OK, Doper Bravesfans, Who Stays and Who Goes?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Yup, another year of crying in our beer and telling tales of that glorious autumn of 1995. This shit is gettin’ real old, but I’m not going to trade in my tomahawk. I stayed with them when they sucked and I’ll be there through thick and thin.

What’s it gonna take fellow Tomahawkers? AOL is not going to open the purse strings like the old Turner days and I don’t think Giambi is going to bolt the A’s now that they’re real contenders and gave the Yankees a bit of a scare in the ALDS.

Anyway, IMHO, this is who should stay and who should go.

STAY- Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, the Jones Brothers, Jordan, Giles, Furcal, DeRosa and most of their newbies. Give 'em a chance, we’re not doing so hot with the retreads.

GO- Speaking of retreads…Surhoff, Franco, Rettenmund (we hired as a hitting coach, thanks Merv :rolleyes: , Sanchez, Brogna (what the f*** did you do this season??)
(sniff) gimme another beer…anyone else got any suggestions? Do we go with big money players or sacrifice a season and build on the newbies?

2

IANABF…But it appears to me the pitching staff failed them miserably. How long have Glavine and crew been there anyway? 10 yrs? 12? At least Smoltz had the common sense to move to the pen. I think its time to get some new blood in the rotation.

3

You left off Millwood and Marquis, what an arm he has and he’s just a baby too! Jason, I mean, NOT Millwood.

**

It is going to take a major turn over in our team, if for no other reason, than how they are aging. I still think Burkett was a fluke, and it was wearing off.

Do you live in Atlanta by in chance, Bluepony? In tonight’s Journal, they had the ‘Lowdown’ on who should and shouldn’t go, plus their ages. Those already signed through 2002: Surhoff, Dave Martinez, Brian Jordan {GOODY!! He’s through 2003}, Ligtenberg, Remlinger, Maddux, and Glavine. The Journal lists DeRosa, Helms, Furcal, Marquis, Perez, Giles, and someone named ‘Lombard’ who I don’t think I’ve ever even seen before as “under contract”.

Smoltz, Burkett, Millwood, Karsay, Reed, Seanez, Cabrera [NO!!!], McGlinchy{who??}, Lopez, Perez, Sanchez [BYE!], Franco, Lockhart, Abbott, Caminiti, and Gilkey as eligible for free agency. Keep Karsay, ditch Reed, he’s already 35.

Agreed on Merv, the only thing he seemed to teach was the Druie syndome to Sanchez, reach in the dirt if you have to boys!!

4

Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz stay. Millwood gets another half-season of tutelage with a good pitching coach, then I think you have to give up on him. Something just ain’t right with the kid.

Absolutely keep Marquis; he will be better than Glavine or Smoltz, and possibly Maddux. With those three to teach, I could win 20 games a year.

Keep Giles, both Joneses, and Furcal. Giles can probably play first if you give him lots of reps.

Surhoff, much though I love him as a good guy, is taking the place of someone else who could do better, like, say, a plastic bag. Montreal could probably use some money to lure a few prospects their way for a year, and we could get Vladdy, who would add power to a team that is really rather lacking.

Keep Julio Franco around for a bit to teach Giles, and then buy his contract out. He ain’t worth it; he may be strong but he doesn’t do much of anything.

I see no reason to get rid of a 35-year-old reliever if he’s still effective. If nothing else he can help the younger relievers along.

One faintling of an idea I had was to move Chipper to the outfield and give Raffie Furcal a chance at third. With his arm and speed, he wouldn’t be bad. Of course, he doesn’t produce as you’d like a corner infielder to, but come on, the guy’s barely older than I am:) With Quilvio Veras coming back, Q could take second, leaving Giles to manage either short or first and someone I’m forgetting to take the remaining position. Or we could switch Furcal back to short, leave Q at 2nd and Giles at first, and have Chippa come back to 3rd. That leaves Javy at catcher (if only because he is so damned hot!), Andruw (pronounced Andrew) Jones in center, Vladdy (I wish) in right and Brian Jordan in left. Or the latter two could switch, I don’t know.

One thing, though, is we need a somewhat reliable, somewhat-young fireballer. The core of Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz can teach the guy more than a pitching coach could. Anyone for a trade with Chicago? We give them Surhoff, Franco and a bag of peanuts and they give us one of their best pitchers . . . Kerry Wood:)

I do love steals.

5

Correct me if I’m wrong, Braves fans, but Smoltz didn’t voluntarily just move to the bullpen. He was there while recovering from a surgery I believe, same as Matt Morris pitching out of the bullpen last year for the Cardinals.

And let’s not forget Maddux’s incredible streak without giving up a walk. I don’t remember how many consecutive innings he went, but he was pushing the record. I do remember he finally broke the streak with an intentional walk. He ended with 17 wins and a 3.05 ERA and walked only 27 batters all season.

And Glavine’s 16 wins with a 3.57 ERA is nothing to shrug off.

Any team would love to have these guys. Maddux and Glavine are 35 and Smoltz is 34. I’d venture that they still have some good years left in them.

6

Smoltz was moved to the bullpen not because of age but because his arm pain and stamina (I think) prohibited him from throwing excessive innings in one outing.

Glavine and Maddux, so far as I know, do not have this problem yet. And quite frankly, the idea that they need to get new blood into a rotation where G&M won something like 32 games between them is hogwash. Name for me, please, a lefty pitcher who has more consecutive seasons of winning 15 games or more than Maddux.

No, I’ll do it for you.

Cy freakin’ Young.

Isn’t there an award or something named after him?

7

I really don’t wanna talk about this now.

8

My take–

Keepers:
[ul]
[li]Greg Maddux[/li][li]Tom Glavine[/li][li]John Smoltz[/li][li]Jason Marquis[/li][li]Steve Reed[/li][li]Mike Remlinger[/li][li]Brian Jordan[/li][li]**Andruw Jones **(please, PLEASE pay him what he is worth…I want him to stay but I am very afraid we won’t see him a Brave next year)[/li][li]**Chipper Jones ** (move full time to left field),[/li][li]**Mark Derosa **(give him a shot at third),[/li][li]**Rafael Furcal **[/li][li]Marcus Giles[/li][li]and yes, bring back the old man Julio Franco[/li][li]Paul Bako (as a backup).[/li][li]Dave Martinez[/li][li]Keith Lockhart[/li][li]Wes Helms[/li][li]Bernard Gilkey[/li][li]Wilson Betemit (we didn’t see much of him this year, but mark my words, he’s going to be a STUD very soon.)[/li][/ul]
Buh-Bye:
[ul]
[li]**Javy Lopez **(Tired of your non-producing, no defense-having overpaid ass)[/li][li]BJ Surhoff (was clutch once in a while but overall a disapointment IMO),[/li][li]Ken Caminitti (Time to retire, you run down old man)[/li][li]**Rudy Seanez **[/li][li]**Odalis Perez **[/li][li]**Kevin Millwood ** (decent, but we can get more in trade than he is worth to us)[/li][li]Steve Karsay (I like you, but you’re not needed if we keep Smoltz)[/li][li]John Burkett (ditto, not needed with Marquis)[/li][li]Eddie “injury” Perez[/li][li]Rey Sanchez[/li][/ul]
Need: A catcher! A good catcher! Is Charles Johnson available?
BTW, Bluepony, Rico Brogna is already gone. He retired mid season. **

9

And punha, I’m not 100% on this, but I am almost certain that Quilvio is not coming back, I think he was cut to make room for Giles on the everyday roster.

10

George Lombard. Prospect First baseman. Big Power hitter, mediocre defense.

Kevin McGlinchey – relief pitcher that got some innings early on in the year but has been in AAA for most of the year.

11

I’m not convinced anyone really needs to be ditched. I’d just like to have a season where everyone is and remains healthy.

Feh. Pass me a beer, somebody.

12

Passes AudreyK a Guinness.

13

Thanks, KK.

:lets KK steal a sip of beer:

Isn’t Ken Caminiti gone anyway? Once he was left off the postseason rosters, I got the impression that it was believed that that was the end of his stay in Atlanta.

14

I just heard that they may be disbanding the Expos and Marlins…

::waves arms frantically, trying to get CJ to look towards Atlanta::

15

I’ve been hearing talk that the Braves are looking to trade Andruw Jones.

16

He’s a free agent. They aren’t in a position to trade him, they can only sign him or not sign him. Either way, he will be getting HUGE dollars very soon.

17

I’m no good at this kind of thing. I’ll just be over here on the sofa crying in my beer.

18

Some clarification – Some investigtion on Lombard shows him as a right fielder, although I would swear he played a couple games at first base for the Braves. Also, Looks like McGlinchy has been injured most of the year. That must have been last year that I remeber him getting a few innings out of the pen.

19

Just sweeping up some misstatements, misunderstandings, etc.:

George Lombard, the Braves’ top outfield prospect since Andruw Jones arrived and Jermaine Dye was traded, has played in 22 games in the field for Atlanta during 1998, 1999, and 2000: 15 in right field, 7 in left. He was injured most of this season; he played at Richmond for two weeks in June before re-injuring himself and sitting out the rest of the year. The Braves still hope he can come through and be part of their outfield of the future, but hope is waning (he’s been knocking on the door for three years now, but hasn’t performed up to expectations). He’ll be out of options next season, meaning he can’t be sent back to Richmond, so his performance in the spring will have a lot to do with whether he stays on the Braves’ big league roster or is traded – no matter how badly he performs, he’s been a top prospect so long that somebody will be willing to trade for him.

Andruw Jones is still under contract to the Braves, and is not a free agent. He is arbitration-eligible, meaning that he’s likely to be able to command more money than the Braves would want to spend on him, particularly given his lousy BA this year and all the strikeouts. Nevertheless, if it goes to arbitration, his agent will point to his HR and RBI numbers and he’ll get what he’s asking for.

Quilvio Veras isn’t coming back. Certainly not to the Braves, who released him outright. The Red Sox signed him to a minor league contract three weeks later, on August 19, expecting to call him up when the rosters expanded on September 1 and give him some playing time. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen.

Not a chance in hell. Giles is a short 5’8", is right handed, and has nowhere near the power you look for in a first baseman. Good-to-excellent power for a middle infielder, but not up to corner infielder standards. With the impending arrival of Wilson Betemit, there’s been talk of moving Furcal to second and Giles to the outfield, even to center if Andruw Jones is traded, but there’s no way he ends up at first.

Rettenmund’s been fired already, with the rest of the Braves coaches being offered contracts for next year.

20

I stand corrected on A. Jones’ contract status, I thought he was up this year. He is indeed under contract through next season.

Also, rackensack, maybe you can help me out. Who am I thinking of, the prospect first baseman who would have played a few games in the past couple years, pretty burly black guy. I thought that was Lombard. Do you know who I am thinking of?