Comments on: Frank Wren Likes Lottery Tickets

By: Joe R

Joe R — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:55:49 +0000

When did I say the Braves WOULD beat the Phillies? I said they COULD beat the Phillies. They have guys with average to above average offensive production at every spot in the lineup now that Johnson’s gone, and Glaus is in. If Hudson’s healthy, then their rotation lines up as Jurrjens, Hanson, Hudson. This is a team with potential.

Sure it’s an optimistic view. Hence I haven’t grabbed the bull by the horns and said the Braves will win the East. But if the moves work out well, they’re right in line to contend. Not all that out there, in my opinion.

By: MBD

MBD — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:50:26 +0000

I’m with you on the worry, jfish, but the Braves do have a good rotation and an OF that is much improved over the start of ’09. I don’t think it takes too much optimism to project that Diaz (2009 OBP of .390, career .358), McLouth (.352, .342), and Cabrera/Heyward/Shafer will be an improvement at the plate over the 2009 performances (and likely future contributions) of Anderson (.303 in ’09!, .326 in his career), Frenchy (.282 with Atlanta in ’09!, .311 in his career), and Shafer’s injury-shortened rookie year. That opening day OF from 2009 is still making outs; I think they grow them in a back room using UV lights.

Glaus at his worst is better than Kotchman and at his best is better than LaRoche.

Philadelphia has made some good moves this offseason, but they still have weaknesses, so I’m hopeful the Braves will put up a good fight.

By: jfish26101

jfish26101 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:29:33 +0000

Many recent reports have Flowers making huge strides defensively with some believing he has a chance to be an average C. It doesn’t really matter if he is “ugly” behind the plate if he gets the job done. The fact that Vizcaino is so far away and probably has a 5% chance of reaching that “ace” potential (while Flowers is essentially MLB ready) should be an advantage in favor of Flowers if you are comparing them. If they both come relatively close to their ceilings, I’d give the edge to Vizcaino but not for now.

I’ll agree with Dunn over Santos for now. I really liked Santos but he is 21 and hasn’t really pitched above R ball so you have to question whether he will ever reach his potential. If he does though, I think he will be much better than Dunn.

I don’t get the love for Cabrera. I’ll agree he is definitely better than Lillibridge/Gilmore but he is still basically an average player. I think he is a good 4th OF with the ability to fill in as needed on a good, expecting him to step in and be a key contributor really makes me worry to be honest.

I think overall we ended up OK from the Vazquez deals but I don’t think either were great moves.

By: jfish26101

jfish26101 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:09:02 +0000

You are saying right now, Braves win the NL East?

We will see but I don’t think they are improved as much as you think. I think Prado regresses, at some point you know Chipper will go down with an injury, I’m still not sold on Dias as an every day player moving forward, there is no telling whether Heyward will go Upton or Bruce on us, you can’t just pencil Glaus, Wagner, and Hudson to fall in line with their career averages given their recent history…you are basically taking the optimistic view of every single change in the Braves roster. I think we have a pretty good team with a lot of questions still, if everything went right, sure the Braves could beat the Phillies but I don’t think you can just assume all of the stars will align in the Braves favor.

By: Joe R

Joe R — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:00:08 +0000

They upgraded their offense, an OF of Diaz-McLouth-Cabrera sure beats what they threw out there in 2009. And Heyward’s on the way, too.

Glaus has potential to be a very good pickup.

Last year the Braves pythag’d out to 91 wins. Phillies? 92. The difference between these two teams is nowhere near as pronounced as you think.

By: nick

nick — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:51:40 +0000

Flowers is bound for a DH role imo, he’s just not going to stick behind the plate or he’ll be ugly behind there. Vizcaino is the better prospect with legitimate ace potential. Lillbridge is garbage; Santos had a walk rate over 5.5 per 9 innings and profiles as a relief pitcher and Dunn is further along so advantage Dunn. Gilmore looks like minor league depth at best as well. Melky is worth more to the braves than lillbridge and gilmore combined so I don’t see how you can possibly say they gave up more at this point in time

By: R M

R M — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 07:59:16 +0000

How can anyone say the Braves did decently for Vazquez? Does anyone remember that they gave up Tyler Flowers, Brent Lillibridge, Santos Rodriguez and Jon Gilmore to get him?

By: Me

Me — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 06:45:45 +0000

Are we forgetting the 09 Braves were a tale of two halves? If Wren has managed to make no improvements over the end of last season in the sense that they are at about the same level as the end of the season than I am one happy fan bc that team was 20 wins over .500 in the second half. Wren and Co. made a number of good moves in season. We have Mclouth instead of shafer (who I think will still pan out), Glaus instead of Kotchman (a live person would be an improvement here), ditched kj for Prado, and have dumped Franceour and Anderson for some more promising young outfielders. Sure some moves are gambles, but all GMs are at the table at this point…some just are playing with more money than others. I personally like the way Wren has used his chips so far.

By: jfish26101

jfish26101 — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:58:44 +0000

No way the Braves unseat the Phillies this year, I’m not sure the team is any better than it was last year.

By: PWH

PWH — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:30:50 +0000

A point:

The observed (by fans) payroll the past two seasons has been a good bit higher than the actual payroll, due to insurance picking up a great deal of Hudson and Hampton’s contracts.