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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Decisions coming for Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Is this thing over yet? No? Then we trudge forward.
Spring training ain’t over, but we can see the figurative whites of the regular season’s eyes on the horizon. You folks ready? Because I sure as (hey now) know that I am.
Enough speculating, projecting, questions about far-fetched trades that would never be discussed, much less completed, and enough hearing how people are upset that this national media outlet or that person-with-a-blog didn’t give the Braves proper respect.
Let’s get between the lines at the new D.C. park, whatever they’re calling it, and play a game March 30. Or last least get to Turner Field and play a couple of exhibitions in a real major league park in a city where the traffic is made up of people going to work or to the store or wherever, and not people in rented PT Cruisers driving 20 mph in a 40-mph zone while reading a spread-out map and trying to figure out if that’s the right turn to Epcot or Animal Hell … er, Kingdom.
Yes, March 27 can’t get here soon enough. That’s the day the Braves play the Mets at Dark Star, and about 20 minutes after the last pitch, I’ll be marching to my packed-and-ready rental car and heading directly to the airport for my merciful escape flight out of Fun City Inc. and home to Atlanta.
(While I’m spewing venom, let me add that this CBS online feed of the KU-Portland State game that I’m watching as I type this, is an absolute joke. I get 10 seconds of moving figures on the screen every minute or so. And now it’s too late to drive to a sports bar to watch it before heading to the ballpark for the night game.)
(I know, no sympathy from you who are stuck in office cubicles right now, so I’ll shut up.)
But back to the business at hand, the last week of exhibition games, when things really start to get interesting (funny how that works; we’re all pretty well worn out and numb now after five weeks or relatively uneventful workouts and games with liberal substitution patterns; now the games start to mean something, the final cuts coming, the trade discussions start to become relevant, and we’re all just ready to be done with this and start the season).
But anyway, never fear, we’re on the case, making calls, sending e-mails and texts, trying to see if we can get a tidbit from a team official here or a beat writer in another town there, something that might indicate a trade that’s brewing. I’ll report anything I hear as soon as I hear it, you can be assured.
In the meantime, we’ll try to include as much music talk as time allows, for the benefit of the certain fella with a South Georgia-flavored screen name who tactfully offered the blog-content suggestion yesterday.
On Friday night I’m going to the Band Of Horses show (that’s a concert, Maconboy, not an equestrian event) at the Social here in Orlando. Yes, there are some cool music events here - it’s just that most take place in the other side of Orlanopolis, a good 30-40 minutes from Dark Star and nearly an hour from the spring rental home of the Braves/MIB blog.
Great matchup tonight: Tim Hudson is set to face Detroit’s Justin Verlander tonight in the last of four night games this spring. But despite that tasty starting matchup, the Tigers and plenty of their more savvy fans will be playing closer attention to Braves relievers who might get in the game.
Specifically, Braves out-of-options relievers.
The Tigers are looking for bullpen help, and the Braves have four out-of-options relief pitchers - Blaine Boyer, Chris Resop, Tyler Yates, lefty Royce Ring - and have drawn trade interest from Detroit. To what degree, I can’t tell you on each guy. But obviously, a few other teams would snatch up one or more of those guys on waivers before they fell to the Tigers.
So a trade is possible. But likely? I’m not sure. Given Braves GM Frank Wren’s relationship with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, his former Marlins boss, it wouldn’t at all surprise me if the Braves and Tigers did another deal (they already did the Renteria-for-Jurrjens & Gorkys deal (Jurrjens & Gorkys - kind of sounds like the name of a cool band, doesn’t it?)
Here’s the thing. Wren likes good arms, values them a lot. So I can’t see the Braves allowing Boyer, Resop or Ring to be snatched up on waivers, and Bobby Cox likes Yates a lot, so same thing. Plus, they tendered the arb-eligible Yates this winter; I don’t know that a bad spring can change their thoughts about a guy they watched all last season and obviously thought enough of to retain.
The Braves have Jeff Bennett and Buddy Carlyle (BLOGMEISTER NOTE: Carlyle’s not out of options; found that out today] for a reliever/spot-starter role. I could see them sending both to Richmond to begin the season.
That would give the Braves room to carry, in addition to the bullpen certainties — Soriano, Moylan, Ohman, Acosta — three from the out-of-options gang of Boyer-Resop-Yates-Ring.
So you trade one of those guys and keep the others. Not too difficult.
As for the other moves…. Well, it gets stickier when you start trying to figure out what to do with out-of-options position guys including catcher Brayan Pena and first baseman Scott Thorman.
Joe Borchard’s had a great spring, but he’s on a minor league contract, so it seems likely, to me at least, that the Braves will send the outfielder to Richmond and call him up when they need a power bat during the season.
Prospect Brent Lillibridge has struggled mightily with the slider all spring, and the Braves will send him back to the minors for more seasoning, unless they really believe it’s a must to have a second backup middle-infielder from Day 1, in addition to Martin Prado.
Yes, I see them keeping Prado for the utility infield job, at least until Omar Infante is ready a month or so from now. And they might keep Prado around after that, depending what he does and the way things play out at other positions between now and then.
Fourth outfielder is still a race between Gregor Blanco and Josh Anderson, and the sense is that Blanco has moved ahead of Anderson. Both have options and can be sent to Richmond, whichever doesn’t make the team.
One possible scenario, and it’s just a possibility: Braves could keep Pena, since he would be snatched up in a hurry by a catcher-needy team (and there are plenty). They could keep him on the opening day roster as a third catcher and emergency OF/1B/3B (he’s not much more than serviceable defensively at any of those positions, but is serviceable).
Then you could keep either fine catch-and-throw man Clint Sammons, Corky Miller or Javy Lopez as primary backup catcher and not lose Pena on options, then also keep Thorman as backup first baseman (unless or until you can trade him for something), and just have Prado as your backup infielder at the other spots, with Lillibridge a call away if anything happens.
Or you could just keep Pena as backup catcher and use that extra spot (no Javy/Sammons/Corky) for a second backup infielder or, if you really want Borchard’s bat, keep him as a fifth outfielder (only plays the corners) and emergency 1B (he’s played it a bit in the past, with Florida. Not good there, but can play it, and it’d only be in an emergency).
So many ways it can go. Stay tuned.
Speaking of tunes….
”OLD SIDE OF TOWN” by Tom T. Hall
Ain’t it strange how people change and almost over night
Who once was a country girl is now a socialite
We’re proud for you but when you’re through and seek some common ground
Oh we miss you on the old side of town
We still drink cokes and tell old jokes and we bowl at splits and strikes
Country music still plays on a jukebox every night
Society is not for me but I can still be found oh we miss you on the old side of town
RSVP is not for me and black tie’s not my style
I thought you’d like to know cause you ain’t been here for awhile
We read about your tour de force we’re glad you get around
But we miss you on the old side of town
We still drink cokes and tell old jokes and we bowl at splits and strikes
George Jones is still a hero on the jukebox every night
Society is not for me but I can still be found oh we miss you on the old side of town
Babe we miss you on the old side of town
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