The Braves officially signed first baseman/outfielder Eric Hinske to a one-year worth about $1MM. Hinske can earn another $500K in incentives. Scott Miller of CBSSports.com broke the story a week ago, and David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution followed with contract details.
Hinske, the 2002 Rookie Of The Year, hit .242/.348/.432 in 224 plate appearances with the Pirates and Yankees last season. The Braves were looking to add a pinch-hitter to complete their winter moves from a lineup standpoint, and Hinske's signing fits the bill. He fares well against right-handed pitching (.804 career OPS) and can play first, third and both corner outfield positions. Also, as Miller's story noted, Hinske is "something of a good-luck charm," having played in the last three World Series. So, in the words of Bill Murray, he's got that goin' for him.
Tim Dierkes contributed to this post.
he’s turning into the ultimate journeyman. where he goes, people win. just like robert horry. haha
yeah, but at least Hinske is better than Horry
Good Signin, He will atleast have 1 old friend in Melky Cabrera
One more bench upgrade Hendry ignores in his eternal search for more relievers
What do the Cubs need bench help for? This is the year that Soriano and A-Ram play 150+ games and Fukudome learns to hit hit lefties. And where’s the risk of signing a FA middle reliever? Isn’t that the best gamble in baseball?
Seriously though, it’s frustrating. The Cubs of the last 2-3 years must be the most myopic team in sports: Jim Hendry = Mr. Magoo.
Lol! Love the new icon man.
But I’m hoping my previous post gets cleared by the mods (come on mods, its a classic post! You know it is š ) It is currently in their hands because of the use of multiple links (image files comparing a photo of Hendry to, well hopefully you’ll see… The likeness is uncanny!) It will give us a better comparison of Hendry then Mr. Magoo š
Maybe I can sneak one in here though just in case they decide against allowing it.
dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/article/648/648775/tomm…
“Hey, I’ll tell you what. You can get a good look at a butcher’s (rear) by sticking your head up there. But, wouldn’t you rather take his word for it? No, I mean is, you can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking your head up a butcher’s (rear)… No, wait. It’s gotta be your bull… I can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking my head up a bull’s (rear), but I’d rather take a butcher’s word for it.”
Good call on the Farley resemblance! Maybe this quote is appropriate…”Forget it, I quit, I can’t do this anymore, man. My head’s about to explode. My whole life sucks. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know where I’m going…” Had to slap the Cubby hat on Mr. Magoo…the “vision” between he and Hendry also bears an uncanny resemblance! I do like that Frank Chance photograph though…it’s a classic but the small size gave it no justice. It also sadly depicts one of the last players to play on the Cubs last championship team!
Some good news for Cub fans…Andre Dawson made the HOF today. Too bad on Bert Blyeleven though…shoulda made it too.
“Forget it, I quit, I can’t do this anymore, man. My head’s about to explode. My whole life sucks. I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t know where I’m going…”
perfect!
Would also nominate
“we’re gonna be doing lots of dumb stuff together. Wait ’til Christmas!”
Is good news on the Dawson front, well deserved. Does suck for Bert and Alomar too – both so close. Lee Smith, Alan Trammell, Tim Raines, Barry Larkin… there are a bunch of guys that I cant believe are on the outside looking in at Jim Rice :/
I hope “Wait ’til Christmas!” meant this Christmas and not 11-12 months from now. I can’t take another year of dumb stuff!
I can’t argue on any of those choices for HOF. Hopefully they’ll be getting in soon.
Awesome. Glad to see the Braves putting that Javier Vazquez money to good use. Troy Glaus + Erin Hinske + Melky Crabera = Multiple World Series titles! Thank you Frank Wren!
There needs to be a specific font type used to indicate sarcasm. I am trying to decide if thats the case here.
It was most definitely sarcasm. Most Braves fans are ready to hang Frank Wren from the tallest tree in Atlanta.
Haha, who have you been talking to? All the negative nancies and chicken littles?
You say that now. When we finish in third, maybe fourth place this year tell me how those words taste.
“we”
meanwhile it’s a Red Sox logo as his twitter background.
stay classy BraveSox fan.
Classy? When did class involve your opinion of a situation? Would you rather I just blindly agree with every move management makes? Forgive me for NOT being a “communist fan”.
Oh and stalk much?
ha ha ha, calm down fella.
you don’t have to agree with every move management makes. that’s fine.
but i talk to plenty of Braves fans and nobody has expressed that they would like to “hang Frank Wren from the tallest tree in Atlanta.”
don’t blindly lump every Braves fan in with your opinion of the situation.
Apparently you aren’t talking to the ones in Georgia, which is where I live. Everyone I’ve spoken with has been completely disgusted with Wren.
This guy has talked to everyone in Georga or didn’t pay attention in statistics class.
Take your pick.
Actually you’re just blinded by your own ignorance. Even David O’Brien hated the Vazquez and Glaus deals. And AJC writer Mark Bradley? He has HEAVILY criticized Wren. Try getting out of your bunker before feeling that your opinion is so entitled.
Wow so have you talked people in Georgia or just read somebody elses opinon in the AJC?
Wren was responsible for bringing over Jurrjens and Gorkys (which got us McClouth) for next to nothing, got us a top pitching prospect, a solid lefty reliever, and a solid outfielder for Vazquez and saved a ton of money which we will need next year when Jurrjens, Escobar, McCann are all due raises. He is looking towards the future, I loved Vazquez too but he is coming off a career year and we have 5 solid starters without him and I would much rather have money to lock up our young guys. Glaus for cheap is a solid signing. The Braves simply do not have the revenue to throw crazy amounts of money out there for everyone like the Yankees and Red Sox. Dave O’Brien and Mark Bradley talk out of their ass most of the time, and fans who actually realize what the braves have to spend and don’t want to salvage everything for one year know that Wren has been solid as hell with what he has to work with.
BINGO!
Thank you for typing this out and saving me the trouble of schooling that idiot. This offseason has really separated the smart braves fans from the dumb ones.
wait…. there are smart braves fans? lol…
From David O’Brien’s blog post right after the Vazquez trade:
“One knee-jerk reaction over the Vazquez trade was this: āHow does a team help itself by trading 15 wins (Vazquez) for 13 homers (Cabrera)?ā But that was both an oversimplification and a mischaracterization of the trade.”
“Because I can tell you, a lot of players and agents that I talk to seem to go out of their way to say heās done a good job with the resources he has to work with, and that heās been especially adept at building a pitching staff.”
Yeah, it seems like DOB wants to shoot Wren RIGHT IN THE FACE!
“…but am I right in perceiving that the majority think heās done a solid overall job? Yes? No?”
And after question was posed, the blog commenters were soo overly possitive one poster even accused O’Brien of deleting negative comments. It was THAT possitive.
Comon, Mark Bradley? That dude would complain if Wren traded JoJo Reyes for Ryan Braun saying that we gave up on Reyes too soon. He gets people to read his stuff because he panders to your type of croud.
A lot of people get mad when the player that preformed best is traded to fill out the roster. It was needed, despite what many say.
I never knew getting rid of the best pitcher was the answer of filling out a roster.
The Braves didn’t. They sold high on the best performer. I’d say Jair, Hanson, and Huddy are all ahead of Javier. Since Javier is a .500 pitcher why not throw Lowe in there. Lowe hasn’t had less than 12 wins each season since he’s been a regular.
I never knew getting rid of the best pitcher was the answer of filling out a roster.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I’m from GA and think is Wren a fine GM. You can see his Baltimore influence in his moves based on the players he chooses. He fills spots with players that are at least adequate at those spots, although they are sometimes one dimensional. Still, he gets the job done, brings in big-name players (albeit older) and is consistently fielding a better team than the previous year. And ultimately that is what is important.
Braves fans are spoiled in that we think we can turn around each off season and field a WS contender like we did in the past. Those days are gone. And, personally, I think we’re better for it. Now we actually have to compete and scratch and claw our way into contention. It makes for a much better story at the end of the year.
As long as we are upgrading a position over the previous year, we are becoming a better team, no matter how small the acqusition.
When you get to 7th grade that will all change!
Wren’s made some shrewd moves in the past, especially given his constraints. The Infante, Jurrjens, and Vasquez, and McLouth acquisitions are examples of his good work. Wagner and Saito will steady what was at times a shaky back end of the pen LY. You’ll eat some words when Vizcaino comes up, and Cabrera has upside value as well. Don’t forget Dunn, who’s expected to be a go to lefty this year. Hang Wren? Not
LOL @ calling him a stalker when he puts his link as his Twitter page. You don’t have to sign in with your Twitter account genius. Oh and Frank Wren is one of the best GMs in the game. He can’t help that he works with a mediocre payroll that keeps getting worse.
…and when we finish in first you’ll change your tune to “I always loved Frank Wren!”
LOL Theo Epstein did a epic fail trying to pass off Lowell as healthy to the Rangers. At least Wren doesn’t do that, and besides Epstien just spends all the money in the world and his team loses in the first round last year? I mean that is hilarous
really? red sox won in 04 and 07 and almost always beat out the angels in the first round….how many ws championships do the braves have in the past decade?
Braves= more bang for the buck. Give us a Sox/Yanks payroll and we’d be WS contenders every damn year too.
Only the ignorant ones!
NO sarcasm intended.
I know I am.
False. Many Braves fans (heck, a lot of baseball fans in general) understand what Wren is doing and think he has set the Braves up to compete this year and return to a perennial power in the years ahead with the tremendous pitching prospects in the system.
I guess you didnt pay attention to the fact that the Braves have around 4-5 of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball and one of them was acquired in that trade that sent a pitcher that had just had a career year to the Yankees for 1 year. Meanwhile the pitcher we got back in the trade will be under team control for the minimum 6 years all while being a stud pitcher.
A little early to call him a “stud” pitcher. Let’s see how he does against AA or even AAA batters before you start counting the rings…
Good signing as the bat off the bench and the insurance for Glaus at 1B though his .250 .374 .341 .715 is not that hot though I expect that they would get him for cheap. Is Glaus + Hinske better than Derosa + Nady ? For the money it works with in the budget with some $$ left over for any mid season trades if they don’t produce. Kind of bummed that this is the last move for the off season…
I like, I like Wren. Nice Job here, adds some decent pop to the lineup, and probably more valuable in the NL where he can pinch hit.
Now, hopefully Cox gives up 300-400 PAs.
Well, this is Wren’s last move? Would like him to sign another player. I guess this will mean that Heyward will be Super 2 eligible.
If we can hang in the race, no reason to rush up Heyward even if we have some OF struggles.
No reason to rush Heyward? Who ya gonna throw out there, Melky? We’ll see Heyward in ST and if he is better than Melky, pencil him in. Braves have a great bench and solid players all around. They don’t have speed or pop, but they have ways of getting out of trouble and a GM that will make a trade mid-season to help his team.
Great signing, now we just need to get that LFer like Uggla or even Jhonny Gomes =). I mean Batting Jhonny Gomes seventh will not hurt us and he has 20-30 hr power, whats not to like as a cheap option, or maybe luke scott. Get something done Wren!
Hinske inspired Longoria to sign his long term contract, perhaps the Braves got him just to room with Heyward on the road when he is called up lol.
Like it or not we are out of cash. We are right up against the 92M soft ceiling. We could a few more very minor pieces but noone of note.
We are, is there a link to this or no? if so I hope Jason Heyward crushes in ST cuz I do not want Melky as a starting ofer, honestly Id rather have Hinske starting before Melky, atleast he has some pop.
David O’Brien and Bowman are saying that Wren told them that we are just about tapped out and no more major moves will be coming, just maybe a few minor ones like this Hinske signing.
Wren also hinted at the Glaus presser today that Heyward will be given every opportunity to win RF out of ST this year.
Ahh alright, thats sortve a buzzkill, I wanted a lfer with like 25 hr power but oh well, hopefully Heyward does mash then!
Seems like the Braves are doing all they can to spin everything to keep the fans coming out the ballpark.
Now that they didn’t sign anyone of significance for the offense over the winter (gee, Glaus?), they now need to hype Heyward? He is now THE BIG FIX instead of bringing in some big names like Uggla? Is this going to come back to bite them? I think Heyward will work out great whether it’s now or later, but wow, way to go back on playing it safe with him.
I am very concerned about this ball club because if Glaus and Chipper go down or if either one does not perform like they need to (not just expected to), the Braves are going to struggle. Everyone can say how we finished the second half of last year but it may not happen again.
I would rather that the Braves win more than 85-88 games the way the Braves are currently constructed. They may not make the playoffs if they do that. I’d rather see them win 90+ and beat out everyone else and make it to the World Series. Can they beat the Phillies or the Cardinals? Pretty unlikely if you ask me, even with a healthy Chipper and Glaus.
What about this Hinske? Gee, what an off season. Very disappointing! Hope it all works out in the end but we may be looking at 2011 for a more competitive year. Yeah, I know, there’s always next year…
We did struggle against the Phillies last year but handled the Cardinals easily, once you get past Pujols and Holliday they’re rosters not that impressive.
We were 10-8 vs Philly last year, 4-2 vs the Cards. I’d hardly call that struggling with either!
maybe so but it seemed like we were 8-2 in the first 10 and 2-6 in the last 8. i watched the whole year and we did struggle against them toward the end.
I promise you Cabrera will not be starting in the OF. He will be traded right after Heyward is named the starting RF’er.
We’d be selling low on him. The time to sell is now.
I think we keep him at least till the trade deadline because he can be a great 4th outfielder to spell all three spots. I dont think we trade him unless we decide to get another OF. Also for the future we are gonna have to decide what we do with Schafer.
I thought we had close to 9 million before these 2 signings.
Me too! What happened to our 8 MILLION DOLLARS $$$????? Did Wren spent it on something stupid or this guy?
Johnny Gomes would be a good fit but if they still have some cash left shouldn’t they go after somebody like Johnny Damon because he is more complete in the fact he could leadoff while providing some defense if you could live with that 3rd grader arm in LF but Hinske is a solid role player.
provide some terrible defense
Johnny Damon provides NOTHING in defense, he has a noodle arm and had like a -11 uzr last year if i recall, he’s terrible on defense, Hinske is probably better
It was a long shot getting Damon before this signing and now with Wren basically saying we’re done we’d be lucky to even get Gomes.
your so right
Jonny Gomes or Jhonny Peralta? I’ll assume Gomes since he is the FA.
My bad on spelling but I meant Gomes because Peralta has never played the OF if I recall
I guess the Braves are heading to the World Series this year. He went to the Sawx, they won it all, he went to the Rays, they made it to the World Series, he went to the Yanks, they won it all. This guy walks on four leaf clovers.
good signing i will miss him warming that yankee bench
Our bench before this signing was very righy heavy so I like this as it concerns balence.
He will get a ton of PA as Bobby likes to use just one designated PH thoughout the year.
Looks like we are done, and I have to say I really like the talent and depth of this team.
I bet they could still squeeze in Gomes if they wanted to, then I would be satisfied.
Kind of wanted the Yankees to sign hinske, great ball player, I think he could thrive with regular playing time
He cant hit LHP, therefore he was never going to ‘thrive’ as an everyday player. He had a very good rookie year, then the league caught up to him.
He did have a very good year in TB the other year as well.
He hits LHP just as good as he hits RHP just with less power.
Once again, NO he doesnt. He doesnt hit for power/average/ or get on base v LHP
.221/.296/.370 OPS .666 v LHP
.263/.347/.456 OPS .804 v RHP
well in ’09
.242/.349/.779 v RHP
.244/.347/.786 v LHP
I know it was just 1yr but don’t tell me he can’t handle LHP at all. And if he is gonna be used primarily as a pinch hitter he will primarily be facing RHP anyway. He hit 7 hrs in 84 ABs for you guys last year. Averaged out over a whole season that’s more power than anyone on the Braves.
2004: 168 AB .268/.321/.736
2005: 88 AB .170/.215/.545 v LHP
2006: 48 AB .167/.286/.577 v LHP
2007: Only ~20 AB
2008: 39 AB .143/.263/.488 v LHP
2009: 41 AB .244/.347/.786 v LHP
Career: 671 AB .221/.296/.370 OPS .666 v LHP
That’s why you dont go by small sample sizes.
Did you ignore where I said he’s probably not gonna face that much LHP. Jesus dude he’s a nobody bench player, it’s just a depth move. It’s not like the future of the Braves rests on Hinske’s shoulders, I mean look he’s never had more than 200 ABs in a season. Maybe his whole career isn’t a big enough sample size. He provides Atlanta with what they didn’t have last year. POWER off the bench. I think your just mad the Yanks didn’t bring him back.
No I didnt ignore that, I also read “I know it was just 1yr but don’t tell me he can’t handle LHP at all” And the numbers prove he cannot hit LHP, he doesnt get 200 AB v LHP because his managers know that he cannot hit LHP
Oh yeah, Yankees are crying they didnt bring him back, such a loss; he would probably PH for only 1 player on the team, there will be multiple bench options available before ST.
I never said the Yankees are crying I said you are. You should be happy the Braves signed him since he’s sooo bad it makes the Braves a worse team to have him on the bench for depth right?
I like the value from signings like this and glaus but if this is all they are going to do with the money saved from vasquez, I would be mega peeved if I were a braves fan.
No we added Hudson, Melky, Vizcaino, and Dunn with the Vaz trade.
I’m not peeved at all. We have a budget and Wren is getting the most talent he can while working under his payroll constraints.
Good signing by the Braves. Ive always liked Hinske.
Hinske’s last 3 years:
-Red Sox 2007–World Series
-Tampa Bay Rays 2008–World Series
-New York Yankees 2009–World Series(he wasn’t on the active roster, but you get the idea.)
Just a little coincidental.
He was on the roster and pinch hit in one of the games in Citizens Bank
š
why are there so many negative posts for this signing??? its bench spot filled by a very versatile player, who is a great clubhouse guy and hard worker. wren didnt sign him to play everyday, he just bolstered your bench. if wren signed derosa and nady, i feel you same people would be complaining about that as well.
Oh I’m sorry. Does trading Javier Vazquez to bring in Melky Cabrera, Troy Glaus and Erick Hinske excite you? Do you HONESTLY think it makes the Braves a better team? Absolutely not.
i hate the fact that they traded javy to the yankees, im a sox fan. but i am not talking about that trade. its about signing hinske. a bench player. a GOOD bench player at that. for what he will be used for, it will be an upgrade for this team.
Again, again, again, forgetting about a one Mr. Tim Hudson.
Oh how quickly everyone latches onto one career year and forgets who the better pitcher is.
I agree, but you have to understand that the Braves could have kept Javier and Huddy and used KK in the BP. The Braves could have signed Glaus and used Valdez instead of Saito. Braves would have the best rotation by far. Thus the true match-up is Javier against Saito + Melky + Dunn + Hinske + all other back-ups + money + great prospect+ happy KK + not having to have M. Jones and Valdez at major spots + multiple years for Melky, Dunn, and Vicaino. What’s better, best Rotation in the Majors or having a more full team.
Yeah, but Vaquez is inconsistant. I mean yeah we are betting our luck on Lowe to have a good second year, but we don’t know if Vaquez would put up the same numbers he did with the braves.
Well, I was kind of hoping that post would seem a little lopsided. Anywho, KK had a 3.40 something ERA after the 1st two months. Lowe has fixed his machanics, though we don’t need him to completely turn around for us to do well. We have Huddy to prove he’s an ace. Also, I don’t think JJ and Hanson will stop performing either. Our whole concern about pitching is stupid. We need either a lead-off guy or a power guy. I’d have loved to sign Pods or Damon to kill two birds with 1 stone. Defense can’t be as bad as old man garret.
If you think Vasquez’ was dealt to “bring in Melky Cabrera” and a pair of FA corner IF for around $5m, you’ve proven your sense. Cabrera was not the main piece of the Vasquez deal.
you must hold harold reynolds opinion in high regard
Wow glad I stayed up 5 more minutes to hear this…Great signing for the Braves,never saw this coming even thought the Braves GM Wren said he was gonna add a pinch hitter.Great day for the Braves.
Yeah, I’m really loving the versatility of the club. Many players who can play multiple positions. Maybe the past injury woes are in the back of Wren’s mind, but we definitely have insurance this year.
Hinske is a good sign. About the only place he didn’t hit was in Boston, other than that? He’s a pretty good power source, especially from the LH side.
IMO FW doesn’t like the value as in money to spend in the current FA options in getting marginal production in return with the risk of age/injury. He can use the extra 4-5M to make a mid season move for a bat if Glaus/Hinske/Injuries fall to produce…Atleast during the season FW will know what needs to be addressed than just signing a expensive FA now and hope they pan out without the ability to make additional moves..
If the 40 man roster was left alone, I could invision Hinske having a few AB while playing 1b. Adding Hinske really adds some depth. Good move.
As a Brewers fan who has not seen more than 10 ABs from Hinskey ever, honestly I’m tired of hearing his name every offseason/trade deadline. He’s like that guy that people always trade for / sign to strengthen the bench. Nothing against him, but i get tired of hearing about him every month of every season… especially considering how low impact he is, generally speaking…
hater
I’m not hating, I’m just saying that i’ve seen his name on mlbtr more than i have in real life… it’s just weird to hear this guys name always pop up in trade talks for as little as I actually see him play
I felt the same way about Craig Counsell for awhile there. Have y’all resigned him yet?
And you read this why?
Its a small, but solid move. Hinske can play 1B, 3B, RF and LF. He can definitely hit em hard. His power was impressive after joining the Yankees last year. He hit a HR every 12 AB, slugged .512, and had an ISO of .286.
Braves = 2010 NL CHAMPS.
Hinske will destroy NL pitching. He also hits Doc quite well, I think. ;]
Think this lessens Damon’s chances of going to ATL?
hell yeah, there wasn’t much of a chance before, now 0%
Hinske may be a low impact bench player, however he spells Glaus very well. There is always the risk the coversion to first works out like Javy Lopez. Very good signing and the depth, as said, is outstounding. A good many younger guys with some experience and high ceiling talent will be pushing the outfield. Schafer, Heyward, McLouth, Melky Cabrera and Diaz are all have youthful upside and talent. Hinske compliments the outfield and Chipper at third, as well.
Maybe another signing for a lefty in the pen is what we look for next. We may save some payroll on top of it all and have more to spend in July and next year (the FA class appears much better and the savings can be applied there if needed).
We already have O’Flaherty, Dunn and a couple of other guys who were in AAA
Let’s not spin this out of control…
The only guy we know is going to work out is Heyward.
Schafer may not work out at all. What you saw last year may be his major league potential. He does NOT have a great ceiling.
Melky just plain stinks. He never did anything worth noting in the minors (look it up), and his stats in the majors are similar to Francoeur’s for the last 3 years for the Braves. He doesn’t hit for average, steal bases, or hit for power. What good is he? I’m not sure if he is even worth keeping on the bench especially since he probably is going to be a starter or platoon.
We may have seen McLouth’s best. We just don’t know. I would rather have a guy who has consistently put up fantastic numbers then had an off year last year because you KNOW his potential. McLouth has had ONE good year. So far after 5 years we have seen .260/.342/.454 which ain’t great.
Matt Diaz is a pretty good player. But if we have to depend on him for power, which he doesn’t have, or defense, which he doesn’t have, then what do we have? He makes a pretty good complementary player but not someone we should depend on for the offense.
All I’m saying is that if everything works out then GREAT we have a good team. But does EVERYTHING *EVER* work out in your favor? You know there is a high probably that we will see some significant problems at several positions. Do the Braves have the resources to overcome significant injuries/underperformance? The answer to that is *NO* because of the strict budget.
Man, keep your fingers crossed!!! GO BRAVES!
Schafer doesn’t have a great ceiling?! You’re in the minority there. Everyone who watched the Braves last year knows he was injured and playing through the pain. So, what you saw last year was an INJURED Schafer, not someone exhibiting his major league potential.
There is a difference between a GREAT ceiling like Heyward vs. Schafer who may nor may not be a good player in the majors. Just because a person has a few good years in the minors it doesn’t say anything about the majors. Let’s not spin this any more than it needs to be. Now that we don’t have a leftfielder I don’t think we need to immediately put Schafer out there thinking “oh, he’ll do great”. Andy Marte didn’t work out so well did he? I can name a dozen more that didn’t work out in addition to him.
Hey, BravesDMD, don’t get too excited. I already agreed with you on several posts. All I’m saying is that we need to keep things in perspective and hopefully some unexpected player will work out–maybe Schafer. Can we agree that Melky sucks?
What, do you really think that I don’t want Schafer to work out? I just think his ceiling is not as high as you apparently make it out to be. Frankly, I’m very skeptical whenever I hear “injured” as an excuse for not performing. We’ll see. As I say, I have my fingers crossed. Maybe Schafer will take over McLouth’s job… š
About the injury… I meant that I’m always skeptical about injuries because it seems like it’s a good cover up to give someone a second chance. A bad year is one thing but an injury can be overcome. It’s certain he was injured but it’s hard to say exactly when. We only have Schafer to tell us that. Besides, what if he doesn’t perform again? Then what? I’m not holding my breath.
Hope he hits well because he sure looked good last season during his first two weeks.
“We may have seen McClouth’s best” ???Let’s see he was 27 years old and playing injured for the last month and a half. Wow! Yeah it sounds like he may have reached his peak!
What is a “crape hanging”?? You haven’t answered this question yet… As soon as you answer this and tell me why you said this there is no point in talking to a person who doesn’t know what they are talking about. I’ve always said that you can’t reason with an ______ (Fill in the blank). LOL!
Remember Braves fans, it either Hinske or re-signing Norton. Take your pick.
Thats an easy one. Now a tougher one would be: Norton, or death by hemorrhoids. Hmmmm…
Braves – worst team in baseball. Liberty Media sucks! We need real ownership that is willing to spend with the big boys in the NL East. Instead we will fight the Nats for 4th place. At least they have productive 3-5 hitters.
Liberty Media never really wanted to buy the Braves.But when they did they were forced to keep them untill 2011 so the Braves can’t be sold until then and I think Ted Turner may have interest in buying them back.Hope so.
Really?
Don’t tease me, man.
Worst team or worst ownership? Cause you are wrong either way.
When is there going to be a dislike button?
And that was supposed to be in response to bravesfan, not hungry_troll.
At least there’s an edit button……….
NON-bravesfan
Who do you think your fooling with your phony name choice. Everything you write is a put down of the Braves! You mention the “big boys” in this post. Why don’t you start acting like one?
you know I think some of you aren’t gonna be satisfied no matter what. I’d say this Braves team has more talented depth than most any team and this was most likely a steal signing. Hinske is a stud when used in the correct fashion and I think he will be used well. He is super utility and good off-the-bench pop. He is gonna be good for us I think and I am excited to have him. Which is more than I can say about some of you guys. Go Braves!!!!
I agree NYBravosFan10
Hinske is a stud? Are you hallucinating? The guy is a marginal major-leaguer who has fluked his way onto championship teams. Absolutely hated when he played in Toronto.
He is a stud as a pinch hitter / utility player. He is cheap, can play four positions, and has good power what more do you want.
Of course he’s not a stud starter otherwise he would be a starter!!!! I’m saying that you aren’t gonna find very many utility men on the market better than this guy. Remember how it was in 2008 when you heard Norton’s music? You thought “Hell yeah!!!” Well we get to relive that except for a whole season this time.
yeah man, I agree, I wasn’t being sarcastic I am excited as hell about having him on the team, I can’t wait for the season to start. I would actually like Bobby to start the season with him and Diaz platooning to see how he does with some regular playing time. The guys got a lot of power, thats what we need. And if he doesn’t produce that well you can always cut him back to more of a pinch hitter/backup role.
I agree! As someone who actually watches the games, (unlike some on here), I know for a fact had we had Hinske in place of Norton last year we would have taken the wild card at the very least!
This means you can basically pencil in the Atlanta Braves to make it to the World Series, since Hinske seems to be the good luck charm for the Rays, Bosox and Yankees.
Not sure where all this disgust for ownership is coming from….is this new? The Braves will probably be somewhere around 12th in MLB in payroll. U act like the Braves are so cheap. There are 20 teams in baseball with lower payrolls than the Braves. I wish they had added another ‘regular’ player…..like Nady, Damon, Dye…but the team is still in a better position offensively than it was last year. They have replaced 2 months ofFrancouer, Kelly Johnson and Jordan Schaefer and a full season of GAnderson…GA’s OBP was .300 and that was the best of the 4…. and now a full season of Prado, McLouth, Melky, Diaz (maybe Heyward). LaRoche tore it up with the Braves so thats hard to replace but if Glaus is healthy, he will do well between Chipper and McCann.
As well as full seasons from Hudson and Hanson. They were throwing JoJo Reyes out there last year for awhile. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen this year. I think Medlen will be that 6th starter in case of injury.
Not everyone can have a 130 mil payroll but at least its not 50 mil…..the glass is half full not half empty.
Great points made. Some fans are very quick to forget the offense is now rid of those constant outs. I’d also like to add that we won’t miss McCann (eye) for almost a month and it’s pretty safe to say that Chipper will be more like Chipper. And don’t forget our deeper, upgraded bullpen. I’ve heard many moans about Wagner and Saito being old, fragile, etc. but Soriano and Gonzo were just as fragile, if not more! Wagner and Saito are also more experienced veterans and don’t look like they’re sweating to death or having a panic attack in some of those pressure situations like Sori and Gonzo sometimes did.
None the less, Chipper may not be Chipper! You just don’t know. He may be finished. Cross your fingers but we don’t what is going to happen. After watching baseball for the last 40 years, I can tell you one thing: You WILL face adversity. It’s just a matter of whether or not your club can overcome it mid-season.
The problem I see is that if everything works out great the Braves will be in contention (a reasonable proposition), if things don’t work out then they will be out of the playoffs for the 5th straight year and we will all be moaning those acquisitions we made over this off season (a very high possibility).
It’s those teams that can weather the storm that win consistently. Look what the Phillies did last year to shore up their deficiencies. They had virtually no starting pitching during the first half. But, they were like the Braves of old: Have a problem, spend a little money and fix it. Remember Fred McGriff?
Really you have to stack the deck in case half your deck goes up in smoke. Fortunately the Braves have enough back ups to at least win more games than they will lose no matter what happens to at least half the line up, but we will miss the playoffs again. They are not GREAT back ups people.
Just remember what happened two years ago when we were depending on the old guys. How did that work out for yah? š
At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
You have made my day. Billy Madison is one of my all time favorite movies. Well quoted. I’m now aware that im not the only one who has that committed to memory. lol
…and your reply contributes mightily to the content of this forum. I’m glad we have people like you here to decide who has the right to post and who doesn’t.
It has nothing to do with “the right to post’. Everything you post is unsubstantiated crape hanging!
Do you actually read what you write? “What if this”, “What if that?”, Well what if Utley breaks his leg in ST? The Phillies would be sunk! You don’t believe that? Then learn to read some stats! Rollins has been borderline horrible for two seasons, Werth has played ONE year full time in his 7 yr MLB career and struck out 156 times along the way, and without Utley in the mix you pitch around Howard!
If you do not know that the Braves made as many mid season moves as anyone last year and were perhaps the most improved team in the second half, then what the heck were you watching. that makes your “Look what the Phillies did last year to shore up their deficiencies.” quote look totally stupid!
Wow, I don’t even know why I’m replying to you because every one of your posts is a put down. I’ve read all of them. They are ALL rude.
By the way, what is a “crape hanging”??
What is your IQ? Do I need to speak slower so you can understand? I think your sole purpose on this forum is to simply put people down to make yourself feel better about your inadequacies. Apparently you cannot comprehend simple English.
You are clearly uninformed and quite possibly deranged you really think that the Phillies are not more capable than the Braves to bring in replacements because of their huge payroll. They made a huge trade for Halladay didn’t they? Not like they HAD to but they did none the less.
Maybe they have a limit now that they spent so much: what is it $140 million now? But we won’t know that unless a big player comes up lame. Maybe they will shell out the money. Who knows?
Man, if you cannot figure out that the Braves CLEARLY have more questionmarks than the Phillies than you need some serious therapy. They won one W.S. and they made it again last year with an improved team and you think the Braves are better than them??? I’m a Braves fan and not a homer like you!
Your ignorance just keeps on shining through! I love how you say “You apparently cannot comprehend simple English” then ask me what a “crape hanger” is. LOL and then you ask MY IQ. LOL Obviously way higher then yours! Look it up or ask your junior high teacher.”They made a huge trade for Halladay didn’t they?” Duh! Yeah and they gave up a starter who was nearly his equal the past two years so I’d hardly call that a HUGE upgrade in that HUGE trade!
Let’s see how wisely the Phillies spent that HUGE payroll last year, Start with over $15.5 MIL to Adam Eaton & Geoff Jenkins. neither of whom played for them AT ALL last season! Now add $12 MIL+ for Brett Myers, (70 innings 4-3 and a 4.84 ERA in 10 starts), and $12MIL for Brad Lidge, (0-8 with a 7.21 ERA as the closer). Yup! They really get more bang for their buck! LOL
Who did the Phillies sign this year that I missed? Because all I see is Palanco for $6mil/yr, and scrubs like Gload, Baez and Castro. Even with the $15MIL Halladay will get, ($6MIL of that coming from the Jays) I don’t see that coming anywhere near $140 MIL. In fact they should be spending less then last year now that they only have to pay Eaton, Jenkins and now Felix $2,25 MIL to NOT play for them this year!Their HUGE payroll is bloated by stupid spending and in the end it is only about $10-15 MIL above the Braves!If you do not understand that the PHILS have just as many question marks, even after I spelled it out for you, (and I didn’t even bring up their very shallow starting staff and weak bullpen), then you you don’t have half a clue!Where did I say the Braves are better then them? All I said is that they have as many question marks as the Braves going into the season. The Phillies are far from being an elite team IMO because of those question marks, and if you were a true Braves fan you would realize how close to being AS good the Braves really are. If you had watched the games last year you would understand just how close the Braves came to winning the division. The fact that they didn’t was not due to being inferior to anyone it was due to the dozens of missed opportunities in crucial games due to such things as their star player performing at about a third of his past capabilities and the manager not having a clue about how to effectively use his bullpen!
What is a “crape hanging”??
What is your IQ again?
‘I’m not an unreasonable guy.” LOL
Great points made. Some fans are very quick to forget the offense is now rid of those constant outs. I’d also like to add that we won’t miss McCann (eye) for almost a month and it’s pretty safe to say that Chipper will be more like Chipper. And don’t forget our deeper, upgraded bullpen. I’ve heard many moans about Wagner and Saito being old, fragile, etc. but Soriano and Gonzo were just as fragile, if not more! Wagner and Saito are also more experienced veterans and don’t look like they’re sweating to death or having a panic attack in some of those pressure situations like Sori and Gonzo sometimes did.
Great points made. Some fans are very quick to forget the offense is now rid of those constant outs. I’d also like to add that we won’t miss McCann (eye) for almost a month and it’s pretty safe to say that Chipper will be more like Chipper. And don’t forget our deeper, upgraded bullpen. I’ve heard many moans about Wagner and Saito being old, fragile, etc. but Soriano and Gonzo were just as fragile, if not more! Wagner and Saito are also more experienced veterans and don’t look like they’re sweating to death or having a panic attack in some of those pressure situations like Sori and Gonzo sometimes did.
Great points made. Some fans are very quick to forget the offense is now rid of those constant outs. I’d also like to add that we won’t miss McCann (eye) for almost a month and it’s pretty safe to say that Chipper will be more like Chipper. And don’t forget our deeper, upgraded bullpen. I’ve heard many moans about Wagner and Saito being old, fragile, etc. but Soriano and Gonzo were just as fragile, if not more! Wagner and Saito are also more experienced veterans and don’t look like they’re sweating to death or having a panic attack in some of those pressure situations like Sori and Gonzo sometimes did.
woops, sorry guys. had a login problem…
Hinske is a solid bench bat and insurance for our injury prone corner infielders. I hope Wren is just spinning with the comments about a bench bat being all we need to complete the team. I am still holding out hope there is a trade for a solid LF with some power still to be made. And as for Vasquez, we obviously had to move someone out of the starting rotation. He had the best year of his career last year, and has a 1 yr deal for a competitive price. He was obviously the most attractive trade candidate, allowing us to get a great prospect (vizcaino), a young arm (dunn), and a potential starting OF. Also, players don’t magically get better at 31 or 32. Last year was the abberation for Vazquez, not the norm. He will return to a five-hundred pitcher with a 4+ era next year. Lowe will return to a 3.60-3.90 era next year and win 16 or so games. I don’t mind the trade at all. Plus you have to assume Jurrjens and Hanson will keep getting better, and Kawakami should improve too, after a year in the states. I like the staff…just need another 20+ hrs out of the OF and we will be right there with the Phils at the end competing for the division/wild card.
Woo hoo??
I think I can officially say this offseason turned into a dud for the Braves now. Atleast they didn’t really get worse than last year. Not as good as how they ended the year, but better than how they opened the season.
And is anyone else having problems with this new format on mobile devices? I can’t sign into disqus off my iPod.
Nevermind on the problem. It fixed itself
Now fix your baseball knowledge.
So glad you liked my post. next time you see my name you can just skip over it so I don’t have to get an email notification from some scum like you.
So dude! Learn how to turn off your emails! LOL
The guy is right. Listen to what the majority of people think of you. You can’t go around telling people they are STUPID without someone getting offended. Anyone with half a brain would know this.
What is a “crape hanging”?
To bad, I wanted to see him as a Met. Murphy could play a similar role if the Mets sign a 1B however.
they should have signed Jason Marquis too. that would make it, like, a 200% chance the Braves make the playoffs next season.
Love it
great move, hinske is perfect for the braves. He is a poor man’s dero, which is just what we needed
Why does it say “He provides decent pop from both sides of the plate”?
He might pitching from both sides well, but the guy is a left handed hitter not a switch hitter. Given that, how does he provide pop “from both sides of the plate”?
It just means that like a switch hitter, he can hit both RHP’s and LHP’s.
then why not say that, instead of “both sides” when he only hits from one of them?
Either way, the statement is false. He can NOT hit LHP
.221/.296/.370 OPS .666 v LHP
.263/.347/.456 OPS .804 v RHP
Then good thing he is a pinch hitter and doesn’t have to. We have 2 RHed PHers and 1 SHer. We needed a guy that could hit Right-handed pitching somewhere.
Yeah this Yankees fan has like 10 posts on here on how Hinske can’t hit lefties, don’t know why he cares so much.
Because the original post on this website claims that he proves pop v LHP and RHP. What is wrong with correcting false information passed along to fans, who then repost the false information?
hahahaha okay man you win, Hinske can’t hit lefties. WHO CARES that won’t be his role with the team anyway.
Because each time you do it it makes it more obvious that your obsessing over this signing, as in you wish the Yanks would have resigned him.Yeah. Yeah. we know. The mighty Yankees don’t need him. So why are you hanging out at a discussion board on a Braves signing playing editor? Go proofread a Red Sox signing?
I’d like this deal to be a 1 year deal with maybe a vesting/club option. The second year would vest if he reaches like 300 AB’s, if not, it becomes a club option. Maybe for the first year, $2 million plus incentives, and for the second year, the vesting option can be like $3 million, and the club option can be $1 million plus incentives with a $500,000 buyout.
Whatcha think?
Some of you are ridiculous. I’m guessing with our outfield having a vacancy in LF we should have signed Holliday or Bay.
Lets see Holliday is highly overrated. He is a good player and he hits his share of doubles and HR’s however he is nothing more than a RH Brian McCann. Only difference is he can steal a base or two. That being said Holliday is more of a #3 hitter than a clean-up hitter. We got someone who can hit MORE HR’s than Holliday for the amount of money he will get in his first pay check. Glaus healthy is a lock to hit 30-35 HR’s.
Bay is someone who would have been a better clean up hitter however his defense is terrible.
Who else?
Adam LaRoche? The guy who is league average until July? This offense struggled with consistency last year why sign an inconsistent player to be your clean up hitter? Not to mention that he is looking for a multi year deal. We have a stud 1B prospect in Freeman waiting to step into the 1B role in 2011.
Let me guess, Trade for Adrian Gonzalez? Ya know, give up the whole farm system including Freeman and then be looking for a 1B and a 3B in a couple of years?
Seriously.
Oh wait Mike Cameron, the guy who is 37. Dont we already have enough old guys on our team to worry about?
“Glaus healthy is a lock to hit 30-35 HR’s.”
Except Glaus being healthy is no lock. His ABs are too small to say he’s not healthy, but doesnt give you anyhting positive to go off of.
So what? Your assuming that the doctors didn’t fix the problem? How often does that happen? Every time someone returns from surgery there is someone like you speculating that the player will never be the same again, when the truth is with modern surgical procedures the VAST majority of players come back as good or better then ever.Glaus played a full season with the injured shoulder and hit 27 HRs and knocked in 99 runs. So your guessing the doctors made his condition worse?
I agree with all of that except for Cameron. I would have been happy with that signing. Sabremetrics have him rated higher than Bay or Holiday for a severely discounted price.
thank you, exactly what I have been saying all damn offseason. Some of these people won’t be satisfied until we have an all-star team full of possible MVP’s. Guess what people, even the Phillies have guys like Carlos Ruiz on their team and the Yankees have Brett Gardener. I probably just earned myself the death penalty in NYC and Philly tho. Until you have personal experience with Yankee and PHillies fans you have NO idea how nuts they are. It’s scary.
“Hinske’s signing would certainly seem to fit that bill. He provides decent pop from both sides of the plate (.786 career OPS vs. lefties, .778 OPS vs. righties) ”
Um, false. he does not provide pop from both sides of the plate, he is not a switch hitter, only bats LEFT. And those OPS # are from 2009 only, not his career
Career OPS v LHP: .666
Career OPS v RHP: .804
That’s a pretty significant difference….and good catch on the wording alluding to being a switch hitter.
I don’t think we’ll use him against LHP unless we have to. Diaz is a LHP hitting machine.
That he is!
Okay, here’s the deal. Everyone ready? The Vazquez deal wasn’t for a pitcher or Melky, it was to free up money. The Braves don’t have the money they used to and it was a money trade, pure and simple. Luckily they got a good prospect and bullpen arm in the process. They had to move an expensive piece, Lowe didn’t go anywhere so it was Vazquez. That’s it. It’s not Wren’s fault that the club isn’t a big spender like it used to be. Not that every move of his is perfect, but that’s what that trade was about. No signing from here on out will help with the Vazquez loss. Braves fans (including me) have to move on.
Everyone who is hating on Wren and the Braves just stop it. The Braves are going to be amazing this year.. this is the first time in a long time I can say the Braves are going to the playoffs with confidence.. Their pitching is amazing as long as everyone stays healthy. The braves have Hudson and Hanson for a full season. Who cares if Lowe isn’t amazing. Last year he started off as our number 1. This year he is going to be the 4th. Lowe is fine for a number 4 starter…great even. The lineup is going to be much better with Nate Mclouth for a full season, add in Glaus and hopefully Heyward and who can complain… Now Hinske is taking care of our biggest problem last year..huge upgrade over Norton. This braves team really excites me and I cant wait for the season to start. GO BRAVES!!!
How is it that u can have your opinion but no one else can ? I don’t like where our team is at, there are to many questions and and not enough answers! I will still support the team like I have for the past 20 yrs but I’m not happy!
Good move. I think the Braves will be pretty good next year. The rotation is deep, even without Vasquez, and I’m glad we picked up a sick pitching prospect. You can tell Wren is thinking about 2013 as much as 2010, and that is the kind of GM’smanship I can really get behind. The 2010 Braves 25 man roster looks considerably better than 2009. Horrible outfield defense cost the Braves a lot of games last season so I support the addition of Melky Cabrera as the starting right fielder. I don’t mind if we don’t see Heyward this season, I’d hate to see him rushed to the majors before he’s ready.
2013 Braves
ROTATION
Hanson
Jurrjens
Teheren
Visciano
Delgado
LINEUP
CF Schafer
2B Prado
RF Heyward
1B Freeman
LF Cody Johnson
C McCann
3B Chipper?
SS Escobar
Chipper is good as done before 13′ and can see either Prado/Hicks at third or FA signing to fill either 2B/3B….Either way I don’t see Chipper being around till 13′ though that rotation will be the best young starting staff in baseball which will make the Vaz trade even better….
I’ll say it again. Don’t count out Glaus as the future 3rd baseman!
Who said that Glaus would be the future replacement for Chipper at 3B? I said if you read my post correctly that Prado or Hicks could be the immediate replacement for Chipper in the near future. Hicks has the best shot at 3B though he needs to show that he can hit at the ML level as a 3B replacement value.
I know what you said, and I added Don’t count out Glaus as the future 3rd baseman!
He is only 33 yrs old, has 3rd base skills comparable to Chipper and is capable of the kind of power most teams dream of at 3rd.
I think the uncertainty about Chipper’s future had a whole lot to do with his signing. There were any number of first baseman available out there as a stop gap to Freeman, but they chose Glaus who has very limited experience at first, (not that he isn’t quite capable of handling it). Many seem to scratch their heads about this signing and buy into the injury prone nonsense. The guy only missed extended time for two injuries in his career. Between 2003-04 when he had some back issues, and in part of 2007 when he first injured his shoulder and 2009 after finally getting it fixed! He played the entire 2008 season WITH that injury! The Braves have not had a 3rd baseman that durable, (or tough), in the last 16 years!
Before someone jumps in here and says he can’t play third anymore because of the shoulder I suggest you do some research. The injury effected his hitting more then his throwing, (making the steroid finger pointers all the more ridiculous), and he played 146 games at third WITH the injury in 2008. That is more then Chipper has played there in a season since 2003! Like I keep asking, does anyone really believe that the doctors went in there and made things worse?
All quotage from Wren and Co. point to Heyward starting out in the bigs next year. No sure thing but I think its much more like that he plays at the begining of the year than not at all.
Plus, when you project a rotation that far off you can’t expect everyone to pan out. Thats why Wren has put together as many of these guys as he can so there will be a greater chance that 2-3 will pan out to support Hanson, Jurrjens, and maybe Hudson (who has a fourth year option so he could be there in 2013). Teheran and Vizcaino are both ACE stuff youngsters but have high risk. Randall Deglado, Robinson Lopez, Zeke Spruill, JJ Hoover, and Brett DeVall are all guys with frontline potential but aren’t freak talents like Teheran or Vizcaino. Also Minor is the type of prospect who may never be an elite ACE type pitcher but is as near a lock as you can for a prospect to be a solid 3-4 pitcher in the bigs. Saying all this I would lay out our rotation like this in multiples to make up for attrition as they climb the ranks.
Hanson
Teheran/Vizcaino
Jurrjens
Minor (Hudson)
Delgado/Lopez
also pushing for spots: Spruill, Hoover and DeVall.
Still looks sick and VERY deep.
Braves are goin back to the playoffs. Nice final piece Frank.
Get ready people. Heyward will be the most productive ATL OF even if he doesn’t arrive till May.
Yeah, we could have kept Vazquez…but we would have more than likely lost him at the end of this season due to his agent and teams like Boston and New York with much larger payrolls to offer. He may have been our best starter last year but we still have 5 quality starters, more so than most in MLB. We beefed up our minor leagues in the process, signed Huddy to a hometown discount, added a potential RH power bat to protect Chipper, and balanced out the bench.
We may not have added a Bay or a Holliday, …but I think, considering the circumstances, Wren did as good a job as anyone else could have.
This is a great signing, having him come off our bench. To put it in perspective- Hinske’s career OPS is about 120 points higher than what Francoeur produced during his last 1.5 to 2 years in a Braves jersey.
This move wasn’t a big surprise. Given his monetary constraints Wren did ok. I think the Braves are goona see the playoffs again and probably the NLCS. Phillies will betough to beat but if anybody can do it Bobby can. I look foward to a great season at The Ted.
They need two Hinske’s because he can’t fill in for both Glaus and Chipper at the same time. You know they’re both going to get hurt together at some point in the season.
No worries, mate. We have Barbaro Canizares!!
Though, if I were to follow your train of thought I would suggest we find a way to sign Jack Cust. He could spell corner outfield and 1B. (Who can’t play first occasionally?) He’s also cheap and can smoke the ball, if he makes contact.
We don’t have Canizares! They DFA’d him awhile back. They had to make room for someone..can’t remember who now.
Actually we do still have him… he is on the roster of the Gwinnett club. I am pretty sure he cleared waivers when the Braves DFA’d him.
He was 4-21 last year with 6 KOs and 0 BBs. Game changer.
My bad. You’re right.
The Braves do potentially have Jack Cust in AAA. His name is Mitch Jones, and he plays 1B/OF. Between Hinske, Infante, Cabrera, Diaz, and perhaps Mitch Jones, there are a lot of interchangeable parts on the Braves roster in case of an injury. Prado even plays 1B too.
I’m not taking away from this guy’s potential, but there has to be a reason he’s been in the minors for 10 years and got his first call up last year and the ripe age of 33. When you have a consistent 20+ HR guy in the minors with and OPS in the 900s, you’d be crazy not to give him a shot. Something else is going on. He’s closing in on 300 HRs in the minors. It’s not like he just figured it out. He’s been slugging down there for a while now.
Infante/Prado are versatile utility men as well.
I’d rather have Eric Hinske warming the bench…..than Greg Norton! KWIM??
Are the Braves even trying? We traded the 4th place Cy Young finisher for a 4th outfielder and an 18 year old kid. Then balance the season on a guy with rebuilt shoulders who’s played 14 innings at first base. Yep, that’s going to scare the Phillies.
Maybe i’m wrong, and Glaus hits .280 with 30 bombs, but if I’m betting, my money is going on a 3rd place finish behind the Phils and Marlins again.
We traded a 15 game winner and extended a 14 game winner. You pick which one you prefer… We also brought in a second Japanese player who can communicate and help Kenshin Kawakami. (I know it’s intangible but it means something.) We started with Casey Kotchman for 87 games…I think we can all agree that Glaus is better than him, weakened shoulder or not. We’ve replaced a noodle armed hitter in Norton with a solid player in Hinske.
Given that our Pythagorean W-L last year came in at 91-71 and we are better team at this point that what we had last year, I think it’s safe to say that we are definately trying.
Bringing in Saito does mean something in the Japanese market. More money for the Braves and cultivation of a new foreign fanbase perhaps.
All we need now is Ichiro š
Frank Wren-san makes intelligent moves.
Everyone is forgetting about the mets. They were so depleted by injury last year and with the addition of Bay to that lineup will be right there in September. I like the braves chances with the strong rotation and depth at the end of the bullpen, but I hope the lineup is capable of scoring enough runs to be competitive.
If the Mets can find out how to give Johan the ball every day maybe. Their pitching is downright atrocious, no way they contend and that makes me happy.
don’t “worry” they’ll find the pitching…unfortunately. Although their main target is Piniero and omar minaya specializes in sitting on his ass waiting for things to happen for him so somebody had better tell him to stop pi$$ing around and start targetting the guys like Doug Davis, Ben Sheets, Jarod Washburn along with Piniero.
I think he meant finding EFFECTIVE pitching.
I totally agree with you. The NL East is gonna be good but like every year with medicocre records because we all beat up on one another. I haven’t checked it out but I would bet all our winning percentages versus the rest of the division lie right around .500
.500 is dead on for division average for the past two seasons within the division. Nice guess!
I’ll take that bet!
I read in a post here that the braves are just about near their cap limit. Is this true? And if so it makes sense that they had to trade Javy since there were no takers on Lowe for basically 3/$36. I like the moves if this is the case, getting prospects Vizcaino, and Dunn while dumping salary and signing Glaus and Hinske. However if they still have what I was thinking was around 5MM left, then I would have to wonder is Wren done making moves?
If we need to pick up anyone by the break, I think 5 mill is a good cushion to go into the season with. Wouldn’t want to tie our hands.
Boy oh boy! Heh, Hinske just rides this teams and racks up the rings! The Red Sox, the Rays, the Yankees, and here he is at the Braves. I personally liked him, but it isn’t a major loss; at all.
People always praise Wren for the Renteria trade and fail to realize that the Vasquez trade was similar. Now by similar i dont mean it will turn out the same way, but it has the POTENTIAL to. He traded a pitcher with one year left on his contract in favor of cheaper in house starting options that have a chance to perform just as well in the coming year (we’ll have to wait till after next season to determine this). While doing this he aquired a decent outfielder, a young but highly touted prospect, and a reliever all while freeing up cash. One or more of these pieces may be traded later to further improve the club (like gorkys hernandez was in the mclouth trade). Again things we dont know yet. The only thing we do know is that we freed up money to make a few signings that were needed for the coming year. This is a trade that a lot of people criticise, but will probably look better with time (and by time that could be next year or a few years when vizciano develops.)
One side note. I was also disappointed to see vasquez go, but i had said many times when it was lowe that was on the trading block that i would not be surprised to see him(Lowe) have the better year of the two next year. It will be interesting to see how vasquez fares with the yankees. He had a good thing going with bobby as manager and a better pitchers park in turner field. The yankees only need him to be a third or forth starter though and he wont disappoint there. Guarenteed 200 IP 200K a year although im sure his era wont be close to last years sub 3 statistic.
The Braves did well in the Vasquez trade, given that they were in a tight spot. I would’ve been happier if they hadn’t picked up Melky as part of the deal, just because he’s a platoon guy who’ll cost them 3 million, which seems a bit expensive for a 4th outfielder. The same people that whine about Wren trading Vasquez to the Yankees are the same people that complained when Wren shipped Tyler Flowers and company to the White Sox for Vasquez. They’ll always need something to whine about.
People forget that he got Vazquez for virtually nothing as well.
Everyone is so worried about the line-up but the Braves outscored the Phils in the 2nd half last year. I keep saying over and over…..they won’t have 50 games of under .250 OBP from 3 players (Francoeur, Johnnson, Scaefer)….almost 90 games of a 1B hitting .270 with no power (really good glove though)….a whole season of a LF with .300 OBP and terrible defense.
The did lose Vazquez and LaRoche was great in the 2nd half.
They will get a full season from Hanson, Hudson, Prado and McLouth.
Everyone only looks at their line-up at end of the season and sees that they lost LaRoche, Vazquez and Anderson and replaced them with Glaus and Cabrera…but really that is not the case…they ended up that way but didn’t have that line-up all year. IF they had, they would have made the play-offs for sure. If all the pitchers throw like they did last year and they avoid major injuries, I don’t see why they won’t win 90 games.
Don’t count your chickens…
What happened one year may not happen the next even with the same line up. There can be any number of things happen: injuries (big big risk we are taking!), poor performance, or just plain bad luck.
I think the team CAN be pretty good–whether or not they WILL be is a different story.
And you keep ignoring the fact that the exact same logic applies to your beloved Phillies!
And you keep ignoring the fact that you don’t know what you are talking about!
Plus, you have to bank on Lowe making more than 10 good starts, which is about all he had last year. A name like that usually doesn’t repeat such a flop and I don’t think his skills just vanished.He and McDowell have already realized that is was a mechanical flaw towards the end of the year and Lowe couldn’t correct it. That’s why he couldn’t throw his sinker for strikes and was forced to toss some pretty straight fastballs to keep the count from always being 3-1. Straight fastballs get hit. I’m sure he’s already working on it.
I like the Hinske move. Anything is an improvement over Greg Norton’s ’09 performance off the bench. Right now our lineup seems loaded with .280+ and 15+ HR guys. If the pitching rotation performs up to their potential, all we’ll need are consistent contact hitters who are capable of clutch hits, which we have lacked over the last couple of years with rally killers like Francoeur and Kelly Johnson in the lineup. I would still love to see a true leadoff man in Atlanta, but that seems like a lost art in all of baseball these days.
what a disappointing off season..while Mets, phillies, and cardinals make big moves we sign mediocracy and aged has-beens. we couldve atleast signed swisher, dye, or nady. Hinske will be a solid bench player but not the last signing I was hoping for..
we didn’t have as many holes to fill as they did and it would be hard to sign Swisher since he plays for the Yankees. I think with the money he had to work with Wren has done a hell of a job signing guys for cheap that have the potential to produce big time. Our opening day roster in ’10 is better than it was in ’09. And Dye is older than Glaus or Hinske.
To me, Hinske was worth it. Fills pinch hitting, and plays all over. I wanted him on the Braves last year as their left fielder. Hey the luck is a BONUS.
My Braves Lineup:
Diaz
Prado
Jones
Glaus
McCann
McClouth
Escobar
Melky/Hinske
Rotation:
Kawakami
Jurrjens
Lowe
Hanson
Hudson
If you are wondering about KK first, it is because he does very well against aces.
Bullpen:
long-Medlin
middle- Dunn
Of’Lahrety
Chavez
Moylan
SU-Saito
CP-Wagner
my lineup would be
1. Cabrera LF or RF
2. Prado 2B
3. Jones 3B
4. Glaus 1B
5. Mccann C
6. Escobar SS
7. Mclouth CF
8. Hinske/Diaz RF or LF
Schafer and or Heyward could also platoon with Diaz. I saw somewhere that Melky has a .290 as a leadoff hitter.
I think also heard about Melky and that he is a pretty good leadoff hitter. I have also heard that Diaz is better. I think that Heyward and Schafer need another half of year in the minors. Plus no super two for Heyward.
It’s just that Diaz can’t hit righties well at all but he kills lefties, the guy was made to be a platoon player. I can promise you it won’t be Diaz, it will either be Melky or Bobby will stick with Mclouth like he did last year.
Your comment is only a half truth. Yes, Diaz does not HIT well against righties. He still posted a .350 OBP against righties. His OBP agaisnt lefties is otherworldly. By the logic that you simply need the lead off man to get on and use other people to knock him in, lead off is a prime location for a guy that can indeed walk against righties. Rather than let him just pass the buck lower in the lineup by walking in a rally you put him in a situation where he is the guy getting hit in with others trying to get the RBIs.
Whether or not Cox will notice this I dont know. It makes sense to me though. Let me know if it seems unclear.
Melky’s .290 BA as a leadoff man only encompasses 255 ABs. That’s not a very good sample. His career OBP is in the low 300s and his OPS+ is only 88….. 88 is horrible. 100 is average. Melky can’t run and his defense is only average.
baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=cabrem…
McClouth isn’t much better at lead off, with a .341 OBP but at least his OPS+ is slightly above average, at 109. I still vote for Prado as our in-house lead off man.
I wouldn’t mind Prado at all. Prado & Escobar .300+avg. as our 1&2 guys would be great.
To me, Diaz or Prado could leadoff. They both know how to start a game.
Alldaybaseball – Prado would not be a good lead off man. He has very limited speed. Diaz, on the other hand, has a high OBP and AVG as well as good speed. Diaz and McLouth would be a good one-two punch.
Peet29 – Escobar’s RISP is way to high for him not to be on the back end of our line up.
My ideal line-up would be:
1. Diaz LF
2. McLouth CF
3. Chipper 3B
4. Glaus 1B
5. McCann C
6. Escobar SS
7. Prado 2B
8. Cabrera RF(until Heyward is ready)
9. Pitcher/Hinske/Infante
Prado was made to be a number two hitter….
I agree. I like his style at leadoff, but he can’t run. If he hits anywhere else it has to be the 2 hole. McClouth is more of a power threat than Escobar. I would hit him after McCann. You don’t Esco hitting behind Mac. He’s a double play machine and McCann batting in front of him isn’t going to help break up many of those.
i like this move because he is a solid pinch hitter and can play many positions we dont have backup for
What happened to our 8 MILLION DOLLARS $$$????? Did Wren spent it on something stupid or on this guy? or did i got burned down…What the heck? If this is our last move. I won’t call this off season great. I thought this off season would be great if we got a OFs bat like Nady or Uggla…………….. I am very disappointed. That just means we are gonna rush Heyward in there. Let just hope he doesn’t turn out like Schafer last time. Dumb dumb dumb… only thing good is that he is good luck to any team.. can he take us to the world series.. maybe.. but he was with 3 good teams.. 07 sox , 08 rays, and 09 yankees.. will the 10′ braves compare to those three teams??? turner! plz donate us 5 million dollars!!
starting to think about it.. that means there will be a whole bunch of players tryin to win the LF job.. which might be a good thing……. cuz i would love to see jordan schafer to see there… we have mclouth who can hit 20 hrs.. jason heyward.. we will see.. could he have a rookie season like fielder?? .. lol… and LF.. the contenders will be diaz,melky,schafer, hinske, and m. jones ….. 3 of the 5 can lead off .. especially diaz and schafer… who have power.. and gap power…. can hit for high average.. but wat are we gonna do with the remaining money??
Look at your bullpen which is arguably the best in the NL that is where the “8 million” went into…Wren is a genius and you will soon realize this.
Wren is a genius ? WOW! No wonder Georgia is ranked so low when it comes to our schools! I think Wren maybe a product of that said system. I don’t like all the questions going into the start of the season? If this happens, if he gets hurts , if we are this far back at the all star break! Let’s just blow up the club sell off the vets and start anew with the rooks! At least then we know what to expect!
I think this roster is now set to give the Phillies a good run for there money and right now I see them as the leader for the wild card. They without question have the National League’s best starting rotation and i think a top three bullpen. I will admit they are going in with some injury risks, but I really like this squad. You look at this line-up from top to bottom, and yeah there isn’t a 35 HR .600slg bopper but there is power. You look at legitimately 4 guys with 20+ Homers you can pencil in and realisticly 10-15 from every other position. They have a deep bench as well. I think it is going to be great season that will come down to the final week. Also I applaud Frank Wren, the Vasquez trade wasn’t bad, he got a versatile 4th outfielder and a guy who come 2012 will make you say Javy who?. The man is dealing with a middle of the pack budget and has one of the worst ownerships in the game. This is a team built to contend this year and has the farm to continue on.
Wren has done a OKay job of preparing this team to win. We (atlanta) dont have the resources for great signing right noe cant you tell you dumb ass braves fans. Im a hugh brave fan and want to win also but, dont agree with giving up young talent (YUnel Escobar Ect.) for old. Then we wont win in the future. I tell you what though this is better than nothing and he made the best decisions for the club and organization. We (atlanta) picked up great pieces. Who knows how this season will turn out, but its up to the players we have now. Tampa Bay wasnt full of talents, but the were a team.
Wren has done a OKay job of preparing this team to win. We (atlanta) dont have the resources for great signing right noe cant you tell you dumb ass braves fans. Im a hugh brave fan and want to win also but, dont agree with giving up young talent (YUnel Escobar Ect.) for old. Then we wont win in the future. I tell you what though this is better than nothing and he made the best decisions for the club and organization. We (atlanta) picked up great pieces. Who knows how this season will turn out, but its up to the players we have now. Tampa Bay wasnt full of talents, but the were a team.
if the braves dont win the Nl east, there is very little wild card competition. the mets and probably the rockies. Dont look for the marlins to compete, they are losing good players and are too cheap to replace them. if they succesfully trade uggla, they will finish 4th or 5th.
Don’t leave out San Francisco. They will be legitimate contenders as well.
Maybe if they had money they could sign a 5th pitcher or a 4th pitcher that could win on the road. DeRosa isn’t enough to fill their offensive needs. Though, that 1-2 punch is the best.
I’m kind of assuming that LaRoche comes to his senses and accepts their offer, if it is even still on the table.
They really need him.
Agreed, ATL and either SF or COL are the top WC contenders IMO. I see SF or COL winning the West, the other taking the WC. As strange as it is to say, I really think the Dodgers are going to miss Randy Wolf. He was the rock in that rotation.
I think the Dodgers have played a terrible hand this offseason…They should have offered Wolf arb, but more than worrying about that the team desperatly needs another arm for the back of that rotation…I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see them fall into the 2 or 3 slot in the division.
if the braves dont win the Nl east, there is very little wild card competition. the mets and probably the rockies. Dont look for the marlins to compete, they are losing good players and are too cheap to replace them. if they succesfully trade uggla, they will finish 4th or 5th.
junk
1million base salary is not bad at all, saito,glaus, and hinske are all bargains in my opinion, wagner got over paid by 1mil, not a bad offseason. next year should be good, heyward coming up,a full year of hanson and mclouth. and we still have funds for a trade deadline aquisition.next year will be competitive
Yea. It’s not bad what I thought It would be. I just wish we would had 3 more million dollars for a trade. Like trade for Dan Uggla, but I guess we won’t see that happening.
Anyone else think it’s weird that Troy Glaus is already on the depth chart of the Brave’s official website but Melky Cabrera isn’t?
atlanta.braves.mlb.com/team/depth_chart/index.jsp?…
Yes.
He’s on the active roster tho.
good signing
wow who ants an old guy roaming your outfield….THE BRAVES!!!
Yeah!
Who “ants” an old guy?
What is a “crape hanging”????
wow who ants an old guy roaming your outfield….THE BRAVES!!!
sure it seems clear but it’s not gonna happen, I think Diaz led off 1 game in ’09 and Bobby is still the coach so I don’t know why that would change. The only different person we have this year that could possibly lead off is Cabrera so I bet it’s either gonna be Cabrera or Mclouth.
With the Hinske and Glaus signing, I fully believe the Braves will be contenders for the 2005 World Series
Um, 2005? Is this a joke?
That’s what I said after finding out with the money saved in the Vazquez deal the Braves go and sign Glaus and Hinske “Is this a joke”…I picked 2005 because that would have been a year that signing Glaus and Hinske might have actually meant something other than being a stop gap filler. It was my attempt at humor, since I had to explain it, it must not have been that good.
I got the joke. It was a real knee-slapper.
I think the Braves could make a pretty good run at the 2002 World Series as well.
The explanation wasn’t for you freak, it was for atlbraves312. Here’s another explanation, when you hit the reply button, it sends a reply to that specific comment you want to reply to. Hope I was able to clear things up.
Thanks. Good thing I hit the reply button on the comment I wanted to reply to.
Did I do it right this time too?
Yes, this time you did. The first time you replied to a comment that wasn’t intended for you. Maybe that’s just your personality, jumping in a convo with your 2 cents. In which case, the toilet paper is a fitting picture for the comments you leave.
I don’t like mustard.
I don’t like nonsense.
That had nothing to do with mustard. You shouldn’t have replied to that comment kind sir or madam.
You’re complaining about a guy responding to a “private” conversation on a public forum?
” I don’t like nonsense…”
The explanation wasn’t for you freak, it was for atlbraves312. Here’s another explanation, when you hit the reply button, it sends a reply to that specific comment you want to reply to. Hope I was able to clear things up.
I got the joke. It was a real knee-slapper.
I think the Braves could make a pretty good run at the 2002 World Series as well.
At least the team will have great parking, half the team have handicap stickers on their vehicles.