED world. Ain’t gonna happen folks, at least not until they get caught. Risk vs reward… Have yet to see MLB make a team give back the trophy after the fact.
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or a “mine” field… same thing, but different.
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Mind field is probably closer…
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BTW- It’s worth noting that while Erick Aybar is rehabbing in Gwinnett, he’s playing SS and Ozzie is playing 2B. Perhaps when Aybar is activated, Dansby will move on up and take over at SS. Could happen.
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Wonder if it would be possible to stake Frank Wren out somewhere on the field so the fans would know who is at fault for the Really Bad News Braves?
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No. Words.
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Braves pitching prospect Chris Ellis picked up his 7th W last night tossing 6 2/3 NO HIT, NO WALK innings for AA Mississippi before being lifted for pitch count.
In the same game, OF Dustin Peterson went 3-4 w/ a 2B to raise his season AVG to .265. For the season, Peterson has 5 HR and 31 RBI. It’s also worth noting that he has only 41 K’s in 55 games and 215 AB’s.
Down at AAA Gwinnett, 2B Ozzie Albies went 3-4 w/ a 2b, a 3B, and 1 RBI. Teammate Rio Ruiz went 2-4 w/ a 2B and 1 RBI.
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Good morning, I watched last night’s game… Aaauuuuuggghhhh! So close… Did not expect for Viscano to cough it up like that. Sad… The Braves are having terrible luck with balls hitting the top of the walls..
Blair looked better, not great but better. Still too many walks and trouble with maintaining consistent control. Snitker is pretty fast with the hook but I guess he is trying to win with this nag of a team. Good luck with that Snit..
I don’t know, maybe the weather is too nice out on the left coast and the players are distracted by it. Early(ish) game today. 3:40PM easy coast time.
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Blair looked better, not great but better. Still too many walks and trouble with maintaining consistent control.
His changeup looked great, but he could not locate his fastball. Once he hones that in, he’s going to be very good. I remember Tom Glavine saying of Kris Medlen that his changeup was so good that batters could know it’s coming and they still couldn’t hit it. I think Blair’s is about that good, too. He’s really close, folks. Really close.
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I step out to the grocery store for an hour and they sneak up on me…
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Akeel Morris is a 23-year-old RHP. He has appeared in 22 games (all in relief) for AA Binghamton this season and has notched 36 K’s in 25 1/3 IP. He profiles as a late inning reliever, at least as a good setup type.
He had a very brief (2/3 inning) appearance with the Mets last season.
He was the Mets #16 prospect, This is from their prospect site:
Morris’ success in the Minors has come largely from his fastball-changeup combination. He’ll pitch at 92-93 mph with his fastball, sometimes reaching back for 95-96 mph, and it has some good life to it. Morris will then throw what’s best been described as a Bugs Bunny changeup, an offspeed pitch thrown at around 76 mph, with the same arm speed, causing a ton of swings and misses. Those two pitches alone, thrown with deception thanks to a funky delivery, are the reason he held Minor League hitters to a .163 batting average against through his first three summers of pro ball. Morris throws a slider, but it’s fringy and needs work.
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My first impression: this is a good deal for the Braves. KJ, while a good guy to have around is not a starter on most teams… even on this one. And to get a minor league pitcher with good major league potential back is actually a bit of a steal. Naturally the kid has to perform, but I like the potential.
Now to see the corresponding moves. RHRP Steve Janas had already moved up to AAA from AA yesterday, with RHRP Casey Kelly coming up to the big boys. After Kelly’s performance last night, he could very well stick this time. In fact, he could take WillyP’s next start, and probably will. I’ve not heard anything from the 2nd evaluation of WP yet, but I doubt they’ll pitch him through it. I foresee a DL stint coming.
Also, no corresponding move to fill the bench spot, either. That will be forthcoming…
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On another note…
Astudillo is a catcher, by the way…
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Kelly Johnson reminds me of the chicken my mom said her mom would send her to the store with to trade for 5 pounds of sugar. She would put the chicken in the store owners peen and by sundown, that same chicken would have flown the coop and ended up back home. She said she could not remember how many times she traded that same chicken.
Didn’t Willie Nelson do a song about a parrot that did the same thing?
Anyway, Kelly Johnson is like having a perpetual 5th round draft pick, only better. Good luck to him, I wonder if the Mets try to trade for Uribe next?
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I suspect the Braves will play a man short today, I doubt it will make any difference.
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No big surprise to see Dansby Swanson, Chris Ellis and Dustin Peterson make their All-Star team. But Willians Astudillo kinda snuck up on me.
Astudillo (24) is hitting .242 with six doubles, one homer and 19 RBI in 44 games this season, but he’s batting .378 against LHP’s. His claim to fame is his lack of K’s. The catcher has struck out only 6 times in 165 AB’s. He’s also only walked twice… obviously preferring to swing the bat. As for his defense, he’s thrown out a Southern League leading 38% of would be base stealers (18 of 48). He’s other one of Coppy’s offseason under-the-radar FA signings. And at 5’9″/225, he’s like a little fireplug behind the plate.
And it should be noted that Southern League wins leader Chris Ellis was one of the pitchers we got back (along with Sean Newcomb) in the Andrelton Simmons deal.
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I suspect the Braves will play a man short today, I doubt it will make any difference.
They’ve been a man short for a couple of weeks, carrying 13 pitchers. I don’t see how they can go into a game with only 3 position players on the bench, 1 being the backup catcher… although I think Brandon Snyder can catch in an emergency. Still, no matter how you slice it, the numbers only add up to 3. Oh, and now the entire bench bats RH.
The LH options are Jace Peterson, Reid Brignac and Rio Ruiz. Maybe it’s Rio’s time to make an appearance.
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If you were watching last night’s game, you heard Joe Simpson lamenting the fact that Snit didn’t allow Blair to work out of his 5th inning jam. He asserts, of course, that you can’t learn to pitch through adversity if you’re not given the opportunity to do so.
I concur.
But it’s also the reason why the team is churning through relievers and having to carry an extra one. And for a team that is struggling to score, you need all the hitters around you can get.
This team is flawed. We all know that. But it’s so out of balance…
No LH starting pitcher.
No power.
8 everyday starters and 13 pitchers leaves just 4 bench spots.
No power.
Currently, no LH on the bench.
Did I mention no power?
We’re at the point in the season where you might as well go young and at least balance out the team. And at least make it somewhat entertaining/interesting even if not winning. We aren’t doing that anyway, for goodness sake!!!. Bring up Rio. Trade Ogando (before he hurts his trade value with a predestined cursed appearance). Trade Jim Johnson, again. Find a power hitter in the trade market somewhere and make the deal. I don’t care if it takes Julio or Viz or both. Make the deal. Let’s start taking more than one step forward and stop taking two subsequent steps back.
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Saw that one coming. Triceps pain is a sign of shoulder issues. I am a walking example.
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Recalling Gant allows Casey Kelly to stay in line (with the offday) for WillyP’s slot in the rotation.
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Still no corresponding move announced for the loss of KJ. I forgot that it’s a 3:40pm EST start on a getaway day. A Gil noted, they may simply play down a guy. (Foresight probably had Gant already with the team given the questions surrounding Bills Perez.) Chase d’Arnaud will start at 2B this afternoon with Daniel Castro getting the nod at SS. The full lineup looks like this:
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Ugh… day game after a night game, too.
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Class.
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Kelly is just one of the first dominos to fall…. There will be more. Francouer likely to go. Not that I wish it, it is just the nature of the game. Markakis too. he is better than his BA shows. He would flourish on a good (contending) team.
The book is out on the Braves catching corps. Run at your pleasure.
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I have to wonder out loud (does keyboarding count as out loud? My keys make noise..?) if a really solid outing by Julio today – say, going deep, racking up a bunch of K’s, breaking all the current nasty team and personal streaks – would essentially punch his ticket out of Atlanta.
I know what Coppy said about a huge return. I get the position Coppy is trying to take here. But a guy like Julio with his new consistency and team friendly contract is gonna be on alot of GM’s wish lists. He’s far from untouchable, and there are plenty of teams that will want to dance at that party.
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Markakis too. he is better than his BA shows. He would flourish on a good (contending) team.
I agree. I think he is a perfect fit for SF to replace the seriously injured Hunter Pence.
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Someone has suggested that the Braves have started a new tradition of signing KJ in January and trading KJ in June.
Works for me. 😉
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If Freddie will pop a couple more doubles down the LF line, like he’s done over the last couple of days, teams will start playing him straight up again.
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Nice game by Julio today. We will see if your predictions/wonderings come true. Of course all the things you say is about him being attractive to other teams makes him attractive to the Braves too.
Kelly Johnson is baseball’s version of investment income.
Big game for the Mets tonight, same can be said for the Buccos.
Day off tomorrow, enjoy it folks.
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Big day ahead, will get an idea of the direction the Braves will take in the draft. I hope they get everything we need.
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I think today’s game confirms how futile the Braves offense really is. 16 hits and only 4 runs. 12 left on base, 6 in scoring position. I know, the Braves did win but it was a lot closer than it should have been, just saying.
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16 hits and only 4 runs. 12 left on base, 6 in scoring position.
Underscores the lack of power. It requires the team to string together 3 or 4 hits in a row to score 1 or 2 runs.
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No game, but an important day. Gotta get this one right, folks. Can’t afford a flub, and they don’t allow do-overs. Pray that Kyle Lewis drops to #3.
And wouldn’t you know it, I won’t be around to watch it after all. A very good friend of ours opens a local theater production this evening. That’s where I’ll be. But that’s OK. I’ll catch it up later. It’s not like Coppy consults me in real time anyway… 😉
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It’s another made for TV event VOX, a far cry from what it use to be. Sure, we would eventually hear that a club had drafted a kid number one but usually it was only reported by the kid’s local paper and often even the kid who was drafted didn’t know. Of course back then, every kid wanted to be a Dodger or a Yankee or a Cardinal. Yep, everybody loves a winner. No one wants to be the guy who turns it around.
It’s different today, agents sell a kid on opportunity (and money). Here is where the rub comes in for a young idealist. With socialism, everyone takes care of everyone else, it is one of the worse reason to dampen incentive, after all, why bust your butt when you will get the same as the lay about? Seen it in action. Socialism is the nectar of the lazy.
But I wander… I’m pretty anxious too, now that I know about it, I have become convience it is the way of the future for the Braves but in reality, the international signing period will have more impact on the Braves. That is where good advance scouting can really tip the scales. All those kids in the Caribbean and South and Central America who are not in the June draft.
The Andruw Jones, the Andralton Simmons and Marteen Prados… Those are the kids who get me excited…
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the international signing period will have more impact on the Braves.
Long term you are probably right. Kevin Maitan is a huge acquisition, but at just 16 years old is at least 4 years away from helping the big club, and more likely 5. Most of those guys that are on the Braves radar are around the same age.
That’s exactly why tonight’s draft is so important. Kyle Lewis is a guy that might could help out this anemic offense as soon as sometime next year. Corey Ray also falls into that category. And there’s another guy we haven’t talked about too much… 3B Nick Senzel out of University of Tennessee. Some scouts say he is the “most advanced” hitter in the draft.
Here’s an excerpt from one assessment:
Senzel hit .352/.456/.595 for the Volunteers this past season and is considered the most advanced hitter in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. Last summer, he was the first player since 1995 to win both the Most Valuable Player and the Outstanding Pro Prospect awards in the Cape Cod League, the top amateur wooden bat league in the country.
That’s important… the wooden bat distinction. It’s also worth noting that the Reds really really like him and pick one spot ahead of the Braves.
But then again, doesn’t that give us a better shot at Kyle Lewis at #3?
Here’s the way I see it…
There are 3 very good college bats in this draft, so the Braves will have a shot at one of them at pick #3. Easy, right? OF Kyle Lewis (Mercer U) has the most prodigious power potential, but played in what some scouts say is an inferior conference and thus didn’t hit against the top pitchers. OF Corey Ray (Louisville) is the most complete player and maybe the closest to ready for the majors. Not as much power as Lewis, but power still. Senzel would give us another good 3B prospect. Austin Riley is the guy that most agree will be the future at 3B, but isn’t very close. Rio Ruiz is a shorter term answer, but is not necessarily pegged for stardom. Senzel is athletic enough to have played at SS for a while at UT, so he could easily move to a corner OF spot if necessary. The only question with Senzel is whether he will develop the kind of power you like from a 3B or corner OF. Oh, he can hit, and he can slug plenty of 2B’s. That’s his game. But at some point, will those gap 2B’s actually travel over the wall?
Each of those guys has some level of question mark surrounding him. Lewis probably has the highest ceiling. Ray is probably the safest pick. And Senzel would be the gutsy pick. I’ll be happy with any of those 3.
And none of those will matter if high school LHP Jason Groome drops to #3. When a pitching prospect’s major league comp is Clayton Kershaw, you don’t pass him by. You just don’t.
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That said, the team’s other 4 picks in the Top 80 may be more important. There is depth in this draft, and plenty of talent in that Top 80 range. If the team can hit on those 4 to go with their #3 pick, it will be a huge boost to The Plan.
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Here are the MLB.com descriptions and profiles of the aforementioned players, and where they have them ranked:
Jason Groome, LHP, Barnegat Township (N.J.) HS
Groome was an early favorite to go No. 1 overall to the nearby Phillies. The 17-year-old left-hander certainly has the talent to go at the top of the first round, but a tumultuous year has led to uncertainty about where he’ll land.
Tools:
(Future grades on 20-80 scouting scale)
Fastball: 65
Curveball: 60
Changeup: 50
Control: 60
Overall: 60
Kyle Lewis, OF, Mercer
This former dark-horse prospect does big things from a small school. But after proving himself in the Cape Cod League last summer, there is little doubt about his ability: Lewis is potential five-tool guy with high upside.
Tools:
Hit: 55
Power: 60
Run: 50
Arm: 50
Field: 50
Overall: 55
Corey Ray, OF, Louisville
Ray is poised to be the highest Louisville player ever drafted due to his combination of power and speed. The outfielder would have been an NCAA fantasy star, if such a thing existed. No college player could match his combination of 39 steals and 15 homers entering the NCAA Division I playoffs.
Tools:
Hit: 55
Power: 55
Run: 60
Arm: 50
Field: 55
Overall: 55
Nick Senzel, 3B, Tennessee
The Cape Cod League MVP has a chance to edge out Todd Helton (No. 8 overall in 1995) as the highest Volunteer ever drafted thanks to a polished approach that helped him lead the Southeastern Conference in doubles.
Tools:
Hit: 55
Power: 50
Run: 50
Arm: 55
Field: 55
Overall: 55
Honorable mention:
A.J. Puk, LHP, Florida
Puk features tantalizing size and stuff — the 6-foot-7 lefty can hit 99 mph with his fastball and 90 with his slider – but inconsistency and injury concerns have dulled his stock a bit. Still, expect the southpaw scouts are comparing to Mark Mulder to go very high.
Tools:
Fastball: 70
Slider: 55
Changeup: 50
Control: 45
Overall: 55
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And just for informational purposes, Baseball America has those 5 ranked thus:
Jason Groome
Nick Senzel
A.J. Puk
Corey Ray
Kyle Lewis
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I just noticed that WordPress removed my number designations for both of those posts. I’ll see if I can try that again a little differently.
MLB.com:
#1 Jason Groome
#3 Kyle Lewis
#4 A.J. Puk
#6 Corey Ray
#7 Nick Senzel
Baseball America:
#1 Jason Groome
#2 Nick Senzel
#6 A.J. Puk
#7 Corey Ray
#8 Kyle Lewis
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The Braves also pick at 40, 44, 76 & 80, and really need to pick up a catcher with one of these picks. The Braves picked up a high school catcher in last year’s 2nd round in Lucas Herbert that they are pretty high on, so it doesn’t make alot of sense to pick another high school catcher in the early rounds. But there could be 1 of 3 good college catchers available to them.
Clemson catcher Chris Okey slashed .339/.461/.609 with 14 HRs in 61 games for the Tigers this season. He’s an offense first catcher known as a plus hitter with power potential and the ability to become a strong defensive catcher with average to above-average tools across the board. He could still be around at #40.
Miami catcher Zack Collins is a guy some scouts are comparing to Brian McCann. This season he hit .302 and slugged 15 HR’s for the Hurricanes. It might be a stretch for him to drop as far as 40. In fact, I’ve seen at least one publication rank him as high as #10. That said, Baseball America has him ranked behind Okey and as the 42nd best player available in the draft. No way he slips past 44 is he drops into the 40’s at all.
Right behind those 2 bigger names is sleeper Sean Murphy out of Wright State. He’s considered the best defensive catcher in this year’s crop. To go with his plus pitch framing and strong arm, he also has “good power potential”, but scouts say his swing gets too long causing alot of swings and misses. Still, that’s what coaching is for, right? I doubt the Braves would pick him as high as 44, but they could take him at 76 or 80. And he’s projected to go in that range.
The only other college catcher that shows up in the Top 100 draft prospects is UVa catcher Matt Thaiss. He’s an “iron man” guy who caught every game for the Cavaliers this season, batting a team-high .375 and leading the team with 10 HR’s and 59 RBIs. Sporting News actually projects him as a high pick… like in the 20’s, but the consensus is that he’s a 2nd rounder.
I would be happy to see the Braves pick up a college power bat and a college catcher with 2 of those 5 picks, and do whatever they want with the rest of them.
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Nick Senzel Reminds me of another college player out of the University of Richmond back in the day. A guy named Sean Casey. You might have heard of him?
I guess there are no Bob Horners available either.
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Cool segment today on MLB TV. They are making Louisville Sluggers for tonight’s first round draft picks. Using a modern lathe to make them in the studio. Computers and lasers, what’s not to like?
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So, what do you look for in a catcher? Offense? Those guys usually move to first base or left field. On occasion, you get a Dale Murphy (centerfield) Buster Posey (first base) or Craig Biggio (centerfield, 2nd base). Catchers to me were always first basemen who could not hit but had good hands.
I guess the game has progressed to the point that offense is king, defense is an after thought. Of course MLB has a position for those players, it’s called DH. The traditional make up of a team was good defense up the middle and offense on the corners.
Sabermetrics has changed a lot of things, I guess a lot of people forget that having a player like Cal Ripkin or Derrek Jeter are aberrations, not the norm. For every Tulowitzki, there are a dozens of Eric Aybars.
Second base was always a pivot position as far as offense verses defense. Personally, I’d rather have a strong defense and a decent on base percentage but I don’t mind having a chase Utley clone either.
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Chipper just on MLB TV, Talks about how some agents have really skewed the draft. General consensus is college bat, high school arms. Said he has scouted both Lewis of Mercer and Senzel of Tennessee. Said it is ultimately Coppy who makes the decision. Would not give away anything on where the Braves are going… 🙂
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Interesting that Chipper brought up the name of Senzel, though. That’s not one that has been mentioned by any of the team’s beat writers. Lewis, Groome and Ray have been mentioned plenty.
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On a side note, in today’s AAA Gwinnett Braves game currently in action, Ozzie walked and stole 2nd, then Boni walked and they pulled a double steal. Then Lehigh’s second bagger committed an error and both scored. 2 runs, no hits, 3 steals. That’s the kind of dynamic we need in ATL this year.
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Today’s latest mocks from MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo each have the Braves taking Corey Ray at #3. In fact, they’re in agreement on 8 of the top 10 picks, with the Phils taking high school OF Mickey Moniak at #1, the Reds taking Senzel at #2, the Braves with Ray at #3, and the Rockies taking Puk at #4. Boy, that sux for him! (Both also have Lewis dropping to #6 to the A’s.)
And I would be just fine with Corey Ray. I think he’s the absolute safest bet of all these top picks and most likely to contribute the soonest.
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More G-Braves:
Ryan Weber started and went 4 innings, giving up just 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 62 pitches/45 strikes. Matt Marksberry came on in the 5th inning and struck out the side.
Stay tuned…
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Ian Anderson is a 6’3″, 175 lb. RHP from Shenendehowa HS in Clifton Park, New York. His draft profile:
He already throws his fastball at 91-94 MPH with peaks at 96-97; the heat isn’t straight, either, and there is additional physical projection in his frame. In time he could hold the mid-90s consistently. Reports on the breaking ball vary: some rate it as a plus curveball in the upper 70s with strong shape, while other observers note more of a slurve action in the low 80s that could use some tightening. The reports are not necessarily contradictory and perhaps he can separate the breaking ball into a distinct curve and slider in pro ball. All accounts agree that he has a very good change-up.
Overall, Anderson features an impressive combination of present velocity, additional projection, and a good chance for at least two and perhaps three above-average secondary pitches. His control is also solid and he is more polished than the typical cold weather talent.
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Gotta say, that one would really surprise me.
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Bowman says that teams are dropping off of Kyle Lewis following his most recent workouts. That would explain the tumble to #6 by both Callis and Mayo.
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One of the things Chipper mentioned was signability and level of interest shown by a kid when talking with them. Whether they would look you in the eye or did not seem interested when you explained which team you were representing. Said the agents have far too much influence to the detriment of many of these kids. Said they don’t seem to understand they are not going to the majors on day one. Says that impression is a lasting one to the guys who make the ultimate decision on who and where and if to use a draft pick on them.
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Also said a lot of teams are trending towards “cold weather” players as having more upside and being better rounded athletically.
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Okay folks, the hour is soon upon us…
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Many weird theories on Braves draft tactics by some folks. Strategies is probably a better term. I hope the FOT’s know what they’re doing. We’ll see very soon I suppose.
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“Signability” is affecting the draft order as we close in on this year’s picks. Guys like Jason Groome are plummeting in pre-draft discussions over concerns about his asking price. He was a Vanderbilt commit, but has just decommitted and recommitted to a junior college which would allow him to play just 1 year there and re-apply for next year’s draft. There is speculation that the Braves might take a “cheaper” guy at #3 (Ian Anderson?) and hope that Groome drops all the way to #40 and overspend for him there. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just draft according to talent?
I’m back on the Corey Ray bandwagon. Keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed.
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… would allow him to play just 1 year there and re-apply for next year’s draft… if he doesn’t get the bonus $ he’s looking for, I should have been more precise.
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Ugh. They have ONE job…
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Jim Callis explains the theory, and gives a very recent example, of drafting in reverse:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draft/royals-draft-pick-switch-gambit-pays-off/#pfreJ0oeYxh1L06f.97
Are the Braves looking to do something very similar by taking Ian Anderson at #3?
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And the winner is….. Ian Anderson
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LHP Joey Wentz is a nice pick at 40, but still no bat. And Chris Okey was still on the board. Maybe at 44?
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Crap. Another friggin’ pitcher at 44. This is starting to get old.
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Unless they start using some of their “currency” on someone that can swing a bat, the next 4 seasons are gonna be lame as @$_(:;;”!#=/+?.
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Well, according to the rankings on MLB.com, Anderson, Wentz and Muller are all in the Top 25. Braves got ’em at 3, 40 & 44.
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V, I think I finally figured it out! The Braves are going to sign every pitcher possible. Then, when the other teams start to run low, the Braves can demand outrageous prices/returns for one of ’em!
Naw……I didn’t really think so either……..
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Maybe they think if they take them all, nobody else will have one.
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ummm…..errr…..
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ummm…..errr…………
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ummm…..errr…………………………………
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ok, I will try to be the whatyacallit’s advocate….
perhaps, perhaps…they will trade some of them, perhaps 2 of the top 20 pitchers (from their board) for someone’s highly regarded hitter?
I mean, they really, really needed some good p.r. some swell hitter that reminded folks of ….someone even average fans remember from the braves of old and or/played in the majors.
I know pitchers get hurt, but….a high school kid, the way pitchers are babied (often justifiably ) is more likely 5-6 years away from helping the team…
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You say that, but the Royals traded a late 1st rounder in the deal to get Ben Zobrist. That turned out pretty well.
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Wonder how Johnny Bench is feeling nowadays? Might have some spare time on his hands, want something to do….
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Is Okey still on the board here at 76?
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College catcher Brett Cumberland. OK. Big bat. A masher. Could profile to corner OF.
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Cumberland is a switch hitter that slashed .344/.480/.678 this season with 16 HR’s in the competitive PAC12 conference where he was the conference Player of the Year. He’ll be 21 years old in a couple of weeks. Scouts are doubtful he stays behind the plate, saying his best position is “hitter”.
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That sounds very encouraging, V! Now let’s just hope they don’t trade him for ….. a pitcher………
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Chipper Jones: “Tremendous draft for the Braves tonite.”
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Bowman says Braves officials intend to develop Cumberland as a catcher.
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The experts and talking heads are saying the Braves essentially picked up three 1st round pitchers in tonight’s early going. Getting high marks. Still, I figured a bat higher than 76. I suppose Brett Cumberland saved the first day action for me, though.
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😀 And there are still two days to go!
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Alot still left tomorrow and Saturday. It’s still pretty early. Many great players were taken 3rd round and later.
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Looking at that time stamp above. I should have said “Alot still left later today and Saturday.”
What was I doing up that late? I’m a working stiff! Crikey!!
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Morning folks, in a few years, we will find out how well the Braves did tonight.
Scouts are doubtful he stays behind the plate, saying his best position is “hitter”. OMG! The Braves just drafted Evan Gattis……
Prepping for the move to DH after this season?
This year’s version of Kyle Schwarber… Just saying it’s how he profiles to me except he’s a switch hitter.
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Maybe the Braves are thinking they will get the outfielder they want in the international signing period.
I am also of the mind that position players develop faster than pitchers. I know the Braves will stand a very good chance of having the first over-all pick in the 2017 draft. It’s going to be between the Braves and the Twinkies.
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Is there a Chipper Jones type high schooler on the horizon?
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Is there a Chipper Jones type high schooler on the horizon?
That would be Kevin Maitan that they will sign on July 2 when the international market opens up. 😉
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This year’s version of Kyle Schwarber… Just saying it’s how he profiles to me except he’s a switch hitter.
He’s also described as an “advanced” college hitter, with good plate discipline and the ability to hit to all fields. Oh, and hit with power. Kyle Schwarber is probably a good comparison.
Funny… with that late pick, I was able to sleep better knowing that they addressed both the power issue and catching issue on the first day even after taking 3 high school pitchers. (As I mentioned earlier, the team intends to develop hm as a catcher, not a corner OF.)
BTW- Evan Gattis is not a bad catcher, he’s just so big that the physical demands of catching is hard on his knees and back.
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Maybe the Braves are thinking they will get the outfielder they want in the international signing period.
They might, but it will be a future OF. I expect every kid they sign in that market to be young… 16-ish. And yes, I get the old age jokes, but the league has tightened that process up alot after several high profile failures. The agents would have to do a ton more work these days beyond just forging a loose document to fake a kid’s age. The background work done is much more extensive now given the heightened level of investment made in these kids.
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Let’s not forget that Day 2 begins with Round 3, and there are many All-Stars and HOF’ers that were picked this late and later. Wil Meyers, who ate our lunch during our recent visit to KC was a 3rd rounder. I think we’d be happy with that level of talent, wouldn’t we?
Not certain who might be targeted in these next rounds, but I think the prevailing philosophy is to take the proverbial “best talent available” in the earlier rounds, and be more need specific in the later rounds.
Today promises rounds 3-10, and begins at 1:00pm EST. The Braves highest pick today is #80, or 3rd in Round 3. I have no idea what they actually have or don’t have following that, but I expect that it’s simply the 3rd pick of each subsequent round.
These rounds will go much quicker than Round 1. Heck, Round 2 went pretty fast… I think each team had 60 seconds after the previous team made their announcement. Something like that anyway.
So that said, they have 8 rounds to pick today, and with breaks and such, it will probably be an 8 hour day.
They pick Rounds 11-40 tomorrow starting at noon. How do you pick 30 rounds? I would guess that it’s fairly quite rapid fire at that point.
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OF Nick Banks (Texas A&M) might be the best college hitter left available. Not that it makes a difference.
I do understand the reasoning to continue stocking up on the young pitching. It truly is the hardest thing to acquire quality young pitching. But at some point, this group has to start cashing in on some of this “currency” and obtain a hitter somewhere. Surely that will happen at some point. Seriously… it has to, right?
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//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
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Copy and paste this link they said…
bleh..
https://amp.twimg.com/v/692ae94c-1ab7-4b86-ae05-048182cbb6fb
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Other college bats still available:
Heath Quinn, OF, Samford. A big 6’3″, 220 lb. corner OF. He was drafted in the 12th round by the Indians out of high school in 2013, but chose college which proved to be a good choice since he’ll likely go early in this year’s 3rd Round. This past season, he hit .343 with 21 HR’s, 17 2B’s, and an eye popping 77 RBI in 61 games. He did strike out 55 times, but he also drew 44 walks. For the record, I’d take this kid in a heartbeat at #80.
Austin Hays, OF, Jacksonville. In 2016, he slashed .350/.406/.655 with 16 HR’s, 16 2B’s, 2 3B’s and 15 steals in 54 games. Also, he struck out only 32 times in 223 AB’s. Nice combination of power and speed.
That said, watch out for high school pitchers Jared Horn, Jesus Luzardo, and RHP Corbin Burnes. We know how they love these guys.
There’s also a high school bat, 3B Drew Mendoza, Lake Mineolla HS (FL), ranked pretty highly. But with the team being so high on 3B Austin Riley taken last year, I doubt they’d look Mendoza’s direction. Especially with so many high school pitchers available. (Just kidding.)
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2nd link takes you right to the video…he looks good, he is someone you can get somewhat excited about…I cannot get excited about high school pitchers , just cannot…
you know things are bad when even VOR is having trouble finding things to be positive about! 😉
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So, Ber… you like that pick?
Me too. That looks like a sleeper to me. As I said earlier, I was frustrated (although understanding) after picks 3, 40 & 44. But I really like this guy. They redeemed Day 1 in my book with that one.
What are the 2 most difficult things to find in baseball? Pitching and catching.
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Let me clarify my position on these young pitchers. I get it. I understand the philosophy. And honestly, it’s hard to argue. But there are 2 parts to it… you accumulate the pitching, then you draw from the wealth (using your “currency”) and obtain the hitters you need.
I’m still waiting for the second part.
But the strategy is the same. Keep taking these young pitchers that other teams covet then use them in trade.
Like I said, the Royals trading pitching prospects Sean Manaea and Aaron Brooks for Ben Zobrist is the ideal example. When they made those picks, there were alot of Royals fans calling for Dayton Moore’s head because he was doing just what Coppy is doing… adding to a stockpile of young arms. And it seemingly made no sense. But it can be argued that they would not have won the WS without Zobrist so the philosophy is both proven and sound.
But I’ll still feel better when I see a the second part happen here in ATL. Patience is difficult in the midst of a deeply offensively challenged season.
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Hey guys, lots of swell guys are picked in later rounds! Perhaps the braves will get lucky with….someone we don’t know the name of…just wait til 2020 or so, when the unknown now future HOF’er gets his first taste of the big leagues! That’s every bit as exciting as having drafted the next Bryce Harper, Carlos Correa, George Springer, or any one of the pirate 3 outfielders, right???
And yes, I really do know you can find great players in the lower rounds…it’s just….this was the year with soooo very many early picks.
Again, they “lied” about what kind of players they were going to pick….which makes sense if, it was reversed. Saying they were still going after arms, then picking 3 hitters…nope…more arms (Best comment I saw of the surprisingly few comments on DOB’S twitter page-or was it the AJC,? doesn’t matter—“the braves are proving you can have too many arms!” 😉 )
and it was not a dream draft, and perhaps it was more pitcher heavy, even if Keith Law says there wasn’t a Gerrit Cole level talent…
but the liberal Law (hey, if every conservative writer/actor/etc out there has to be labeled conservative first, why not every liberal?) liked Corey Ray best, a Ray Langford type (who did hit 34 HR’s one season, and stole a lot of bases) but the braves passed on a guy that could be up in 1-3 years…as did a lot of teams…weird…
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V, I do like the pick…he doesn’t look Gattis big either, does he?
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Bowman’s comments regarding yesterday’s draft:
[Ian] Anderson’s selection allowed the Braves to take Joey Wentz, who was arguably the highest-upside arm this year.
The Braves also took LHP Kyle Muller, a Texas giant who was essentially high school baseball’s Babe Ruth.
The Braves also took Cal catcher Brett Cumberland, an intriguing bat who could advance quickly.
On that last one, I’m curious where they’ll start him out after he signs.
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So here’s how it works. The Braves had the $$ to get these pitchers signed. They like Anderson alot. But perhaps they took Wentz at 40, (who was high on alot of boards but dropped due to perceived bonus demands), to get him signed, and then dangle him for a hitting prospect, or as part of a bigger deal for a major league hitter.
We would be happy then, right?
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FOX Sports approves of the pick of C Brett Cumberland:
Braves address two needs with second-round pick Brett Cumberland
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https://twitter.com/BravesHerbert/status/741291713130561538
Dayum!
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The Braves took a college LHP at #80. LHP Drew Harrington out of Louisville “commands three different pitches well, each of which can make a case for being his best.” He features a low-90’s mph fastball with lots of natural sink, a “3/4 breaking ball” and a changeup. He was a reliever his freshman and sophomore years before moving into the rotation this past season.
IMO, with that sinking fastball, he’ll be a reliever that can come in and get tough outs to get out of messes.
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Back from the future…
As we predicted, the Braves have recalled Jace Peterson to take KJ’s spot on the bench. He’s both a LH hitter and already on the 40-man roster. Plus, he’s lost his AAA playing time to Ozzie Albies, who’s getting a good long taste of 2B while SS Erick Aybar is rehabbing there.
Now… the real question is this: What happens when Aybar is ready to return to ATL? Do they send down (or trade) a pitcher and restore balance to the roster? I hope so.
And when Aybar returns, will Dansby Swanson get moved up to play SS at AAA after playing in this weekend’s AA All-Star game?
It all makes sense to me.
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Sounds like a plan Vee. I think the Braves send down/trade a pitcher to restore a little order. They have been playing with a short bench for quite a while now. Perhaps the bigger question is who do they move when Beckham is ready to return? Coldest bat? Worse glove? Whomever has options? (the latter is the most likely)
I hope Jace can hit this time around. I hope the Braves can find someone who will take Aybar off our hands.
I can tolerate a kid who is learning at shortstop (Albies, Dansby etc) not hitting verses a guy who is getting paid $5MM not doing so, especially when he gives a lot of half hearted efforts in the field.
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The Braves took RHP Bryse Wilson from Orange HS (NC) with their 4th round pick, and RHP Jeremy Walker from Gardner-Webb University in the 5th.
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I think the Braves send down/trade a pitcher to restore a little order. They have been playing with a short bench for quite a while now.
DOB suggests “having an extra mediocre bat hasn’t been as crucial on this particular team than having extra pitcher”. Actually, it is kinda hard to argue that logic.
So… when Aybar returns, I imagine either Jace is returned or more likely Castro is demoted. Speaking of cold bats, he’s been atrocious at the plate. As bad as Aybar, just not as glaring. And Aybar has actually been hitting at AAA, so maybe he can get back on track and restore a little trade value before the end of July.
Perhaps the bigger question is who do they move when Beckham is ready to return?
He hasn’t begun any rehab work as of yet, so that isn’t going to be any time real soon. But when the time comes, if no trades disrupt the current roster, then the remainder of Jace/Castro will go back, whichever has the coldest bat.
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As expected, Akeel Morris, the pitcher we got back from NYM for KJ, has been assigned to AA Mississippi.
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Jace gets immediate playing time, and Chase d’Arnaud gets the nod at SS. Man, hasn’t he been a rare ray of sunshine in this otherwise cloudy season? Norris gets the start on the bump. Let’s hope he continues his recent good work. Of course, he has to face the meat grinder otherwise known as the Cubs.
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For what it’s worth, Braves 2nd rounder Kyle Muller is pitching today, and going the distance trying to close out a 2-0 win at this moment.
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And he gets the win, allowing just 3 H’s, striking out 8, and moving his team to the Class 6A state finals.
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Finished the game with a 3-pitch strikeout… looking. Nice. 7 IP complete game, 110 pitches, 9 K’s, 3 H’s, 4 BB’s.
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Appears to me, the Braves are pretty much going all in on pitching prospects. A lot of Single A pitches are going to be looking for work pretty soon methinks.
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Actual twitter exchange between some guy and Bowman:
Some guy: None of our games will ever end b/c they’ll all he 0-0!!!
Bowman: Could be a financial windfall if they extend beer sales through the end of the 20th inning on a nightly basis.
Ha ha ha. Lemonade from lemons, eh?
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A lot of Single A pitches are going to be looking for work pretty soon methinks.
No place to put ’em all! Gotta trade some of ’em.
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So, where do they begin? The new guys I mean? Extended spring training in Florida? Danville, DSL, GCL (rookie leagues)? Low single A Rome? Wilmington? High A?
I guess you have to sign them first don’t you? Oh well, We shall have to see where it all shakes out. Looks like the Phillies are opting for position players.
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Could be a financial windfall if they extend beer sales through the end of the 20th inning on a nightly basis.
Yes, all they have to do is get MLB to agree to extend sales past the 7th inning. Remember, they shorten the sales of alcohol to try to reduce the number of drunks on the road after the game.
In DC, the union is so tight that you cannot buy anything after the 7th inning. Better get it early or not at all…
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Braves 6th rounder is IF/OF Matt Gonzalez from Georgia Tech. Utility type.
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7th round – OF J.B. Moss, Texas A&M
A pattern is beginning to emerge. I recall hearing some general draft talk over the last few days, not necessarily Braves folks, saying that teams should go with the best available talent in the early rounds, then draft for specific need in the later rounds. That appears to be what is now occurring with the Braves. Here come the college bats.
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Regarding previous choice Matt Gonzalez…
https://twitter.com/RFTPJF/status/741359860898537472
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And he’s used to empty OF bleachers, too! 😉
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You’re a baaaddd man Vee. 🙂
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V, I was thinking the exact same thing! (Not tryin’ to steal your thunder or nothin’ 😉 ) but yeah…what left so often looks like…
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Wow, last night the Braves played what might have been their best game this season. Okay, I know, an easy choice when you look at the Atlanta club’s record but I was impressed. Bud Norris was sharp, his fast ball was jumping and his slider was off the table. Seven strong innings and some stellar play afield.
Joe Simpson was talking about the fact that Adonis Garcia was sent down to Gwinnett to learn how to play left field but has not played there once since coming back up, that he has been very sound at third. I told Ms Josie: “Yeah, he played in left and said heck with that, I am going to really learn how to play third base”. He made one of the best plays at third I have seen from anyone this season. Even got a high five from Bud… Pretty special stuff folks.
I have no illusions about this team but it is nice to know they can play like that. It is doubly good for them to realize it themselves.
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Gil, now it’s my turn to say I agree exactly with what you said! 😆
It really was an amazing game, wasn’t it? I am sure the Cubs were shaking their heads over it….Garcia looked like a real, professional 3rd baseman of late, and that play, would be a webgem for weeks…IF Baseball tonight was on after Weds night…
And shockingly, the cubs have yet another, young great outfielder who also made a play almost as good as Garcia’s….perhaps it was even a tie….sliding into the wall like that, catching the ball,and not getting hurt? Amazing!
Bud Norris will get a few more starts for sure…
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Bud Norris will get a few more starts for sure…
Ah ha.. but the real question is for whom?
All those really nice things I said about the Braves Friday, well, then there was Saturday. Just as soon as Wisler gave up a first inning homer to J-Hey it was over. Not that it is totally his fault, for a major league club that is not in the mist of rebuilding, Matt Wisler would be toiling away in Triple A putting up impressive numbers there.
Wisler is just a rookie and he is going to make mistake pitches. Hitters like those on the Cubs don’t miss those mistakes. To face a club like that for a young kid is like the ultimate shock collar experience. Didn’t Mike Minor have the same problem?
Hey, other clubs are just using the same model Bobby Cox used for years. Play for the three run homer and sit down. The Braves don’t have any easier road Sunday. Good luck John Gant….
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I am of the mind that Bud Norris is going to yield a nice return for the Braves from someone in the race after the All-star break. Not that the Braves have an excess of starters but the reality is whether or the Braves end up with the either the first or second over-all pick in the 2017 draft. Currently, the Braves and the Twins have identical records of 18-43. The difference at the point is the Twinks appear to be playing more of their young guys.
The Astros have broken out of their funk of late. While they still have a sub .500 record, they are trending upward. Lots of time to catch the Rangers who were woefully understaffed last year due to injuries. It should not be a surprise to anyone that the Rangers are in first place in the AL West. They have the talent to win. The key for any organization is for their best talent to stay on the field.
From all view points, it appears the Braves have had a successful draft as far as getting talent with a good chance of becoming major leagues impact players. I thought it was telling the two “bats” the Braves were most interested in were both picked by the Reds. Oh well, they will be available in a few years for a price. Let’s get the foundation built and then we can worry about decor. I don’t know how Liberty Media is going to play this out over the long run.
To be sure, the value of the franchise is greater with a winning team as opposed to one dependent on fans of the visiting team to fill the stands. Everyone has their own broadcast team now. I’m almost certain the Braves current trio of TV media outlets have resorted to giving deep discounts to their advertisers.
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As we expected, Daniel Castro was sent down to make room for the activated Erick Aybar. And rightfully, Ozzie Albies remains at 2b as he continues what we should now acknowledge is his transition to his long term position in Atlanta. The only remaining question now is when Dansby Swanson will join him in Gwinnett.
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If you’re interested, Braves’ 3rd round pick LHP Drew Harrington is on the mound for Louisville right now on ESPN2. 9 K’s thus far through 5 shutout innings. Killin’ it.
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Final line on Harrington: 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 6 H, 12 K, 1 BB. Outstanding!!
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Sigh! The Braves just have to learn how to get those guys in when you have less than two outs and men on third. Again, lots of guys on base but just futile when it comes to driving in runs. Game would have had a much different complexion had the Braves scored those early runs. I thought Gant pitched a good game, just not going to win when you are always in a hole.
The Braves offense could at least have given him a ladder instead of a shovel.
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And the Cubbies are just pouring it on now. Game over.
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Who knows what 2017 will bring but one has to hope the Braves pick a bat or two with that low first round pick.
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Hey! Guess who was at the game today??? You’ll never guess! 😛
My friend Beth is a Cancer survivor and it was Cancer survivor day at the ol’ ballpark. She’s not much of a baseball fan (She LOVES Soccer and Hockey, bleh!) but knows some stuff, and used to root for the reds when she lived in Cincy.
Anyway, I wore my Cubs hat of course, and did the chop…I am sure I confused a bunch of people–if anyone paid attention.
It was really hot, then it rained…left when it was only 7-1 in the 7th…
But, guess what? I got to go on the field!
They let all the Cancer survivors (and friends/family) take a lap, a huge thrill for me! Never had any chance to get anywhere close to getting on the field (I pretended I was Chipper’s son once, just so I could run the bases, but they didn’t believe me)
Took a bunch of picks…If I wasn’t so darned tired, I’d upload them to facebook. remind me to do this Tues! 😉
Hopefully, I will be up to going to Knoxville TN tomorrow to pick up my
“new” car, a 1977 Buick Regal…In case you missed my brief tale of going to Decatur, IL to get a 1969 Buick Electra to replace my 1973 Yellow Lincoln Mark lV I finally sold after 4-5 short years, it didn’t work out- so hoping this little old ladies car will be in much better mechanical condition . Wish me well (perhaps say a pray too?) that it makes the 225 mile or so trek without incident!
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So, hope you had fun at the game, sounds like it. Did you get the Buick Electra? How did you stumble upon the Regal?
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Yes, Gant looked quite respectable yesterday. There was a little bit of “deer in the headlights” very early in the 1st inning, but he shook it off and tossed a few decent innings against a very good offensive team.
Sadly, the same can’t be said for Clay Kelly and Chris Withrow.
So… the question now is this: in the spirit of 2016, will Gant now be sent down so that a fresh arm can be added to the bullpen for the CIncy series? Or did he earn himself another start? And if he did, will the team send down Kelly or Withrow to bring up a “fresh” arm?
Such is the way it is in 2016.
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Clay Kelly? Where did that come from? I need another cup of coffee. Of course, that should have read Casey Kelly. Who is Clay Kelly? 😛
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Here is a pgreat example of the way my warped mind works. Ber says “Electra”, and you both think Buick.
I think… http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Electra_MPC_Guitar_1976.jpg
It’s also from the ’70’s. 😉
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http://portcitydaily.com/2016/06/12/sports-157411/
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Random thought of the day…
I wonder if the Braves organization are waiting until after Dansby Swanson makes his well-earned start and plays in the AA Southern League All-Star Game on June 21 before moving him up to AAA. That would seem decent, I suppose. I can’t imagine what else he needs to prove or accomplish at AA. In fact, given the choice, I’d bet that Dansby would choose to bypass the AA honor and move on up now without delay.
Do it Coppy. Move the guy on up.
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After catching up on some social media over the weekend, so many people are calling the Braves’ draft a disaster because they passed on the top offensive names with the #3 pick and instead took a surprise name, and a high school pitcher to boot, then followed with 2 more high school pitchers.
But that’s OK. That’s the same crowd that can’t see past Happy Hour on Friday.
MLB.com has just posted their “5 clubs with most promising Draft haul”, and the Braves come in at #3. The comments are as follows:
3. Braves
This year’s Draft crop was deep in high school pitching and thin everywhere else, and Atlanta picked accordingly. The Braves landed three of the eight best prep arms available with their first three selections: New York right-hander Ian Anderson (first round, No. 3), Kansas lefty Joey Wentz (supplemental first) and Texas southpaw Kyle Muller (second). Those three will eat up the bulk of the club’s $13,224,100 bonus pool, but they should be worth it. Atlanta also grabbed slugging California catcher Brett Cumberland (supplemental second), Louisville finesse left-hander Drew Harrington (third) and live-arm North Carolina high school righty Bryse Wilson (fourth) before seeking discounts in Rounds 6-10.
Interestingly, all 5 of the teams they list are in the NL… 1. Philly, 2. St. Louis, 3. Los Barves, 4. Cincy, and 5. The Fathers.
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Yep, you read that right… The Braves landed three of the eight best prep arms available with their first three selections.
Not bad at picks 3, 40 & 44.
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Ber says “Electra”, and you both think Buick.
I also thought of Carmen but did not think she would drive all that well. High maintenance and all that…
I would have loved for the Braves to have drafted the next Bryce Harper and maybe they did, we just don’t realize it yet…
Anyhoo, I have no problem with the Braves draft picks. You draft high school arms and college bats. If one of the three makes it to the show, it will be a coup. If all three make it, it would be an aberration. It’s why the agents want the signing money up front.
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Note it was “prep arms” … Not best arms… Still, who knows when that million dollar baby is going to hit the wall? It is why you draft 40 something players and look to sign good international talent, the later is easier to hide by the way. Everyone in America knows the top 100 prospects by draft day. It is the kids with raw talent in places like Venezuela and Columbia who are lessor known. What did Yogi Berra say if he thought he was the best catcher in the league? he said he wasn’t even the best catcher in his family.
Lots of talent out there just waiting to be discovered but they want to play basketball or football or soccer. No one wants to ride busses for two to five years, they wasn instant gratification. They don’t seem to realize that it takes years for someone to become an “overnight” success.
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So… the question now is this: in the spirit of 2016, will Gant now be sent down so that a fresh arm can be added to the bullpen for the CIncy series?
OK, that’s another way to do it.
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Note it was “prep arms” … Not best arms…
Want to know why major league teams prefer high school arms over college arms? I have a perfect example…
Friday evening I watched Mississippi State vs. Arizona in the D1 Super Regionals. Great game… pitching duel. One intriguing factor was that Arizona started a guy from their bullpen because the coach felt the kid matched up better with MS’s offense. (Apparently he was right as Bobby Dalbec blanked the Bulldogs, but that’s not the main point here.)
Bobby Dalbec is not a starting pitcher. In fact, he was drafted in the 4th round by Boston as a 3B. But he’s been effective coming on in relief for the Wildcats this season. So what does the Arizona coach do Friday night? He rides this kid’s effectiveness for 7 innings and 129 pitches.
Now, I;m not one to eb a stickler for pitch counts. I also agree with uber-successful pitching coach extraordinaire Leo Mazzone who believes some of thes pitchers today are coddled and should go longer.
But to take a kid who is not a starter, whose arm is not conditioned for extended use, and to let him throw 129 pitches is madness.
Oh, I get it. It’s college baseball. You have 4 years with most, but only 3 with the very best. And you have to ride those guys to win consistently.
Arizona’s coach is not the first one to overuse a pitcher; he isn’t he only one, and he won’t be the last one. It’s part of the layout of college baseball.
And that is exactly why major league scouts will always favor a high school pitcher over a college pitcher. Yeah, the engine might purr and the exterior/interior might be really nice… but the high mileage is always a red flag.
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Something else I learned while reading extensively pre-draft. Something the scouts look for in a pitcher, at least the Braves scouts, is having a “repeatable” delivery. Kids like Riley Pint, who throw high-90s as a teenager are impressive and they rate highly with prognosticators because of their great talent. It makes for a good news story, right? But did you see how he uncoils his delivery? The arm whip is impressive, but also quite violent in its action. I’m no Roy Clark, but even I can look at that and only wonder how long before the wheels come flying off.
Kids with repeatable deliveries stand a better chance of advancing based on the consistency of their pitches and the lesser risk of injury. So when the Braves took Ian Anderson over Pint, Jason Groome and a couple others rated higher, they did it because they liked his repeatable delivery.
The last time we had a pitcher with a violent arm action, alot of experts felt he was simply an elbow injury in waiting. The fact is, he had already had TJ surgery once (as a college pitcher, by the way), but we liked him anyway.
Then we traded him to LA, and he became less and less effective, and is now on the DL with elbow soreness. Personally, I like Alex Wood. And I wa a bit of a denier regarding his delivery. But the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
A fire that burns fast burns brighter, but burns quickly and is gone. Hopefully our scouts stayed within The Plan and took some hardwoods that won’t burn up quite as quickly, even if they didn’t take the flash. (Even if they’re taking some “heat” for those decisions. Pun intended.)
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Ugh. Very bad news. Braves really need him. Not at less than full health, though.
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This probably doesn’t matter as much to any of you as it does to me since I am the biggest baseball detail nerd here, but one of my favorite resource cites was just acquired by another of my favorite cites. Roster Resource, the absolute best place for depth charts, transactions, and payroll info, was just bought up by MLBTR.
MLBTR is trying to take over all the good places, which might or might not be a good thing. It’s OK to have one good daddy as long as they don’t micro-manage too much and make everything look the same and vanilla. That will disappoint me. But the combination of their resources will be a good thing.. I think.
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A fire that burns fast burns brighter, but burns quickly and is gone.
Makes me think about one of the greatest pitchers of our time.. Mark “The Bird” Fidrych. One year and POOF!
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2nite’s lineup. Notice who’s leading off… finally.
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Aaron Blair is paying for his learning tonight. 6 runs on 3 hits… Walks are a killer. Oh well, keep learning how to play kid, it will pay off eventually.
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Of course, the Braves refuse to go quietly.
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And the Braves snatch defeat from the jaws of victory once again.
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Defining moment of the game:
Braves have bases loaded and only 1 out in the 8th inning. Mallex Smith is batting. Ohlendorf starts him with 2 balls not even close. I said, “Mallex… park that bat on your shoulder. Make him throw you a strike.” Mallex swings at the 2-0 pitch into an out.
Conversely, with bases loaded in the 9th, the Reds are patient and work a walk.
Ballgame.
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Braves Major Leaguers: “Yesterday I couldn’t even spell it, now I are one!”
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Gil, found both cars on Craigslist I have a really great Broad search or most of the Midwest southwards. I should be home now but my bank screwed up I was going to get a cash advance off my debit card to pay for the car but it seems like somebody dropped the ball and my main bank in the bank I was at . My bank doesn’t exist in Tennessee I called my bank and it sounded like somebody might be able to correct the problem from whatever their main headquarters are but I think they’ve been looked at the clock and went oh it’s 5 p.m.? Time to go home and they disconnected me I am not a happy camper having to spend the night in Tennessee I am doing this by voice so there will be errors and what I say hopefully I drive the car up later today but for some reason I’m up at 5 a.m. and can’t sleep
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VOX, again the fact the Braves are abysmal at driving in runs rears it’s ugly head. Strange thing to say after scoring eight runs but it is true. I simply refuse to believe that the other teams the Braves have played all have that good a pitching staff. I think we all know where the problem lies. Lack of real major league talent.
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Well, we all know that young pitching struggles. If you caught last night’s TV broadcast, you heard Tom Glavine talk about it. Blair’s game was very uneven… bad inning followed by good inning followed by bad inning, etc.
Anyway, with him going only 5 innings, I expect the team to once again make a bullpen move. I expect Ryan Weber, who pitched 2 innings last night, to be sent back down. Who knows who returns?
it won’t be Shae Simmons, who is experiencing shoulder soreness. It’s the same type that shut his rehab down late last year. And it’s not a good thing. It is definitely something to be concerned about.
I wonder if Tyrell Jenkins gets his first callup? Could happen. Stay tuned…
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Both Bowman and DOB make the point that last night’s game was just the 2nd time this season that Freddie Freeman drove in more than 1 run.
That’s startling.
But did you notice his swing last night. Much more even. The uppercut was not as pronounced. And it generated 3 hits. Somebody needs to burn that into his brain!!!
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More post-draft nuggets…
This according to CBSSports:
b>Atlanta Braves: Landed three of the best pitchers in the entire draft class
According to the rankings from Baseball America and MLB.com, the Braves selected three of top 15 pitching prospects — and three of the top 26 prospects overall — all on Day 1. Those picks: New York HS RHP Ian Anderson (first round), Kansas HS LHP Joey Wentz (competitive balance round A), and Texas HS LHP Kyle Muller (second round).
They go on to say: The Braves have arguably the best collection of pitching prospects in baseball as it is. Adding Anderson, Wentz, and Muller to their current talent means the rich are getting richer.
That would be richer both in talent and in “currency”.
As the talking heads continue to digest all of the draft results, early assessments are starting to trickle out into media outlets. CBSSports is a fairly reputable outlet. It’s understandable that assessing prospects is always a guessing game, but these guys make extremely educated guesses. I’ll take their endorsement.
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And I’ll try that one more time.
This according to CBSSports:
Atlanta Braves: Landed three of the best pitchers in the entire draft class
According to the rankings from Baseball America and MLB.com, the Braves selected three of top 15 pitching prospects — and three of the top 26 prospects overall — all on Day 1. Those picks: New York HS RHP Ian Anderson (first round), Kansas HS LHP Joey Wentz (competitive balance round A), and Texas HS LHP Kyle Muller (second round).
They go on to say: The Braves have arguably the best collection of pitching prospects in baseball as it is. Adding Anderson, Wentz, and Muller to their current talent means the rich are getting richer.
That would be richer both in talent and in “currency”.
As the talking heads continue to digest all of the draft results, early assessments are starting to trickle out into media outlets. CBSSports is a fairly reputable outlet. It’s understandable that assessing prospects is always a guessing game, but these guys make extremely educated guesses. I’ll take their endorsement.
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Per DOB:
Braves optioned RH Ryan Weber back to Triple-A, purchased contract of former Mets LH Dario Alvarez from Triple-A Gwinnett
LH Dario Alvarez had a 1.12 ERA and 14 strikeouts (4 walks) in 8 innings (8 appearances) at Triple-A Gwinnett
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In other Braves news, the team will be sticking around Disney for at least one more spring after 2017. They extended their deal w/ Disney 1 additional year since they have not found a suitable alternative in time for spring 2018.
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That’s “overslot”, but not unexpected. In fact, the bonus expectations affected where Wentz was taken, as alot of teams felt they could not afford to sign him and he dropped. He was projected as a Top 10 pick. The Braves got him at 40. Part of the Braves strategy was to use their pool wisely and be able to sign some guys overslot who dropped, and this is a perfect example. Ian Anderson, conversely, will likely sign under the expected slot amount. (Anderson doesn’t graduate HS for another week… maybe two.)
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And I’m going tonight. Oh joy.
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That’s 3 of the top 4. As I said earlier, Ian Anderson has not yet graduated. I expect a pretty quick signing of him once that happens. The prevailing thought is that they already had a “deal” in place before drafting.
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So, $6.45MM accounted for so far. Another $6MM to go. To be divided among 7 more players. I guess Anderson and Cumberland will get the lion’s share of that.
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Okay, this is getting just a little bit old. Even when you know the Braves are inept beyond reason, I just cannot look away on the outward chance of the Braves could pull off a win. After all, how many times can a team have the bases loaded and they still fail to score. The law of averages has to apply at some point. SIGH!
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how many times can a team have the bases loaded and they still fail to score.
And there is where the short bench came back to bite them. They had already used Ender earlier in the game and Aybar had been a pre-game scratch with bruised ribs after having been drilled on Monday. That left AJP and Brandon Snyder. So who bats with bases loaded and nobody out? That’d be AJP and his robust .202/.234/.240 slash line.
That doesn’t even touch the fact that after Tyler Flowers hit his single, the slowest (maybe 2nd slowest at best) guy on the team, representing the tying run, had no pinch runner. As it turns out, it made no difference. But the potential was huge.
BTW- I had just uttered these words to my son: “They’re gonna have a really hard time doubling up Mallex” when he hit that grounder to short. It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it’d be.
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So, $6.45MM accounted for so far. Another $6MM to go. To be divided among 7 more players. I guess Anderson and Cumberland will get the lion’s share of that.
The lower rounds get very little. The college kids get relatively little. Apparently, that was part of the strategy of taking college kids in the middle rounds. Gives the team more to work with in the higher rounds with the pricier signees. The team must be on track, though, because they aren’t sweating any signings. Everything is smooth sailing.
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At my last count, the Braves had signed 13 of their 42 picks, including picks 2, 3, 4 & 6. But that was mid-day yesterday. I’m sure they’ve added to that since. (Plus, they have an agreement in place with #1, he’s just not eligible to sign yet since he’s still in school.)
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Oh, and the reason they haven’t signed #5 is also because his Gamecocks are still playing in the Super Regionals.
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#6 was Georgia Tech 3B Matt Gonzalez. He signed for $25K when his slot value was $281K. Not sure how the Braves pulled that one off.
I’m sure if I do a little digging, I can find a “tracker” or something and give a full report.
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Oh… and the bonus pool only affects rounds 1-10. The lower rounds aren’t counted. So their total of $13,319,600 gets split among the first 12 picks.
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#6 was Georgia Tech 3B Matt Gonzalez. He signed for $25K when his slot value was $281K. Not sure how the Braves pulled that one off.
Maybe he views it as a summer job, just a lark to see if he has any real talent when stacked up against the rest of the pros. Sounds pretty low but who knows? It is about what I think any unproven rookie is really worth.
The owners are really paying through the nose for their collusion and years of being exempt from anti-trust laws.
How much did Cumberland sign for?
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That doesn’t even touch the fact that after Tyler Flowers hit his single, the slowest (maybe 2nd slowest at best) guy on the team, representing the tying run, had no pinch runner. As it turns out, it made no difference. But the potential was huge.
well….I often see other teams, often perennial winners like the cards, use pitchers to run…no starter can get loose? or a reliever than won’t pitch that day?
Did anyone see Adam Wainwright’s pinch hit double the other night? Drove in the runs that gave them the lead and the win
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Here we go… this is what I have found:
Round 1 (3): RHP Ian Anderson, Shenendehowa HS (graduates 6/23), slot value $6,510,800, Rumored agreement is to be $3,500,000
Comp. Round 1 (40): LHP Joey Wentz, Shawnee Mission East HS, slot value $1,616,800, signed $3,050,000
Round 2 (44): LHP JKyle Muller, Dallas Jesuit Prep, slot value $1,459,700, signed $3,050,000
Comp. Round 2 (76): C Brett Cumberland, slot value $838,900, California
Round 3 (80): LHP Drew Harrington, Louisville, slot value $788,800, signed $900,000
Round 4 (109): RHP Bryse Wilson, Orange HS, slot value $546,800
Round 5 (139): RHP Jeremy Walker, Gardner-Webb, slot value $409,600, signed $275,000
Round 6 (169): IF Matt Gonzalez, Georgia Tech, slot value $306,600, signed $25,000
Round 7 (199): OF J.B. Moss, Texas A&M, slot value $229,700, signed $10,000
Round 8 (229): LHP Taylor Hyssong, UNC Wilmington, slot value $184,100, signed unknown
Round 9 (259): OF Tyler Neslony, Texas Tech, slot value $171,800
Round 10 (289): SS Marcus Mooney, South Carolina, slot value $160,500
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You can’t make this stuff up…
I noticed last night that Braves starting C Tyler Flowers was a 33rd Round pick. So it’s possible to get real major league value low in the draft.
Who is the team’s 33rd rounder this year?
C Handsome Monica, Northwest Florida State JC
😆
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I was fortunate enough to to be driving home from Knoxville TN in my “new” car, a 1977 Buick Regal (V, is there a Regal guitar that you first think of when you hear that name? 😛 ) …Gil, I will have to tell you all about it if you care, I do have to focus on work as I have been playing around trying to get a car for most of the last 2 weeks…
anyway, back to the game…heard they were down 3-1, then the station faded out (on FM, yet very close to ATL) so went to AM and heard the Reds broadcasters, and they really wanted someone to warm up and replace their guy as they pretty much thought he stunk (really weird is their radio guy sounded a bit like…had to look it up, I like him, but can’t remember his name, Jim Powell, but even weirder, is the other announcer/color guy had inflections in his voice that made him sound like Skip!!!!)
so, back to FM, station came in clear as a bell now, and it was now bases loaded, nobody out….well, they can’t help to get at least 1 run, right? Lose, but get 1 run? AJ will hit a fly ball, then 2 pop ups, were my worst case scenario, but really thought AJ was in the drivers seat, and might even hit a grand slam….nope, strike out…and Don was saying, no way to double Mallex up….wrong…
Wow…they announced 13K, which is as low as I have heard them say….usually they say 18K and it looks more like 8K…what did it look like , 4-5 K????
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So, that adds up to $10,010,000 to date. Leaves about $3,015,000 available. We shall see how committed Cumberland is committed to playing pro ball and how committed the Braves are to Cumberland. I would guess the Braves will offer about $1,000,000 large to get him to leave school. It would go a long way towards his paying off his student loans.
No body gets a full ride on a baseball scholarship.
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Round 3 pick LHP Drew Harrington is from Louisville, not South Carolina as I had earlier noted. His team is now out of the Super Regionals and he has signed.
Round 4 pick RHP Bryse Wilson from Orange HS in Hillsborough, NC, is reported to have a strong commitment to UNC and will be hard to pry away. The number being floated is $1.2M, more than twice his slot value $546,800. We’ll stay tuned to see if money will indeed talk here or if he stays with his college commitment.
Round 9 pick OF Tyler Neslony (Texas Tech) and Round 10 pick SS Marcus Mooney (South Carolina) are both still playing in the Super Regionals.
I need to find out what’s up with Brett Cumberland. No news at all. None. But there’s little reason for him to return to Cal next year. We need him signed and moving forward in the system.
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So, that adds up to $10,010,000 to date. Leaves about $3,015,000 available.
So maybe Cumberland is waiting around for the rest to sign and see what’s left? If #’s 9&10 sign for slot, that leaves $2,682,700. If they can pry Wilson away for the rumored $1.2M, that still leaves $1,482,700, well above the $838,900 slot for the Cal catcher.
The bonuses should not be an obstacle in getting these guys signed. For whatever criticism the front office is taking right now, there’s no denying that they masterfully navigated the draft pool.
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Make that $3,309,600.. I thought it was for the top 10?
Ber, always interested in car stories….
That year Regal is a nice looking car, does it have the grand touring suspension? After my ’91 Park Avenue, I looked for a Regal without success. Loved the way it drove. What I imagined a BMW would drive like. Anyhoo..
Hope it’s in nice shape. Does it have the vinyl top? 350 engine or 307?
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One interesting name in the later rounds is 2B Nick Shumpert out of San Jacinto College North JuCo. He was a potential 2nd or 3rd round pick in 2015, but fell to the 7th (Tigers) because of signability problems and opted for JuCo instead with a chance to come back out in 2016. He fell all the way to the 28th round this year, and has a college commitment to Kentucky but is reportedly showing a strong interest in signing with the Braves instead.
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*Make that $3,309,600.. I thought it was for the top 10?
Top 10 rounds. The Braves had 2 comp picks, so 12 players in the top 10 rounds.
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Redo:
Make that $3,309,600.. I thought it was for the top 10?
Top 10 rounds. The Braves had 2 comp picks, so 12 players in the top 10 rounds.
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VOX, I see my confusion, 12 guys in the top ten picks, Forgot the two comp picks.
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Random observation:
In a side by side comparison, I prefer Chase d’Arnaud over Jace Peterson.
OK, you may return to your regular viewing.
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Bryce Wilson profiles to be a reliever. If I were him, I’d take the money. He can always go back to school if baseball does not pan out.
Nick Shumpert, classic story of thinking you are better than you really are. Nothing like a taste of reality to bring you back to earth. School is not really all that much fun, besides, you can go to school after your body gives out on you, not the other way around. I suspect he left a lot of money on the table but then, I doubt there is really that much difference between 7th and 28th.
if I were a MLB GM, I would be interested to see what the first thing a player spent his money on after he signs. It can tell you a lot about a person’s character.
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In a side by side comparison, I prefer Chase d’Arnaud over Jace Peterson.
I have to agree on that one Vee
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One possible candidate for the now idle countdown clock…
July 2, the opening of the International Signing period. It’s huge for the Braves with the expected signing of Kevin Maitan, the kid who has drawn comparisons to both Miguel Cabrera and Chipper Jones.
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Looking at clips of Brett Cumberland… long swing.
No hitch, just a bit long. Bodes well for power but not for high average. Will see lots of fastballs until he proves he can hit one.
Pretty sure he will sign with the Braves, question is for how much.
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what did it look like , 4-5 K????
Hard to tell Ber, They seemed to have everyone bunched together. Not very many crowd shots.
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Looking at clips of Brett Cumberland… long swing.
That’s what coaches get paid for.
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So, I was in attendance at Turner Field last night. Hard to say what the actual attendance was. I can say that it was slight, though. A series of hard pop up storms that hit the ATL area in the late afternoon doomed it.
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A good friend invited my son and me to go with his family to a business client’s box in the club level last night. Wow! To see how that crowd rolls…
What a treat for us. First class all the way. We really felt like VIP’s.
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I like what I have seen of d’Arnaud too…I wonder if Seitzer had anything to do with his hitting here? Only .241 BA and .280 OBP combined Minor and Majors numbers…never really given any chance to play in the majors til now
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https://twitter.com/JoeyWentz/status/743200684481327104
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Pretty sure they can see how badly the Braves need pitching help after watching Kelly cough up the lead. Not all his fault. Need infielders to catch the ball too.
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Perazza showing the Braves why they were wrong. Oh well, there is help on the way.
KC DFAs Omar Infante, Rockies DFAa Jose Reyes. How soon before the Braves DFAs Aybar?
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Casey Kelly, who relieved Bud Norris and gave up three runs, was a former number one pick by the Red Sox back in 2008. # 30 overall and still considered a rookie. Just goes to show how much of an inexact science the baseball draft is.
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Sounds like By guess and By golly.
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Don’t give up on Kelly yet. He’s gonna be a good’un. Just needs experience. Growing pains.
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Nice counter, by the way. 😉
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Long game, over 5 hours and a little of everything. Couldn’t believe the Braves would fail to score with no outs and the bases load for the second night in a row, even more improbable was the fact the Braves scored 3 to win the game after the Reds scored 2 in the top of the 13th.
Most irritating thing was the punks with the Rick Flair whoops which began in the 10th. Cut the field mikes guys….
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Just a reminder, NOON game time today.
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I checked online to see the score, assumed the game was long over, saw it was tied, then the reds got the lead… checked again saw the braves tied the game, and put the game on…bases loaded, Chase up…hit, game over, braves win….I like that 😉
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Okay doky, that is a little more like it. Good game today by the Braves.
Tough road trip ahead with a visit to the Mets but at least the ‘Mazins are not at full strength.
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Quiet around here today. I guess everyone is exhausted from rooting the Braves to victory the past couple of days. 🙂
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Wicked bad storm here last night. Lucky, no damage to the house but plenty of clean up to do. I hate night time storms. It is not true if you don’t see it, it won’t hurt you….
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Gee, it sure is nice to see the Braves playing just like a real baseball team. While not a laugher, it was at least smile inducing. John Gant, he of the funky two step deliver and fidgeting like a coke addict looking for a fix, hurled a gem. All that nervous energy has got to be exhausting.. for sure, he’ll never gain weight.
I questioned why Snit brought in Withrow to face a lefty, whom he promptly walked as well as the next batter to load the bases before calling on Cervanka to get the righty. I would have brought in Cervanka to face the lefty to begin with. I noticed Withrow kept miss with his fastball to the same spot every time. Has to be something mechanical in his delivery for that to happen. Every pitch was either high and tight to the righty or high and away to the lefty.
Oh well, all’s well that ends well and Freddie Freeman is looking like Freddie Freeman again.
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What an exciting game last night. Here, the TV crew was all set to extol the greatness of the Mets and came away amazed by the Braves. Ender’s hustle won the game for the Braves. One the Mets will rue as one that got away. Frenchy and Tyler did their part with solo home runs but it was the general attitude of the Braves, especially after TP got tossed that won the game for the Braves.
Times have been tough for the good guys but I guess they showed they can play a little “beisbol” too…
The Braves are really too far out to have a serious run this season but they no longer have the worse record in MLB. They have been push down to the number three pick in next year’s draft at this point. I can deal with that. Too much pressure now a days with 1-1 anyway.
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HAPPY FATHER’S DAY to some of my favorite guys!
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Tease or turning point. That is a question to which the answer will be reveal in the coming weeks. But, Braves fans of all stripes have to be elated with New York’s lost weekend. Yesterday’s complete game one hit shut out by Julio had to be the cherry on the top of the sundae for the Braves. That and Nick Markakis’ display of power and Freddie Freeman’s rediscovery of his hitting stroke.
Only downer was the injury of Mallex Smith who suffered a fracture thumb on his left hand as a result of a inside 91 mph fastball by Bastardo. Expect Mallex to be absent until the end of July. I think it will set Mallex back a bit but that’s baseball. Injuries happen. Another opportunity will open up for someone in the Braves minor leagues. I don’t know who is next in line but would not be surprised to see Bonifacio called up to platoon with Francore in left field.
Perhaps Vee has a better handle on the available talent for the Los Bravos.
By the way, I loved the special unies the Braves wore yesterday. The baby blue lettering looked classic on the grey road uniforms. I want one….
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Man. I go outta town for a few days and the Braves play real baseball. Must be me.
Actually, that’s not entirely correct. I caught yesterday’s gem by Julio. (Well, technically, Tyler Flowers caught it; but you know what I mean.)
Sux about Mallex. I would expect Boni to get the call, but this year you never know. We really don’t have any other real OF prospects in the upper minors. They did promote Matt Lipka to AAA late last week, but I can’t see him as a realistic option to come on up. And with no real prospect to promote, Boni is the logical guy to tab. BTW, he isn’t currently on the team’s 40-man roster, but that shouldn’t be a hurdle since there isn’t another OF on the 40-man that is an option. In fact, the only other non-pitcher already on the 40-man is Daniel Castro. And if I count correctly, we have 2 open slots.
I suppose there is always the possibility of going outside the organization since Mallex will be out more than just 15 days. But don’t expect the team to give up much to get any major upgrade. I’m talking the Todd Cunningham (recently DFA’d) type acquisition. But is he an upgrade over Boni? Not really.
So again, Boni is the logical addition. And that could open up a slot in AAA for a possible Dustin Peterson promotion. That might not be a bad thing. He’s slashing .284/.350/.437 at AA with 7 HR and 42 RBI. He’s on track for AAA in 2017, but maybe he gets an early bump. He’s having a nice season in pearl.
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So, I think after all the Erick Aybar bashing that I have participated in, it’s only fair to say that he is playing much more up to the expectations we had for him at the beginning of the season. And the same can be said for Ender Inciarte. And Freddie Freeman. And Nick Markakis.
Hmmm… small wonder they’ve started to win. So maybe it’s not a bad plan after all if the players will… well, play.
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Ken Rosenthal has a new article out in which he says (or at least his sources say) that Javier Baez is now untouchable on the Cubs. He’s the guy I really want from them in trade, either for Julio or for Viz.
And if he’s off the table, then we should look squarely at Boston, who is very open about their desire for a front line starter. The have offense… and then some.
As much as I realize we need an “ace”, and Julio has emphatically demonstrated that he is an “ace”, we need a serious offensive piece to build around. Julio is the only real asset we can move to acquire such a piece. And with the much discussed pitching surplus in the minors, perhaps we can afford to make it happen.
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Man. I go outta town for a few days and the Braves play real baseball. Must be me.
)
V, I am pretty sure it was me that caused this amazing 5 game winning streak! 😉
I was at the Sunday game a week ago yesterday, 7-1 when we left in the 7th (Shame I missed the Cubs score 6 more runs
I have seen so many losses this year, and like you, I only really got to see yesterday’s game…
I gotta tell you guys, as you know, Teheren has never really impressed me, but something has changed in his mentality this year. Tired of losing, talked to Smoltz/Glavine, or just the maturing aspect (amazing he is still only 25!) but I am much more impressed by him. I don’t see nearly as many pitches right down the center of the plate with no movement…
Which brings me to the possibility of trading him…
The Cubs are crazy…they are of course the best team in baseball right now (Watch the darned Giants will somehow, with half the talent, beat them for the NL Pennant, and with the W.S. yet again) and have like the Dodgers, bigger eyes than stomach, if that makes sense. They have their 3rd baseman, SS, 1st basemen for many years to come. Baez seems to be playing great 2nd base. For some reason, they HAD to sign JHey for a ton of years, so they only have 2 positions in the outfield to fill. Ben Zobrist needs to play somewheres….he is signed for 2 more years I think after this year…but they don’t want to trade Baez, Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora or Willson Contreras(a catcher the braves could sure use)
But, they will of course want Teheren (especially if they lose a starter between now and the trading deadline) but, won’t give up anyone to get him…and seem to want a leftie more than anything else…
And I fear the Red Sox are just as stubborn…
What I really can’t figure out is those top ten rankings I see on MLB trade rumors…all these seemingly mediocre to decent players ranked above Teheran….and how does Vizcaino rank higher than Teheran? The super smart statheads of today think closers are a dime a dozen , don’t they…anyway, starters, starters that would make a real difference to the Red Sox Dodgers, etc…not many out there. Any how many others out there are 25 and have a crazy cheap contract to boot?
Teams should be running towards to the braves with offers…just hope that they don’t trade him for another pitcher prospect 😛
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pitcher prospect????????????? Oy….
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Listening to Dero on MLB this morning said he can’t see why the Braves would want to trade Julio unless it was for a ton in return. A Texierian type ton…
Contrears hit a home run on his first ML pitch yesterday for the Cubs… Methinks (with a nod to the late Journalist Bob) that he make Schwarber expendable. Kyle is of course a defensively challenged catcher who can hit a ton. Much like Evan Gattis and Adonis Garcia, his position is “hitter”.
I think Jim Jonson will get traded at the deadline, maybe Markakis if he continues to show power. Julio for a franchise type player/prospect. Like the man once told me, everything is for sale for the right price. It really all come down to need. Looks as if the Rangers, Giants, Cubs and Nats are in the process of running away with their divisions. Leaves three teams in the AL East, maybe three in the AL Central to fight it out at this point.
Maybe the Marlins or Mets try to make a move but without Murphy, who signed with the Nats and Duda and Davis Wright, who I think is done for the season (look at Markakis), their just won’t be that many buyers at deadline. I could be all wet but I think a lot of teams are playing for a play-in (wildcard) spot in the post season.
Like many a Superbowl game, this one is going to be over early.
Congratulations to the Cavilers who made history last night. No, I did not watch the game, I went over to my oldest daughter’s house for a Father’s Day get together and when I got home, I watched a recording of Sunday’s Braves game. Gotta love a DVR folks.
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It should be noted that Emilio Bonifacio is not in the G-Braves lineup tonight. Maybe he isn’t even in the state. Perhaps he’s hanging out in Miami, just in case.
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Well, if you’re wondering what Coppy is thinking about with regard to this year’s trade deadline, here’s the poop straight from the horse’s mouth. (OK, maybe I could have chosen my words more carefully.)
This, courtesy of Bowman:
“I think we’ve gotten to a point where we’ve built up enough prospects,” Coppolella said. “We have the top farm system and it’s not even close. So for us, if there’s an opportunity to get a long-term piece that makes sense — it doesn’t have to be a Minor League player or a prospect. We need to try to supplement [our Major League team] to the best extent we can, and put a winning product on the field as we go through the second half and head into 2017.
I think we’re buying and selling. I don’t think we have to trade everybody. I don’t think we have to trade anybody. We’ll just see what other clubs want, and see how it goes.”
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Not sure if anyone has heard anything else on this, but I have found that Braves Comp. Round 2 pick C Brett Cumberland has signed for an unspecified bonus amount. I cannot find any news release or announcement on it, though.
Also, 4th rounder, P Bryse Wilson, the kid who dropped because of his strong commitment to UNC, has signed for the overslot amount of $1,200,000. That is more than twice his slot amount. Good reason to go pro, I suppose.
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wow…back to not caring about Aybar …well, he can hit enough to get traded I guess… but the sooner he is gone, the better…what a dope…..
“He’s never been one that wants a lot of instruction,” Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer said. “Like, literally doesn’t want to talk about it. And you can only help when you’re allowed to help. But I’ve just been encouraging him to get back in the middle, because he’s been way too pull-happy, for me, all season trying to yank, yank. When you pull you’ve got to go early and you swing at bad pitches.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/aybar-does-it-his-way-and-finally-doing-it-a-lot-b/nrjxq/?ecmp=ajc_social_twitter_2014_braves_sfp
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I’ve been watching to see if Cumberland had signed yet. I guess that only leaves the number one pick to sign a pro contract. I suspect it is one of those deals where the club would just as soon not let on as to how much money they have left. I thought a couple of guys signed for way under value but they might not have had a lot of choice, they were college seniors so I guess it was sign with the Braves or get a real job.
Not up to me as to how much money other people make, I have enough to worry about just keeping my account straight and I can’t play a lick any more so I guess a shot at a pro contract is done.
Now, around baseball today. Shelby Miller finally looked like Shelby Miller today. Beat the Phils 3-1. Marlins and Washington both lost so the Braves made gains just chilling in South Beach.
Texas is tough guys, Huston is starting to win a lot but I don’t think they can catch the Rangers. Cubs got eaked out by the Cardinals 4-3. MLB highlighted Contraes. I think Kyle Schwarber best plan on moving to a new city next season. No need for him to stay in Chitown.
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I think the absence of Bonni in Gwinnett is a tell. It’s scary being so right all the time isn’t it guys? 🙂
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Ber, very telling account as far as Aybar goes. Explains a lot. Let’s hope the Braves can get more than a bag of balls for him at the trade deadline. Pretty sure the Braves will still end up paying him til the end of the season.
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Dustin Peterson might be one of those guys that comes out of nowhere. Maybe promote both of those guys to AAA after their All-Star break?
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I’m beginning to get the feeling that Julio is more untouchable than we have assumed. I think he’s right under Freddie in that Coppy will still keep his limbs, but another team might have to give up an arm and a leg. Oh, they’ll listen. And if someone wants to give up a Shelbian package, then the Braves will dance. But Julio has done more than establish his trade value. He’s established himself as an ace. And let’s face it, not every team has one. He’ll be a nice guy to lead the rookie parade into the next era of great Braves pitching.
At the same time, I also get the feeling that Viz is very available for the right offer. Why? Well, starters have staying power. Closers have a short timeline. And closers are still in high demand. Package Viz with a pitching prospect and you’ll get a hitter. And I think that is the plan.
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I watched the Arizona vs Philadelphia game yesterday, or at least most of it. The Phillie have come back to earth now that their schedule has tightened up. That plus .500 won/loss record was a bit of a mirage. The Braves had such a brutally tough first two months, they never had a chance to find themselves so they just spiraled downward into the abyss.
They say that it is not where you are but what direction you are headed. The Nats have been overrated again methinks but the NL East is so weak, they will slip through. The Braves may yet end up picking third or fourth again in the draft.
The thing I fear for the Braves is the dog days of August when all those innings put up by the bullpen come back to bite the Braves in the butt. Unless the Braves can push their starters into the 7th and 8th innings on a routine bases, this pen will be toast by mid July.
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https://twitter.com/bcumboslice/status/745045970388287488
Indeed!
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And there ya go.
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From what I have read, our 8th rounder has signed, but the bonus is still unknown. Our 9th & 10th rounders are still playing baseball in the college tourney.
But…
All 3 of those guys are college seniors, and college seniors will often sign for about $10K. That was a part of the drafting strategy.
The Braves have currently agreed to $13,760,000 in total commitments, which obviously exceeds their pool amount of $13,319,600. And even though they will face some financial penalties for doing so (which they reportedly have accounted for), they’re still about $225K shy of the real penalty… the loss of next year’s 1st round pick. They appear to be quite safe in that regard.
So by all accounts, their strategy has played out as planned, and they were able to pick up a wealth of talent with a number of picks. Winner.
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What did the Braves number one pick agree to Vee?
Looking at the minors, looks like AJ Ellis had a rough start in Gwinnett. 0.2 innings, 5 ERs only 16 strikes in 40 some pitches… I would be concerned about a injury of some type.
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Uh.. make that Chris Ellis….
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Chris was part of the Eric Aybar for Andrelton Simmons trade. I think the Braves are hoping Newcomb pans out.
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Reading the article about Eric Aybar leads me to believe the Angles knew of Aybars fatal flaw, he is/was/is uncoachable. Sort of like buying a used car and finding out the transmission slips but only after it gets hot. Doesn’t show up during a short test ride…. Of course the seller feins ignorance about the flaw… Who knew? Never happened before…
So, maybe Ellis just had some bad clams or something the night before.
I still think the Braves are pinning their hopes on Newcomb.
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What did the Braves number one pick agree to Vee?
Well, he doesn’t graduate from HS until Thursday, so technically he can’t agree to anything yet. But the rumors are in the $4M range, which is well under slot for a #3 pick.
As I have learned, these parameters were most likely agreed upon before the kid was even picked… thus the pick. And the strategy was to be able to sign him at about $2.5MM below his typical slot value of $6,510,800 and use those savings to sign picks 2-6 over slot. And that’s exactly what the team did.
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A high school kid with $4m. smh I haven’t earned that much in my entire lifetime which is ….. long. 🙄
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http://atmlb.com/28KzZhj
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Looking at the minors, looks like [Chris] Ellis had a rough start in Gwinnett. 0.2 innings, 5 ERs only 16 strikes in 40 some pitches…
Chris was part of the Eric Aybar for Andrelton Simmons trade. I think the Braves are hoping [Sean] Newcomb pans out.
Sounds so sucky to say “Erick Aybar for Andrelton Simmons” trade. Aybar was really just the throw-in. Newcomb and Ellis were the real pieces the Braves wanted.
As for Ellis, one game at AAA… I’m not worried. He has pitched his butt off at AA this season, out-pitching Newcomb and making the AA All-Star team, even though his timely promotion derailed his start there. (I’m sure he doesn’t mind.) He was 8-2 w/ 2.75 ERA in 13 starts. Newcomb has had a decent season, striking out more than a batter per inning, but averaging over 4 walks per 9 IP. So, as with many young flame throwers, he needs to harness his stuff.
And the Braves are still very high on him. He’s the team’s #2 prospect, behind Dansby Swanson and ahead of Ozzie Albies.
Both Ellis and Newcomb have time to develop… neither will likely make an impact at the major league level for at least another year, and maybe not until 2018.
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A high school kid with $4m. smh
The #1 pick, 18-year-old Mickey Moniak – and he just turned 18 last month – signed with the Phils for a $6.1M bonus. Let that one circle a few times before it lands.
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Braves bring up Boni, and he’s starting in LF tonight.
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Adonis continues to be bothered by the ankle thing. He was originally in tonight’s lineup, but has been scratched. The new lineup is:
1- Petey, 2B
2- Ender, CF
3- Free, 1B
4- The Beard, RF
5- AJP, C
6- Uncoachable, SS
7- d’Arnaud, 3B
8- Boni, LF
9- Bud Norris, RHP
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d’Arnaud 7th? I see so very many changes in the lineup, who plays were….this ain’t the cubs, I scratch me head sometimes…heh…I’ll leave that in…..
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Watching a game yesterday and a kid playing 3rd for the Phillies had played every position afield this other than pitcher or catcher and had batted in every spot in the batting order. The comment was as he was coming up, he told fellow players he was an everyday 2nd baseman, his teammates told him that if he wanted to stay in the bigs, maybe he should expand his versatility.
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I have no idea of how signing bonuses are constructed but if I were advising these kids, I would have a lifetime of deferred payments. Sure, buy a new pick up truck if you want but taxes are a bitch and real estate and personal property taxes are the worse.
Just saying, like CL said, it is a lifetime worth of money. No guarantees they will ever make it to the majors,
Number two… Never trust anyone with your money… temptation is too great, even for honest people…
I sometimes wonder if the big signing bonuses are a detriment to a kid’s development. Like socialism… but different…
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That is a bunch of left handed hitters in tonight’s line up eh”
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On Ellis… So what do think? Different ball? Mound not to his liking? Did not sleep well? That is a big difference.
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I agree, Gil. Those “poor” minor leaguer millionaires – for the most part. Doesn’t a kid have to be 18 to be considered an adult? Don’t think I’d let Mom and Dad handle it either. Too many instances where kid movie/TV ‘stars’ end up broke because all their earnings were squandered on fancy, expensive stuff nobody really needs. Sad, sad, sad.
And, dear lord, don’t trust a lawyer with it! Nor a banker. Stuff it in the mattress or a safety deposit box.
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That is a bunch of left handed hitters in tonight’s line up eh
1- Petey, 2B (L)
2- Ender, CF (L)
3- Free, 1B (L)
4- The Beard, RF (L)
5- AJP, C (L)
6- Uncoachable, SS (S)
7- d’Arnaud, 3B (R)
8- Boni, LF (S)
Yep… that’s the idea. RH’s are batting just .175 against him this season. Of course, LH’s are batting just .246 themselves, but you take what you can get. Also, against RH’s he’s averaging 9.00 K’s per 1 BB. Against LH’s, that number drops to 2.71 K’s per 1 BB. That’s fairly substantial.
Managing a baseball team isn’t always rocket surgery. And starting all these lefties seems like a very easy call.
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On Ellis… So what do think? Different ball? Mound not to his liking? Did not sleep well?
Meh… just one game. Could be anything. Could be nothing.
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I don’t even know how to respond to that…
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Last night’s win can be traced directly back to the 1st inning when they made Fernandez throw 26 pitches. I knew then they’d get him out of the game and have a shot at the bullpen.
Funny thing is, a month ago, I wouldn’t have felt they had a chance against any pitcher. The mood has changed.
Think Jace wants to stay in the majors? I think they have a pretty good platoon with Jace/Chase at 2B. And do you remember how well Gordon Beckham was playing when he was healthy?
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Demotions to triple A can be a bit of a wake up call methinks. A player is reminded of the difference in the plane rides with special seating verses buses with cramped leg room. It sure got Adonis’ attention.
Wasn’t last night’s game a thing of beauty? Prado snagged that liner in the first inning and I thought, well, hard out. The Braves have a chance. However, Fernandez settled down and the Braves could not generate anymore threats.
I agree though, knowing the Braves had a chance if they could keep it close until Fernandez was out of the game. I thought Bud Norris pitched well, not sure what he was trying to throw that kept ending up high outside all night but he was consistent with it. back to the drawing board for that one.
Lots of deep counts for Bud pretty much doomed Bud to a short night but the pen was fresh. Jace Peterson was clutch wasn’t he? Huge two run homer to tie the game and opposite field single for the go ahead… Bonni made a nice debut as well.
This team has been full of surprises.
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NOON game today…
And 2day’s lineup:
1- Petey, 2B
2- Ender, CF
3- Free, 1B
4- Frenchy, LF
5- The Beard, RF
6- TFlow, C
7- d’Artagnan, 3B
8- Uncoachable, SS
9- John “The Vulcan” Gant, RHP
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Jonh Gant having a typical rookie outing, that is poor game after a good game. Great curve ball and change, fast ball is missing in the middle of the zone. The latter resulting in three runs. Braves lucky to only be down three runs at this point.
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Gant actually looked pretty good except for that 1 inning.
And now Tyrell Jenkins gets to make his ML debut. Congrats Tyrell!! I’m betting it’s the start of a successful career.
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Back to more draft stuff…
Bobby Sylvester of Fantasypros.com really likes what the Braves did in the draft. In fact, he’s got them as his top team overall with a grade of A+. Here is what he has to say about it:
I’m not alone in my thinking here. The general consensus is that the Braves won the draft. They may well be pathetic this season, but watch out in three or four seasons. With the farm team they already have, plus the speculative signing of 16-year-old phenom shortstop, Kevin Maitan, and now a great draft class, highlighted by Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz and Kyle Muller, the Braves might just have the strongest future of any team in baseball not named the Cubs or Red Sox. At pick No. 3, they appeared to have reached for a high school pitching prospect out of New York, but it later became clear that the move was to save money in their budget so they could pay up to sign Wentz and Muller away from their college commitments.
Yep. They had a strategy and played it like a Stradivarius violin. The more I see the results, the more I respect what they did. Not just in the draft itself, which is becoming more impressive all the time, but amassing the picks the way they did. Y’all realize that the Brett Cumberland pick was the result of them sending a couple of mid-level prospects to BAL for a pitcher they’d immediately DFA and the pick they used to get their future catcher.
Yes, this year is tough to swallow. But 2017 will be better, and look out in 2018.
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Only our #1 and #9 picks remain unsigned from the first 10 rounds. #1 doesn’t graduate HS until tomorrow, and #9 is still in the College World Series. The update signing list of Rounds 1-10 picks is as follows:
Round 1: RHP Ian Anderson (graduates 6/23), rumored agreement for $3.5M-$4M
Comp. Round 1: LHP Joey Wentz, signed $3,050,000
Round 2: LHP Kyle Muller, signed $2,500,000
Comp. Round 2: C Brett Cumberland, signed $1,500,000
Round 3: LHP Drew Harrington, signed $900,000
Round 4: RHP Bryse Wilson, Orange HS, signed $1,200,000
Round 5: RHP Jeremy Walker, signed $275,000
Round 6: IF Matt Gonzalez, signed $25,000
Round 7: OF J.B. Moss, signed $10,000
Round 8: LHP Taylor Hyssong, signed $10,000
Round 9: OF Tyler Neslony, Texas Tech, expected to sign for $10,000
Round 10: SS Marcus Mooney, South Carolina, signed $5,000
There is also some other money that counts toward the pool. Picks after the 10th round don’t count unless they exceed $100K. And a few have:
Round 11, RHP Matt Rowland, Pope HS, $400k ($300k counts to bonus pool)
Round 15, RHP Zach Becherer, Rend Lake College, $175k ($75k counts to bonus pool)
Round 19, LHP Tucker Davidson, Midland College, $125k ($25k counts to bonus pool)
My math says that if Anderson signs for $4M, and our college senior signs for the expected $10K, the total bonus payout will be $13,885,000. We might want to hope that Anderson is closer to $3.5M than $4M. We are perilously close to the danger zone of losing our 1st Round draft pick in 2017.
According to the rules of the draft, the team is allowed to exceed the bonus pool by up to 5% by paying just a 75% tax on the overages. That amount is exactly $13,885,305. Crap.
I’m sure that some of my figures or my math could be a little off. I’ll feel a lot better tomorrow when Anderson signs, and much much better when Neslony signs and we know the final totals.
Also, the team better not be signing any other later rounders for overslot deals. It’s getting way too close for my comfort.
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You know, of course, that the FOT’s know all of these figures better than I do and know exactly what they’re doing. There is no way that they will risk losing their top pick in 2017 in the midst of a major rebuild. But I’ll sure feel better when I see it all in black and white. Then I’ll breathe easier.
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I hate to hear this… even from a Mutt. Man I love their pitching, and Thor is probably my favorite.
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Pitchers have to be some of the most fragile professional athletes on the planet. You cannot have too many you just can’t.
Not a bad game by the Braves, just could not get a big hit when they needed one. Okay, start a new streak tomorrow.
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“Okay, start a new streak tomorrow. Don’t think I’ve heard that this year with this team. Sounds good for a change.
Bragging, plain and simple: Local boys do good in professional baseball:
*Chris Hatcher, UNCW, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers
*Mike Wright, Whiteville/East Carolina, RHP, Baltimore Orioles
*Jordan Betts, New Hanover/Duke, 3B, Boston Red Sox, Salem Red Sox, Class A Advanced Carolina League (33 games, 116 At-Bats, .308AVG, 10 2B, 18 RBI, 1HR)
*Luke Tendler, Laney, OF, Texas Rangers, High Desert Maverick, Class A Advanced California League (66 games, 257At-Bats, .276AVG, 18 2B, 3 3B, 9HR, 45RBI)
*Zack Shields, UNCW, OF, Cincinnati Reds, Dayton Dragons, Class A Midwest League (43 Games, 164 At-Bats, .244AVG. 23 R, 40 H, 9 2B, 3 3B)
*Erick Jenkins, West Columbus, OF, Ranger, Hickory Crawdads, Class A South Atlantic League (62 Games, 251 At-Bats, .282 AVG, 39 R, 55 H, 6 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, 17 RBI)
*Jeff Ferrell, Laney, RHP, Detroit Tigers, Toledo Muds Hens, Class AAA International League (6 Games, 7.1IP, 2-1 W/L, 7.36 ERA)
Tyler DeLoach, UNCW, LHP, Los Angeles Angels, Arkansas Travelers, Class AA Texas League (22 Games, 31.1IP, 2-1 W/L, 1.72ERA, 1Save, 36K)
*Kelly Secrest, UNCW, LHP, New York Mets, Binghamton Mets, Class AA Eastern League (12 Games, 0-1 W/L, 5.51 ERA, 16.1IP)
*Evan Phillips, UNCW, RHP, Atlanta Braves, Carolina Mudcats, Class A Advanced Carolina League (20 Games, 2-1 W/L, 0.99 ERA, 27.1IP, 3ER, 19 K)
*Nick Monroe, UNCW, RHP, San Diego Padres, Fort Wayne Tincaps, Class A Midwest League (18 Games, 2-2 W/L, 4.83 ERA, 31.2 IP, 35K)
*Steven Linkous, UNCW, OF, Colorado Rockies, Boise Hawks (2 Games, 2-for-9)
*Jared Gessell, UNCW, RHP, Colorado Rockies, Boise Hawks (1 Game, 1IP, 1H, 2K)
*Markel Jones, Brunswick Community College, OF, Baltimore Orioles,
*Gavin Stupienski, UNCW, C/DH, Arizona Diamondbacks
God’s got it all under control: Kelly & I discovered that our beautiful 8-year old refrigerator died yesterday. Originally paid something like $1800 for it. Freon leak. It can be patched but nobody can tell how long it will be before it goes for good.
Decided to check prices on a new one of what we had – a Whirlpool. Opened my email and saw one from Home Depot advertising an appliance sale. Just bought a new one, exactly like the current one (that we love), for $998 + tax + removing old appliance. Free delivery, free installation. This is me smiling and thanking God for having my six. 😀
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CL, that was a bit of good news/bad news as far as the refrigerator goes. Odd to have a Freon leak. My experience with refrigerators is they either run forever or the die a quick death.
I have discovered one of the fastest ways to kill one is to hook it up to a cheap generator. The electronics is very persnickety (blog first?) when it comes to 60 cycles.
Impressive list of players playing pro ball from the Wilmington area.
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My original Whirlpool last for nearly 30 years. Only one repair during all that time and it was a minor one. They just don’t make ’em like they used to! As soon as Jeff added a little freon, the coils chilled right up and the air in it began to chill. But, without a full charge and the “kit” that would provide the bandaid, It wouldn’t run long and run the risk of burning up the motor. Last night, Kelly & I flipped the circuit breaker to kill power to it, afraid of a fire starting during the night. (Been there, done that back in April 1979. Have no desire to repeat it!) I told Kelly that this may have caught us by surprise but God has always known and He had made arrangements to take care of us. Peace that passes all understanding!
The local kids: I noticed this one picked up by the Braves.
*Evan Phillips, UNCW, RHP, Atlanta Braves, Carolina Mudcats, Class A Advanced Carolina League (20 Games, 2-1 W/L, 0.99 ERA, 27.1IP, 3ER, 19 K) That line ain’t too shabby!
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Morning folks… Thunder storm woke me up this AM. God’s alarm clock…. Was getting ready to head to the camper today, oh well, will get there before tonight’s first pitch. Still, having a tough time getting fully awake.
On yesterday’s game. It was not a bad game, just could not seem to generate any offense. No use whining about it, Won;t be the last shut out we suffer from this season.
VOX, you were right, Gant did not pitch poorly, just one bad inning but often, that is all it takes. Their bloops fell in, ours didn’t…
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On yesterday’s game. It was not a bad game, just could not seem to generate any offense.
Well pitched on their side. Not bad on our side either, but not good enough when you score 0 runs. It was a nice debut for Tyrell. I’m sure he would have preferred it in a winning effort.
Good news on Thor. No structural damage. Kinda like Folty. Also, Cespedes is out for a few days with a bad wrist. Hate it for him, but glad he won’t face us in this series. The effects can linger, too. Right Freddie?
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This will happen. It’s part of the plan.
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Adonis is back.
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Injury updates, courtesy of DOB & McAlpin:
Folty will throw 5 innings in a rehab appearance this Saturday with Gwinnett. Likely 75 pitches, increasing to 90 next start.
Gordon Beckham (hamstring) progressing well, expected to begin rehab assignment within a few days.
Mallex, wearing cast, in good spirits in the Braves clubhouse today. “I can’t be sad. These things happen, this is what you sign up for.”
More Mallex: “It’ll heal. The rest of my body is fine. I’m in great spirits right now. No sad train for me at all. I’m still happy to be here, happy to be around. There’s way worse places I could be so I’m not sad at all.”
I love that kid…
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Hmmm… what do you do when Beckham is ready to return? Can’t drop Jace down, he’s playing too well. Same for d’Arnaud. Can we get something for Aybar before then? Please?
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Afternoon all, looking forward to tonight’s contest. I’m hoping Matt wisler brings his A game. The thing about rookies is their pitching performances can be real spotty. Matt has been giving a good performance 2 out of 3 appearances now. Of course, if the Braves go into a scoring slump again, it makes little difference on how good the pitching is.
As far as Bud Norris is concerned, it is no surprise he is drawing intrest from other clubs. I expect Coppy will try to extract a pound of flesh for his services. He can help a contender and he comes with a very cheap (as far as pitcher’s go) salray. Should be some really decent prospects coming back.
Look for Jim Johnson to be on the block too.
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I hate to wish ill will upon anyone but it would not break my heart for Harvey to have a poor game tonight. He can get well when he faces the gNats.
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http://portcitydaily.com/2016/06/22/sports-158075/
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Well, I mentioned yesterday that Adonis was back… and he’s back. And aren’t we glad he is?
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Love the “Little Thor”, CL. It’s hard to be a fan of a guy on your rival’s team, but it’s very hard not to like Thor. Great talent, and seems to be a decent fella too. And who can’t like a guy whose name is Syndergaard and whose nickname is Thor? Yeah, I know he’s a Mutt, but that’s just cool.
I suppose Matt Wisler looks a little like Peter Parker, but that’s kind of a reach.
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Morning all, wasn’t that a fun game last night? Even with the bad call at home on Bonifacio did not ruin it. Not only was the Mutts catcher blocking the plate (without the ball), he applied the tag high. Of course the home plate umpire continually missed balls and strike calls all game long. Must have been the heat affecting his vision… but I digress…
The Garcia homerun was a thing of beauty. Matt Wisler was a bit shaky early as far as consistently finding the strike zone but he is a young pitcher and I think he was amped up.
Jim Johnson looks ready for any team in need of a reliable closer. Viscano makes me nervous. I would like a tab bit less drama in the ninth inning.
So, Friday night fireworks and it’s Aaron Blair vs Steven Matz. I think Aaron is due for a really good game. All of the Atlanta pitchers have to be thinking that if they can just keep it close, the Braves have a chance to put up a W.
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Wanna know why the Braves are suddenly competitive again? Well, how about this…
Since returning from AAA, Jace Peterson is slashing .341/.429/.463.
Since returning from the DL, Erick Aybar is slashing 364/.447/.515.
In his last 10 games, Adonis Garcia is slashing .389/.400/.667.
That’ll help.
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Jim Johnson looks ready for any team in need of a reliable closer. Viscano makes me nervous.
I get the feeling that Viz is heading out of town. From what I’m reading, Coppy’s phone is red hot with calls about him. And I think the team is leaning toward keeping Julio, so Viz is this year’s big trading card. Jim Johnson just might have to stick around to be our closer.
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Check the link…
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Forget the link… all Bowden says is simply:
Red Sox have inquired about both Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino from the Atlanta Braves. However, there is no traction to a trade at this time. However, these two teams really do match up well for a potential blockbuster type deal at the trade deadline.
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Steve Adams, MLBTR:
The two sides do make a fairly logical match in terms of a trade. Boston has a high volume of top-tier prospects, many of whom are effectively blocked at the Major League level. That’s not the case for Benintendi (left field for the Sox has been a season-long problem), which one would imagine makes it even more difficult for the Red Sox to part with him. But, the Braves are said to want MLB-ready talent in any trade that would send Teheran away, and that’s presumably an even greater point of emphasis in a package that would see Atlanta part with both Teheran and Vizcaino. Benitendi has already spent five weeks at the Double-A level and has recently begun hitting quite well there after some early struggles. It’s not inconceivable that he could be ready to contribute in 2016, and 2017 certainly seems like a realistic expectation.
I don’t necessarily want to see the team send Julio away, but I’ll do jumping jacks if we can get Benitendi back. He’s a hoss, and if he’s injected into this team along with Dansby and Ozzie, the dynamics flip off the chart.
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Since returning from AAA, Jace Peterson is slashing .341/.429/.463.
What’s so odd to me is he was hitting, what, .245 or so at AAA?
Discouraged there, but so happy to be back at the ML level? A hitting tip from someone?
Just hope he keeps it up!
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That would be great, but the Red Sox, like the Cubs HATE to trade away hitters….we shall see…
A team that would really make sense to trade with? the Pirates. They are really scuffling now, and would love to get a cheap longterm pitching solution…
They have 2 excellent outfield prospects that clearly they can’t bring up…
Lets see if this copies and pastes well or not…
Josh Bell #3 prospect for the Pirates, 23 Y.O….
Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 50 | Run: 45 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 55
The Pirates gave Bell $5 million to sign out of the second round of the 2011 Draft, believing his switch-hitting bat would be a future middle-of-the-order run producer. He took large strides towards reaching that potential, homering in the Futures Game and reaching Triple-A, all while trying to learn how to play first base.
Bell has the chance to be a plus hitter, both in terms of average and power. For most of his career, he’s focused on honing his approach and hitting for average. The Bucs challenged Bell to look for more pitches to drive and he committed to it, upping his extra-base hit ability over the course of the 2015 season. That happened even while he was trying to learn a new defensive position. It wasn’t always pretty at first and Bell needs more reps to be ready for Pittsburgh, but his overall athleticism and his work ethic have the Pirates confident he’ll get there.
With Pedro Alvarez no longer with the Bucs, there is a hole at first base. Bell should step in after some more upper-level at-bats and eventually become switch-hitting protection for Andrew McCutchen in Pittsburgh.
2016
INT
Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
IND 71 268 41 86 17 4 11 47 36 50 1 .321 .408 .537 .945
Minors 71 268 41 86 17 4 11 47 36 50 1 .321 .408 .537 .945
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a bit too young?
#2 prospect Austin Meadows | Rank: 2
Team: Indianapolis Indians (AAA) ETA: 2017 Position: OF Age: 21 DOB: 05/03/1995 Bats: L Throws: L Height: 6′ 3″ Weight: 200 lb.
Drafted: 2013, 1st (9) – PIT
VIDEO Other Lists: Top 100 Prospects (#16), Top 10 OF Prospects (#2)
Scouting grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 55 | Run: 60 | Arm: 40 | Field: 60 | Overall: 55
One of two high school hitters taken in the first round by the Pirates in 2013, Meadows took a huge step forward in ’15. The key was staying healthy for an entire year, which enabled him to hit his way up to Double-A and participate in the Arizona Fall League.
Especially considering last year was really his first full season, Meadows has a very advanced approach at the plate, particularly with plate discipline. He has a smooth left-handed swing geared mostly to hit. Meadows is still figuring himself out as a hitter, and the expectation is that the power many have projected will come from his big, strong frame as he puts that puzzle together. He made strides in center field and could be an above-average defender there. Even though Meadows doesn’t have the strongest arm, it’s accurate and plays well. He should get time in the outfield corners as well. Meadows runs well and will cover plenty of ground from any outfield spot.
Because of the stacked outfield in Pittsburgh, there’s no rush for Meadows. Given how much more polished he is than people initially thought, a year of upper-level at-bats should have him knocking on the door.
2016
EAS
INT
Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K SB AVG OBP SLG OPS
ALT 45 167 33 52 16 8 6 23 16 32 9 .311 .365 .611 .976
IND 6 28 3 4 0 1 1 5 1 4 2 .143 .172 .321 .494
Minors 51 195 36 56 16 9 7 28 17 36 11 .287 .339
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Nothing to write home about… just a depth move. Lost his spot on the Reds due to numbers; elected FA over minors assignment. The guy can play just about anywhere on the field, including behind the dish. He wasn’t hitting very much this season, but he’s got 1,149 plate appearances in the majors over 6 seasons with COL, ARI and CIN where he owns a .272/.310/.365 career slash line.
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Gotta say, it’s kind of an odd signing to me. I mean, the big league team isn’t brimming with All-Stars, but Pacheco isn’t going to take playing time away from anyone currently on the roster, nor Gordon Beckham when he returns.
It’s pure speculation, but maybe they wanted more catching depth at AAA. Anthony Recker has been a “wrecker” of late, crushing the ball in Gwinnett. In the month of June, he’s slashing .293/.379/.586 w/ 5 HR’s. Could he be in line for a callup?
Nah… I doubt it. AJP isn’t going anywhere. He already has one cleat in retirement, and has more value to the Braves and their young pitchers than he’d have anywhere else. And TFlow appears to have cemented himself as the Braves primary catcher for the foreseeable future, or until they can swing a deal for a better one.
Yeah… I can’t peg this one.
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Cheap insurance VOX.
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V, who knows? AJ is 39 with a .238 OBP…I think you are right they wouldn’t release him….He might want to quit….but if he had a brief spurt of hitting some…it would only be fair to trade him late in the year to a team in the playoff hunt….
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I would not given you a plug nickle for the Braves chances last night after being down 8-0 in the fourth. After scoring 6 runs in the 5th I thought, “well, this would be a miracle comeback if their ever was one.
Okay, it was still a loss but it was a moral victory if there ever was one. Just too deep a hole to get out of. To me, it is a big difference in losing 8-0 vs 8-6.
We’ll get them today.
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Edinson Vólquez: Kansas City Royals Pitcher Records Worst MLB Start in More Than a Century
Vólquez became the first starting pitcher in more than 103 seasons to allow 12 runs in just one inning of work, according to baseball-reference.com. The Houston Astros won the game, 13-4.
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Tough loss for the Braves last night, Julio pitched a gem only to have Kelly Johnson spoil things with a solo shot off of Alvarez. Heck of a ball game though. Would really like to be on the winning side of some of those for a change.
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Yipee… Bud Norris is adding value everytime he takes the mound. I expect a really good return on the Braves investment as far as he goes.
Adonis had a really nice game today too. I think his little trip to the netherworld of Gwinnett lite a fire under his butt. I also thing he realized he did not like playing left field.
Looks like another hot team is coming to Turner Field. Cleveland is on fire right now. Figures, right?
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Native Americans vs. Native Americans tonight. John Gant on the mound.
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Something to pay close attention to:
The Braves have DFA’d Alexi Ogando and called up flamethrower Mauricio Cabrera from AA Mississippi.
Why straight from AA? Well, he’s consistently around 100 mph and recently hit 103 on the old radar gun, that’s why. The M-Braves closer has a 3.21 ERA in 33.2 IP.
Why pay close attention? He is a closer. He has closer stuff. I view this either as a prelude to a Viz trade, or as a showcase prior to including Cabrera himself in a trade.
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I am not sure if the Braves just wanted to send Alexi Ogando down to Triple A or just release him outright. I know he will have to pass through waivers to go to the minors because he is a vet. The Braves have given him lots of chances to show he is back to full capacity but his control is still off. Coming back from injuries will do that. First it velocity, then control. Just like a rookie out of high school. For sure, Alexi hasn’t really been fooling anyone except maybe himself.
I will be watching to see if his fastball has life on it. Speed isn’t everything. You can get minor league hitters out on velocity alone but major league hitters can hit anything straight and flat. Maybe Paul Byrd can show him his cutter grip? Now 98 that moves? That is big league stuff…
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He being Mauricio Cabrera, I forget ya’ll cannot read my mind… Well maybe CL but the rest of you guys, no so much. Heck, some days I cannot read my own mind….
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To be honest, trading Viz and keeping Jim Johnson would not break my heart. Viz scares me a little bit coming out of the pen. To many balls to my liking.
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All this talk of trading Tehran, you folks realize he is likely to be the grizzled old vet of the Braves pitching staff next season at the ripe old age of 26.
I believe it would take a Texeirian type haul to pry him away from the Braves at this point. He may not have the knock your socks off stats in the win column but he shines every where else. I’m pretty sure he will be the Braves representative for the All-star game this year. Of course Terry Collins might opt for Freddie Freeman too given as how he has owned the Mets.
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Related to the above, Jace Peterson, Chase D’Aarnaud and Brandon Snyder have been calling major league GMs to let them know Erick Aybar will be available shortly….
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I am not sure if the Braves just wanted to send Alexi Ogando down to Triple A or just release him outright.
Hope the door didn’t hit him on the way out. I’m sure the Braves hoped he’d show enough consistency that some team would have trade interest, but that’s not happening. And he’s not helping the cause, so… see ya.
I will be watching to see if [Cabrera’s] fastball has life on it.
Baseball America says: “His fastball exploded at the plate. Hitters had trouble not only catching up to his fastball but also squaring it up.”
But… he does have some command issues, To go with 35 K’s in 33.2 IP, he also has issued 22 BB’s.
To go with the uber-fastball, he throws a changeup (92 mph… think about that…) and a low 90’s sharp breaking ball. But the FB is the bread & butter, obviously.
To be honest, trading Viz and keeping Jim Johnson would not break my heart.
Agree. Trade Viz, keep JJ as a mentor to Mauricio for 2016, and move forward toward 2017.
All this talk of trading Tehran…
The more Coppy denies it, the more I think a big deal could be brewing with the Bosox. It might include Viz, too. Think blockbuster. More than one national writer has hinted at such.
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Gotta think Snyder is the odd man out in the numbers game. He does have minor league options left. The safest guy is d’Arnaud, as he’s been very productive since his promotion, and is out of options. Jace has been on fire since his return, so it’s unlikely he’d go anywhere either. Gotta be Snyder.
As for Erick Aybar, he’s been very good since his return from the DL. Every Braves fan should pray that he continues his hot streak into and through July to maximize his trade value as Aug. 1 approaches.
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Boston Red Sox players to become familiar with: Yoan Mancada, Blake Swihart, Jackie Bradley, Jr., Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers. All of those names are probably being uttered by Coppy each time Bosox GM Mike Hazen calls. And maybe in that order, too. In multiples.
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I’m still waiting for the organization to move Dansby up to AAA. Since his 3 week mini-slump prior to his AA All-Star appearance (he slashed .163/.250/.256 from May 23-June 18), he’s 8-for-17 w/ 1 HR and a 2B since.
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http://popularmilitary.com/baseball-stadium-built-fort-braggs-neglected-golf-course-host-first-ever-mlb-game/
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Indeed. More of the future sneaking into the present. I love it!
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Ugh. I hate to hear about a pitcher with an oblique injury. That could linger for weeks…
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VOX, Gant’s oblique injury is something that could last for a days, weeks or months. By the time the pull/strain heals, he will have to get back into pitching shape.
The Indians really scalped the Braves last night. Some of the best hitters no one has ever heard of swinging it last night.
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Yep. Vegas has them at the 2nd best odds to win it all this year. One of the best overall hitting teams I’ve seen.
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Another step in development.
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What that says above is this:
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A man among boys Vee.
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The Braves have DL’d John Gant (oblique) and recalled Casey Kelly, but he won’t be starting tomorrow in place of Aaron Blair as he just pitched Saturday. That will likely go to RHP Joel De La Cruz, who will come up from AAA and make a spot start. He would be on regular rest having pitched 8 innings Friday night.
I would expect Kelly to move into the long relief role, with Tyrell Jenkins making Gant’s next turn even though he’s not “stretched out”, as they say, having moved to Gwinnett’s bullpen a month ago in preparation to fill an ATL bullpen role. Still, he’d be on regular rest since he came in to pitch 4 innings (54 pitches) after Gant left. He should be able to go 5 or so in a regular start. Kelly could piggyback it in long relief if necessary.
Not sure who will start Blair’s next turn. The team should be getting Folty back in another week or so, but not soon enough to slip into that slot. I suppose De La Cruz could hang out long enough to make one more start with Folty taking over on the next go ’round.
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It’s a shame that Manny Banuelos has struggled since returning to game action at AAA. This team sure could use a lefty in the rotation.
You know… I say that, but the rotation really has been pretty good.
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Then again, it’s currently raining at The Ted. Could go on all night. If it gets rained out, Wisler will bump to tomorrow and De La Rosa would not have to be called up.
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So, if there is a rain out, will they play a twin bill tomorrow? I doubt it would make a lot of difference to the Braves but I’m sure the Tribe would like to pad their stats.
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Well, looks like Matt Wisler will toe the rubber for the Braves tonight. Looks like the rain cleared out. Let’s hope he can get thru the first inning.
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Tribal warfare?
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Well, I need to make a correction. Folty will make his next rehab start on Thursday, and with the Braves having an off day during the next rotation, he could slot into the opening left by Aaron Blair next time around, meaning De La Rosa will only have to make the one spot start tomorrow.
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Like I said, Vizciano scares me every time he comes in. A closer who can’t throw strikes should not be closing games. BAHHHHH!
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As predicted, Jose De La Rosa will make his MLB debut tonight. Matt Marksberry has been sent down to open the active roster spot.
But…
Julio has been bumped to Friday, and the reasons are twofold. #1, it opens up Thursday, which is the day that Folty was scheduled to make his second rehab start in Gwinnett. Now it looks like he’ll get the start in ATL. And #2, by moving one day forward on the schedule, Julio now will be on the correct rest to pitch in the ASG. Had he stayed on his current schedule, he would have pitched the last game before the All Star break. And the team understands that the All Star manager won’t pick a pitcher that has no chance of pitching because of schedule. Julio deserves the honor, and the team is doing the right thing to make it possible.
I would imagine that De La Rosa will be returned to AAA after tonight to open the spot for Folty.
As for the next open spot (John Gant’s) in the rotation, it now comes back around next Monday. Bumping Julio forward to Friday also bumps Bud Norris forward Saturday, with Wisler making his start on regular rest Sunday night for the ESPN game. I am guessing that either Tyrell Jenkins or Casey Kelly makes the Monday start and falls into the rotation for the time being.
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Speaking of Matt Wisler, he settled down after a rocky 1st inning last night and looked pretty decent after.
3 more things I took from last night’s game, and I’m leaving it alone and moving forward…
#1, MLB either needs to fix the replay system or scrap it. If the officials in NY can’t see on the video replays what every other baseball fan can see, and then make the correction as necessary, why even go through the motions? It has become a real joke. In an obvious attempt to not make a few umpires look bad, they are making them all collectively look bad.
#2, I did not like what I saw (or heard, as Jim Powell and Don Sutton painted a very clear picture) from the Braves defensively in the 9th inning last night. It’s one thing for a player to have a bad game – ahem, Erick Aybar – but it’s an entirely different thing to look complacent after misplaying a ball. It makes the whole team look bad. True enough, Viz couldn’t throw a strike in that inning. But they could have escaped if a certain infielder could catch the ball.
#3, Has someone put some Atomic Balm in Jace Peterson’s shorts? The dude is playing with a serious purpose right now.
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Maybe I should not have so quickly dismissed Jose De La Cruz. If he pitches well tonight in his ML debut, there is the possibility that he could get another start next Monday. That’s actually when this spot in the rotation (Gant’s) that is currently “open” rolls back around. A solid outing could give the team a good reason to let Jenkins and Kelly remain in the bullpen and go with the newcomer.
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One more thing then I must get to work (which has really picked up in the last couple of months).
I heard Coppy on local radio yesterday. I gotta say, he is one of the more open and candid GM’s I have ever heard. Good example: in an interview last week, he stated that he loves SD’s Wil Myers and has called their GM many times about the OF. That’s pretty candid.
Anyway, he stated very clearly that at this point in the season, they are focused squarely on 2017, and that the team will be less interested in keeping a veteran who is a FA after this season if they’re blocking a spot that a youngster could come up and occupy now.
That’s pretty straight to the point. It also points directly to Aybar, if you ask me. Kinda implicates Bud Norris and Gordon Beckham, too. It also shows why they went ahead and jettisoned Alexi Ogando in favor of Marksberry, Kelly, etc.
IMO, the exceptions are AJP and Frenchy. If they get a good enough offer for Frenchy, maybe they let him go. But I think they really like his presence in the clubhouse with the youngsters. And so so I. It has a greater value than just what is being displayed between the white lines.
Same with AJP. His value to the young pitchers is immeasurable. His roster spot is in danger only if the team were to acquire a young catcher in a trade. cough, Swihart, Norris, cough
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Some observations on last night’s game. Agree on the joke that instant replay has become. Tie goes to whomever is in first place is the mantra….
That kid Lindor AKA “Chocolate Drop” is pretty darn good.
Aybar suxs! Yes, he has made some plays but you are right, he goes thru the motions a lot of times. Reminds me of the year the Braves had Milky Cabrera in the outfield. His contempt for Atlanta was palpable.
We know Norris is gone, just a matter of who and when. The Braves won’t give him away.
Bobby Knight had a theory. He said when a player was not playing up to his potential, he would sit him on the bench until his brain got the message from his butt to get with the program. I think when a guy has been in the majors for a while and get sent back to the minors, he realizes it is up to him to get back to the majors and what he has to do to stay there.
Too bad that message was never really sent to Fancoure back in the day, he could have been a real fan favorite. It took a lot of years knocking around for him to realize you cannot simply get by with talent alone. Everyone in the bigs has talent, it is what they do with it that counts.
Yes, Wisler became a pitcher last night. He had some rough moments but he hung tough. I’m not sure what is going on with Vizciano but it is happening way too often. Over throwing, trying to be too fine, not trusting his stuff? Methinks he needs an attitude adjustment.
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My apologies to tonight’s Braves starter Joel De La Cruz for repeatedly calling him Jose. 😛
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And he should. He earned it. He looked pretty dang good tonight.
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We see all here…
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We should change our name to The Mount Olympus of Baseball. ‘Cause this is the real gurus of baseball hang out. (Y’all, of course!)
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On last night’s game. I see why so many major league managers have ulcers. The Braves offense is enough to drive one to drink. So frustrating….
So, two names we never heard of before this week do a nice job on the mound tonight. Joel De La Cruz and Mauricio Cabrera. De La Cruz looked like a seasoned vet against the best hitting team I have seen this year and Cabrera makes Vizciano very expendable. Whew!!! 103! Yeah, you can time it but don’t get hit by it…
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The Braves offense is enough to drive one to drink. So frustrating…
Well, yes… but…
I know the art of hat tipping is looked upon with derision at times, but Danny Salazar was on his game last night. And in the words of the hot hitting Jace Peterson, “He’s disgusting. I mean, 96 with movement, and a change-up and a hammer (curveball).” He’s the ace of the staff on a team that is on a 12 game winning streak and has swept 4 straight series against the White Sox, Rays, Tigers and Los Barves, the latter 2 being on the road.
Salazar walked none and struck out 8. He threw 70 of 98 pitches for strikes.
He’s 10-3, 2.22 ERA, .185 opp. AVG, has won 6 straight starts. In June, he went 5-0 with a 1.90 ERA and has struck out 35 in 33 IP. He is the definition of “locked in”.
The dude was flat out filthy.
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Personally, I think the Indians are the best looking team I’ve seen all year. Overall they’re 47-30. During this 12 game streak, they have outscored their opposition 76-25, while batting .311 w/ 22 HR’s. All while their starters’ ERA is 1.91.
That is a winning recipe.
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OK.. a couple of housecleaning items. Typical of the Braves, no official announcement has been made yet, but Bowman says Casey Kelly was cleaning out his locker after the game last night, so he’ll be the guy that goes down to make room for Folty on the active roster.
And speaking of Folty, Snit has said that he’ll be on about a 90 pitch limit tonight, same as he would have been on his rehab start.
So why skip the rehab start and accelerate the timeline? Well, as Joe Simpson said during last night’s broadcast, if he’s healthy enough to throw 90 pitches for Gwinnett, he’s healthy enough to throw 90 pitches for Atlanta. Hard to argue that logic, I suppose.
I look for Tyrell Jenkins to be ready to follow should Folty reach that 90 pitch mark early.
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I have seen the Rangers play a couple of games this season. They are pretty explosive but top to bottom I would have to say the Indians are better. They sure impressed me. They are scary good.
There is still a long way to go this season and we all know how the injury bug can bite a team but at this point, I don’t see anyone better. Not like the are padding their resumes with wins over weak sisters.
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Their only weakness might be their pen but that can be fixed. Leave Chisenhall and take Jim Johnson to Cleveland…:-)
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https://twitter.com/wagsk13wjs_e/status/748374566674792449
Unbelievable. Love you Wags!!!
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Wouldn’t it be nice to have a real power threat like Chisenhall in the lineup? I’ve said it 100 times, and I’ll say it again. One real big power threat batting 4th or 5th would transform it completely.
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Not exactly how I expected that to happen, but I’m glad they’re finally doing it. Not sure what has taken so long.
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One Braves fan has likened Dansby Swanson / Ozzie Albies to Alan Trammell / Lou Whitaker. I love that.
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On Ozzie going down instead of Dansby moving up. I think it’s Dansby’s recent slump at the plate which is triggering that move.
One more observation about the Indians and I’ll move on. Where did Lindor come from. The kid made some of the best plays I’ve seen since Simba left. Amazing… and he can hit….
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Dansby seems to have emerged from the pit of his slump, but his overall numbers at AA have suffered because of it for sure. Personally, I think he would do just as well vs. AAA pitchers as against AA pitchers, but I’m not a professional.
After giving it some thought this morning, I think it might be easier to make specific changes at AA than at AAA. I think they can tailor the infield and lineup easier in AA, thus making this specific project more workable for the organization as a whole at Pearl.
Plus, the AAA team is about to have a glut of IF anyway. When Beckham comes of the DL, somebody has to go back to Gwinnett from Atlanta. The TV talking heads have surmised that Chase d’Arnaud’s recent drop in playing time might be an indicator that he will be the odd man out. But d’Arnaud has no options left, and he’s been too good to just let go for nothing. Brandon Snyder seems like a no-brainer to me, But again, I’m not a professional. One person we know that won’t be optioned is Jace Peterson. That kid is hot as a July 4th firecracker.
But I’m deviating from my original thought…
Dropping Ozzie to AA with Dansby opens up the IF at Gwinnett for somebody, anyway.
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That’s amazing. I guess we all need to be reminded that Ozzie is only 19.
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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…
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Do y’all remember when Bob Walk was a Brave? I do.
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I don’t see the Braves trying to send down Chase d’Arnaud at this point. He is one of the few right handed bats the Braves currently have and I doubt he would clear waivers. He has not been getting a lot of playing time because Aybar is still being shopped. At this point, I think his [Aybar’s] trade value is pretty low. Too many other shortstops out their who are cheaper and actually demonstrate they want to play. Erick is simply playing out the string at this point. He has shown flashes of his former self but they are just that, flashes.
Perhaps Aybar feels he has enough money to retire to what ever Caribbean or South American country he chooses at this point. I can’t see anyone paying him more than major league minimum going forward.
I don’t think it should be any surprise that Folty is being reactivated, He has been in the Braves dugout for the past week. I think if de La Cruz repeats his performance next Monday night, he will have earn himself a spot on the roster for a while. You would think young pitchers trying to make it in the bigs would realize not to over think it too much. How many times have we seen hurlers try to go all Greg Maddux on hitters. Greg did not throw a lot of balls out of the zone. Still the best pitcher I have ever seen in my lifetime.
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Heyman: While rivals suspect the Atlanta Braves ultimately will trade excellent starter Julio Teheran, the Braves say no, that is not the case.
“We are not trading Teheran,” one Braves person says emphatically in the most definitive statement yet. And another one said the same.
*Yet pressed, word came that they are “99.9 percent” not trading Teheran. Which isn’t zero, you’ll notice (though it’s close). *
In other words, if you want Julio, you better come really, really big. Hear that Boston? Really, really big. Mancada and Benentendi big. I guarantee that if Boston offered both those guys for Julio and Viz, Coppy would fall all over himself drafting up the paperwork. I’d help him too.
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I’m really torn about trading Julio. I find myself leaning each way day to day. The way he has pitched this season, he has established himself as the team’s true “ace”. Wins aside, his other numbers seem to suggest the same. Then again, we saw this emerging in 2014, and he regressed in 2015. With pitchers, it’s so stinkin’ risky. There aren’t many Kershaws and Bumgarners, even though we keep trying to compare every team’s top starter to them to decide if he’s an “ace” or not. Kershaw, Bumgarner, Greinke… those guys transcend “ace”.
Anyway, Julio is our “ace”. He’s taken that mantle upon himself this season.
But one thought continues to rattle around in this fan’s brainpan… if you could get a major offensive piece (or 2) in a trade of Julio, wouldn’t it accelerate the rebuild exponentially?
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Folks, Lonnie Chisenhall has 5 whole home runs this year. 7 last year. He just really, really loves braves pitching 😉
Just think the Indiana lost Marlon Byrd cuz of PED’s and are without their best hitter Michael Brantley(hit over .300 in 2014, 2015). Wait until he gets back in the lineup….
Chase d’Arnaud has 6 hits in his last 40 AB’s for a .150 average. .229 over his last 96 AB’s (Didn’t know that) One reason he isn’t playing much right about now (funk soul brother-lame song reference, sorry about that)
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I don’t see the Braves trying to send down Chase d’Arnaud at this point. He is one of the few right handed bats the Braves currently have and I doubt he would clear waivers.
No way he’d clear waivers. I am a little mystified as to his disappearance from the field, though.
For my money, they can DFA Aybar and let d’Arnaud take over as the everyday SS. I know the mantra is to allow Aybar to gain some trade value, but he has none and will have none. He is what he is.
July is a big month for the organization. It starts with the Int’l signing day – a day for which this team has been waiting a long time; practice saying Kevin Maitan – and moves into the defining period of the rebuild… who stays and who goes from this current version? Who do the FOT’s see as future pieces, and who are just window dressing? What pitching prospects is Coppy willing to use as “currency”, and which are untouchable? How deep into the well are they willing to dip to acquire real major league hitting talent?
I think we’ll see the answers to all these questions bear out over the course of July. After the Aug. 1, 2016 trade deadline passes, our rebuild timeline will have become greatly clarified.
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Albies batted .248 with a .307 on-base percentage and .351 slugging percentage over 247 plate appearances with Gwinnett. The 19-year-old from Curacao committed 11 errors in 160 chances while playing shortstop at the Triple-A level, but after making the transition to second base on June 5, he committed five errors in 141 chances.
The Braves promoted Swanson from Class A Advanced Carolina to Mississippi on April 30 and simultaneously promoted Albies from Mississippi to Gwinnett. At the time, they wanted both to continue playing shortstop on a daily basis.
Swanson has batted .254 with a .335 on-base percentage and .401 slugging percentage in 221 plate appearances with Mississippi. He has committed six errors in 259 chances at the Double-A level.
Though Swanson has nine hits in his past 23 at-bats, he has batted just .211 with a .610 OPS over his past 27 games, dating back to May 23.
http://m.braves.mlb.com/news/article/187092234/ozzie-albies-assigned-to-double-a-mississippi
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If you still don’t understand why signing Kevin Maitan is such a big deal, Baseball America lays it out very clearly right here:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/international/kevin-maitan-venezuelas-next-great-prospect/#Rh6ODrwKXXpSDw5m.97
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Not surprised by this at all. And it also helps explain why the Dansby/Ozzie show is taking place at AA.
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Not surprised. When Kershaw was DL’d earlier today, I figured they’d go after somebody. Kinda thought they might look into Julio.
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First reported by Rosenthal, or his sources?
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As I suspected…
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… he says directly, not under the CYA of any perceived “sources”.
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Norris’ recent success can be directly attributed to him dropping his ineffective changeup in favor of a newly developed cutter. He should send Roger a big Thank You note on his way out to the West Coast.
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And I have no problem with the deal, but who starts Saturday now? Do we have anybody left that’s even a starter and over the age of consent?
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LHP Phillip Pfeiffer is 23 and had been pitching at A+ Rancho Cucamonga. A+ Carolina will be alot easier for him to say (and spell). He’s a reliever with a 3.33 ERA in 24.1 IP. LA took him in the 3rd round last year out of Vanderbilt. Maybe he gets assigned to AA where he can hang out with former teammate Dansby Swanson.
RHP Caleb Dirks is also 23 and was at AA Tulsa. He’s also a reliever, with a 1.44 ERA in 31.1 IP. He has 6 saves. He was originally drafted by the Braves in 2014 in the 14th round out of California Baptist University. (I didn’t know there were any Baptists in Cali.)
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The Braves also gave up OF Dion Toscano in the deal. He was a non-prospect playing at AA. Nothing to see here.
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And there is also the proverbial Player To Be Named Later going their way, as well as cash considerations.
Dirks was sent to LAD last year for some additional Int’l bonus slot money. He appears to be the guy the Braves wanted back in this deal. He was their #30 prospect. MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo write: Dirks has a fastball with good sink that sits in the low 90s and tops out around 94 mph as well as a slider in the low 80s that grades out as an average pitch. The Dodgers “love” [his] competitive streak and ability to handle high leverage situations.
To go along with his outstanding 1.44 ERA, he boasts a stellar 35-to-7 K/BB ratio.
Similarly, Pfeifer touts a 42-to-18 K/BB ratio himself.
Looks like Coppy continues to deepen the Braves pitching capital with quality arms. We can only hope this is a prelude to cashing in some of that capital to acquire a major league bat or 3.
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In all seriousness, I can’t begin to speculate who might toe the rubber for the Atlanta team on Saturday. Journeyman Rob Wooten starts for AAA Gwinnett tonight; he’s more of a depth piece than a candidate for promotion. Aaron Blair started (and lost) yesterday. Recently promoted Chris Ellis started and went 4.2 innings on Tuesday. He hasn’t exactly lit up AAA since moving up earlier this month. Manny Banuelos started on Monday and would be on regular rest to start on Saturday. He’s 0-2 with a 5.48 ERA at AAA Gwinnett since coming back from the long layoff with elbow soreness. He might have to be the guy. And as bad as I’d like our rotation to have at least one lefty, I don’t want to rush a guy up who isn’t ready. (I think Aaron Blair would agree with me on that one.)
I suppose there is always the chance they could sign a guy or troll the DFA pile.
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How interseting is this? As soon as we note the glaring absence of Chase d’Arnaud from the Braves’ recent lineups, he shows up tonight. But where is he? 2B? 3B? SS? Nope.
2nite’s lineup vs. The Fish:
1- Jace, 2B
2- Chase, CF
3- Free, 1B
4- Adonis, 3B
5- Markakis, RF
6- French Fry, LF
7- TFlow, C
8- Aybarf, SS
9- Folty, RHP
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Now… back to the Omar Infante signing…
It’s really not that big a deal. Literally. He was not very good for KC this year prior to being released. Bowman says the signing came about after Ozzie was reassigned to AA, but I can’t help but think that this was part of the overall thinking process. It just makes sense.
And the fact that the team filled the AAA spot leads me to believe that when Beckham is activated, the Braves will DFA someone to open the roster spot. We can only pray that it’s Aybar, but Snyder would still seem to be the odd man out even though he has shown some moderate production since coming up.
I think the Braves are holding out hope that somebody will give them something for Aybarf before Aug. 1, but I don’t see it happening. Every baseball executive and their brothers know that the team needs to send him packing by the end of the month. Nobody is going to give us anything.
There is one other possibility we have not discussed. The team could simply hope that Beckham comes back and hits as well as he was hitting before being injured. Then they can send him away in his own deal. Omar would then become the team’s utility man and RH bat off the bench. Keep those fingers crossed, kids.
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To be honest, I thought Atlanta was the one in the position of strength on this one, I’m surprised they also included cash. The Dodgers needed pitching but so do the Braves, oh well, more opportunities for the youngsters to audition I suppose. Perhaps they will start Tyrell or just pluck another guy off the minor league roster to pitch one game. Beginning to look more and more like spring training again.
I wish Bud Norris well, he earned his stripes… I look for him to make more than the $3.5MM he signed for this year if he continues to pitch like he has for the past month.
I had a sneaky feeling Omar might find his way home.
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Hey, Chase just showing value and Enders needed a night off, he has been run ragged by the Indians the past three night.
Must be a lefty starting tonight for Miami.
Anyone see where there was a big drug bust in Miami? They found $20MM stuffed in 5 gallon buckets in a hidden room. Drugs found? steroids…. I wonder if Aroid gave up his sources?
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To be honest, I thought Atlanta was the one in the position of strength on this one, I’m surprised they also included cash.
Well, they are turning only about a month of good pitching into 2 strong prospects. Remember, prior to Bud being forced back into the rotation, he was almost a DFA candidate himself.
I think the team came out well. The prospects they picked up weren’t middling hopefuls. They’re both decent pitchers that could each be wearing the script “A” one day. In fact, Dirks could see his way into the ATL bullpen as early as next year.
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$20M cash and steroids in Miami. I wonder if Marlins’ hitting coach Barry Bonds’ spider sense is tingling..?
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Saving $4M on a bust player is like Christmas in June. That’s the impetus for the PTBNL and the cash considerations.
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Funny Twitter exchange:
@DOBrienAJC Too bad they couldn’t convince LA to take Olivera back
@HomerBedloe Dodgers have money to throw at any problem, but they’re not stupid.
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With today’s trade of Bud Norris, I wonder if Casey Kelly unpacked his stuff? No announcement has been made yet, but he seems likely to now remain as a long reliever. Both Bowman and DOB have a sense that Tyrell Jenkins will get the Saturday start, which will make him unavailable for long relief obviously. Glad that the official activation of Folty and demotion of Kelly had not yet occurred.
I’m good with Tyrell getting the start and stretching back out to stay in the rotation. That’s his long term profile anyway.
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I love how candid and honest Coppy can be. Makes for great amusement but still great interest.
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well….Albies in 222 AB’s was hitting .248 with a wonderful .309 OBP…so…it makes sense to send him back down to AA where he fared much better (.369 BA in 84 ABs) not yet ready to set the world on fire. Swanson, in 187 AB’s is hitting .254 with a .335 OBP in AA ,so…no Coppy, you are not going to call them up at any point…
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and while I am agripin’ ….Tyrell Jenkins 6 3 2.91 at AAA. the ONLY starter worth a darn…why did they think he should go to the bullpen?
Lucas Sims 2 6 7.56. Basically he has sucked at AAA, and you couldn’t trade at this point (Had no idea he was having such a bad year!)
As V has mentioned several times, Manny Banuelos 0 2 5.48 has been the opposite of good…
We have no idea how Folty will do, and is really being rushed to the bigs again…so you give away another starter when you are already short arms, to save a few million and get a few more prospect arms (no one has any hitters to give up on?) Odd….especially since there is no one ready at AAA…and guessing AA guys are not ready either….
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ok, I feel better 😛
V, you are right, Kevin Maitan looks like a big 24 Y.O.!!!!! Now, lets get he and his family out of Venezuela , STAT! Venezuela is in near total collapse, no place for a rich prospect to stay….
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Not odd at all. Selling high on a guy who has been way more bad than good for the last 2 years. Not making a deal would be the odd thing.
Don’t fall into the trap so many shallow followers are in now of just taking a quick postage stamp glance of today’s activities. This is all part of a greater plan.
Also, don’t forget Ozzie is only 19. And Dansby has fewer than 360 professional AB’s. Patience is necessary.
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@HomerBedloe Dodgers have money to throw at any problem, but they’re not stupid.
Now that’s funny, I don’t care who you are… 🙂
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Folty looks good tonight.
Jace is feeling it isn’t he?
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the ONLY starter worth a darn…why did they think he should go to the bullpen?
Because they wanted to bring him on up, and at the time they moved him to the pen there were no rotation spots available. Nobody could foresee that WillyP, Folty and John Gant would all become injured afterward.
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So, a nearsighted ump tonight and Adonis has the dropsies.. Bodes ill. At least the Braves outs have been hard outs.
Oh well…. The Bour Identity strikes. Wouda coulda shoulda…
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By the way, congratulations to Coastal Carolina on winning the College Worlds Series..
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Because they wanted to bring him on up, and at the time they moved him to the pen there were no rotation spots available. Nobody could foresee that WillyP, Folty and John Gant would all become injured afterward.
But, anyone should be able to see WillyP and John Gant would not be long term answers to the rotation….
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Agree on WillyP, but he’s a guy they were counting on to fill a spot until the young’uns are ready. Gant has been good and has potential. Jenkins is not in the bullpen long term. Was never intended to be. In fact, it was specifically said they wanted to get him up here in any role possible. Really glad he was there tonight.
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Could say the same about Cabrera. I am of the opinion that Anrody is pitching himself out of a job as the closer for this team. I am of the belief that he will be assigned to a less stressful slot in the late innings to see if he can get himself together. Number one job of a late innings guy is to throw strikes.
I am unsure what Tyler Flowers was thinking when he got himself throw out of a game with two outs in the ninth arguing balls and strikes. Was it to give Cabrera time to warm up perhaps? Giving up a double to the opposite field in the top of the ninth is not a sin, doing so after walking the bases jammed is.
Technology has over taken the game methinks. Being at the whim of an umpire who is tired and maybe has a bit of a chip on his shoulder should not be a part of the game when it is no longer necessary.
I’m pretty sure Tyler had to contribute to the swear jar tonight. We saw it with Francoeur last night and Flowers tonight. These games may not mean a lot as far as how the season will go but it means something to them. They are tired of playing 9 against 13 every night. I’m glad to see some passion and emotion from this team, it means they care and I suspect there are some youngins getting a lesson on what it means to have some pride in your game and your team.
They Braves won’t catch Washington but they can be a thorn in the side of every team they play for the rest of the season.
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It was nice to go out with the braves down 3-0 and come home to see a 6-3 lead. and they better not send Snyder down! Aybar was 2 for 4 only because the pitcher didn’t let the ss get the “line drive” back up the middle…
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I am unsure what Tyler Flowers was thinking when he got himself throw out of a game with two outs in the ninth arguing balls and strikes.
He was tired of Larry Vanover portraying Stevie Wonder behind the plate. The pitch that broke the camel’s back was clearly a strike, and should have ended the game for everybody else also. Instead, it ended it for only TFlow. But he gained alot of respect from his pitchers, his teammates, and many Braves fans in the process.
Mauricio Cabrera is filthy, folks. Just plain filthy. And it’s a clear signal that Arodyz Vizcaino is on the block.
Now… we can go back to the “who pitches Saturday?” game. Tyrell can’t do it now. He sure looked good last night though, didn’t he? He would have looked even better if Larry Vanover had brought his glasses to work.
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TFlow had enough:
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Naturally, the picture that was referenced is not the picture that embedded. I won’t try that trick again…
😦
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Ber, this may help soothe your unease…
Dansby was 4-for-5 with a triple and an RBI last night, and Ozzie was 3-for-5 with a run scored.
The process continues.
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http://media.gettyimages.com/photos/tyler-flowers-of-the-atlanta-braves-argues-with-homeplate-umpire-picture-id544023806
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Well, it would have been nice had it embedded, but at least you get to see it…
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It’s quite refreshing to me to see the fire and emotion in this team. Let’s face it… nobody is more aware of how dismal 2016 is for this team than the team itself. It’d be pretty easy to just mail it in, especially in a game that you have mostly wrapped up. As bad as I hate to see guys going through the motions, I equally love to see guys laying it all down all the way to the 27th out.
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True that Vee, The Braves will get beat more than their fair share but you got to love it they are not just mailing it in. To me, it’s my biggest turn-off… The Braves can go back to button down days of the mid nineties after they have won a few World Championships but right now it is all coming down to “grit”.
I think sometimes you just have to worry about the game in front of you and worry about tomorrow later. Chen was pushed back a day so he could face all the lefty’s in the Braves line up last night. Who knew it would rain? It is the “dark cloud” that has hung over the Braves most of the season. It can’t get to the Marlins in their home park but they are fair game on the road…
The Braves have had the Marlin’s number this season other than Fernandez.
The gNats have broken out of their funk and are now in the process of running away from the rest of the division. They haven’t locked anything up as yet but they are not playing the NL West teams now so they can put lots of daylight between themselves and the rest of the NL East. The Marlins and Mutts are playing for a wildcard berth at this point.
One more snide observation, since Washington’s Gio Gonzalez’s dad stopped taking steroids, Gio has not been nearly the pitcher he was…. Just saying…
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Will work on a new lead to coincide with the new month. Watch this space…. 🙂
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As use guys know, I have not been the biggest fan of Julio T , just cuz he “looks” hittable…but, there is no doubting his results and he really has stepped it up this year…so, how in the wide, wide world of sports is he rated below Jake Ordoizzi, a guy I never have even heard of before?
Goofy list!
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/07/top-20-trade-candidates.html#comments
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how in the wide, wide world of sports is [Teheran] rated below Jake Ordoizzi, a guy I never have even heard of before?
Jake Odorizzi has started 17 games for the Rays and has a nice 3.91 ERA and is averaging 8.6 K’s per 9 IP to only 3 BB’s per 9 IP.
Here’s the greatest value though… he’s only 26, and still a year away from his first Arb, thus controllable through 2019. And he’s dirt cheap this year at only $520,700.
So while not as “good” a starting pitcher as Julio, he’s still a better value, especially for a cash starved team. He’ll bring back a nice return for the Rays, a team that has stayed relevant in a small market by developing and trading young pitchers… using them as “currency”, just like the Braves are now emulating.
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Per all the beat writers, Gordon Beckham is to play 9 innings at A+ Carolina tonight, play somewhere tomorrow, and possibly be activated to ATL on Monday.
I’m sure the Braves want him back ASAP to showcase him for a possible July deal.
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Watching the Blue Jays and Indians have at it. Going to the bottom of the 16th, tied 1-1. Gritty performance by both bullpens against teams that are known for raking it.
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V, I guess I am just getting old…I just can’t buy into a guy being a better pic for a team just cuz that 4th starter is cheaper than a potential #1 or #2 who, really is dirt cheap compared to a Jon Lester, David Price is a better deal(isn’t he younger by a year too?)…
Apparently, Josh Reddick, he of a career .255 BA, .316 OBP (and 44 Homers over the previous 3 seasons) is more valuable as a trade “piece”
Zack Cozart, (30, career .247 .288 hitter) is just what a playoff team needs…
Ok, how about it this way…only teams in the playoff hunt are going to trade for one of these guys, correct? Are the statheads at mlbtr thinking hitters>starting pitchers? Cuz, who would the Red Sox, Rangers, Astros , Dodgers, Etc going to want? Reddick? Or Teheran? Cozart, or Teheran?
I am just old I guess…..
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NEW LEAD IS UP!!! Thanks, Gil!
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