Sports Columnists

By Rock Preston

September 14, 2006 12:52 PM | Link to this

I can’t agree with you more Mark. He is an undisciplined fat free swinger who will only decline as he gets older. I know Terry Pendleton goes crazy watching him twist himself into the ground everytime he swings. Let’s get something for him while we can over the winter.

By Chris

September 14, 2006 01:19 PM | Link to this

This is a ridiculous suggestion. Why would you ever give up the potential greatest centerfielder of all time. His fielding alone must lower team ERAs a half run to a whole run. He has been hampered by injuries, a easily picked up fact, something that AJC sportswriters seem to miss or disregard consistently. Not only does he field and hit for power with the best, but he also has as many game winning RBIs and Pujols and Ortiz year in and year out. Trade away the many shortstop and outfield prospects we have for the pitching. And AJC sportswriters, stop making up tabloid-like articles to make up for no big stories to write about. PLEASE

By Chris (cont'd)

September 14, 2006 01:24 PM | Link to this

And dont forget our pitching staff for next year already looks like this: Hampton, Smoltz, Hudson, Chuck James, Thompson/Ramirez/Davies. Seems pretty dominating to me. Better than the rest of out division at least. Trade the Langerhans/K. Johnson/Prado/Pena Jr/Saltamacchias of this organization who are pretty much useless to us now with the incumbents in their positions for some bullpen help for Chris sake. Again, AJC sports writers has to be one of the dumbest groups in the nation.

By Kenny

September 14, 2006 01:50 PM | Link to this

Makes sense but who plays center? Who plays left? Who plays third after Chipper gets hurt again? Who plays second, short and first? Who pitches in relief? Who is the closer? There are lots of questions besides starting pitching. Most won’t be answered over the next several years of losing.

By Chris

September 14, 2006 01:52 PM | Link to this

You really do write columns specifically designed to make you look like a fool, don’t you? No Braves fan would ever advocate trading the best CF of his generation, a man who I personally believe has not even reached his offensive potential. It’s not like the man’s 37 and on his last leg. What, you couldn’t think of anything to anger Tech fans, so you went after Andruw instead?

By Kenny

September 14, 2006 01:56 PM | Link to this

Makes sense but who plays center? Who plays left? Who plays third after Chipper gets hurt again? Who plays second, short and first? Who pitches in relief? Who is the closer? There are lots of questions besides starting pitching. Most won’t be answered over the next several years of losing.

By ashley mccall

September 14, 2006 02:14 PM | Link to this

Brad you are one of my favorite writers but on this one you are wrong. Chipper is the one that should be traded.chip stays injured and andruw is putting up great numbers.Get the high paying chipper out of there then you will get a stong arm out there.Lots of teams would love to have a chipper.

By ashley mccall

September 14, 2006 02:21 PM | Link to this

Brad you are one of my favorite writers but on this one you are wrong. Chipper is the one that should be traded.chip stays injured and andruw is putting up great numbers.Get the high paying chipper out of there then you will get a stong arm out there.Lots of teams would love to have a chipper.

By Chris

September 14, 2006 02:23 PM | Link to this

There are 5 players on the Braves who are untradeable: Smoltz, Chipper, Andruw, Francouer and McCann. Anyone else is expendable, but trade one of those guys and you’ll see the attendance drop more than it already has. The Untouchables, I like to call them.

By ALL ARE FOOLS...

September 14, 2006 02:37 PM | Link to this

What a bunch of morons. Chris, your statement completely says why we should trade some of those players. Those players you mentioned make up half of the payroll. They are the reasons the Braves are strapped for cash and can’t go get anyone. Don’t say it’s Time Warner, because it’s not. The Brave’s payroll is almost 90 mill, which is MORE than enough to field a better team. Look at the Marlins or Twins. It’s about how you spend the 80 million, not being able to go to 100 mill. Had they gotten rid of Chip and Druw, we could have gotten a ton to make up some ground. Andruw has been great, but he had reached his max potential. Why not let another team pay 15 mill a year for him. His 15 mill is the same as the ENTIRE Marlins payroll. Can he beat the Marlins by himself?

By BirdMahn

September 14, 2006 04:33 PM | Link to this

ALL ARE FOOLS is the REAL fool here. How do you add by subtracting top tier players? Who plays the outfield FOOL? Oh, Diaz or Langerhans? We need MORE players like Andruw, not less! GMAFB

By BB FAN

September 14, 2006 04:51 PM | Link to this

I think Jones’ knee has been more problematic than has been reported. Then add his back injury, it’s not surprising he had a down year offensively. He was on pace for 44 HRs and 150 RBIs before his back injury. He still plays a great centerfield though. I hope he takes less money and stays in Atlanta. When healthy, he is awesome. And I think he will rebound next season.

By kenny d

September 14, 2006 07:17 PM | Link to this

i think i would trade frenchy. as exciting and tantalizing as he was last year, he has been just as disappointing this year. he should spend a lot less time thinking he is the coolest thing on the planet and more time understanding how to play the game. how does a guy with his speed have only one stolen base? he has less stolen bases than mccann for crying out loud. he is a butcher in the field. the footwork he displays on the field makes it very hard to believe that he was a prized DB prospect back in high school. i actually saw him play football in high school and he was incredible but he looks like a clumsy doof out there in right field. no footwork. no agility. frenchy is as bad defensively in right field as soriano is at second. and then you get to his lack of plate discipline and his relucatance to improve it. it drives you out of your mind. these days .260, 25, 100 with a .290 obp gets you only a couple of seasons in the majors before you get traded and waived right out of the league. he in the modern version of kevin maas. he truly does not seem to understand how to play the game. trade him now while somebody out there might still want him. The Natural. LOL!

By steve

September 14, 2006 07:30 PM | Link to this

Back in June I was saying we should trade a high price player, no not Andruw but one older and hurt all the time. We have to pay two players to play 3rd base. Chipper and his replacement make more than AJ. Chipper has never played the defense that Andruw plays and never will. Andruw will have more hr’s, rbi’s and runs scored than Chipper. No his obp and batting average will not be as high. Still AJ’s overall offense will be more productive and his defense will more than make up for his batting average. Let me see he saved 4, thats right 4 runs last night. So his offense was a big 4, right there. What did Chipper do? Oh yea he was the ra ra guy. Do we need piching? Yes we do! But without defense up the middle, your pitching will suffer. I believe the first thing Schurholz did when he began building in Atlanta was add defense for his prized pitchers. He did not go out and add a lot of offense. The Braves won on pitching boosted by the defense. Sid Bream was not the best hitting 1st baseman, but he was very good with the glove. I will tell you Laroach is that and more pop. Belliard was not much more than 245 hitter, but a good glove. So I suggest we need pitching but you don’t help pitchers by adding hitters. You help them by adding defense. We have some hitting, more than the early 90’s and we have pretty good defense. The late season hitting has come around except for some injuries. Our pitchers have not progressed all year. Some are worn out from overuse. The relief corp is a joke, we have 2-3 and the rest are sooooo undependable. They have caused the overuse of the few average relief pitchers we have. As for starters well Smoltz is tiring and injuried, and besides him, Chuck James is the only one showing life. Hudson? Who knows! He was declining the last year in Oakland. WE need a couple good starters and a couple relief pitchers back from the DL and everyone to be more consistant. BUT WE DO NOT TRADE ONE OF THE BEST DEFENSIVE CF’S IN BASEBALL. I believe he will sign below market value (10-12)to stay in Atlanta. Trade Chippers 15 mil instead and acquire an everyday 3rd baseman, with a glove.

By steve

September 14, 2006 07:33 PM | Link to this

I know most of you will not agree with me but none of us are the GM anyway

By Jason

September 14, 2006 11:31 PM | Link to this

I say if your gonna get rid of a Jones make it be the right one not the one that plays everyday rather he’s hurt or not. I say trade Chipper and Giles for some pitching sign Soriono to play 2nd and hit leadoff and resign Wickman and Baez atleast. But you never know what will happen we already traded our 3rd baseman of the future in Betemit.

By Normally a Bradley Basher

September 15, 2006 07:36 AM | Link to this

I cannot believe I am saying this - BUT I AGREE WITH HIS HOLINESS - Andruw has become more of a liability at the bat. Dump him and get ready for ‘07.

Keep up the good work Mark - hahahahahahahaha

By Vic from Chelsie

September 15, 2006 07:47 AM | Link to this

Andrew needs to go - needs to been gone.He is not the center fielder that he used to be, although he makes an outstanding catch occasionaly - does just enough to keep some thinking he is the greatest - I think he is ordinary.At the plate it looks like he doesn’t understand the game. A dead pull hitter that hits into more double plays and leavs more people in scoring position than anyone on the team. How does he have so many rbi’s -he has three players who are on base a lot playing in front of him. Langerhan would have as many rbi”s if he was batting in his place. And while we are on the subject - Giles is starting to remind me of Brett Boone - thinks he is a home run hitter.Again on Andrue - he is not a team player- just a self serving guy who hits some home runs -and not many when you need them. Actually probably retarded because he does have a lot of tallent. He is hitting about 258 now , so he will probably start going the other way with outside pitches intill he gets his average back to into the 280’s,so his not stupid but verry selfish. The situation is kind of sad. Vic

By Knockahoma

September 15, 2006 08:48 AM | Link to this

I would let him go in a heartbeat for some decent pitching prospects. His game has reached diminishing returns for the $ he makes. In addition, Frenchy & McCann will be looking to get paid in the next year or two so the Braves better find the money to keep them. Trading Andruw makes perfect sense.

JS had about as bad a year as a GM can have. He failed to get a closer in the offseason which paralyzed the team’s chances. Then he traded Betemit away for a utility infielder and rent-a-pitcher when the Braves were basically out of the playoff chase anyway. To top things off, Boston makes a good offer to take Andruw before his 10/5 kicked in and JS said no. The GM’s office laid a tremendous egg this year.

By journalist PENN

September 15, 2006 09:53 AM | Link to this

Knockahoma makes more sense than anyone on this blog.

Andruw has allowed himself to get out of shape and is showing no signs of getting control of his belly. Before I’d sign him again I’d put in a clause that any month he was over a he would forfeit $1 million. That ought to get his attention.

Pitching, (starting and the pen both), need some careful pruning and re-building.

The Braves are in fine shape at 1B, C and SS and will stick with Francoeur hoping he will eventually learn to find the strike zone. Incidentally I doubt he will ever be more than a “promising” outfielder.

Speaking of “promising” Andruw has had ten years of “promise” so far as his batting average is concerned. If he would only be satisfied to hit a single or double to right with the bases loaded, his value would go up dramatically. But he always swings for the fences…always.

They should keep Diaz who is capable of playing left field on a regular basis or being the best reserve outfielder in baseball.

Langerhans will never be more than a AAAA player.

Giles should be traded in the off season.

Chipper should be utilized as a reserve infield/outfielder/pinch hitter. Perhaps that would save him from injury all the time. Better still maybe they could talk him into a trade to an American League club as a DH, much like Jim Thomey. He would be a very serviceable player in that role and could extend his career a few more years.

And they should hire McCann’s father as a special coach, perhaps as the regular hitting coach.

By Ray

September 15, 2006 10:13 AM | Link to this

Andrew has been both fun and frustrating to watch for the last ten years. Fun for the defense and the flashes of power, and frustrating for his lack of patience at the plate, though he has improved on that the last couple seasons. Since it is his contract year, he will likely have a big one next year, so he can either have it in the ATL and walk, with the Braves getting nothing, or we can trade him for some good young arms that win us more ballgames. I’d trade him. Remember, as much as I loved Dale Murphy as a kid, we kept him two years too long and got nothing in return when the Braves traded him.

And speaking of patience at the plate, Francoeur has to start taking pitches, or he will be done in two years. You can survive in the majors with a .295 OBP…if you are the best defensive shortstop or catcher in the game. Not so if you’re the right fielder.

Even if you believe Hampton is coming back healthy, or that Smoltz has one more good one left in him, or that Hudson will bounce back (or was possibly hiding an injury), you can never assume that pitchers will stay healthy. You need as many good arms as possible. I love you Andrew and it has been a fun ten years, but business is business. Trade him and get the arms.

By Larry

September 15, 2006 10:13 AM | Link to this

They should have traded Andruw 30 pounds ago!

By Real World

September 15, 2006 11:25 AM | Link to this

JS F’d up big time by not seeing the writing on the wall before the trading deadline. He should have known when Reitsma was unable to be a closer and we were 10 games back in June, to pack it in. Why we have Andruw, Chipper and Smoltz on this team eating up over $37 million in salary is a travesty. See the big picture folks, Andruw is a year or two away max from not being physically able to play centerfield. He is 29, but his weight is going to make his back and knee problems worse and you can expect to start seeing him tear his groin and hamstring muscles. Its just nature, he is going to start breaking down soon and I don’t see him being the kind of guy to get on a Julio Franco fitness regime. You’ve seen the same with Chipper. He is a 100 game a year player now. Smoltz is basically fried as well. He can dominate at times but not for the entire season. Please people open your eyes. These guys have (had) trade value and we desperately need young arms to rebuild our franchise. If you are under the addled impression that a Rotation of Smoltz (always nursing injury)/ Hudson (just plain average)/ Hampton (coming off major surgery)/ Ramirez (always hurt)/ James/Davies (second year players)is going to scare anybody, you are wrong. If we are very fortunate they may bounce back and have a good ‘07 but nothing would lead me to be very optimistic. Our offense provided very well for them this year and the pitcing just got hammered. We desperately need some strong young arms in our system as we aren’t getting rid of Frenchy,to get them. He is cheap and can still get better.

I wish Smoltz, Chipper and Andruw could rebound and have a great ‘07, but the stats don’t point to it and you have to be smart in this new economy. You have to cut expensive players loose if they are not performing to a maximum level. And sadly these guys aren’t.

By Thomas

September 15, 2006 11:26 AM | Link to this

The only reason I would trade Andruw Jones is if A)We knew we couldn’t resign him or B)because our team payroll is hamstrung by his contract. Now I know how much Mike Hampton makes, but nobody is going to take his contract. No, Andruw has not become the player we all thought he was going to be, but I challenge you to watch any other baseball game and compare the centerfield defense to that of Andruw’s. There is no comparison (other than maybe Torii Hunter) between how many balls he gets to and how few the other cf gets to. Scheurholz deserves far more credit than some of the people in this forum are giving him. Why would we trade Prado (future 2b or ss), Pena Jr. (future 2b or ss), or Saltamachia (future c, 1b or of)? The goal of this organization isnt to make it to the playoffs just this year or next year, the goal is to make it the next 15 years! What if in 1993 we had decided to win the world series THAT YEAR? Could you imagine how great our team would have been if we had traded Chipper, Klesko, Javy Lopez, Jermain Dye and others? Or if we had traded Andruw during the 1996 season? Im not saying the kids in our farm system are this good, but our scouting deserves the benefit of the doubt that these kids can play ball. Look at our current crop! Francoeur, Mccann, Laroche, James, Davies and others. This was a bad year, but OUR team has been to the playoffs every year since 1991. Im not giving up, Im just saying that despite only winning one world series during that stretch this team has always been in the top 6 in the sport. The Pittsburgh Steelers hadn’t won a super bowl since the 1970’s, yet they win it last year and they are considered the class of the sport. Nobody complains about how they didn’t win a super bowl a quarter century. The fact is that the management of this team will give us the opportunity to be right back in at all next season. My only gripe about our run is that the bullpen is consistent every 3-5 years and that hurts. Although, even if we had Bob Wickman all season we still wouldn’t have been a championship team. So many things that we did in previous years, we just didnt do this year. Comeback victories, clutch hitting, pitching health-none of it was there. Ramirez, Hampton, Thomson, Davies, Mcbride, Boyer, Devine and Boylen could have made huge additions to our team. That is 4 consistent starting pitchers to lessen the burden of the bullpen and 4 relief pitchers that were expected to be set-up men, if not closers. During the off-season we are going to get those guys back (provided they are resigned or not traded), inherit a new crop of rookies from our great farm system, and have the trading chips of potentially, Marcus Giles, Andruw Jones, Tim Hudson and other parts of our roster. For now (and ONLY now) listen to your firends and foes. Let them trash our team and praise their own teams (who have such splendid records since 1991) like the Reds, Dodgers, Padres, Mets, Tigers and others. Id rather be 14 out of 15 than 1 or 2 out of 15. And we have full reason to believe that we will make it 15 out of 16 next season. I wouldnt trade our future with any of those teams that are going to the playoffs this year. Don’t be typical Atlanta fans and say how bad we suck, just because we didn’t win EVERY game that we played.

ps: Thank you Atlanta Braves, you have always been there for me from the time I was 9 yrs old and moving every two years because of the army. I will be cheering my heart out for you win or lose for the rest of this year and the next. Like I always have.

By Thomas

September 15, 2006 11:34 AM | Link to this

The only reason I would trade Andruw Jones is if A)We knew we couldn’t resign him or B)because our team payroll is hamstrung by his contract. Now I know how much Mike Hampton makes, but nobody is going to take his contract. No, Andruw has not become the player we all thought he was going to be, but I challenge you to watch any other baseball game and compare the centerfield defense to that of Andruw’s. There is no comparison (other than maybe Torii Hunter) between how many balls he gets to and how few the other cf gets to. Scheurholz deserves far more credit than some of the people in this forum are giving him. Why would we trade Prado (future 2b or ss), Pena Jr. (future 2b or ss), or Saltamachia (future c, 1b or of)? The goal of this organization isnt to make it to the playoffs just this year or next year, the goal is to make it the next 15 years! What if in 1993 we had decided to win the world series THAT YEAR? Could you imagine how great our team would have been if we had traded Chipper, Klesko, Javy Lopez, Jermain Dye and others? Or if we had traded Andruw during the 1996 season? Im not saying the kids in our farm system are this good, but our scouting deserves the benefit of the doubt that these kids can play ball. Look at our current crop! Francoeur, Mccann, Laroche, James, Davies and others. This was a bad year, but OUR team has been to the playoffs every year since 1991. Im not giving up, Im just saying that despite only winning one world series during that stretch this team has always been in the top 6 in the sport. The Pittsburgh Steelers hadn’t won a super bowl since the 1970’s, yet they win it last year and they are considered the class of the sport. Nobody complains about how they didn’t win a super bowl a quarter century. The fact is that the management of this team will give us the opportunity to be right back in at all next season. My only gripe about our run is that the bullpen is consistent every 3-5 years and that hurts. Although, even if we had Bob Wickman all season we still wouldn’t have been a championship team. So many things that we did in previous years, we just didnt do this year. Comeback victories, clutch hitting, pitching health-none of it was there. Ramirez, Hampton, Thomson, Davies, Mcbride, Boyer, Devine and Boylen could have made huge additions to our team. That is 4 consistent starting pitchers to lessen the burden of the bullpen and 4 relief pitchers that were expected to be set-up men, if not closers. During the off-season we are going to get those guys back (provided they are resigned or not traded), inherit a new crop of rookies from our great farm system, and have the trading chips of potentially, Marcus Giles, Andruw Jones, Tim Hudson and other parts of our roster. For now (and ONLY now) listen to your firends and foes. Let them trash our team and praise their own teams (who have such splendid records since 1991) like the Reds, Dodgers, Padres, Mets, Tigers and others. Id rather be 14 out of 15 than 1 or 2 out of 15. And we have full reason to believe that we will make it 15 out of 16 next season. I wouldnt trade our future with any of those teams that are going to the playoffs this year. Don’t be typical Atlanta fans and say how bad we suck, just because we didn’t win EVERY game that we played.

ps: Thank you Atlanta Braves, you have always been there for me from the time I was 9 yrs old and moving every two years because of the army. I will be cheering my heart out for you win or lose for the rest of this year and the next. Like I always have.

By Jeff C

September 15, 2006 02:17 PM | Link to this

One Name: Frank Robinson The Cincinatti Reds traded Frank Robinson to Baltimore because he was an “old 30”. Need I say more?

By ayersling

September 15, 2006 02:53 PM | Link to this

How many starting pitchers do we need? James is performing so he should be a keeper. Then there’s Smoltz, Huddie, Davies, Ramirez, and Hampton. Our pitching has been murdered with injuries in case anyone hasn’t noticed it. We had to lose a division sooner or later. Don’t jump off the bandwagon so soon. Druw might want to resign with us and who knows what Liberty might be willing to budget out for the Braves. Besides, you might NOT EVER see a better center fielder? His average dropped off a little because of a hurt back, also. You can’t predict health and if he stays healthy, he hits .280 with 40 HR’s and 125 RBI’s. Trade him for who? I desperately want to see him retire a Brave with 600 plus homeruns. Pay the man, please.

By Chad W

September 15, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this

I agree that we need to trade Jones, but I think your picking the wrong one. Andruw plays everyday (with pain), and at a high level. Can you say the same thing about Chipper? NO! The Braves need to trade Chipper for a pitcher instead of Andruw. He plays about twice a week, on average, which would = the playing time of a starting pitcher.

By mt

September 15, 2006 05:27 PM | Link to this

Mark u must be a racist why pick on Andrew and not Chipper who barely plays cause he is hurt all the time. If u people can use that excuse for T. Moore we can use it for Bradley