2008 MLB Season

[LC]

That's the one thing that I've loved about the Braves. If someone gets called up from the minors, he's not up there for emergency causes only. And even if it's in case of emergency, the guy is ready. Great example is a guy that they just called up, Greg Norton. He's come in and fit like a glove thus far. The Braves have had a pretty long history of that happening (too bad the pitching has declined a little bit.)

I don't think Norton has been in the minors yet with the Braves.

Transactions

Well, another road loss- It may only be May, but this is ridiculous. 6-17 on the road, 1-run games 1-11. This team could easily win the East with the talent they've got. Come on, Atlanta. At least theres a massive homestand coming up...

[TFoA]

That's the one thing that I've loved about the Braves. If someone gets called up from the minors, he's not up there for emergency causes only. And even if it's in case of emergency, the guy is ready. Great example is a guy that they just called up, Greg Norton. He's come in and fit like a glove thus far. The Braves have had a pretty long history of that happening (too bad the pitching has declined a little bit.)

I don't think Norton hasn't been in the minors yet with the Braves.

Transactions

Well, another road loss- It may only be May, but this is ridiculous. 6-17 on the road, 1-run games 1-11. This team could easily win the East with the talent they've got. Come on, Atlanta. At least theres a massive homestand coming up...

Coulda swore Norton was at least in our minors for a couple of weeks after we picked him up.

But yeah, the Braves are really starting to get annoying with the whole road woes and 1-run game woes. They really shouldn't be in the position that they're in right now, especially with the year Chipper's had so far.

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

[LC]

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

Or maybe get rid of him and get somebody else in there that can pitch..?

[footballfiji]

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

Or maybe get rid of him and get somebody else in there that can pitch..?

A Better question is who?

We traded away Matt Harrison in the Texiera Deal and he was one of our best Pitching Prospects.

We called up Joey Devine to early and he got shelled and is now in Oakland.

Our best pitching prospects left are

Tommy Hanson (who is slowly moving up and had a good debut for the M-Braves),

Deunte Heath (who's still a bit raw but did have a really impressive game his last start, but one start does not a pitcher make)

Cole Rohrbough (who as Talking Chop put it, "could be one groin pull away from the majors"...he's good but is battling injuries but I can't seem to find on any roster, I've heard he was on the M-Braves DL)

Julio Teheran (but he's only 16 and not on a roster, but the Braves do have the right to him)

[LC]

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

Or maybe get rid of him and get somebody else in there that can pitch..?

A Better question is who?

We traded away Matt Harrison in the Texiera Deal and he was one of our best Pitching Prospects.

We called up Joey Devine to early and he got shelled and is now in Oakland.

Our best pitching prospects left are

Tommy Hanson (who is slowly moving up and had a good debut for the M-Braves),

Deunte Heath (who's still a bit raw but did have a really impressive game his last start, but one start does not a pitcher make)

Cole Rohrbough (who as Talking Chop put it, "could be one groin pull away from the majors"...he's good but is battling injuries but I can't seem to find on any roster, I've heard he was on the M-Braves DL)

Julio Teheran (but he's only 16 and not on a roster, but the Braves do have the right to him)

I was thinking trade James. Would we not get anything for him and/or Mike Hampton?

[See Red]

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

Or maybe get rid of him and get somebody else in there that can pitch..?

A Better question is who?

We traded away Matt Harrison in the Texiera Deal and he was one of our best Pitching Prospects.

We called up Joey Devine to early and he got shelled and is now in Oakland.

Our best pitching prospects left are

Tommy Hanson (who is slowly moving up and had a good debut for the M-Braves),

Deunte Heath (who's still a bit raw but did have a really impressive game his last start, but one start does not a pitcher make)

Cole Rohrbough (who as Talking Chop put it, "could be one groin pull away from the majors"...he's good but is battling injuries but I can't seem to find on any roster, I've heard he was on the M-Braves DL)

Julio Teheran (but he's only 16 and not on a roster, but the Braves do have the right to him)

I was thinking trade James. Would we not get anything for him and/or Mike Hampton?

Why would anybody want Hampton?

[TFoA]

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

Or maybe get rid of him and get somebody else in there that can pitch..?

A Better question is who?

We traded away Matt Harrison in the Texiera Deal and he was one of our best Pitching Prospects.

We called up Joey Devine to early and he got shelled and is now in Oakland.

Our best pitching prospects left are

Tommy Hanson (who is slowly moving up and had a good debut for the M-Braves),

Deunte Heath (who's still a bit raw but did have a really impressive game his last start, but one start does not a pitcher make)

Cole Rohrbough (who as Talking Chop put it, "could be one groin pull away from the majors"...he's good but is battling injuries but I can't seem to find on any roster, I've heard he was on the M-Braves DL)

Julio Teheran (but he's only 16 and not on a roster, but the Braves do have the right to him)

Hanson's probably not gonna be ready until much later on, and they certainly don't wanna do to this guy what they did to Joey Devine. Right now, that's the only guy I could really trust out of that squad right now. Heath still needs some more time.

I'm hoping that Hampton can make a miraculous recovery. But yeah, it's kinda scary that right now, our rotation is basically Hudson, Glavine, and Jurrjens (who's been pitching surprisingly well). Reyes still needs to step up.

This is the first time in a LONG time that the Braves have had to worry about starting pitching. Smoltz, Glav, & Maddux with 2 other solid starters for the longest spoiled me.

[footballfiji]

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

Or maybe get rid of him and get somebody else in there that can pitch..?

A Better question is who?

We traded away Matt Harrison in the Texiera Deal and he was one of our best Pitching Prospects.

We called up Joey Devine to early and he got shelled and is now in Oakland.

Our best pitching prospects left are

Tommy Hanson (who is slowly moving up and had a good debut for the M-Braves),

Deunte Heath (who's still a bit raw but did have a really impressive game his last start, but one start does not a pitcher make)

Cole Rohrbough (who as Talking Chop put it, "could be one groin pull away from the majors"...he's good but is battling injuries but I can't seem to find on any roster, I've heard he was on the M-Braves DL)

Julio Teheran (but he's only 16 and not on a roster, but the Braves do have the right to him)

Hanson's probably not gonna be ready until much later on, and they certainly don't wanna do to this guy what they did to Joey Devine. Right now, that's the only guy I could really trust out of that squad right now. Heath still needs some more time.

I'm hoping that Hampton can make a miraculous recovery. But yeah, it's kinda scary that right now, our rotation is basically Hudson, Glavine, and Jurrjens (who's been pitching surprisingly well). Reyes still needs to step up.

This is the first time in a LONG time that the Braves have had to worry about starting pitching. Smoltz, Glav, & Maddux with 2 other solid starters for the longest spoiled me.

There's a rumor you might see that again.

[TFoA]

But Chuck James pitching like he's in the Beer League didn't help either. After his performance tonight, I'd send him right back to Richmond.

Or maybe get rid of him and get somebody else in there that can pitch..?

A Better question is who?

We traded away Matt Harrison in the Texiera Deal and he was one of our best Pitching Prospects.

We called up Joey Devine to early and he got shelled and is now in Oakland.

Our best pitching prospects left are

Tommy Hanson (who is slowly moving up and had a good debut for the M-Braves),

Deunte Heath (who's still a bit raw but did have a really impressive game his last start, but one start does not a pitcher make)

Cole Rohrbough (who as Talking Chop put it, "could be one groin pull away from the majors"...he's good but is battling injuries but I can't seem to find on any roster, I've heard he was on the M-Braves DL)

Julio Teheran (but he's only 16 and not on a roster, but the Braves do have the right to him)

Hanson's probably not gonna be ready until much later on, and they certainly don't wanna do to this guy what they did to Joey Devine. Right now, that's the only guy I could really trust out of that squad right now. Heath still needs some more time.

I'm hoping that Hampton can make a miraculous recovery. But yeah, it's kinda scary that right now, our rotation is basically Hudson, Glavine, and Jurrjens (who's been pitching surprisingly well). Reyes still needs to step up.

This is the first time in a LONG time that the Braves have had to worry about starting pitching. Smoltz, Glav, & Maddux with 2 other solid starters for the longest spoiled me.

There's a rumor you might see that again.

I'd welcome that with open arms. Glav can still go, and Maddux STILL has the best control in the game, IMO.

[HedleyLamarr]

So who has the best rotation in baseball?

I've got to go with the Indians in the AL and the DBacks in the NL.

I've gotta agree. Those 2 have scary rotations. No wonder they're both near or at the top of their respective leagues.

Yet, the Braves have allowed the 2nd-fewest runs in MLB, are 2nd in team batting average, top-5 in ERA....yet are 20-20. This has been a very frustrating season so far.

I'm not so concerned about the 1-run games yet. The 2007 Red Sox and 2006 Cardinals were sub-.500 in 1-run games....

[NJTank]

So who has the best rotation in baseball?

I've got to go with the Indians in the AL and the DBacks in the NL.

I've gotta agree. Those 2 have scary rotations. No wonder they're both near or at the top of their respective leagues.

Yet, the Braves have allowed the 2nd-fewest runs in MLB, are 2nd in team batting average, top-5 in ERA....yet are 20-20. This has been a very frustrating season so far.

I'm not so concerned about the 1-run games yet. The 2007 Red Sox and 2006 Cardinals were sub-.500 in 1-run games....

Wanna talk frustrating be a Mets fan, I'm starting to think they need to get swept this weekend and hit rock bottom in the next week to get a new Manager, this team is just plain flat and looking like pop people, and its led by Willie Randolph who has no fire or emotion what so ever. Today they made several base running errors and ruined a great start from Mike Pelfrey losing three of four to the horrible Nationals at home.

Keep an eye on this its going to get ugly if things don improve soon to say Willie Randolph is on the hot seat is an understatement. He is not very popular in Mets Nation right now, and at 20-19 with all the talent the Mets have he should not be.

[HedleyLamarr]

Wanna talk frustrating be a Mets fan, I'm starting to think they need to get swept this weekend and hit rock bottom in the next week to get a new Manager, this team is just plain flat and looking like pop people, and its led by Willie Randolph who has no fire or emotion what so ever. Today they made several base running errors and ruined a great start from Mike Pelfrey losing three of four to the horrible Nationals at home.

Keep an eye on this its going to get ugly if things don improve soon to say Willie Randolph is on the hot seat is an understatement. He is not very popular in Mets Nation right now, and at 20-19 with all the talent the Mets have he should not be.

So much for Santana's presence making the Mets go from 100 losses to 104 wins, eh?

[NJTank]

Its gotta be the Manager they play like his post game press conference and the play like he manages.

For example the other day Moises Alou gets run by an ump with a quick trigger all he did was smack his bat on the ground after a ball was called strike 3 despite clearly being outside. Willie did not move did not do any thing he barely moved out of the way to let Alou go down the dugout.

Willie never argues I can remember one maybe two times he was kicked out arguing since 2005.

On the other hand Bobby Cox now hes a bit extreme but a game against the Mets a few weeks back had Jurgens losing control of the plate and walking the ballpark and forcing three runners home on Walks Jurgens snapped at the ump he was not run, because Bobby Cox ran out and got ejected, Jurgens settled down did not allow another hit Braves came back and won.

That is an example of a Manager winning a game with fire, but the Mets right now have a no fire and their manager have no fire, it can't be a coincidence.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Woah...Moises Alou is still playing? There's your first problem.

[NJTank]

Woah...Moises Alou is still playing? There's your first problem.

Alou may be old but he's still a great hitter he just off the DL and is hitting .343 in 9 games this year, its no fluke he also hit .341 last year.

[mania]

So who has the best rotation in baseball?

I've got to go with the Indians in the AL and the DBacks in the NL.

I've gotta agree. Those 2 have scary rotations. No wonder they're both near or at the top of their respective leagues.

Jake Westbrook will be better when he gets back off the DL (well at least I hope so because he's on my fantasy team).

Onto another subject, the minors. What do you think of your team's farm system?

Well "my team," the Reds, has a pretty good one. Top Prospect Jay Bruce is hitting .366 with five triples, seven stolen bases and eight homers. The only knock is he's struck out 34 times and walked only 11 (although he hasn't struck out in the past four games). Another highlight is Daryl Thompson, who was seemingly thrown into the Reds-Nats deal two years ago (Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez, Ryan Wagner to Washington for Royce Clayton, Brendan Harris, Gary Majewski, Bill Bray, and Thompson), could be the best part of the deal. He's only 22 and in AA. He's 2-1 with a 1.28 ERA in eight starts. In his five no decisions, he left the game with the lead and fell victim to five blown saves.

What's your farm system like?

The Rangers system is absolutely stacked.

Chris Davis will be an all star first basemen when he hits Arlington. It might not be until next season, but it will happen.

Elvis Andrus is hitting well for his age(19 at AA) but his glove is what will bring him to the big show sooner rather than later.

Max Ramirez is absolutely tearing AA up and if he can find a spot defensively, he'll be somebody.

John Mayberry might finally force himself into some big league at bats, and I'm confident he can turn it around.

Eric Hurley hasn't been very good, although the scouting reports say he's played better than his stats look so far.

Warner Madrigal might end up being one of Daniels' best steals as a GM, basically getting him from the Angels system on a technicality.

I would have Brandon Boggs here too, but he was called up a couple of weeks ago and has been smashing the ball so far, something like a 121 OPS+ for a guy who'd never seen anything above AA before this year.

I'm really excited to see what the future holds... guys in the lower levels, like Neftali Feliz, Andrew Laughter, Michael Main, Blake Beaven, etc. could really be special.

[TFoA]

Right now, watching the Red Sox/Brewers game today on FOX, I finally had my "OMG Tim McCarver is an idiot." moment.

Two successful bunts were laid down for both teams to advance the runner, and McCarver blasted both teams, just for bunting in that situation. I guess he's never heard of manufacturing runs.

[gingerbreadmann]

Right now, watching the Red Sox/Brewers game today on FOX, I finally had my "OMG Tim McCarver is an idiot." moment.

Two successful bunts were laid down for both teams to advance the runner, and McCarver blasted both teams, just for bunting in that situation. I guess he's never heard of manufacturing runs.

No, because obviously a walk automatically means a run. That's his idea of manufacturing.

[Epiphanic]

Right now, watching the Red Sox/Brewers game today on FOX, I finally had my "OMG Tim McCarver is an idiot." moment.

Two successful bunts were laid down for both teams to advance the runner, and McCarver blasted both teams, just for bunting in that situation. I guess he's never heard of manufacturing runs.

Actually, sometimes sacrificing runners over doesn't improve the chances at scoring a run. So McCarver may actually be correct for blasting the teams for employing such a strategy. Undoubtedly, he would have no idea why he would be right, because Time McCarver is an idiot.

Last year I heard him say that more multi-run innings start with a lead-off walk than a lead-off homerun. So your discovery is spot on, just not necessarily for the reason you found.

[DEAD!]

Right now, watching the Red Sox/Brewers game today on FOX, I finally had my "OMG Tim McCarver is an idiot." moment.

Two successful bunts were laid down for both teams to advance the runner, and McCarver blasted both teams, just for bunting in that situation. I guess he's never heard of manufacturing runs.

No, because obviously a walk automatically means a run. That's his idea of manufacturing.

What does McCarver know... if he wants know a thing or two about manufacturing, he should go to China.