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The 2013 Atlanta Braves Thread:


hokie07
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its gonna happen the biggest choke team in the history of baseball

 

magic number still 4 and the Nats are 8 back now. They have gained 7 games in a week.

 

wtf? is there some sort of september curse in play here ???

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They backed into the division title with the Nats loss. Hopefully, they can get themselves together and actually do something in the playoffs; home field would be HUGE.

I wouldn't exaxtly call 91-63 and being ahead by 8.5 games in the NL East backing in.  And it looks like the Braves are winning today ahead by 3 in the 9th.  

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I wouldn't exaxtly call 91-63 and being ahead by 8.5 games in the NL East backing in.  And it looks like the Braves are winning today ahead by 3 in the 9th.  

 

Agreed.  90+ wins, best record in the NL right now, and in good position for home field advantage with 7 games at home to close the season.  All that with the crazy amount of injuries and make shift lineups that have been thrown together for basically all season is unbelievable.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
 
 
 
 

I pretty much wrote off last night before it happened because I knew it would be virtually impossible to beat Kershaw if the Dodgers put any runs on the board.

 

A couple thoughts:

 

1.) We need an ace . The only arguable one is Tim Hudson possibly, but that's stretching it, and he isn't pitching for obvious reasons.  Medlen isn't an ace.  Neither is Teheran and Minor.  Possibly in the future but not right now. Our bullpen makes up for it in a lot of ways, but you can't hide it in the playoffs.  We're at a huge disadvantage when you go into a series (and especially a short series like LAD) against Kershaw/Wainwright, etc. Those are almost automatic losses unless the bats go crazy.

 

2.) Gattis is a gaping liability in left field. You can try to hide him there, but again, in the playoffs those things are almost always exposed.  We need him in the lineup, but we're definitely strapped with him there. 

 

3.) I'm not an Uggla fan, and I don't think it'll make a huge difference this series, but to leave him off the this roster is a move I don't like. I'm not saying start him, but Elliot Johnson is far from a gold glove (who had 3 K's last night), Yanish is a waste at the plate but a little better defensively, and BJ Upton is a waste too who brings basically nothing to the table.  Fast, but average at base running and fielding too... and let's not mention his hitting.  As bad as Uggla's average is, he still had a decent OBP, drew a lot of walks, and if he happened to get lucky and touch a ball it was gone.  High risk high reward, but one that I'd probably would've taken if I was Gonzalez.  

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Glad the Braves were able to hang-on last night; a loss would have meant the series was over. Needless to say, ATL must steal one in LA and I believe they must win Game 3. Looking forward, anxiously and excitedly, for Teheran's first career playoff start. He is ATL's current best hope, I feel, for a future ace and he can start his movement into that role on Sunday.

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Kershaw's going in dry tonight, boys.

I was about ready to post about this. The Dodgers are pitching Kershaw and the Braves are pitching Garcia? Enjoy tonight because we will not see the Braves play again until Spring Training. Tonight the injures to Hudson and Beachy finally do in the Bravos.

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Yep, what a disgraceful end to the season sitting here watching Freddy Garcia start in an elimination game.  In true Atlanta Braves fashion, we should be pretty good "next year."

 

We've got a ton of relievers we can trade this offseason for a few missing pieces.  Maybe Beachy can return to form and make the push to be our true ace.  Hudson will help again, and BJ Upton can't possibly play this bad again next season.  I said the same thing about Uggla for the past few years and it never happened but I'll try to stay positive with BJ. 

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Very disappointing end to the season. But typical. The Braves haven't won a playoff series since the Clinton presidency, despite making 7 of them since then. I congratulated my Dodgers friends before this series even started.

 

Will we be there next year? Washington won't be this bad next year. Will the Pirates or Reds be this good or better?

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Would be surprised to see McCann return. Uggla needs to go along with Maholm and we need to get a guy or two that is capable of hitting for average. Homerun hitters are great, but a lineup full of such means all or nothing, no in-between. Here we are again in early October talking about next year...

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Slight problem with this "GET RID OF UGGLA" stuff: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/ugglada01.shtml#contracts

 

The Braves still owe him $13 mil/year for two more years.  He ain't going anywhere, fellas, unless it's to AAA ball.  Hate to say it.  

 

Agreed for the most part, legend, but I think we could trade him for a bag of baseballs maybe.  Seriously though, I think we have a small shot at getting rid of him if we eat the majority of his contract like we did with Derek Lowe to Cleveland.  If we somehow could get $3-4 million a year and only eat about $8-9 million of his contract then I think we win in the long run.  Any little bit of money saved is better used towards anything and its a lot better than it sitting on the bench or playing in Gwinnett like Uggla could conceivably be doing. 

 

My off-season thoughts and hopes:

 

Not real reach here, but I'd bet anything we've seen the last of McCann as a Brave as he's off to the AL to get paid and catch/DH for the rest of his career.  Enter the Gattis and/or the Bethancourt era with Laird playing spot duty.  The money we don't spend on McCann would be better served for extending the younger guys like Heyward, Freeman, Kimbrel, Simmons, etc.  

 

I'd love to see us go after a top pitcher to solidify our #1 spot, but this year's FA pitching market sucks and we can't afford (literally and figuratively) to trade for a big arm.  I still like the overall rotation we have going for us and we have the possibility of Beachy, Teheran, Medlen, or Minor to step up and develop into top of the league caliber guys, its just a matter of doing it. I'd take someone like Josh Johnson who was a top guy in Miami but got hurt in Toronto.  He's a low risk/high reward type veteran that could do a lot for the pitching staff.  Same with Tim Hudson.  I love him, but he's 39 and his ERA has increased each of the last 4 years.  Not sure how much gas he has left in the tank.  

 

I know we have problems at 2B but I'm not sure if its worth going deep into our pockets or throwing players at a trade for a huge name there either.  A healthy Ramiro Pena, Tommy La Stella being called up, or even a slightly improved Dan Uggla and/or Elliot Johnson should fill the void there.  Same with the OF.  An average BJ Upton would solve a lot of problems too.

 

I like Chris Johnson and he and Freeman were the only ones on the roster who hit for average, but I'd honestly think about throwing him on the trade block and seeing what we could field this off-season.  His trade value right now is probably as high as it'll ever be and we may get some interesting bites.  Just a suggestion though.

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People b*tchin about Freddy Garcia after the game is just dumb.  He pitched his arse off in that game.  I felt like earlier they rushed Beachy back when it wasnt necessary with the lead they had in the division.  Maybe his elbow still has the issues if they waited til closer to September to bring him back, maybe not.  No one knows.  It sure hurt not having him or Huddie available.  The big games seems to big for Medlin though, but in reality he needs to be a #4 or #5 starter, and will be if Beachy is ready to go out of spring.  I dont know if we bring Huddie back or not.  Probably depends on whether he takes a hometown discount.  If he does, we probably shop Maholm.   

 

I wish there was a way to move Uggs and maybe there is, but its probably going to cost 8-9 mil a year to do so.  Hate to see McCann go, but thats probably whats going to happen.  I think I would tell BJ to not even pick up  a bat this winter.  He doesn't even know what he is doing at the plate anymore.  Guessing at pitches and has so many changes to his swing its sad.  3 months away from the game and start fresh at camp.  It sure wouldn't hurt any with as much as they have tried tweaking during the season.

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