2014 Atlanta Braves

[Sportsforever]

Quote: Originally Posted by Amoo316

My Offseason wishlist includes Ron Gardenhire James Shields

Wow…never realized you were a Braves fan. I haven't seen you post in here before!

[cardinalbird5]

Heyward led the Braves in WAR. He gets on base and plays amazing defense. He is the least of your guys problems.

Chris Johnson had a flukey 2013 season and was a reason the Braves overachieved. Braves, outside of Heyward, do not have a good offensive approach either.

[Amoo316]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sportsforever

Wow…never realized you were a Braves fan. I haven't seen you post in here before!

Was born in 81, started watching the Braves in 84 with my great grandmother. I post in here every once in a great while, but I've been so disgusted with the things Wren has done with this team it has turned me off to the entire game for a few years.

I was a diehard through the 90s, best game I have ever seen was the Fransico Cabrera single to drive in Justice and Bream against the Bucs. I can still name about 20-30 players off those early 90s teams.

I've struggled finding a new favorite Brave since Smoltz left and as such haven't followed them as closely as I once did. I also wore #3 in everything I played growing up because of Murphy who was my original favorite player. Really liked Francoeur but he got moved.

Hopefully with Wren out of the mix, things can get turned around again. My fanhood has never changed but my financial and time commitment has as I refuse to support a product I don't believe in. I'll always love and root for the Braves but I won't go back to obsessing over them until they can prove they're back on the right track. Build our farm system back up to what it once was, churning out pitchers like there's no tomorrow and stop trying to be the Yankees with these big money positional talent signings...Uggla, Upton....etc.

[decga]

I don't think Justin and BJ are tied at hip. The day they hit home runs and we won last week. They just playing baseball right now. They know its a business. Trust me the Braves way have had or will have a conversation with Justin soon enough.

I would not be surprise to see BJ back next year. If they trade Gattis and a starter to get a leadoff hitter. BUT the Braves media are saying the Perazza kid with speed is ready to play 2B and can lead off. Chris Johnson can play this game. He is a Chipper Jones guy. He is a gamer and fiery son of gun. Name another 3B other than Panda with SF is better for this team.

Heyward can hit in the 2 spot if Justin is still here or 5th if we trade Gattis. Have CJ 23 hitting in the 2 slot or Andrellton.

[decga]

Quote: Originally Posted by cardinalbird7

Heyward led the Braves in WAR. He gets on base and plays amazing defense. He is the least of your guys problems. Chris Johnson had a flukey 2013 season and was a reason the Braves overachieved. Braves, outside of Heyward, do not have a good offensive approach either.

Amen brother or sister. Heyward has had the great plate discipline. That is why he should possibly hit 3rd and Freddie hit cleanup. But I am down with whatever the organization do in the off season. Walker has quit! Hooray! The players must respect and listen to who ever they bring has the hitting coach. Coaches get fired for players underperforming.

[Sportsforever]

Quote: Originally Posted by decga

I would not be surprise to see BJ back next year. If they trade Gattis and a starter to get a leadoff hitter. BUT the Braves media are saying the Perazza kid with speed is ready to play 2B and can lead off. Chris Johnson can play this game. He is a Chipper Jones guy. He is a gamer and fiery son of gun. Name another 3B other than Panda with SF is better for this team.

I can name a lot of 3B I would rather have then Chris Johnson. He's my least favorite type of player in that he doesn't do any of the 'skills' well.

Glove - Below average.
Arm - Average at best.
Speed - catcher like.
Average - .283 career hitter with one season above .300…doesn't walk either averaging about a walk a week for a horrible .319 career OBP.
Power - He has shown flashes, but a decline in slugging for three straight years doesn't bode well.

He is 'gritty', but there are other 3B I'd rather have.

[KSUowls]

Heyward is a fine player to have, and I don't see any reason to get rid of him unless it becomes cost prohibitive. He's a piece though not a cornerstone. It's not like he blew up his stat line this year either. His Batting average and OBP were the best they have been since his rookie year, but his slugging was down 50 points from his career average too. Top to bottom he was a little less than 2 years ago and just a little bit better than 2013. Throw out the abysmal 2011, which fortunately appears to be the anomaly, and his career is .269/.346/.437. For comparison this was his line in 2014 - 271/.351/.384. If he keeps those same stats and brings his home run totals up to 25-30 then fantastic! Combined with his defense and speed that would make him a truly great player. Every fan base dreams/wishes/hopes for things like that though. IMO he is what he has consistently shown us that he is.

Justin's end of season stat line was good, but Freddie was the most consistent hitter on this team. Justin's problem is the same problem that plagues most of this Brave's lineup, and it is the problem I see as the reason why this team as it is currently constructed has a very limited ceiling. Having a month where you smash the ball and hit .326 is fantastic, but you can't disappear at the plate with months of .226 and .169 after that. Something similar happened in 2013 of .211 and .226. It would be fine if you it was only Justin with this inconsistency and you still ended up with the back of his baseball card, but it is far from it. The problem as I see it is that in 2014 we only had 1 guy in the starting 7 (leaving 2b in the air) who did not have at least 1 month where he hit below .255 (using Freeman's worst month as the bar).

Now, you may say that baseball is a long season and everyone is going to have peaks and valleys. So what if we bumped it up to the number of guys who had less than 2 months of of hitting below .255? Well, the answer is still just 1. 3 months? We can finally add Justin Upton and Chris Johnson (finished right at .255 in July) to this group. That still leaves your starting RF, starting CF, starting SS and starting Catcher with at least 3 months where they might as well have not have shown up to hit. These aren't one year abnormalities either. Of all the "every day" players on this Braves roster Freddie Freeman is the only one who has not shown this dreadful inconsistency throughout their careers.

I know I'm just repeating what we all should already know and have watched with this team in recent memory, but looking towards the future it bears repeating because the same guys will take the field in 2015 too.

[Amoo316]

When you have a leadoff hitter, speed style guy and he puts up a .208 BA on the season, it's just going to trickle down from there. Heyward isn't a leadoff hitter and is hitting out of spot there and I don't feel he has the bat control to be a #2. I don't mind Justin and Freeman at the 3 & 4 slots as they're not world beaters but both can be RBI guys. This slots Heyward in somewhere around the 5/6 slot where he belongs.

The problem IMO isn't/wasn't the middle of the lineup, granted everything was a problem. The problem is and has been the 1 & 2 spots and it's been this way since I think we got rid of Furcal?