ADVERTISEMENT

Cobb County Braves

exactly...i would've traded kimbrel last year at the deadline because of value, but as a cost cutting move, it makes total sense.

but like you said, why sign anyone above a certain age that's had injury concerns or other?
 
I know it's the right move to make and everything, but this is a huge reality check. We're officially the new Marlins. It's a tough pill to swallow. The Braves rotation is gonna be monstrous in a few years, but still...welcome to the 80s.
 
as a Nats fan and as someone who will not comment on any more Braves threads after this one( I did not do so last year either) I was shocked to hear of this trade. I mean Kimbrel was unhittable forever. He was THE closer of closers and a guy that was lights out GREAT.

What happened Braves fans ?????I know you are undergoing a facelift but man oh man this guy was a stud .Has he lost his stuff WTH is going on there in Atlanta??? Not that I mind ,just curious
 
It's simple really, if you're gonna be bad, then there's no reason to have the best closer in the game, so we cashed him in. Plus, it gives us an opportunity to rid ourselves of the worst player in baseball history who also holds the worst contract in baseball history. It makes 100% sense.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
 
so it was purely salary dump/ financial considerations then...ok
smile.r191677.gif
 
Son. Of. A. B*tch.

I just spent 5 friggin minutes typing out a well-crafted reply to this thread and I hit post message and the internet freezes. Son of a GD b*tch.

Cliffnotes version: I'm pissed about this like everyone else because I love Kimbrel, but the deal had to be done. Just had to be. I truly believe Kimbrel was the only player who was off the table this offseason, but B.J. is so bad and his contract was/is/and would continue to be such an albatross to this organization that it forced Hart's hand and Kimbrel has to be dealt to get this deal through.

It saddens me because Wren's epic failures on big money moves are why McCann and Kimbrel aren't still Braves. Heyward was always going to go, but the horrible big money signings of Uggla, B.J., and Lowe, absolutely crippled the Braves. I don't blame Hart and the current front office at all. They're taking the ruthless steps that need to be taken to mend all the damage that Wren inflicted. His tenure as GM was just horrible when it came to the big money moves.

And as for Markakis, coolwater, I still don't get that one. I understand every move we've made except that one. My only guess is that he's here for leadership because this clubhouse is starving for veteran leadership. There was none last season. We haven't recovered, from a leadership standpoint, from losing Huddy, McCann, and Chipper in such quick succession. We were leaderless last year. Freeman is too aloof to lead, Simmons is too immature, Heyward was too quiet, Kimbrel was in the pen every game, not the dugout.....we needed leaders. Hopefully Markakis and Gomes can be that.

Oh and keyser, why don't you give it a rest, suck it up, and either participate in these discussions or don't post at all. Bryce Harper is an arrogant, cocky, primadonna, who everyone thinks hasn't put in enough dues yet to act the way he acts. MLB players say so themselves. Look, there's d-bags on all of our favorite teams that we tolerate because they're "our" guys. It happens. Just accept it and move on. I don't feel any sympathy for you. But I know you have me on ignore so I doubt you'll even see this post.
 
hey 11 ah I removed the ignore on you for this thread after a glorious year without you I trust you DID read what I wrote on this and You DO know that I posted exactly ZERO times last year on all Braves related threads and will do say after today
.
Heck I was just curious about this trade which clearly shocked me and lots of others
.That WOULD have been the end of it for me had you not shot your mouth off about Harper...who has ZERO relevance to this discussion.

look you and a couple of others are haters pure and simple and that is why I happily ignore you
and a coupler of others on this board.

I know all about Harper and his attitude which
turns off many ,obviously including you.

But frankly that is your problem and you will have to deal with it .Good luck


Gotta go and put that glorious I button thing to work, Good Luck to you and the Braves See Ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
lol Why all the venom towards key? He's alright by me; I just take our Nats/Harper (and yes, Bryce Harper is indeed a grade-A punk) as friendly ribbing. I obviously can't really rib him too much since the Braves aren't going to relevant for a few years, but hey, I guess I can still root for anyone but the Nats.
3dgrin.r191677.gif
 
Originally posted by coolwaterunc:
lol Why all the venom towards key? He's alright by me; I just take our Nats/Harper (and yes, Bryce Harper is indeed a grade-A punk) as friendly ribbing. I obviously can't really rib him too much since the Braves aren't going to relevant for a few years, but hey, I guess I can still root for anyone but the Nats.
3dgrin.r191677.gif
It's just harmless ribbing to me too, but Key freaked out so much about it two years ago, that it spun out of control.

I'm completely willing to bury the hatchet because lord knows we need more baseball talk on this board. And yes lol, I cannot talk much sh*t because the Nats may be the best team in baseball.
 
Dang. I have avoided the Braves threads forever for many reason, but I read this one because, like so many Braves fans here, I was a little puzzled but not overly shocked.

Let me preface this by saying that since Bobby Cox hung up his hat, I have barely watched a Braves game and followed a lot less. Sad, too, because I became a fan back in the early-mid 80's when I worked as a weekend DJ at a local AM radio station and we broadcast the Braves games. I had nothing to do but listen to the games while watching on cable in the booth. Anyhoo, if you want to know "suck", just go look up some of THOSE teams! Still, I became a fan and still am to this day.

I was finishing college when the Braves started their first WS run and I watched jumping up and down begging Sid Bream NOT to head home only to scream "YES!!" at the top of my lungs when Barry Bonds' throw didn't get him out, sending the Pirates home. I was always amused at the "bandwagon" fans that jumped on those early years. I remember all too well some skinny kid named "Chipper" being brought up as well as watching Smoltz, Glavine and Maddox gel into the best staff in baseball. I even got to go see a game at Fulton County Stadium while in grad school in Savannah. Cheap seats up at the top of right field cost me a whopping $5 and I loved every minute of it. My love for the Braves has continued all these years even though I barely recognize the team anymore and know NO ONE in the front office at all.

Anyway, like I said I don't follow like I used to, mainly because I have a 17 year old about-to-be senior in HS and a 15 year old who is smack in the middle of his first year playing JV ball. That and I just can't get attached to anyone since Chipper left for some reason. It just isn't the same.

Back to this trade. When I first saw this my first reaction was "Why in the hell would you trade the best closer in baseball?" until I saw BJ was attached to it. Absolutely the worst deal EVER made by the Braves. BJ should have never been signed to begin with so I see this move as almost purely one to get rid of him. That and knowing how bad the team likely will be so no matter who the closer is it won't matter. I think this is part of the overall "clean slate" move where the Braves are trying to build the team back completely with new guys not attached to that dumbass GM who shall remain nameless. I guess if you are going to clean house you might as well do it all the way or forget it.

I won't get into the Nationals back and forth between you guys other than to say for all Bryce Harper's talent the kid seems to be somewhat of a primadonna. I generally don't make judgments because perception and reality rarely cross paths, but in his case there seems to be more to it than just some writers trying to stir things up. Still, if he were a Brave, I doubt I would care a whole lot, but since he isn't I chalk up some of this to "rival" smack talk!

Oh, and for you old school guys, I was privileged to meet Sid in person several years ago when my son played in the Dixie Youth World Series up in Lynchburg, Va. Sid was the guest speaker for the opening ceremony and stuck around until every kid there who wanted to meet him got a chance to do so. I went down with my son and met him and told him what I said above about not wanting to see him head home. He laughed and was about as nice a guy you will ever meet. He didn't mind at all sitting and talking to some old guy about memories of those years.
 
So honestly, how many of you guys are still going to regularly catch the games this year? I think I'm going to, but with quite a bit of hesitation. Checking out this opening day lineup we have out there, a 100-loss season is a real possibility, so it's going to be difficult. I'm thinking I should only watch while we're pitching.
 
I probably will try to catch more games this year. It will be hard to watch and since I don't know more than a few guys on the roster I have some catching up to do, but I will probably try to see a few just to see what happens.
 
and you should see the grounds crew trying to spread quick dry with their hands...this looks totally unprofessional, but hilarious.
 
Originally posted by TarHeelNation11:

Originally posted by coolwaterunc:
lol Why all the venom towards key? He's alright by me; I just take our Nats/Harper (and yes, Bryce Harper is indeed a grade-A punk) as friendly ribbing. I obviously can't really rib him too much since the Braves aren't going to relevant for a few years, but hey, I guess I can still root for anyone but the Nats.
3dgrin.r191677.gif
It's just harmless ribbing to me too, but Key freaked out so much about it two years ago, that it spun out of control.

I'm completely willing to bury the hatchet because lord knows we need more baseball talk on this board. And yes lol, I cannot talk much sh*t because the Nats may be the best team in baseball.
This. Key went insane and from that point forward, it's great fun just to needle him and then guess the number or capitalized words in his response post. O/U is usually 10.5.

But don't worry about the Nats- they are perennial gaggers. Better chance of the Cubs winning the WS.

As far as this season, I will watch a game or 2 a week and no guarantee I won't change the channel in the 5th. But I am ok with the moves being made.
 
Originally posted by coolwaterunc:
Kimbrel was one of my favorite players ever, but I'm gonna lIke Grilli. Love his energy.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Yeah, I hope I can throw 96 when I'm 38-year-old.....

....which would be impressive, since I can't throw 96 now
laugh.r191677.gif


Good Houdini-act by J. Johnson and L. Avilan yesterday. IMO, Fredi went to the bullpen 1-2 batters too late (stop me when this sounds familiar), but the pen bailed him out. And obviously, good work by Grilli. I was quite frightened that he was going to come in, first appearance as Kimbrel's replacement, a day after the trade, and then Giancarlo was going to take him yard to blow the save. Luckily, that didn't happen haha.

I'm sure it will be a long season, but hey, can't ask for anything more than 1-0 after one game.
 
6-1. And looks like we've DFA'd Juan Jaime which is great news (dude just cannot find the plate).

I am a bit concerned about our hitting, overall, though. The pitching has been phenomenal but you obviously can't count on that to continue all season. I mean, in terms of team batting average, we're 7th in MLB at .256, but we're 11th in runs scored. Actually.....I guess those numbers are pretty good. Man, scoring sure is down in baseball
 
Jaime would be a lot better off just throwing 91-92 than he is trying to throw 96+. Stop trying to throw as hard as you can and just throw strikes. Oh well, not our problem anymore.

Our hitting is definitely a concern, but I've never been this excited about where Braves baseball is going since the mid-90s. We're still most likely going to be a mediocre-at-best team this year, and that's okay because we're finally constructing a team the way a baseball team should be built. This offense built around contact, hustle and speed with pitching and defense is going to work in the long haul.
 
^ totally agree, cool.

It's fun to watch this team because there's next to no expectations of them, but so far they're just going out and working their butts off. It's a good mix of:

- veterans who will play hard every inning and do things the right way (Markakis, Gomes, Pierzynski, Grilli)
- those who haven't lived up to expectations in the past and know this is maybe their last shot to prove themselves (EYJr, Maybin)
- players like Jim Johnson who have had past success but struggled recently and now want to prove people wrong
- legitimate stud big-leaguers like Freeman, Teheran, Miller, Wood, and Simmons (who by the way, despite all my criticism of him, he's swinging the bat soooo much better this season so far. Going for contact/line drives, not homers)
- young players who play hard (Peterson, Bethancourt)
 
Originally posted by coolwaterunc:
So I'm thinking this Trevor Cahill thing isn't gonna work out. I thought it was a good try at a low risk, high reward deal, but he looks finished.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
Gonna need to make a move for a starting pitcher, especially it seems Minor is done for at least another month and probably longer. Stults and Cahill is a huge dropoff after Teheran, Wood, Miller.
 
Either that or try a number of things.

1. Let Cody Martin start and put Cahill in the bullpen. I don't really know much about Martin, but from what I hear, it sounds like he's been a bit overlooked in our system. I've honestly never seen him pitch. Every time he has, I just happen to not be watching. I don't believe he's electric by any means, but he seems like a gamer. We'd lose what has been a key bullpen piece so far by putting Martin in the rotation, but maybe McDowell can work his magic on Cahill for just one inning. He can be that ground ball guy Bobby used to always have, AKA Kevin Gryboski.

2. Give the prospects a shot and let them learn in the majors. Either Folty or Wisler or maybe Banuelos would seem to be the most likely suitors here. I think it's a bit early for that, but I think at least one of them will be starting for us at some point this year.

I think we'll keep Stults in for a while. At least he's shown he can be at least serviceable for some period of time. He appears to be an easy DFA candidate though. I think they'll continue to look at Stults and Cahill for a few more starts and replace one with one of the prospects.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
 
Lol, cool just fired up the way back machine with Kevin Gryboski.

Solid post though man, I think you're dead on with what will happen. My friend is a former college pitcher, a die-hard baseball fan, and follows the Braves' farm system much closer than I do. He thinks Cody Martin has what it takes to be a back-of-the-rotation starter right now. But it would suck to have him not be in the pen. He's a solid pitcher, or at least has looked the part thus far.

Certainly wouldn't mind bringing the young guys up, baptizing them by fire, and letting them give it a go. We must remember that we're building for the future....we can't get caught up in our good record right now. If it's still good by the end of May, then worry about it. For now, still assume we're a .500 club at best. To that end, we need to groom another starter. It's becoming more and more likely that Mike Minor will never pitch for the Braves again
 
Originally posted by coolwaterunc:
So I guess if we just win all the games Teheran, Wood and Miller start, we'll be fine.
Lol yep it appears that's what happening thus far. Need to do something to improve the back end of the lineup. Call up one of the young guys. Can't hurt.
Originally posted by gunslingerdick:

What are the Braves uniforms like this season?
Better than the ish Carolina Football is about to roll out.
 
All this talk about the Yankees scouting Peraza and needing a shortstop makes me wonder if the Braves will think about trading them Simmons to cut even more salary (We just gave him a new contract, didn't we?) and keeping Peraza to make him our shortstop. I wouldn't expect this to happen, but if there's anything this year has taught me, it's don't expect anything. When it's all said and done, Jace Peterson is a utility infielder off the bench on a contending team, so I'm hoping it's Simmons at shortstop and Peraza at second, as it's currently planned.
 
Gotta get rid of this Cahill guy. I know McDowell is regarded as the sinker ball guru, but the backend of our lineup is killing us and is now responsible for like 75% of our losses.

This season is a bridge to the future. To that end, cut your losses with Cahill and Stults and bring up the young guys like Folty. Oh, and play Gosselin as little as possible. Thanks
 
Gotta get rid of this Cahill guy. I know McDowell is regarded as the sinker ball guru, but the backend of our lineup is killing us and is now responsible for like 75% of our losses.

This season is a bridge to the future. To that end, cut your losses with Cahill and Stults and bring up the young guys like Folty. Oh, and play Gosselin as little as possible. Thanks
I still think Cahill could be effective as a ground ball guy in the bullpen, but I agree, this isn't working. Folty was lights out in his last start. Give him a shot.
 
All of a sudden, this team isn't so fun to watch. We're not moving guys over like we were before and are starting to play station-to-station again. Guys like EY and Peterson have to get on base more frequently, especially EY. I realize he probably isn't an everyday player on a contender, but until guys like Jose Peraza and Mallex Smith are ready, he's the guy that gets the offense going. By the way, when he isn't playing, for the love of God, please stop hitting Cameron Maybin leadoff. When EY isn't in the lineup, Peterson needs to hit first. Those two guys are the only two options.
 
Looks like the Mets are going to run away with the NL East . .
 
ADVERTISEMENT