Juan Carlos Oviedo isn’t the only member of the Marlins with a different name for the 2012 season. The slugger known as Mike Stanton said today that he prefers Giancarlo, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com). MLBTR will now refer to him as Giancarlo Stanton and our archives reflect the change. On to the latest links from the NL East…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports says Josh Johnson looms above his teammates as the key figure for the Marlins’ chances in 2012. Rosenthal says the Marlins should contend if Johnson makes 30 starts.
- A Mets official said the team doesn’t see free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez as a fit, David Lennon of Newsday tweets. Rodriguez called the Mets about an opportunity, but the club appears to have minimal interest.
- The Mets remain in touch with free agent right-hander Chris Young, according to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff (on Twitter). Young still seeks a Major League deal.
- The Braves will make Nick Swisher their top free agent target next offseason, according to ESPN's Jim Bowden. Bowden suggests the Yankees could make an all-out push for Andre Ethier if Swisher does head to Atlanta.
Mike Axisa contributed to this post.
Giancarlo? What just happened.
He found out there was once a pitcher named Mike Stanton…
Haha. His hispanic name is Giancarlo Cruz. It’s been on his wikipedia and baseball-reference page.
Uh….Giancarlo sounds more Italian than hispanic regardless of his heritage.
Touche. Cruz still throws me off, though. Is that of Italian origin as well? I know Spanish and Italian are pretty close, but I’m unfamiliar with names.
I know women of all races named Maureen. A classic Irish name if ever there was one.
That’s awful. I’l stick to Mike.
If people decide to call themselves by their given names instead of the simple nicknames they’ve taken on over the years to appease tongue-tied people like you, then I think they deserve that decency and respect. You’d do that for a friend of yours, right? Well, an athlete isn’t any less a person than anyone you know.
Giancarlo is a better pick up name.
(he walks into a crowded bar and spots a lovely lady sitting at the bar. he conjures up his best rendition of the old guy in the dos equis commercial and says) “Hello lovely lady. My name Giancarlo. Giancarlo Stanton. I swing a 34 oz bat. Coincidentally, that’s also the same weight as the bat I use when I play baseball, Would you like to pitch to me tonight? Yes”?
Stanton doesn’t need that. He’s frickin’ Stanton.
That was amazing.
Yes
You’re linking to the wrong Mike Stanton at the moment.
that just proves the point, everyone confuses the 2 (totally joking by the way)
Swisher?? All that money and all those good free agents, and they’re going to target Nick Swisher?? You’ve got to be kidding me -_-
WOW lol, Swisher????? i would rather have prado/a prospect/heyward and use the money to lock up mccann
True. But the good part is, even if we do sign Swisher, we’ll still have the money to resign McCann, thankfully.
Prado will be at 3B, Swisher in LF in such a scenario.
If Pastornicky pans out, I’d consider dealing Uggla to re-sign Bourn.
Honestly, I would rather keep Uggla in camp if that were the case. That guy is a Grade A slugger and plays a great game. Besides, Bourn might be able to be kept without losing any of the big name players on our team.
I’d approach Chipper much like Favre. Count on him being in there – especially when we have an option year on him – until he says otherwise.
What sense would it be to deal Uggla? We get rid of him and become a small-ball team again – that without Bourn – has no speed whatsoever. Uggla has a fair deal and though he doesn’t provide the best defense, his above-average bat will help balance out an OF that has below-average power.
It’s Jim Bowden, guys.
amen
Pure speculation. He’s just saying something obvious. NYY is going to try and re-sign, if they can get him at a deal ATL would sign him at.
What prospect are you referring because there’s no one near MLB-ready? Lipka still has to make the transition (SS to CF) and we can re-sign Bourn for $8M/yr for 4 years or so — unless Boras works his magic.
Without knowing what Chipper will do next year – we have a reasonable option on him and he’s stated that he feels like he could play through next season – Prado is the best replacement for 3B until Salcedo/Terdoslavich prove otherwise. Frankly, I don’t feel Prado is a reasonable long-term 3B replacement, but he’d be better than any short-term fixer we could acquire if Chipper does decide to hang ’em up after 2012.
We have McCann through 2013, so we need to spend that money we have for 2012. Wren has already made comments about not having to get anything done right now, and frankly, Bethancourt is a worthy replacement to McCann who is getting better, and should be ready, if we don’t re-sign McCann – which I hope we don’t if he wants “fair market value”.
They should focus on keeping Bourn.
That’d be a very nice start! I was liking Josh Hamilton or Andre Ethier for a while. I’d rather trade Prado and Jurrjens to get Wil Meyers and take a chance with him instead of Swisher.
Wil Meyers again……They’re not going to take Prado and Jurrjens for Meyers.
The Braves might trade for a big bat mid-season, who knows what’s going to happen. Swisher is unfortunately exactly the type of player they would target during the off-season…..
Did they reject Prado and Jurrjens together? All I had known is they rejected the one or the other deal. Nonetheless, you are right. Swisher is exactly the guy they would aim for. Which makes no sense WHATSOEVER considering the class of outfielders coming up.
Yes, KC turned down ATL even with both players. And ATL wouldn’t do that. They should entertain the idea of getting CHC’s Brett Jackson and paying a lot less for him. Myers is great looking, but he’s untouchable.
Jackson isn’t going anywhere. The only reason he isn’t already on their 25 man roster as the starting CF is because Marlon Byrd is blocking his path as of now. If anyone in the Cubs OF is going to be traded, it’ll be Byrd not Jackson although if I’m not mistaken, Byrd is a FA at the end of the year anyway. At the very latest, Jackson will be their CF opening day next year.
Could he be gotten for less than Myers, probably. However, from what I read and hear, they are very excited about the kid but personally I doubt Theo would listen to a Braves offer unless they too offer up a highly touted guy in their system.
I am saying CHC would soon trade Jackson for one of our untouchables, like Mike Minor. If we were to trade one of them Brett Jackson is just the guy ATL would dream of getting. They’ve tried unsuccessfully to get Wheeler from COL and Myers from KC.
Myers is not going anywhere. Doesn’t make sense for a young team to get rid of a guy like that.
Lol Wil Myers? No
Why is this being replied to my post?
Why exactly? Bourn is too overrated, for what he provides. Swisher would cost about the same but provide a much higher level of production, assuming you have a cf.
What does ‘Bourn is too overrated for what he provides’ mean, exactly?
Gold glove defense, SB crowns, and all could be had for under $10M/season…what else do you want?
Well people talk about him like he is an all star but to me his obp is way too low to get to that level. I would much rather have someone at the top of the lineup getting .350 or above or to me you are blowing way too many chances to get runs scored. He is exciting player to watch but from a pure statistical pint of view you could do much better with your money. I would rather have Brett Gardner in cf any day than him because that guy can walk.
Brett Gardner had a lower OBP than Bourn last year, is only a year younger and isn’t even available.
Bourn’s OBP over the past three seasons has been .348, so it’s right at your mark. Over 600 PA, the difference is one successful PA.
-C
Yeah, I really don’t know why everyone is through the moon for Gardner. Lazertown, you’d take Gardner over the MLB leader in SBs? You do realize Gardner has so many runs isn’t just because he’s good at getting on, but because he’s hitting in front of Granderson, Tex, Cano, A-Rod, etc. If Bourn were in that line-up, he’d double his lead in SBs.
Mike Stanton just has a certain ring to it…. Giencarlo….. That’s going to get old fast.
Maybe you should learn to spell it first.
This is crazy! Giancarlo Stanton? Just doesn’t roll sound right after a few years of hearing Mike Stanton. And Swisher is a good player and I would love to have him but I’d rather keep Bourn.
I dont see Swisher leaving the Yankees. As long as they offer him a reasonable contract, then he’s right where he wants to be. He said in an interview recently he wants to be a Yankee for the rest of his career
The Braves have enough .250 hitters. They’re going to have money next off season and they better spend it.
Swisher had a .374 OBP last year. The highest OBP by any player on the Braves (McCann) was .351
Average is not everything. He gets on base.
I dont see what’s so great about Swisher…
Ethier would make the Yankees a better team.
There arent a whole lot better right fielders in the AL than Swisher….good OBP guy with power. Hes a real nice lower half of the order hitter to have
Really?
Swish vs Eithier over the last 3 seasons
81 hrs vs 65 hrs
13.3 BB% vs 10.4 BB%
.368 OBP vs .364 OBP
+5.4 UZR vs -24.6 UZR
11 WAR vs 7.9
Away from home
.364 OBP vs .351 OBP
.512 Slug vs .410 Slug
.875 OPS vs .760 OPS
Swisher is a fine player. Uggly and Swish would be 2 peas. Ladies of Atlanta beware!
Swish is married to actress Joanna Garcia.
– ECB
Neither do many of the fans and number crunchers of the Braves organization. Also, it’s coming from Jim Bowden. Not really a great source.
He should just stick with Mike Stanton. Nobody is gonna remember…..wait was it again? I already forgot
He should’ve thought about it before he became one of the hottest young hitters in baseball. He rose to prominence as Mike, and now he’s asking everyone to call him by his first name.
I’ll still call him Mike.
Wait….no “His momma named him Clay imma call him Clay” references?
No.
If someone you knew asked you not to call him by the name other people called him, you’d respect that, right? So why do people feel they own their impressions of other people whom they have no contact with?
It’s a matter of simple human decency and respect to address or refer to other people the way they would like to be known as. Nothing more and nothing less.
If you look at the FA’s for 2013, there are very few quality corner OF’s available. The only ones younger than Swisher (who ain’t a spring chicken) is Delmon Young, Ethier, Conor Jackson and Quentin..not much to pick from. Josh Hamilton too expensive, Ichiro will be 39.
And isn’t Bourn’s agent, Scott Boras? enough said.
I have lost all trust in ESPN so I don’t buy this one bit. I’d love Swisher but my sights are set on Hamilton…yes, I just said Josh Hamilton.
If Bourn walks, what do the Braves do with CF? I don’t want Hamilton in CF in any case…..
Why not? How about LF?
I’d like him on a corner outfield spot at the right price, but I feel he’s going to be out of the Braves price-range. They’re more likely to trade for a cheaper impact bat rather than spend the off-season locking up one expensive player.
TEX will have more than enough to re-sign him, even if he doesn’t give a hometown discount, like he said he wouldn’t do. The best thing he could be for ATL is a diversion, taking a big spender off the market for an OF.
#1 Priority is re-signing Bourn. We most likely wouldn’t get compensatory picks because we wouldn’t offer arbitration to him (it’d be for a couple million more for what he’d be making if we re-signed him).
if we resign McCann, Bourn and Andrelton Simmons pans out then I know one team who is going to pull off one heckuva trade involving Bethancourt, Lipka and Pastornicky
Lipka would be slated to take over in CF around the time Bourn’s new contract is set to expire (if he is actually re-signed to something in the ballpark of 4/$40 mil) so trading him makes absolutely no sense at all IMO.
Did you see what Yadier Molina is re-signing for with STL? 5 years/$75M. So, there you have the basement for McCann’s contract. McCann is a vastly inferior catcher to Molina – who is considered to be the best defensive catcher in baseball – but McCann is vastly superior to Molina, who’s really had 1 good offensive season. I can’t see McCann getting less than $90M over the same 5 seasons, but I don’t know if ATL signs him for that long.
I don’t think they should trade Bethancourt/Lipka. I don’t mind trading Pastornicky if Simmons builds on 2011, but that’s me.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news guys, but the Braves aren’t going to have much money to work with in 2013. There are too many arb-eligible players. Nick Swisher would be, by far, the most expensive player the Braves will look at. I think it’s folly if we sign Swisher and let Bourn walk.
I know he’s hispanic, but how do you go from Mike to Giancarlo (Ps Ndamukong Suh’s dad is named Mike) Just sayin haha
Isn’t more like he went from Giancarlo to Mike?
I’ll make it easier for all you white people, call him GC.
in my opinion they should focus on keeping their own free agents bourn mccann etc rather than making a washed up washed out ken griffey jr wannabe in nick swisher their top free agent priority..seems to me if the braves management knew what they were doing they would work harder to sign their own free agents rather than try to raid other teams to sign other teams free agents….or maybe thats why they finished second and third in the division the last 3 years because they went after other teams free agents rather than try to resign their own ie mccann and bourne