So, about them 2014 Braves ...

[Edgy MD]

Oh, yeah, I mean to suggest just that. Same stage of his career, same questions about his health. A tantalizing ceiling. A terrifying floor. But generally good to punch in for 30 starts.

He'd totally be holding a Bensonian contract if it weren't for the the effect on the marketplace of the new collective bargaining agreement.

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: The Braves, after intense research into the demographics of the state of Georgia, reached the stunning conclusion that the current location is in a bad neighborhood, has sucky traffic, and that the area outside the city in Cobb County is whiter and richer than inner-city Atlanta.

The Mets used the same firm, and eventually shuttered Shea and opened Citi Field after a six-year longitudinal study led them to conclude that, over the last 45 or so years, the epicenter of their fan base had shifted 40 feet to the East.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy MD wrote: Oh, yeah, I mean to suggest just that. Same stage of his career, same questions about his health. A tantalizing ceiling. A terrifying floor. But generally good to punch in for 30 starts. He'd totally be holding a Bensonian contract if it weren't for the the effect on the marketplace of the new collective bargaining agreement.

TOTAL Benson-Bunch-er. And thanks to the aforementioned CBA, he essentially took a risk playing on the one-year-deal last year, performed far better than expectations, and "cashed in" to the tune of a cost-of-living-type increase ($13M/1 yr to $14.1M/1 yr).

[Frayed Knot]

Freddie Garcia two-hit the Mets over six innings the other day - which apparently was proof enough to the Braves that he deserved his immediate release despite all the rotation trouble that team has been having this spring.

[Frayed Knot]

Somebody finally got to Aaron Harang as the Marlins torched him for 9 runs last night (so we gained a half-game on 1st place whilst doing nothing but getting wet)

Harang's outings to date this season:
Runs allowed -- 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 9
Hits allowed -- 2, 2, 5, 0, 6, 10
All outings were between 6 and 7 innings, until last night when he was yanked with 2 outs in the 5th

[Frayed Knot]

Atlanta yesterday added Chris Johnson to the multi-year contract club with a new three-year deal. This joins several other long-term signings they made during this past winter (discussed earlier in this thread) and leaves only Evan Gattis among their starting eight NOT signed past this year and he's just a 2nd year player and is therefore under team control for a while anyway.

Gattis - under team control thru 2017
Freeman - signed thru 2021
Uggla - thru 2015 (on a tail end of a five-year deal)
Simmons - thru 2020
Johnson - thru 2017 (w/option for '18)
B Upton - thru 2017
J Upton - thru 2015
Heyward - thru 2015

IOW, get used to this lineup because, for better or worse, it looks as if they're prepared to live or die with that crew and that we're going to be seeing those faces for the foreseeable future.


It's a different story on the pitching side where I believe only Teheran (2019 w/option for '20) & Kimbrel (2017 w/'18 option) are signed beyond this year, although several others are still under team control anyway although several of them are injured as well.

[Edgy MD]

Ervin "Benson Bunch" Santana: 3-0 / 2.41 through his first five starts.

Striking out 36% more hitters than his previous career rate. Walking 32% fewer.

[seawolf17]

Edgy MD wrote: Ervin "Benson Bunch" Santana: 3-0 / 2.41 through his first five starts. Striking out 36% more hitters than his previous career rate. Walking 32% fewer.

Fuckin' Leo Mazzone.

[Edgy MD]

And Gaybashing Roger McDowell!

[TransMonk]

This is quite a slide they're on.

I think a week ago they had a legitimate claim for being the best team in baseball through the first month. Hard to say that now.

[Frayed Knot]

Mets sweep of Atlanta has a bigger impact than usual as Braves fire GM Frank Wren.
Former Cleveland/Texas head honcho John Hart comes out of the MLBN studio to run things at least on an interim basis.

Looking back to the first post in this thread--wondering about what moves the usually aggressive Braves were going to do last winter--kind of brings this thread full circle.

[seawolf17]

Ooh, I'm going to submit my resume, get the job, and then DESTROY THEM.

"Are there more Uptons out there? We need to sign them. And let's get rid of these Kimbrel and Heyward characters."

[bmfc1]

seawolf17 wrote: Ooh, I'm going to submit my resume, get the job, and then DESTROY THEM.

Sounds like Glavine.

[Edgy MD]

Having trouble seeing what the point of firing Wren is, considering they made a big commitment under him to lock up all these guys with one-three years of experience, I'd've guessed that they were committed to seeing the plan unfold over several years.

I mean, yeah, they've had a terrible September. Three lousy weeks. That should at worst get the hitting coach fired. And fire whoever taught BJ Upton to throw, but come on. I figured Wren would at least be around until Jonathan Schuerholz was ready for the job.

[Edgy MD]

It strikes me that

(1) this is Atlanta's first serious in-season brain change since 19-fuckin'-90, when they fired Russ Nixon mid-stream and re-hired Bobby Cox. John Schuerholz took over as GM that season as well, and like Cox, held the seat until his retirement, which was a smoothly orchestrated transition, rather than an overthrow, just like Gonzalez replacing Cox

(2) The Mets jumping in and nailing down Sandy Alderson may have been somehow in response to the suddenly open seat in Atlanta. Pure speculation, of course, but it'll be interesting as well to see if any of Sandy's deputies get an interview.