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2010
2010 Outlook – The Atlanta Braves
An article by Former Writers
The Atlanta Braves had a successful 2009 season, finishing with a record of 86 and 76. They have made numerous moves this winter in anticipation of the 2010 season. Maybe these moves will benefit them for the long term, but for 2010, I don’t think they have improved their ball club enough.
Starting Pitching: Last year’s best starter Javier Vazquez was traded, so that in itself weakens the Braves rotation. The starting five is still deep with Jair Jurrjens, Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, and Kenshin Kawakami.
Relief Pitching: Roster exchanges of relievers Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano is at best a wash with new additions Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito. Wagner will be the Braves closer and turns 39 next year. The question remains as to whether he can be effective for a whole season after missing almost all of last season following Tommy John surgery. Saito will be 40 years old by the time the season starts. He too has been beset by injuries. Although he was effective for the Red Sox as a set up man in 2009, he only appeared in 56 games. In comparison Gonzalez and Soriano appeared in 80 and 77 games respectively. The “if healthy” caveat surely applies to both Wagner and Saito.
Offense: In 2009 the Braves were 17th in batting average and OPS, and 22nd in home runs. They haven’t done anything so far this winter to improve. Adam La Roche is gone, having been replaced with Troy Glaus. La Roche hit 25 HR and drove in 83 runs, of which 12 and 40 were with the Braves in just 57 games. Troy Glaus, following off season shoulder surgery, played in only 14 games in 2009. Glaus has the potential to put up big numbers again but the odds are against it.
As presently comprised, the Braves opening day outfield of newly acquired Melky Cabrera in left field, Nate McLouth in center field, and Matt Diaz in right field is not very impressive.
Returning: The Braves are anchored by shortstop Yunel Escobar, catcher Brian McCann, 2nd baseman Martin Prado, and 3rd baseman Chipper Jones. Any Braves success hinges on Chipper’s return to his old form. Chipper, who turns 38 in April, is coming off his worst major league season. He had only 18 homers and 71 RBI in ’09. His fielding is below average and declined significantly last year. He is missing more and more time due to injuries. Chipper has been quoted, saying in essence, that baseball isn’t that much fun anymore. It appears that Chipper is now past his prime and his statistics are likely to keep declining.
Other: Other acquisitions of Jesse Chavez, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino are not likely to have a major impact during 2010. Chavez was acquired in the Rafael Soriano deal. He is a reliever that will make the Braves major league roster. Dunn and Vizcaino were acquired from the Yankees in the Javier Vazquez deal. Dunn, a reliever, is a highly regarded Yankee farm hand. Arodys Vizcaino is a hard throwing 19 year old Dominican who struck out 11 batters per 9 innings at Staten Island.
Opinion: The Braves have some more money to spend this winter and are talking about acquiring a power bat. However, with their roster as it is currently constituted, I don’t believe the Braves will be in the hunt next year nor will they equal the 86 games they won this past year.
About the Author: Former Writers
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Good overview. I think we can overtake the Braves for at least 3rd in the division.
3rd place… at best.. Many ppl forget the braves n marlins beat us a bunch of time!!! If healthy take away 5 to 6 wins away from those 2 and add it to us..
Another consideration to take into account would be my belief that La Roche (who cried when dealt to Bucs vowing an ATL return may give ATL a huge discount, I believe he’d likely offer to pay them to stay,lol)if he did stay Glaus could easily be Chipper insurance. It’s so important to look at all of our competitors with the same jaunticed eye we use on our beloved Metsies. Here’s an interesting commentary on the Phillies for 2010:
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091221&content_id=7839314&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi
It never ceses to amaze me how often Met fans view their team with such skepticism while looking at the competition in such awed dread. Every quetion on our team will turn out negativly while every one on the competition’s team will be roses.
62:
Thank you!!!
Ppl fear the phillies as if that team has an unbeatable team, ppl fail to realize that it took a humongous collapse in 2007 for them to win the division, followed by the worst bullpen performance I have ever seen in my history of baseball.. Mind u, they took care of business n we didn’t, but ppl plz, is not as if we’re that far off as some may say, their bullpen is iffy, the sp other than halladay Is a ? Mark, what holds them together is their lineup, and I’m sure if they lose howard, utley, werth n rollins they’d too be a 70 win team..
Alex it’s certainly about time we fans smarten up. The press will never tell us any positives since that doesn’t typically create a extraordinary reponse AKA paper buying. Just as Beningo & Co. use the volume of callers, even those that may cuss em out as proof of impact & size of audience come contract time. To me the biggest joke was how fans went along with the BS sported by nypresscorps that losing a late 3.5G lead in ’08 constituted a “collapse” since when is 3.5g constitute an insurmountable lead that’s a requirement for Collapse status.
62:
Exactly my point, but the thing is that many non true baseball fan tune in to watch in sept, and we did have a 3.5 game lead so after we fail to clinch a spot ppl call it another collpase, what ppl 4got is we were 8.5 games behind the phillies aand we over took the division within 2 months, yes our bullpen was horrendous, our starting picthing (other than santana) was gassed, but give props to the offense who carry the team as much as they could, but by sept they too were gassed after consistently have to score run becoz wit our bullpen no lead was safe, and is mindbogglin to me how magadan call the team a bunch of guys who only care about individualism!!
Alex, not to worry about Magadan’s quotes since he’s just repeating/paraphrasing what Jerry said to the media to begin last ST.
That sorta rhetoric is a common “fits all” whenever a team in a big mkt fails to fulfill expectations, and we all eat it up! Similar complaintas/criticisms followed the ’87 team despite their injury/rehab issues.
I’m certainly disappointed in the topic managers on this site as no one has picked up the subtle, stealthy alteration Omar’s making to the grit factor on this roster, Cora,Bay, Francoeur are all guys I envision willing to go to the mattresses @ late crunch times. Let’s envision them as “Santana’s crew”
62:
I don’t get why there’s a notion about this team not being gritty? Or soft? Again, this team had no bullpen in 2008, if anything they battle back trough all kinds of adversity to climb to first place.. Anyhow, I like the “gritty” players on this team, but lets give due to the players we have beltran, wright, reyes n co..
Alex, unfortunatly we seem to have more lemings than true self-thinking fans.
There’s an old truism that Perception is not necessarily fact; but perception is always fact to the perceiver!
There’s a perception this team needs leadership & grit; I don’t necessarily believe any of it since the purveyors are lazyassed presscorps who prefer to incite than reassure. aka “anything for controversy” controversy sells. Think about this, 99% of these critics complain that Delgado was a negative factor sans leadersghip in the clubhouse. How do we supposedly know this? because John Harper, Bill Madden swear it’s true. yet no coaches/players, current or former support it; but most contradict it!
You have to ask yourself why, could it be that Delgado is his own man, with his own routine he values higher than the press’ need to fill space with ink. My understanding is that typically after a home game Delgado stands around for a few minutes to see who wants an interview, if they all congrgate elsewhere & don’t seek him out, he proceeds to his postgame workout/routine meaning his cubicle is empty when these lugs finally want to get around to him. therefore, he’s uncooperative & better off gone. The press wouldn’t do that for such a rediculous reason? Ever hear of the legendary Dick Young, Bill Maddens’s benafactor? Young led the campaign that prompted the trading of Tom Seaver, doing all in his power to defend Grant & escoriate Seaver. Why? Personal reasons. I’ll never forgive/forget how Madden(frequent DNL visiting expert) picked Atlanta to win the Division in ’07 while choosing to trash our Mets/ the team he’s paid hansomly to cover. Many times, I’ve thought these hacks preferred the Yanks since there’s always a banner headline in the Bronx under the Steinbrenners, whereas the Mets are boring by comparison of ownership. No Billy Connors intrigues, No vendettas Vs Boston. No Private Investigators hired. No Billy Martin merry-go-round. Vanilla Vs. Neopolitan
Agree 62, but many ppl view many as a cancer in boston as well, yet no players other than papelbon said anything about it, players rarely bashed other players no matter what the circumstance is, sort of like a brotherhood thing.. I still think delgado is a cancer in the clubhouse n we need to move on n let reyes n wright lead this team going forward
Bad offseason for Wren and the Braves but I still seem them fighting for 2nd place in the division. The Braves are banking on 2 guys coming off serious injury/surgery in Glaus and Wagner. Right now I would rather have Gonzalez over Wagner. Gonzalez will probaly be welcomed rudely in the AL East but i’m not on high on Wagner at this point in his career than most. Wagner will blow a ton of games for the Braves especially late in the year. Vazquez is so much better than Tim Hudson at this point. And they are expecting Glaus to make an easy transition to first and you can’t even count on that guy to stay healthy. With that said they still have a solid team, Diaz took off once Franceour was traded and they have a full year of Nate McClouth and I see a Cy Young in Jurrjen’s future.
Good points. One of the keys to a team getting better is not always adding new players but having your young players improve and reach their potential. That goes for Escobar, Prado, McCann and Diaz as well as Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson. That could spell trouble for the Mets.
Their bullpen is very sketchy. I don’t think their outfield is anything special. Glaus is a big question mark and so is Chipper
dANNY, EVERY TEAM HAS ?, THAT’S WHY SEASONAL GAMES ARE PLAYED!
danny, yr newest post re. what Atl may offer La Roche hasn’t hit yet; but I believe Liberty Communications profit margin projections likely limit Wren to 1Y offer in La Roche’s case, it’s not like thery’ve any competition to concern them for his heart/soul.
Bklyn, very remincicient of where we were a few of yrs ago, with a better rotation. The big Atlanta injury bouncebacks have to be:Hudson,Glaus,Wagner,Saito,Jones for them to truly compete with us & Phl. Personally, I believe Glaus will be bench insutrance for Chipper’s legs as they know they can have LaRoche for a song. I’ve speculated LaRoche is so desperate to play in Atlanta, he’d likely almost pay them for the opportunity.
Mets 62 – The point you make about Glaus there as insurance for Chipper is excellent. To have Glaus as an everyday 1st baseman is crazy. In that case LaRoche back to the Braves makes total sense. What do you think – 2 years $12M??
Wagner will save 40 games with the Braves and post a better WHIP and ERA than KROD. Mark it down.
Nosh, I always liked this site since at least most opinions had some basis in fact & not some feeling of predestined doom! Since Wagner is in late 30s coming off severe arm surgery, has not pitched in a closing situation or in back 2 back games for over a year, and Atlanta’s primary target acquisition(+lineup power) has been unfulfilled your premonition seems much more in concert with a naysaying NYY fan than in reality. Nosh why not also predict Reyes’ leg actually falls off, it’s as LOGICAL?
I have to think that the Braves are going to be in the mix all season long. In my opinion, they have the deepest rotation in the National League and they have a good group of hitters. I think you can expect to see a good year from Nate McLouth..I am really surprised they didn’t resign LaRouche instead of Glaus. Any way you slice it the N.L. East is a freakin powerhouse next year. The Nationals have improved significantly and the Marlins always find a way to win games and compete. I think 90 wins takes the division next year. There will be a lot of tough games within the division.
mets62fan-
1. Wagner showed he had most of his velocity back when he pitched late last year, he still hadn’t totally regained his control.
2. TJ while I guess can be classified as major arm surgery has a very high success rate of coming back from.
3. Wagner posted a better ERA and WHIp than Krod did in his last full season 2007 (2.63 and 1.13) as opposed to KROD who posted a 3.71 and 1.31 WHIP last year. KROD is def not the same pitcher that he was with the Angels. The KROd signing was Minaya getting a “name” much like the trade for Putz. The reality is that KRod stopped throwing his slider as much (his best pitch) his walks had been going up, and his velocity has been down.
4. I never bet against Wags, he was one of the most competitive players the mets had this decade. And the Braves have an impeccable track record when it comes to pitchers.
Mark it down a$$hole. Wagner has a better year than KROd. And don’t ever accuse me of being a yankees fan.
Nosh, I believe your use of vulgarity is insulting to you; however, can I expect you to fully recant after Wags starts treating back to back appearances the same way he did back to back innings? I’m guessing u totally missed out on Wags’ thankfulness to Boston for not demading TOO MUCH from him AKA consecutive day outings. Part-time closers need not apply as I’m certain u totally missed the typical Atlanta bullpen approach of signing longshots to save $ as moe important to saving games. Somehow. I find anyone expecting similar results from a 38 yr old pitcher post surgery similar to pre-surgery, incredibly optimistic. I feel better late & close against Atlanta pen featuring Saito leading into Wagner than Soriano leading into Gonzalez. That’s just me, I trust my eyes much more than sabremetric stats or presurgical stats. Re. Frankie’s effectivness, u may wish to compare his stats when pitching with regularity to those when leads to be held occured once or twice a week. Most fans know that true closers get/stay better with regular use.
Alex, I also can’t help; but wonder how much the press’ anti Met clubhouse railings are rooted in our guys mostly are ESL & possibly uncomfortable swimming with these ‘sharks’ in an unnatural language. Please note the press typically has spoken to Wright, Wagner, LoDuca, Francoeur & now look forward to Bay. A tad amount of descrimination by our socalled liberal press? I wonder, it can’t be coincidental. Can it? If we actually had an honest to goodness “HOME” network, someone with some clout may point that phenomenon out embarassing the nypresscorps. Is it any wonder why similar complaints don’t resound from the Hispanic Press coverage?