The Mets made a minor trade and the Marlins are finalizing their roster. Here's the latest from the other NL East teams…
- The Braves are looking to upgrade their bench with another right-handed bat, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). The Braves have been on the lookout for such a player throughout the month of March.
- In a wide-ranging Q&A with David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chipper Jones says the hardest part of getting older is that something hurts every day. But fret not, Braves fans – Chipper's knee has been pain-free for three weeks.
- As Tyler Kepner of the New York Times explains, a visit with a wrist surgeon changed the course of Jayson Werth's career a little more than four years ago. The Nationals lured Werth to Washington this offseason, signing him to a $126MM deal.
- Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins tells Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he has six or seven more years of baseball left. The 32-year-old hits free agency after the season.
I wouldnt say $126 mil “lured Werth”, it ran him down like a deer in the head lights.
Being about Chipper’s age, I can total relate to something hurting every day. I apparently pulled a hammy while I was asleep the other day, so I feel ya Chip.
It only gets better as you get older. These days, my shoulders and wrists hurt so often I actually notice when they don’t hurt. Maybe I should think about attempting a comeback.
Hey, Ben – know of any teams looking a 46 year old catcher?
You’d be the second oldest catcher in the league behind Pudge…
Who is available for the Braves to get?
They’ll probably end up snagging someone in waivers or making a minor trade. Ideally, they want a right-handed bench guy who can play 1B.
Wish they would’ve worked with David Ross at 1B this spring…….guy has led the team in OPS the past two years(small sample size, I know), wouldn’t hurt to give him more PA’s.
Nick Evans. 1B/LF, was drafted as a 3B. He’s a right-handed Eric Hinske.
My hometown is where the Mets AA squad is based out of so I’ve seen lots of Nick Evans. The dude has crazy talent.
Mike Cameron and Aaron Rowand via trade are options Ben listed in December. They both hit lefties well and can play CF…
The Red Sox or Giants would have to eat a lot of their salaries for either of those to happen. It’s also been two years since Rowand hit lefties with any sort of authority.
Agreed, and I can’t see the Giants eating enough for the Braves to be interested in Rowand. Just pointed out that Ben listed them as trade candidates. Ryan Spilborghs, too, now that I go back and re-read his article.
Why on Earth would the Sox eat salary to trade Cameron? They have no reason or wish to trade him since he provides great depth for the outfield and wants to stay on the Sox. The only way they do trade him is if a team makes an overwhelming offer.
I know that, but they’d have to eat salary for the Braves to be able to afford him. Which is why it won’t happen.
Ben said, yell at Ben. YELL AT HIM!
I’m sorry, but if a team offered to eat all his contract and offer something, he would be gone. No one is willing to pay his whole contract because he’s over paid for a backup OF. His defense isn’t good. His hitting isn’t good either.
Mike Cameron is an excellent defensive outfielder and is a consistent .800 OPS guy as a starter. Even through his injury-plagued 2010, he was a hell of a lot more productive than anything the Braves threw out there.
Cameron: 180 PA’s, .729 OPS
Diaz: 244 PA’s, .739 OPS
Both had the same WAR according to baseball-reference, 0.8. Somehow Diaz ended up with a better dWAR….
180 and 240 PA samples? srs?
Yes, ‘srs’. Jake said this……
“Even through his injury-plagued 2010, he was a hell of a lot more productive than anything the Braves threw out there.”
So how does what I just said above not correctly apply to this situation? Same WAR, roughly the same OPS. So my point is that Cameron(LAST YEAR) wasn’t ‘a hell of a lot better’ than Diaz(LAST YEAR).
spot on, in that case. i can’t read or write
No worries man. Sorry for the aggressiveness, been hanging out with Frenchy lately.
Meant in CF. Sorry for the confusion.
I should’ve caught that, and in that you’d be correct. Cameron was more productive offensively and especially defensively than Ankiel, Melky, Blanco, and especially McLouth.
I don’t find him useful.
“4 win players are just kinda blah”
Yea, two years ago.
two, three, and five years ago. 2007 was a defensive anomaly and he didn’t play in 2010
he’s only a backup OFer because they have 3 very good outfielders. he starts on most teams, and isn’t overpaid
Crawford and who else? Ellsbury? Who they tried trading. I only see Crawford. Most 4th outfielders are paid a few million, Cameron makes over $7 million, that’s called overpaid.
sigh
cameron, a perennial 4-win player, was signed to a modest contract to be a starting outfielder. he was replaced only by carl freaking crawford, the guy who is 6th in all of baseball in total WAR since 2009
Cameron lost his job to J.D. DREW. When you lose your job to him, you obviously suck.
j.d. drew gave 8.5 WAR to the braves and has given 11.4 to boston over the past three years. he’s quite good. having said that, your claim is weird and wrong
drew was signed in 2007 and has been the everyday RFer since then
in 2010, mike cameron was signed to play CF with ellsbury in left and drew in right. cameron was injured all year
in 2011, boston signed carl crawford to play left field, moving ellsbury back to center
your summary of this story is “j.d. drew took mike cameron’s job”
Brace yourself…
ATLANTA WILL RESPECT DAVID JONATHAN DREW
No idea why so many people are down on Drew. He gets banged up often, but he’s been one of the most productive right-fielders in the AL for years.
And BravesRed, what on earth are you thinking?
Lets try a little game.
“Joe Blanton is only a #5 starter because the Phillies have four very good pitchers. He’s a #2 or #3 on most teams, and isn’t overpaid”
Wow, I can’t even bring my self to believe my own words, let alone yours…
joe blanton’s cumulative WAR over the last 3 seasons (92 starts): 6.0
mike cameron’s cumulative WAR over the last 3 seasons (317 of 486 games): 8.3
blanton’s avg. WAR per 30-start season: 2.0
cameron’s avg. WAR per150-game season: 3.9
blanton’s salary: $8.5M
cameron’s salary: $7.5M
if you’re not capable of discerning the important differences here, you’re probably not capable of learning from anything else i could say to you. so glwt
Boston wouldn’t do it. Why pay for such a capable backup at all three OF positions when they can pay him to spare Drew, Crawford and Ellsbury. Also, Cameron is a proven right handed bat coming off the bench on a left handed heavy team.
I wouldn’t expect them to. Just stating that if it were to happen, they’d have to eat some of his salary because the Braves couldn’t afford him.
If Cameron is traded it probably won’t be until the middle of june. With Kalish being the likely 4th OF in the event of a trade the sox probably would avoid letting Kalish gain 107 days of sevice time to delay his arbitration anouther season.
there would be no reason to give up cameron unless they were out of contention. he is a stellar defensive player at every outfield position and mashes lefties. kalish is good, but left-handed
If we want a RH bench bat, look no farther than Nick Evans that was just waived by the Mets. Always has hit lefties well and has a .891 OPS vs LHP in the majors.
I feel they’ll target Evans if he isn’t claimed first. Still though, that .891 OPS is in 132 PA’s. Could mean absolutely nothing.
He’s also got an extensive track record of hitting LHP in the minors. BA had something up on him just the other day.
“Chipper Jones says the hardest part of getting older is that something hurts every day”.
Chipper could have said this when he was 19 and it would have still rang true for him. He is the definition of “injury prone”.
You should go back and look at his games played totals (averaged 133 games played per season in 17 seasons despite the injury-plagued seasons he had in 05, 06, and 10.) He averaged 155 games per year his first 9 full seasons…
and while all of you are on his stat page, please review his career numbers: .306/.405/.536 with a career wOBA of .402
many of you probably already know this, but it is worth acknowledging whenever possible: chipper good
What? You mean to tell me that he started breaking down with age?!?!?!
Wonder if the Braves tried to get Luke Hughes instead of Bullock. Hughes would be a decent bench player if someone had room for him. Sadly, we’re wasting roster spots on nothings like Tolbert, Repko, and Perkins.
rowand to the braves with the giants eating all but like 4 mil. giants get back any minor league player who is fast.
Kamikami count as a minor leaguer who is fast?
i would trade rowand for kk with the giants eating the difference in salaries.
Just because we want to get rid of him fast, doesn’t mean he is.
And BravesRed, they have an option for Oswalt, which will be exercised by both sides if he pitches well, and Hamels still has a year of arbitration after this year and will be a Phillie after 2012, I can guarantee you that.
As I already stated, three sites say free agent after the season for Hamels. And, as I stated twice, they can’t afford Oswalt and Hamels.
I was wrong on Hamels. He is arbitration eligible.
What happened to the 3 different sites? LOL
They can afford both of them next year. Their payroll would not be much more next year than this year. Yes, Lee’s salary increases quite a bit, but they also lose the 11.5 million dollars that Ibanez takes up this year. Rollins’ salary will increase when they sign him to a new deal and Hamels will get more in arbitration. However, once we are relieved of the heart attack every 9th inning that is Brad Lidge after this season, his salary will also be off the payroll. If they want both of them next year, they’ll have them both next year.
Well, here’s the thing.
Say Oswalt has more or less his usual year in 2010, but the Phillies offense disappoints(which is looking like a solid possibility). You can pick up Oswalt’s $16 million option, but that’s going to significantly help prevent you from once again acquiring proven hitters and/or depth for an aging club. Since the Phillies already have Hamels, Halladay, Lee, and Blanton under contract for 2012……I think it’d be wise for the Phillies to decline Oswalt’s $16 million and go after some offense and a couple of back-end options for the pen. They’ll still have THREE aces, as well as Blanton……so why not make it priority to fill other holes? I just think that with Hamels raise, Rollins re-signing(obviously an assumption at this point), Utley being a year away from FA, and Lee’s increasing salary that spending $16 million on one pitcher they probably don’t need wouldn’t be the greatest idea in the world if there are other areas that need to be addressed(and there will be).
yeah could be right, might rather have another position player rather than oswalt although not sure who is available , but it couldnt hurt to have another stick
It depends on a lot of factors that have yet to be determined, I just think that picking up Oswalts option isn’t wise if there’s a decent chance that it’s going to hurt them in filling other holes.
Then again, the Phillies keep signing/trading for elite players while giving up very little and keeping their farm system in tact. I wouldn’t be totally shocked to see them send Blanton to New York for Cano……
Ok, I would…..but you see what I’m getting at.
how do you know they cant afford them both , you must be the only braves fan working in the phillies front office
Who do you think brought up the idea to give Howard $20-$25 million per?