MLB Winter Meetings: Yankees swooping in for the kill

[sources mlb.com]

There is competition out in Vegas for pitcher AJ Burnett. Mark Bowman writes that the Yankees are going to make an offer that will beat the Braves offer. Then it will be decision time for Wren; do you counter attack or just lick your wounds in defeat? It is clear that there are pros and cons to having Burnett. For one he could be a solid addition to the staff in the 1 hole next year with the absence of Hudson, but as a long term ace there are doubts about his health. I would like the braves to continue to compete over Burnett while still remembering that sinking big money into a pitcher won't solve all our problems.

However, the biggest reason to continue to compete over Burnett is it may help convince Peavy that we are taking winning seriously. Perhaps that may sway him to waive his no-trade-clause in favour of Atlanta. That is a big hope since only Jebus knows what the hell is going on out there in wilds of San Diego.

Hang in their Wren, show those blow hard Stank-ees that you got a spine - if only to get Peavy.


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MLB Winter Meetings: Woooo! News a Plenty out of Vegas

[SOURCES ESPN] [ESPN] [ESPN] [MLB]


I woke up this morning to check my feeds, and it seems, unlike me, the GM's and agents out in Vegas have been more busy than I anticipated.
The Mets, the Braves arch nemesis, are closing on a big deal to send K-Rod, Francisco Rodriguez, to the Big Apple. This scares the crap out of me. He was by far the most dominant closer last year, sorry Brad Lidge you're good too. Bringing in another big-time closer into the NL East is just going to make the division tighter, and this is definitely a play to get back at the Phillies. The Braves seem to be falling farther and farther behind in the bullpen. Mike Gonzalez is a fine young closer, but you line him up with the other two guys, and I'd take K-Rod or Lidge any day.

Now a word from Braves camp. Bobby Cox is speaking out about the pitching staff. Cox very blatantly said, "You can't win unless you have good pitching, and we lost everybody last year." [mlb.com]. That is a lot to digest, but he is right. I have been going on about getting a big bat, which we desperately need, but in the end we also really need one more big name pitcher. I think Bobby may be worried about our ability to compete over Burnett, a concern that is warranted. We will just have to see.

More news from Vegas around the National League, including a flurry of activity from the Dodgers. Casey Blake is to resign for 3yr's $17 million, and the Dodgers also picked up veteran 2nd baseman Mark Loretta for $1.25 million over 1 year(cheapo). I think Blake is definitely a keeper. He plays hard and can be clutch, kudos to the Dodgers for keeping him around. The only down side is that it is just more money the Dodgers are going to be sending down the hole. Their payroll is extreme, and a lot of the players they pay big bucks to end up sitting out and riding the bench. The Loretta pick up is a little strange. I can see how they want someone to back up Kent who is injury prone, but I would think a younger player would be better. It is likely they don't have the homegrown talent for that yet, so it looks like the Dodgers will be playing some age over at 2nd this year.

The Dodgers aren't done yet. Word on the street is that they are highly interested in CC Sabathia. The Dodger GM boasts that he thinks CC wants to play in LA [cite espn.com], I could believe that. Not having to pay Manny next year could just make CC affordable. All reports from CC seem to indicate he wants to play in the NL where he can hit and live in a warm city. LA fits both of those needs. I am not convinced this will eventually be his final landing spot, as the Yankees and Red Sox have a lot of money to throw around. Should Sabathia end up in the National League, as Johan Santana did last year, we could be looking at one overly dominant pitcher after another next season. If teams like the Dodgers are willing to throw around bundles of money to land the superstars, expect more pressure on Frank Wren to pull the trigger on big names to keep pace.

That's the news so far. Keep an eye to the west, all sorts of shenanigans is going down.

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MLB Winter Meetings: Getting Big Bats. Blood Sucking Bats.

[sources mlb.com] [baseball-reference.com] [rotoworld.com]


I am beginning to worry about the Braves' hitting situation. It is a well-known fact that the Braves are missing a big bat in the lineup, especially in the outfield. Reports out of Las Vegas have things moving slowly. No big trades on the first day, and a contract offer to A.J. Burnett was a nice move... but what about the bats? The big bats? The big blood sucking bats that make pitchers shake in their knees because they got to face Chipper? Well, let's see. We are not in the hunt for Manny, unless we find an extra 200 million dollars laying around in Ted Turner's former office. We pass on Adam Dunn. Ok, the strikeouts are a little much. So what do the Braves do? What they always seem to do: look for the big trade.

So who does it look like we could get?

Rick Ankiel (.264, 25, 71)
Corey Hart (.268, 20, 91)
Jeremy Hermida (.248, 17, 61)

Now those are not the kind of numbers I hope the team would be getting, but some good players with a lot of potential. One name in particular stands out, Jeremy Hermida. Hermida is from the Atlanta area, played ball with McCann and Francoeur, and would instantly fit into our clubhouse. It doesn't surprise me this guy is in the mix because he is up for arbitration at the end of the season. Due to his Atlanta roots, the Braves probably have a good shot at re-signing him at a reasonable price at the end of the season. He will be a good addition, that is, if he can stay healthy. He has had his injury spells, but for a team that stuck it out with Mike Hampton for so long, only to see him leave for Houston, Hermida may seem "as strong as an ox."
I do think Hermida would make a great addition, the benefit would far out-weigh the risk. In the end, he still doesn't really fit the Braves' need other than the fact that he plays outfield and he may hit slightly better than the guys we threw out there last year. There is a deeper problem. First off, the majority of the hitters listed are left-handed hitters. Which does not complement Chipper and McCann. That would be too many lefties in a row, any way you slice it. That leaves Chipper (who is best from the left side) and McCann still hitting back to back. In the late innings, managers will bring in a single left handed pitcher to face down both Chipper and McCann- instead of having to use two. Lefty relievers do not come in bulk, particularly the good ones. Unfortunately, none of those players named really fit that role, with the exception of Ankiel. Who is definitely the stud of that stud pack, but I think he requires more time in another posting.

In the end it may be the case that we don't land the truly blood-sucking slugger we all hope for. For now, it seems we will be content with big talk of big pitchers. A word of advice from a fan to Wren:

Pitchers win games, but it always ends with someone at bat.

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MLB Winter Meetings: A Contract Offer to Burnett

Mark Bowman, the Braves beat blogger for mlb.com, is reporting that the Braves have offered A.J. Burnett a 4-year deal with a 5th year option. There were no numbers, but we can assume that they are impressive, but not Yankee or Red Sox impressive. With the Yankees offering heaven and hell to CC Sabathia, the Red Sox perhaps looking backwards to Lowe and east to Japan, I am going to be optimistic about our chances of landing Burnett. We are definitely a more attractive landing pad with the acquisition of Javy Vazquez. And with the Peavy musk still in the air, things could be looking up for the starting rotation.

UPDATE: Appears the deal is worth $15M per year, and that fifth year option sets the Braves' offer apart from that of other teams.



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