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Monday, December 22, 2008
Braves’ stockings lacking; our top CDs of 2008
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Braves general manager Frank Wren is hitting the Colorado slopes with his family this week, but I think it’s probably safe to assume his crackberry will be on his person at all times, just in case.
He would’ve preferred to have most of the offseason heavy lifting done by now, but Wren did warn us early on he might not be able to get the outfield bat he sought until spring training or even during the season.
But a top starting pitcher and a run-producing outfielder? The Braves didn’t anticipate going to the new year with both those priority needs unresolved.
There’s no reason to sugarcoat it: This has been a difficult, troublesome offseason for the Braves, whose trade talks for Jake Peavy stalled, whose big offer to A.J. Burnett fell short, and whose nearly finalized deal for leadoff man Rafael Furcal fell apart after the Braves said Furcal and his agent reneged on a “gentleman’s agreement” (the agent says there was no agreement, despite the Braves saying they faxed, at the agent’s request, a “term sheet” — considered the final step in a deal, after all terms have been negotiated).
Anyway, that’s done and there’s nothing the Braves can do about it. There’s still time for the Braves to make a couple of moves and fill their needs. No, there really is.
But the Furcal thing was a figurative punch to the gut for the Braves. Furcal re-signed with the L.A. Dodgers, and it became quite apparent that was where he wanted to be all along, despite whatever might have been said about him wanting to come back to play again for Atlanta and Bobby Cox.
The reason that deal falling through was so difficult to take for the Braves was not just because they thought they had their leadoff inconsistency erased with the return of one of the majors’ best top-of-the-order hitters, but also because the addition of Furcal would’ve given the Braves the flexibility to move in a few different directions this winter, depending on what other trade possibilities presented themselves.
They could’ve played Furcal at shortstop or moved him to second base and had Yunel Escobar stay at shortstop, with Kelly Johnson either going to the outfield or possibly traded in a later deal for a starting pitcher or a power-hitting outfielder.
Other, more radical options might have been considered, too, such as asking Chipper Jones if he’d consider moving to first base if a team was interested in trading for Casey Kotchman. Escobar has third-base experience, having played there when he was first brought up from the minors to fill in for an injured Chipper in 2007.
(Could you imagine the number of screaming throws made to first base in every game from a left side of the infield consisting of third baseman Escobar and shortstop Furcal, two of the strongest-armed infielders in the majors? Whoever handled first-base duties in that scenario would’ve needed a specially padded glove.)
Alas, Furcal’s not coming, so we’re only left to wonder what might have happened, who might have been subsequently traded, etc.
And now, the Braves are trying again to land a run-producing outfielder, and still have indicated no interest in the likes of Adam Dunn and Pat Burrell. Might that change due to circumstances? Perhaps, but I’ve heard nothing to make be think it has changed yet. We’ll see in the coming weeks.
I also haven’t heard that the Braves have expressed any serious interest in Derek Lowe or any interest at all in Ben Sheets, but if they still see getting a true “ace” to be a priority, well, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they at least monitored the Lowe situation to see whether his asking price drops the way some believe it will, and also how serious the Red Sox and/or Yankees might go after Lowe.
As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the Braves are still squarely in the bidding for 33-year-old Kenshin Kawakami, a former winner of Japan’s Cy Young Award equivelent and a right-hander projected as a middle-rotation starter in the majors.
If the Braves could land him, they’d still lack an ace, but would presumably have three quality starters in Jair Jurrjens, Javier Vazquez and Kawakami, with the last couple of spots up for graps among the likes of Charlie Morton, Tommy Hanson, Jorge Campillo and, if he returns to pitch and returns the Braves, John Smoltz by perhaps May or June. And also, if he pitches again, Tom Glavine.
I still believe they really need to do all they can to get an ace, whether that’s Jake Peavy (which seems increasingly unlikely), or Lowe, or someone who might be available that we don’t even know about yet.
Just as we didn’t see the Furcal thing coming, it’s hard to predict what turn this unusual Braves offseason will take next. Wren has indicated that he’s not going to be as forthcoming henceforward with information regarding whom the Braves might have interest in, as he believes such information might have worked against the Braves so far this offseason.
In other words, it sounds like he’s determined to keeps things closer to the vest, more like the way John Schuerholz always ran such a tight ship (although in this day and age, that’s probably easier said than done).
So tell me, what do you think the Braves should do in terms of big moves the rest of the winter, and what do you think they will do? And remember, what might seem far-fetched to some might actually be within reason, given that the Braves are one of a handful of teams that actually have quite a bit of money to spend in a market that might end up including some bargains due to the lousy real-world economy that appears to finally be spilling over into baseball.
Before we go: Taking some vacation time (it began Saturday, despite this blog) and headed to Colorado on Christmas Dau. But before we go, as promised, our annual list of my top 50 CDs of the year. My rules are simple: It’s got to be a CD I possess in its entirety, not something I simply heard or read was good, not one I downloaded one or two songs from or heard on the radio.
Yes, that means there are going to be some good or even great ones that I missed, that I didn’t procure (so far) or decided I didn’t want to spent full suggested retail price on without hearing on a listening station or whatever. Some not listed here got great critical reviews, but I just didn’t like ‘em. Or there might be one or two I just forgot came out this year or overlooked when I was going through my stacks of music today trying to come up with this list.
Also, I’m aware that the Drive-By Truckers and James McMurtry CDs didn’t show up on many best-of-2008 lists in major music magazines or websites, or at least weren’t ranked highly. Doesn’t matter to me. They should have been. (Keep in mind, some of those lists included the entirely mediocre Guns n’ Roses CD in the top 25 or whatever, which is just ridiculous.)
My favorite country CD of the year: Alabaman Jamey Johnson’s hard country, old-school record, The Lonesome Song (just got this recently, and it’s so good I had to move it ahead of Hayes Carll’s Trouble In Mind.)
Favorite R&B CD: Raphael Saddiq’s The Way I See it. Has an authentic Motown or Stax vibe to it.
Favorite CD by an Atlanta band: Probably Deerhunter’s Microcastle, but only by a nose over the strong Gentlemen Jesse debut. Another great year for Atlanta bands, with CDs by the Whigs, the Selmanaires, Dead Confederate, and Anna Kramer & the Lost Cause all good enough for consideration on my list (though they didn’t make it).
Without further ado, the Top 50 of 2008:
Album of the Year: My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges; 2. Bob Dylan, Tell Tale Signs, Bootleg Series Vol. 8; 3. Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark; 4. James McMurtry, Just Us Kids; 5. TV On The Radio, Dear Science; 6. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazurus Dig!!! 7. Kings of Leon, Only By the Night; 8. Deerhunter, Microcastle; 9. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive, 10. R.E.M., Accelerate; 11. Jamey Johnson, The Lonesome Song; 12. Hayes Carll, Trouble In Mind; 13. Okkervil River, The Stand-Ins 14. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, Cardinology; 15. The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust; 16. Gentleman Jesse, Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men 17. Santogold Santogold 18. Allison Moorer, Mockingbird; 19. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes; 20. The Raconteurs, Consolers of the Lonely;
No. 21. Portishead, Third; 22. Raphael Saddiq, The Way I See It; 23. The Magnetic Fields, Distortion; 24. Beck, Modern Guilt; 25. Lucinda Williams, Little Honey; 26. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago; 27. Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue; 28. Girl Talk, Feed The Animals; 29. Calexico, Carried to Dust; 30. The Black Keys, Attack & Release; 31. Wolf Parade, At Mount Zoomer; 32. Sun Kil Moon, April; 33. Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst; 34. Nas,Untitled; 35. The Roots, Rising Down; 36. Elbow; The Seldom Seen Kid; 37. John Mellencamp, Life, Death, Love & Freedom; 38. Black Kids, Partie Traumatic; 39. Mates of State, Re-Arrange Us; 40. Metallica, Death Magnetic;
No. 41. No Age, Nouns; 42. She & Him, Volume One; 43. Mudcrutch, Mudcrutch; 44. Q-Tip, The Renaissance; 45. Aimee Main, @#%&*! Smilers; 46. Blitzen Trapper, Furr; 47. Pretenders, Break Up The Concrete; 48. Susan Tedeschi, Back To The River; 49. North Mississippi Allstars, Hernando 50. The Gutter Twins, Saturnalia.
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY
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