Division Foes 2012: The Braves

[Edgy MD]

Tommy Hanson: Concussion, Probable for start of season
Arodys Vizcaino: Elbow, Out until at least late March
Tim Hudson: Back, Out until at least late April
Peter Moylan: Shoulder, Out until at least early May

You hate to root for injuries, but that looks like a real pinch in the pitching staff.

[Ceetar]

offense is spotty, supposedly Pasternicky, or whoever the other guy is for SS, both have looked the AA players that they are.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Seems like Gonzalez is under job pressure and they didn't do much to improve over the offseason. Could be deadly. Plus, injury concerns and last years disheartening finish. Leaned way too heavily on young bullpenners, hard act to follow.

[youtube:2t3mwla8]AGTSUeyt-nY[/youtube:2t3mwla8]

[Edgy MD]

I think the post-2006 Mets learned that the key to collapsing is to make sure you burn out your pen.

[G-Fafif]

Braves suck. Fuck them.

[TransMonk]

Yeah, I don't see how this team is any better than the Mets.

[bmfc1]

A decent team but I have them 4th. We'll see if the bullpen can be as good as last season after being used so often. SS is a big question; Larry Jones will undoubtedly miss some time moving the excellent Prado to 3B but creating a hole in the OF; not much pitching depth.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Keep your eyes out for Matt Kennelly a young catcher they have in their system. He was recently awarded the ABL MVP Award.

Also good article I stumbled upon about Larry's plate discipline.

[Vic Sage]

They have a CFer who gives you 50+ SBs every year at the top of the lineup, with power in the middle from Heyward, McCann, Uggla and Freeman, and Larry can still swing it, too. they have holes (Prado is a UT guy starting in LF, and they'll have a rookie at SS), but who doesn't? If the rookie SS (either Pastornicky or Simmons) gives them anything, and if Larry stays healthy enough to give them some quality ABs, the offense should be decent, if not great (good power/low OB%). But if Heyward and Freeman continue to develop, they could be more than that.

As for pitching, Hudson is hurt, and Hanson, Jurjjens and Beachy are no great shakes. This staff won't be able to pick up the slack for a middling lineup (and vice-versa), especially if the Kimbrel-Venters bullpen combo can't repeat last year's tremendous performance. And pens are notoriously inconsistent, even (if not especially) young ones.

I think they'll end up fighting the Mets for the basement. whoever gets more question marks answered in the affirmative finishes 4th.

[Edgy MD]

I don't know about the question for Heyward being "continuing to develop" so much as "ceasing to regress." He was Wayward Heyward last year, and as good a reason as any for their ultimate failure to appear in the post-season. He more or less got stinkier as the year progressed, with half of his season's homers coming in April.

Probably pissed off a lot of fantasy owners too. Psyche!

[Vic Sage]

Heyward is 22, with 2 seasons in the majors... 1 good, 1 bad. He has a great chance to develop. He's neither a finished product nor a player burdened by some kind of downward trend. I would take his future over that of Duda right now.

[Edgy MD]

He's certainly not a finished product. But neither is he unburdened.

[Vic Sage]

1 bad (partial) year after 1 very good year does not indicate a downward trend. If he sucks again THIS year, then that would indicate a trend. 1 year is not a trend.

[Frayed Knot]

Ooooh, this one's gonna hurt: Arodys Vizcaino to miss entire 2012 season with TJ surgery.

One of the top prospects on the Braves and in all of baseball, the 21 year old RHP was acquired by the Braves in a December 2009 trade with the NYY in exchange for Javier Vazquez's 2nd go 'round in the Bronx.

[Edgy MD]

Here's a theory: Robin Ventura gets the Sox off to a good start. Baseball circles start buzzing with the idea that maybe experience isn't all that big a deal, and the Braves, who are reeling throughout the year from injuries to their pitching staff, start looking at Chipper Jones as a candidate to slide right into the manager's seat.

Nah, never gonna happen.

[Vic Sage]

if i have to keep seeing Chipper Jones on the Braves bench after his playing days are done, i might have to blind myself with pine tar.

[Frayed Knot]

Six straight losses for the Braves (four to Cincy plus two and counting to Washington) and now Chipper's back on the DL.

[MFS62]

Heard on the ESPN Radio national game today (was in the car, Mets game over, didn't want to llisten to the Yanks) that Bobby Cox did not want his players keeping their sunglasses on the brim of their caps with the lenses over the brim when not in use. He said it obscured the team logo on the caps. He wanted them to put the glasses up there backwards, with only the band over the brim.

Chipper vs Bobby.
Hmmmmm.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

Brandon Beachy - that would be NL ERA leader Brandon Beachy - on the DL due to elbow pain. MRI to check out whether bone chips or something much worse.

Also, Livan Hernandez = DFA

[batmagadanleadoff]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/braves-land-ryan-dempster-in-trade-to-bolster-rotation-for-pennant-race/2012/07/23/gJQA9vtq4W_blog.html

Braves acquire NL ERA leader, Ryan Dempster.

[Frayed Knot]

OK, that's going to make things interesting.

One thing to consider is that one of the stipulations of the last CBA is that teams can NOT get draft picks next year for losing a player they trade for in mid-season, meaning that these kinds of deals aren't quite as valuable as they used to be. But seeing as how Dempster is in the midst of the best season of his career, it's a good gamble for the Braves and the position they're in right now even though he's a 35 y/o who's unsigned beyond this year and the reported player heading Chicago way, Randall Delgado, is 22 and promising.

Now all the Braves have to avoid is (heh, heh) another collapse like last year.

[Ceetar]

Ryan Dempster disagrees:

@RyanDempsterFDN wrote: THERE IS NO TRADE dont know where this info came from!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Delgado for Dempster-- no matter HOW nice a season he's having-- is a pretty big get. Like, Wheeler-for-Beltran big.

[G-Fafif]

Xk_FR3341bA

Either I'm growing soft in his and my old age or I definitively hate the also-ran Phillies more than I fully embrace the possibility of a second consecutive Brave Wild Card collapse. It can't be third place being on the line. Maybe it's all three. Anyway, when I heard that the game that had been PHI 7 ATL 3 (and had me thinking, "yeah, but four runs isn't that much) went final as ATL 8 PHI 7 and learned how it got that way...well, respect for Public Enemy Number Shea.

ATLANTA -- Chipper Jones rounded third base, took one look at his grinning teammates surrounding home plate and flung his batting helmet into the air before jumping into the welcoming party. The moment Jones said he'll savor in retirement came after a dramatic homer that can help his chances of one more postseason. Jones hit a three-run homer off Jonathan Papelbon with two outs in the ninth inning, capping a five-run rally that sent the Atlanta Braves over the Philadelphia Phillies 8-7 on Sunday. The switch-hitting Jones was swinging as a left-handed hitter when he saw three straight fastballs from Papelbon. Jones pulled the third pitch deep into the right-field seats. Then came the celebration every player cherishes -- none more than the 40-year-old Jones, who is retiring after the season. "In that mob scene at the plate, you kind of get lost in it, time kind of stands still," Jones said. "You're not really thinking about any of that other stuff. You're just thrilled that you won a game. "Nothing beats that. That's as good as it gets."

[Edgy MD]

I was rooting Philadelphia there, and totally counted that chicken as a Phillie win before it hatched.