Braves thoughts
Despite my lifelong love of baseball, I have a hard time writing about it. The logical positivist part of my brain tells me that it’s pointless to talk about what hasn’t happened yet. No one knows what’s going to happen this season, and the people who are considered “experts” at knowing it are really just as clueless–if more shrill–than the rest. This theory, in case you hadn’t noticed, invalidates about 90% of sports yakking and is why I’ve taken the liberating step of not listening to much of it anymore.
So what’s a rational being to do? Ask the same unanswerable questions everyone else is asking? It seems like a bad idea, and yet what else do we talk about? To make myself feel better, I’ll avoid phrasing them in the form of a question. So here, in a declarative fashion, are the points I’m thinking about as the season ramps up.
No TBS coverage. A few years ago I would have been crushed at the prospect of TBS not showing Braves games. It won’t be a problem anymore, since MLB.tv will let me watch them all. Sliced bread has absolutely nothing on MLB.tv, as I’m sure I’ll be saying over and over again this summer. Why I can’t already watch the NHL, the Premier League, and Sumo on a similar arrangement is beyond me. Someone let me know when these sports arrive in the 21st century. (one other sport I like gets the streaming thing right: curling)
Starting pitching. There’s little question in anyone’s mind that the lack of pitching cost the Braves a lot of games. The lack of quality starts for anyone not named Smoltz or Hudson was excruciating and seemed only to get worse by the end of the year. This year, numbers 3 thru 5 in the rotation aren’t without question marks, but the signs are good. Tom Glavine back in a Braves uni can only bring good karma, even if he isn’t the pitcher he was when he left. Maybe you’d heard that Mike Hampton’s had some injury trouble? With only a couple weeks of spring left, there seems to be optimism that he’s actually going to throw pitches in a major league ballgame. And while nothing’s final yet, Jair Jurrjens appears to be the real deal and the fifth starter. The specters of Redman, Davies, and 2007-model Hampton remind us that nothing is a sure bet. Even so, I give the team credit for actually trying to field more talent, rather than the duct-tape-and-chicken-wire approach they’ve had the last couple years.
Tex. Getting Mark Texiera last year was huge, but we have to face facts. He’s going to make tons of money in 2009, and it’s overwhelmingly likely that it won’t be in Atlanta. It’s a no-fault situation created by the weird economics of the game. If Wren can find a way to get this done and keep him here, he might make a case for himself as a world-class GM.
Chipper. By the time he’s done, he will be considered both an elite third basemen and an elite switch-hitter. Putting aside the stats, he’s the guy who’s renegotiated his contract to bring more talent into the organization. He isn’t always a high-profile guy, but he is the heart of this team, and we’d all do well to pay attention while he’s still here.
Frenchy and McCann. I can’t tell yet if these two are for real. Georgia boys make good, sign with the Braves, come up together, become superstars together. It’s made for the Life section of the paper, which makes me think it’s a little suspect. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want it to be true. The Braves seem to be betting that both will be top-tier players, and I will be thrilled if they’re right.
Yesco. Yunel Escobar was good enough to convince the Braves that they could afford to unload the mighty Edgar Renteria. Of course there was money involved, but it won’t stop the team from looking stupid if he doesn’t pan out.
BMF. Raphael Soriano, excellently nicknamed BMF elsewhere, is unquestionably the closer. Unfortunately, that’s about the only thing that’s unquestionable about the guy. He throws hard, and occasionally looks brilliant. But he hasn’t been the closer very long, and it’s unclear if he’ll be able to get it done. Then again, this is the position recently occupied by the likes of Dan Kolb, Bob Wickman and Kyle Farnsworth, so I find I have little choice but to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The rest of the bullpen. Don’t kid yourself: middle relief is a crapshoot. Always has been, always will be. Nobody can afford high-priced performers in these roles, and anyone who shines bright enough long enough will quickly end up closing or starting. Thus, the tyranny of the front end of the bullpen bench. The Braves have had great bullpens (2002) and awful bullpens (2006), and this year’s model will likely fall somewhere in between.
March 19th, 2008 - Posted in baseball | |
