AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > May > 22
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Busy month for the boys in Blue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let me see if I can get this straight. Since I left the Braves in Pittsburgh and handed the baton back to DOB, here is what has happened:
1.Craig Wilson got released.
2.John Smoltz dislocated his pinky, turned 40, and recovered from both.
3.Mike Gonzalez went on the disabled list with mystifying elbow problems.
4.We learned that Willy Aybar is in rehab.
5.The team got sold.
6.Anthony Lerew went on the disabled list.
7.Macay McBride is back.
8.Mark Redman is, ahem, back.
9.Martin Prado got called up.
10.Salty appears to have won himself a regular spot on this roster.
11.Scott Thorman became the pretty-much every day first baseman.
And………
12.Andruw Jones got dropped from the cleanup spot.
Am I missing anything? Good grief! Stuff is going on. And now here we have the Mets in town for three games.
It’s a good time to be in the news business, good people. Read on.
So with all that semi-sorted out, where does that leave us? The Braves have lost back-to-back series to the worst team in baseball - Washington Nationals - and the best - the Boston Red Sox. And now the Mets come in winners of nine of their last 12 games, with David Wright hitting this time and Jorge Sosa in the rotation now and pitching like he just couldn’t for Atlanta last year.
So what should Braves nation feel good about today? I got you something….
Yes, the Mets lineup is daunting. Yes, their rotation is better than advertised. OK fine, but is it truly theirs? Or is it the best that $116 million can buy? Aren’t the Mets awfully mercenary-ish?
Sure, Braves fans wish their team could spend a little more than $80 million - and maybe Liberty Media will grant them that wish - but in the meantime isn’t there something special about the Braves being so homegrown?
The Mets lineup has two players who came up through their farm system - Jose Reyes and Wright. Well, three, while Moises Alou is hurt, if you count Endy Chavez. Chavez came up with the Mets but broke into the majors with Kansas City and played with Montreal/Washington and Philadelphia before coming back to the Mets this year.
Yes, Reyes and Wright are awfully good, but they are but two bats in the lineup. Are any others homegrown? Carlos Delgado, nope. Shawn Green, no. Carlos Beltran, Paul Lo Duca, Damion Easley? No, no, no.
The Braves, on the other hand, start six home-grown products - Kelly Johnson, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, and Scott Thorman.
The Braves have got two more in the rotation in Chuck James and Kyle Davies and a third, if you ask me, in John Smoltz, who has been a Brave so long it’s hard to remember that he was traded from Detroit to the Braves as a minor leaguer. (We’re TBA in the fifth spot with Lerew on the DL.)
The Mets rotation? Such as it is at the moment? Nobody homegrown. Mike Pelfrey was a product of the Mets farm system, but he’s back in it at the moment.
So yes, Andruw Jones is scuffling, Braves fans (and he’s been lighting up this blog for two days) but he’s yours. Scott Thorman may not be the long-term answer at first base, but he’s yours too. Think there’s a reason why Kyle Davies gets a benefit of the doubt sometimes over Redman? He’s yours. Ever wonder why it was fairly magical to see Salty’s first major league game? Yours, yours, yours.
You can look at this one of two ways: 1) Man the Braves’ hands are tied financially, or 2) Man they have a good scouting department and farm system. With the Braves, you’ve gotta think it’s a little bit of both, and you’ve also got to give credit to a lot of the latter.
And speaking of Braves scouting prowess, I should mention word I got yesterday that retired Braves scout Bill Wight had passed away. He was 85 and living in California. He scouted for the Braves for more than 30 years, beginning in 1967.
You might not recognize his name but here’s why you should remember it.
Just a few of the players he was credited with signing include Dale Murphy, Glenn Hubbard, Bob Horner, Dusty Baker, Jeff Blauser, David Justice, and Kent Mercker.
Wight is mentioned in the display in scout’s alley at Turner Field for his report on a high school pitcher from Las Vegas named Greg Maddux. Wight estimated his draft value at $40,000. Check it out perhaps, if you’re at the game tonight.
Meantime, enough with the talking. Let’s get this thing going. Next up: Braves-Mets.
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