AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > January > 23
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Three weeks until it begins anew
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It might not feel like it to most of you out there across North America, but winter as we baseball hacks know it is quickly fading. Seems hard to believe, but it’s just three weeks until we relocate to Dark Star for six weeks of painful wakeup calls, blissful breezes and copious quantities of coffee.
Edwin Pope, the venerable Miami Herald scribe with whom I had the pleasure of working in the same pressbox with on numerous occasions, once wrote: ”It is true that spring baseball makes millions more promises than it keeps. But baseball is unlike love. In baseball, making promises means vastly more than keeping them.”
With that in mind, three teams can enter spring training realistically counting themselves as contenders for the NL East title. (And some members of the Nationals and Marlins might also try to convince themselves their squads have a shot.)
The Braves, like the Mets and Phillies, can make a legitimate claim that if things go well — not if things go perfectly, but just if they go well — they can reclaim the NL East title that New York took from them in 2006 and which is presently held by Philly after the Mets’ Great September Collapse of ’07.
But anyway, we’ll have plenty of time to analyze every aspect of spring training and the upcoming race. For now, suffice to say the Braves, from the front office down to every player I’ve spoken with or corresponded with electronically, believe that GM Frank Wren has addressed every need the team had last season.
Now, they might not have addressed each of those needs quite as resoundingly as some fans would have preferred - for example, some folks don’t want to hear that Johan Santana’s contract extension wouldn’t fit a $90 million payroll, or paying Mark Kotsay $2 mill might make more sense than paying Mike Cameron $7 million and having Cameron sit out the first 25 games for a drug suspension.
But the Braves did address every need, and Braves players on and off the record tell me they like Wren’s three-month body of work and the team’s chances of getting back to the postseason after two years of watching October unfold on TV.
Of course, they are also realistic. It’s no secret what almost certainly needs to happen if the Braves are to have a successful season: They must, and I mean absolutely must, get better and more reliable starting pitching than they received from last year’s injury-riddled rotation.
They need some other things to go their way, too, including good work from the revamped top of the order likely to include Kelly Johnson and/or Yunel Escobar; a productive season from center fielder Mark Kotsay in the first year of the post-Andruw era; and a healthy season from closer Rafael Soriano and his setup men and good work from one or more of the lefty relievers.
Another hugely important area goes without saying: The Braves need big production from their best two hitters, Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira. They need Chipper to play at least 135-140 games, hopefully more, and they need more of last August-September’s display from Teixeira, who carries huge expectations as he enters his first, and the Braves hope not last, full season in Atlanta.
Yes, the Braves could sure use a season from Brian McCann that’s more like his 2006 than his ’07, and they’d certainly like to see continued progress from Jeff Francoeur and from Johnson and Escobar.
But it’s the rotation, the bullpen and the middle of the order that have the potential to carry this team not just to the postseason, but deep into the postseaason. It’s been a while since the Braves had the potential to get 45-50 wins and 600 or more innings from a starting trio, but that’s what they expect from John Smoltz, Tim Hudson and Tom Glavine.
If they get that kind of work from them, they believe the bullpen can thrive and the rest of the rotation can fall in line and work without undue pressure, whoever is in those last two starting spots.
I saw that ESPN’s Buster Olney in his blog listed a key question or two about every NL team, and for the Braves he asked: Can John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Mike Hampton take the ball for 85-90 starts? Can Rafael Soriano stay healthy?
I agree with Buster on the importance of Soriano staying healthy. Because while the Braves believe Peter Moylan might be able to handle the closing duties in an emergency, or that Mike Gonzalez should be back sometime around the All-Star break, no way do they want to lean on an inexperienced closer or one coming back from Tommy John surgery (Gonzalez) during the heat of a pennant race. They need Soriano to stay healthy and effective.
However, I disagree on the Hampton part. Simply put, I don’t think the Braves are counting on Hampton. At all. Now, obviously they’ll be thrilled if he’s ready to pitch and they’ll have a rotation spot ready for him if he’s fit to go to the post when the season begins.
However, after missing two entire seasons and having two elbow surgeries since he last pitched in a major league game, Hampton’s no longer being counted upon by the Braves.
Smoltz, Hudson and Glavine are being counted upon. And two other starters from the group of returning lefty Chuck James (11-game winner each of his first two seasons); extremely promising rookie Jair Jurrjens, who Jim Leyland says would’ve certainly been a part of Detroit’s opening-day rotation if they hadn’t traded him to get Edgar Renteria; rookie lefty Jo-Jo Reyes; and Jeff Bennett, who could also fit into a role as long reliever and spot (sixth) starter.
Anyway, like I said, we’ll have plenty of time in the coming weeks to examine the Braves’ strengths and weaknesses and break down issues such as the bench, where it’s going to be interesting to see if the Braves go with versatile prospect Brent Lillibridge in a sort of super-utility role to begin the season, and if they do, whether he might stick around even after veteran Omar Infante returns from a likely brief season-opening stint on the DL for a broken hand.
OK, a few things worth considering….
— It’s only January, but two early frontrunners for my top 10 CDs of 2008 were releases this week from two Georgia-based bands: The Whigs’ Mission Control and the Drive-By Truckers’ Brighter Than Creation’s Dark. Also, Atlanta band The Selmanaires have just released another excellent CD,
— In sports we demand excellence, rings, etc. Many among us become peeved at anything short of a title or the No. 1 position. And yet in so much of our pop culture, so many Americans are happy to accept, again and again, vapid mediocrity (or worse) and pure hype. Two words: American Idol.
— And one more entry in my I-just-don’t-get-these-times file: In this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated, in the Pop Culture Grid on page 27, one of four athletes surveyed is Cleveland Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson. One of the fill-in-the-blank questions is, Hannah Montana is…. Gibson’s response is, “Awesome. I watch her show on the Disney Channel.” Please, someone who knows Daniel Gibson, tell me he’s just got a sarcastic sense of humor. That he was kidding. Please tell me this.
— For those of you who are concerned about the age and/or health of Braves front-end starters, or inexperience of a couple of back-end candidates, how’d you like to be a fan of the Cardinals about now? They have one of the storied franchises in baseball, with loyal and passionate fans, frequent sellouts, and a still-new ballpark, and this is reportedly the projected St. Louis starting rotation: Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, Joel Pineiro, Anthony Reyes, Matt Clement.
— Severe winter weather slowed construction a bit in D.C., and now the Nationals are hustling to finish their new ballpark before facing the Braves there on Opening Night.
— This won’t qualify as a newly discovered pearl of wisdom, but I was reminded recently that most people, given time, usually disappoint and/or hurt us. But we sure don’t ever seem to stop expecting to meet someone who’s different, do we?
“WONDERFUL REMARK” by Van Morrison
How can you stand the silence
That pervades when we all cry?
How can you watch the violence
That erupts before your eyes?
How can you tell us something
Just to keep us hangin’ on?
Something that just don’t mean nothing
When we see it you are gone
Clinging to some other rainbow
While we’re standing, waiting in the cold
Telling us the same old story
Knowing time is growing old.
That was a Wonderful Remark
I had my eyes closed in the dark
I sighed a million sighs
I told a million lies — to myself, to myself
How can we listen to you
When we know your talk is cheap?
How can we ever question
Why we give more and you keep?
How can your empty laughter
Fill a room like ours with joy
When you’re only playing with us
Like a child does with a toy?
How can we ever feel the freedom
Or the flame lit by the spark
How can we ever come out even
When reality is stark?
That was a Wonderful Remark
I had my eyes closed in the dark - yeah
I sighed a million sighs
I told a million lies — to myself, to myself
Baby to myse - e - e - elf…
Services »
