Retrospective: Bad Draft Picks

With last year's take over of youth in the Braves organization. I want to look back and mention a few names of former first rounders that couldn't cut the mustard.

Mike Kelly-Perhaps the biggest dissapointing pick in Braves history was Mike Kelly. Mike was highly compared to as the next Barry Bonds. This had more to do with both guys coming out of Arizona State. Kelly was taken as the second pick in '91 draft. He broke through the majors in '94 and put up decent numbers but of course the season was cut short due to the strike. In 1995, Kelly split playing time and eventually tanked out going: .190/.258/.314 49K's in 137AB's. Kelly was later traded to Cinncinatti and then sent to Tampa for Dmitri Young. Kelly eventually finished his career in 1999 with 2 AB's for Colorado.

Jaime Arnold- Arnold was the 1st round pick in '92 and never panned out as a Brave. He finnally made it to the big show as a relief pitcher with the Dodgers in 1999. Arnold would later be dealt to the Cubbies and soon after retire.

Chad Hutchinson-A first round pick in the'95 draft, Hutchinson never signed with the Braves. What a waste! He later re-entered the draft in '98 and was picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals where the Cards paid him almost $2M to appear in 3 games and give up 9 runs on 11 hits. Now he's a journeyman QB in the NFL, formerly of the Cowboys and Bears.

A.J. Zapp-Zapp was the Braves 1st rounder in '97. After numerous injuries and subpar stats the Braves let him go. He later signed with Seattle and was cut, now he's with Cinncinatti. Zapp is currently with the triple A affiliate Louisville.

If anyone else has some bad picks they would like to mention, go ahead.

Tom Glavine: Would a return be helpful?

In a recent interview with the NY Post, Tom Glavine stated that the only place he would play in 2007 would either be NY or Atlanta. Glavine which is in his final year of his contract has yet to have a winning season while playing in the Big Apple. His best season thus far was last year but, more importantly Glavine is just 25 wins away from reaching the 300 win total. As everyone knows the Mets have stacked their lineup and if Glavine can stay healthy and continue to pitch well he should easily get 15 wins this season.
I'm sure that Glavine would like to get his 300th with an A across his cap. The question is, will it benefit the Braves having him around next year? The only 2 pitchers under contract for 2007 are Tim Hudson and Mike Hampton while Smoltz has a $8M club option for next year. Starting in '07 there's alot of if's involved in the rotation. Here it is, Hampton returns if he can fully recover from surgery, Smoltz returns if Atlanta picks up his option, Davies will probably take Thomson's spot if he doesn't get traded, If Ramirez continues to slump, Chuck James could replace him if he's ready.

2007 rotation A):Hudson, Smoltz, Hampton, Davies, Ramirez
2007 rotation B):Hudson, Smoltz/Hampton, Hampton/Glavine, Davies, James

A year from now we should have a clearer picture. I would like Glavine to return, but I won't be dissapointed if he doesn't. Of course, I haven't talked about money yet. Tommy G. would certainly have to take a paycut to probably $3-$5M, similar to what Thomson is making this year. What does everyone else think?

Rumor Mill: Griffey to Atlanta?

Once again the rumor of Ken Griffey Jr. coming to Atlanta has been rekindled. I wouldn't look too much into this. In fact, the only reason why this came up is probably due to the fact that new management is in place at Cinncinatti. Honestly, these teams could get a trade done, but money would be the major issue. The Reds have shown interest in Braves pitchers in the past. On personal note, I would love to see Griffey with the Braves. He's been one of my favorite players growing up. He's still a productive hitter, lost a step in the OF, and needs another solid year to prove he's clean from the injury bug. So, here's my trade proposal:

Atlanta sends Thomson/Ramirez/Davies, K.J./Langerhans, pitching prospect (Lerew) to the Reds for Griffey. Cinncinatti would have to pickup 50-60% of his remaining salary. Griffey's salary is kinda complicated because all of the interest and deferred dollars written in. Let's take a look:

Griffey's monster paycheck
2000-2009
9 years/116.5M plus 16.5M 2009 club option/$4M buyout

$57.5M of the salary is deffered at 4% interest and paid out from 2009-2024
This moves 6.5M of his salary in 2001- 2008 and 5.5M of his 2000 salary to those years above.

With three years remaining on his contract, Griffey makes between 9.2M and 9.3 M equaling to $27.9M plus the buyout or option, which I'm pretty sure will be a buyout. We finnally come to $31.9M. Say the Reds pickup 50%, that would come out to 15.95M (buyout included) over three years for each team to pay. So having Griffey for the next three years for around $5.3M/ year isn't too bad. Whew! That's too much math for me. What probably causes this rumor to reoccur is the clause in Griffey's contract that states, he will only accept trades to Atlanta, Houston, L.A., and St. Louis. Once again, the idea of this actually happening is unlikely.

I spent many hours back in the day playing this, in fact I still own it:

Attack of the Tomato Jerseys

They're back! The Braves will wear there red tomato jerseys for yet another season. I thought it was just a one year promotion but that wasn't the case. For every Sunday home game the Braves will wear the tomato jerseys in an attempt to blind their opponet from victory.



I think alternate jerseys are cool for the most part, but these are just plain ugly. I've been tinkering with the blog today, and added a poll to the sidebar on the right. Although I can't get the font any darker on the names.

Mike Remlinger: Back with Atlanta

790 The Zone is reporting that Mike Remlinger has signed a minor league deal with Atlanta. Despite his recent struggles, I don't think this is a bad idea. Think of it as a "let's see what he still has" audition. Remlinger may/may not make the team. I hope he does make it, as I remember the 2002 version moreso than recent. We'll see if he can stay healthy and get back in form.

Sosa /Braves agree on 1 year deal....

The last player to sign and avoid arbitration is Jorge Sosa. As posted in a previous post, Sosa wanted $2.6M while the Braves countered with $1.8M. The two sides agreed in the middle with a 1/$2.2M deal. Last year Sosa pulled in 660K. It goes to show that a good year really does pay well.


In other news, Andy Marte didn't have time to get fitted for his jersey in Boston. Marte maybe apart of a trade between Boston and Cleveland that sends Coco Crisp to the Sox for Marte and Guillermo Mota. The deal hasn't been finalized yet but it's close. I think this is a better fit for Andy. There's been a lot of talent that has come out of Cleveland in the past 10 years.

Second Base: From Lemke to Giles

In my second series of posts I'm rounding first and heading to second. Mark Lemke began his career as a Brave back in 1988. Lemke started out as a backup to Jeff Treadway. Lemke took over the starting job in 1991 and didn't let go until 1997. Atlanta looked at 2B for many years as a defensive over offensive skilled position. As you can tell in Lemke's numbers, he hit 32HRs with averages of .246/.317/.324 career wide. Lemke's fame came from his postseason play. He excelled in this venue.

1991 World Series:
M. Lemke .417/.462/.708 24AB
1992 NLCS:
M. Lemke .333/.462/.381
1996 NLCS
M. Lemke .444/.516/.630

After 1997, Lemke moved on to the Boston Red Sox for one season before retiring. During that '97 season Atlanta made a trade with KC that sent Jermaine Dye to the Royals for Keith Lockhart and Michael Tucker. Maybe a good move at the time; Tucker was still reliable & productive, but in the long run this deal doesn't look attractive. Does Dye 2005 World Series MVP have anything to say!?! about it. Anyway, Lockhart would become the next 2B for Atlanta beginning in 1998.

1998-Keith Lockhart/Tony Graffanino

Lockhart continued the Lemke like numbers during the regular season. His backup that year was Tony Graffanino, most don't even remember he came up with the Braves. Graffanino's numbers didn't look all that impressive either. Here's a look at both players:

K. Lockhart .257/.311/.388 9HR 37RBI 366AB's 97 games
T. Graffanino .211/.275/.318 5HR 22RBI 289AB's 93 games

What would the Braves have in store for 1999.

1999-Brett Boone

Winter of '98 Bret Boone was traded to Atlanta with Mike Remlinger as apart of the Denny Neagle/Michael Tucker deal. Boone brought pop in his bat to Atlanta, something that the Braves had not been used to in a second baseman. That pop has now become questionable. I don't think Boone ever fit in with the Braves. We may now know why.

B. Boone .252/.310/.416 20HR 63RBI 608AB's!! 151 games 112K's-led team

Spending only one year with the Braves, Boone was traded to San Diego where Atlanta would get another 2B in return.

2000-Quilvio Veras/Keith Lockhart

Quilvio Veras would turn out to be a very good addition for the Braves. Veras would spend this year and the next with the team. Keith Lockhart still hanging around would split time with Veras. I can't remember but, Veras may have got hurt resulting in half a season. On a side note, Rafael Furcal also played 31 games at second base.

Q. Veras .309/.413/.409 5HR 37RBI 82 games
K. Lockhart .265/.331/.353 2HR 32RBI 74 games

2001 & 2002-Veras, Lockhart, DeRosa, Garcia, and Giles

Veras would continue to split time with Keith Lockhart and now rookie Marcus Giles during the 2001 season. Veras's numbers slipped a bit and Giles was begining to show power numbers something the Braves hadn't seen a glimpse of since Boone. Another rookie was thrown in the mix, Mark DeRosa was battling for a positional spot. Meanwhile, long time minor leaguer Jesse Garcia was trying to make it in the bigs.
As 2002 began, Veras left for free agency and veteran Keith Lockhart split time with Marcus Giles and DeRosa at 2B. I have to say Bobby Cox saw more than everyone else saw in Keith Lockhart. I'm sure he's not a bad guy, but he was given more and more playing time over the other guys. At the end of the 2002 season Lockhart declared free agency and was picked up by the San Diego Padres.

2003 & 2004-Giles takes command

In 2003, Marcus Giles was given the nod at 2B. Giles took the job and ran with it. He had a monster 2003 that resulted in an All-Star appearence.

'03 numbers
M. Giles .316/.390/.526 21HR 69RBI 139 games

Giles had clearly taken the position and it was his to lose. At the start of the season I expected more of a DeRosa/Giles competition. Giles clearly ran away with the competition.

In 2004, Giles had everything going for him, and Braves fans were excited to see what would come out of '04. Giles started right where he left off the previous year. That would soon change, a collision with CF Andruw Jones put his season on hold. Giles would only be out for 2 months, but who would be take his place? Nick Green. Nick who? Green was brought up from the minors and did a real good job filling in for Giles.

'04 numbers
N. Green .273/.312/.386 3HR 26RBI 75 games
M. Giles .311/.378/.443 8HR 48RBI 97 games

Nick Green's Braves career didn't last long as he was traded in the offseason to Tampa for pitcher Jorge Sosa, another good Schuerholz move.

2005 and beyond

As with 2004, in 2005 Giles wanted to continue the success of the '03 season. This time he played almost a full season without platooning with a Lockhart or getting injured on a freak accident. Giles in the dugout acts like a goofball. He's the class clown of the clubhouse. Last year he would slap Francoeur, and others in the head, he's crazy. I'm waiting for the day he injures himself acting stupid.

'05 numbers
M. Giles: .291/.365/.461 15HR 63RBI 149 games 108K's -he was swinging for the fences way too much last year.

Pete Orr was the backup and saw limited time at 2B. Orr was used alot as a pitch runner.

In the future I think it's mandatory given the success of Giles to wrap him up for a long term deal. He's a free agent after the 2007 season. Negotiations on a contract renewal might start sometime this year. There's not much depth in the minors at 2B. The GM's son Jonathon Schueholz was in Triple A last year and was given a Spring Training invite this year. The luck as of late (Drew, Furcal, Farnsworth) at resigning players has not been on the Braves side. Only time will tell.

First Base: A Revolving Door pt. 1

During the summer of 1993 Atlanta acquired a premiere first baseman, his name was Fred McGriff. McGriff was stellar at first and provided another element to a talented Braves team. McGriff held the position through the 1997 season. I'll begin a series of posts on each postion and the players that played them over the last few years, a retrospective of sorts. I start with first base because the faces have changed a bit in the last 9 years. Atlanta really hasn't had a solid player at the position for a while. Adam LaRoche is slowy becoming that guy and hopefully will be soon. After McGriff's departure in '97 who would take over? The answer couldn't have been any better.

1998-Andres Galaragga

Galaragga signed as a free agent with the Braves in the winter '97. This was huge! The Big Cat was almost making double of what he made the previous year with the Rockies. In 1998 he earned every bit of it. Galaragga went on that year to lead the Braves in HR, RBI, SLUG%, and OPS. Unfortunately like most Braves, he struggled in the playoffs that year as Atlanta went on to lost in the NLCS to the Padres.

1999-Randall Simon/Brian Hunter (part deux)/Ryan Klesko

During Spring Training of '99 Galaragga had suffered from some back trouble and treatments were not corresponding. After seeing a oncologist Galaragga was diagnosed with lypmphatic cancer and took the season off to undergo chemotherapy. This was sad news for not just the Braves but the entire baseball world. 1999 provided our first platoon of many to come. An old face reappeared for his second tour of duty. Brian Hunter who was with the team in the early 90's returned for the '99 season. Hunter would split time with an up and coming rookie named Randall Simon. The results were not too good. Hunter and Simon combined for 11 HR 55 RBI 114/399 hit season. I almost forgot to mention, Ryan Klesko also saw time at first. Klesko produced better numbers than Hunter/Simon but had a double shift in the OF. What would the new century hold for the Braves...

2000-Big Cat Returns

Galaragga returned for the 2000 season and knocked in the game winning run with a blast on Opening Day. Galaragga would continue with a successfull season, but not quite what he reached in '98. Wally Joyner provided the backup duties as he was brought over from a winter trade with the Padres. The trade sent Reggie Sanders/Quilvio Veras/Wally Joyner to Atlanta for Boone/Klesko/Shiell. At the end of 2000 both Galaragga and Joyner would be granted free agency. So, once again Atlanta had another position to fill.

2001-Rico Brogna/Ken Caminiti/Wes Helms/Julio Franco/Dave Martinez

This was a makeshift year for the Braves at first. Atlanta dipped into the free agent pool and picked up a plethra of players and tried them all out at first. Helms saw most of the playing time followed by Brogna, Caminiti, Franco, Martinez. Martinez only played 10 games at first; he was used primarily as Atlanta's fourth outfielder. The numbers were not what Braves fans had become accustomed to.

Brogna: .248/.297/.335 3HR 21RBI 67G
Helms: .222/.293/.435 10HR 35RBI 77G
Caminiti: .222/.306/.380 6HR 16RBI 33G
Franco: .300/.376/.444 3HR 11RBI 23G

At the end of 2001, Caminiti and Brogna would retire from baseball. What would Atlanta do for 2002?

First Base: A Revolving Door pt. 2

2002-Julio Franco/Matt Franco/Wes Helms

For 2002, Atlanta would give most of the playing time at first to a then 43 year-old man named Julio Franco. Atlanta kept J. Franco and Helms from the year before while adding FA Matt Franco previously of the Mets. B.J. Surhoff also saw action at first (11 games) but his season was cut short due to injury. Combined the Franco Bros. turned out to be a decent duo at first. The numbers aren't spectactular but it got the job done.

J. Franco: .284/.357/.382 6HR 30RBI 95 games
M. Franco: .317/.395/.517 6HR 30RBI 51 games
W. Helms: .243/.283/.405 6HR 22RBI 45 games

2003-Robert Fick/Julio Franco/Matt Franco/Mike Hessman

A 2002 AL-All Star Robert Fick was exactly what the Braves were looking for out of a 1B. Yea, right, Fick turned into a "whoops" signing. Fick is a very average player at best. He's had recent success with the Padres. Back to 2003, Fick played the majority at first and was backed up by Julio Franco. Matt Franco's playing time significantly decreased into more of a bench player/pinch hitter role. Long time minor leaguer Mike Hessman debuted to no success. Fick's cheap shot on then Cubs 1B Eric Karros during the 2003 NLDS didn't help his chances of a return to Atlanta.

R. Fick .269/.335/.418 11HR 80RBI 115 games

2004-Adam LaRoche/Julio Franco

Instead of making the usual FA signing during the offseason the Braves pulled from within. 24 year-old Adam LaRoche was given the starting job at 1B. LaRoche wasn't alone, he platooned with none other than Julio Franco which continued his string of 1 year signings. LaRoche put up decent numbers for his rookie season, while Franco was their to bail him out against LHP. LaRoche has been described as a young Will Clark. He has alot of potential if he can just learn to hit LHP and layoff the junk balls. Mike Hessman made another appearence this year but with these numbers .130/.155/.261 this would be his last season for the Braves.

A. LaRoche: .278/.333/.488 13HR 45RBI 98 games
J. Franco: .309/.378/.441 6HR 57RBI 84 games

2005/2006-Adam LaRoche/Julio Franco...and future prospects...

Adam LaRoche continued to lead the way at first for the Braves. Julio Franco returning for another season would provide backup duties.

'05 Numbers
A. LaRoche .259/.320/.455 20HR 78RBI 125 games
J. Franco .275/.348/.451 9HR 42RBI 62 games

Adam's numbers slipped in '05 but were still better than some former players. The verdict is still out on LaRoche. He usually bats fifth in the lineup and personally I would move him down to seventh. There maybe too much pressure hitting after the Jones Bros. or something. I think 2006 will be a make or break year for him, as other propects are looming on the horizon. Triple A 1B James Jurries will be given a chance at Spring Training to showcase his steroid free talents. Scott Thorman is another prospect waiting in the wings. Thorman was named to Team Canada for the World Baseball Classic. Recently acquired Matt Diaz has some 1B experience but for the most part will be used as apart of an OF platoon. Sadly, Julio Franco wanting a 2 year deal after many 1 year deals with Atlanta has moved on to the N.Y. Mets.

Francoeur added to WBC roster

In a bit of suprising news, Jeff Francoeur has been added to the United States roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Francoeur joins fellow Braves Tim Hudson and Chipper Jones as other members of Team USA. The roster limit is 60 for each country, but rosters must be trimmed down to 30 before the tournament begins. So, that means only 30 players in uniform for each game. I'm guessing everyone named on the roster will get a chance to play if the number of games allow it? On a side note, the Netherlands team will be using the Atlanta Braves Disney facility to host training camp, I wonder who pulled those strings...

Braves, Making the rounds

In another resigning to avoid arbitration, Atlanta agreed to a 1/2.2M deal with Horacio Ramirez. Ramirez made 370K last year and has now reached millionaire status. Oscar Villareal inked a 1/462.5K deal with Atlanta as well. That leaves Jorge Sosa as the only arbitration eligible player left to be signed. I'm going to guess that Sosa receives somewhere in the $2M-$2.5M range.

Update on Sosa negotiations: Sosa has asked the Braves for 1/2.6M and the Braves have came back with 1/1.8M. Sosa made 700K in 2005. If an agreement can't be made, it will be handled by an arbitrator. Arbitration hearings begin in February.

Here's a link to some arb. figures for other players and clubs:

Show me the Money!!

Giles/Braves reach deal....Bennett signs minor league deal

Marcus Giles will see a nice pay raise for 2006. Giles and the Braves reached a 1/3.85M deal to avoid arbitration. Giles made 2.4M last year. I hope Giles stays healthy and goes back to his 2003 form, but it's going to be harder since he's now the leadoff hitter. It's going to be different seeing Giles at leadoff, but who else would take his place? Renteria? Bobby's going to experimenting with the lineup quite a bit this year as he did last year. Remember when Andruw batted fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh during some games last year?

This is a bit late, but Atlanta acquired relief pitcher Jeff Bennett from the Brewers organization. Bennett has been playing for the Triple A affiliate Nashville Sounds where he went 62 1/3 innings, 56K, 25BB 2-3 w/3.03 ERA out of 49 appearences. Bennett has seen major league action with the Brewers. In 2004, he went 1-5 4.79 ERA, 71 1/3 innings, 60 appearences. Bennett will join the Braves in Spring Training with hope of making a spot in the pen.

MLB Hall of Fame: Too restrictive?

To be honest I’ve never really paid attention to the whole process of being elected into the MLB Hall of Fame. This year I looked into it, as some of the players that I grew up watching are now on the ballots. First off, I congratulate Bruce Sutter for joining this prestige society. On the other hand I looked at other players on the ballot and have to wonder, is it just too difficult to make the hall? So, I began looking into the rules and guidelines for acquiring membership. I’m going to use this year as an example: 29 candidates were eligible for induction, in order to be elected the candidate must receive 75% of a Yes vote. Candidates that receive less than 5% of the vote will be ineligible for a future election. These are very strict guidelines. So, who determines who gets in or not? The Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWA), why these guys? According to the BBWA site they are, any active and honorary members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America, who have been active baseball writers for at least ten (10) years, shall be eligible to vote. They must have been active as baseball writers and members of the Association for a period beginning at least ten (10) years prior to the date of election in which they are voting. We are talking about a combined 20 years of baseball writing experience members, so basically the old MLB newspaper writers and yes Peter Gammons. I would like this to be changed but, I’m not saying take out the writer’s votes, but more of a sample size such as previous/current players, ex-managers, and umpires. I think more people involved with the game deserve to vote. How about the fans, fan participation should be allowed to maybe a certain percentage, 5%?

Secondly, the BBWA says voting is based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played. This maybe a personal knock, but why isn’t Murph in the hall?? He was a really good player on some very bad Braves teams. That could be his downfall. The same can be said about Bert Blyleven, who has picked up a following of supporters through the years(since ’98), but still hasn’t made it in.

This year’s group included names like Rice, Dawson, Goose, amongst the already mentioned. Sutter was the only one to make the cut and he made it with 76.9% election. He’s been at this campaign since ’94 when he received 23% yes votes. His number has gradually increased with the exception of a couple of years where it went down a bit. Throughout its lifetime there have been 7 times where the BBWA has not elected anyone, the last time this happened was 1996. Since 75% is the cut off, I wondered who barely made it and who made with ease. Back in ’92 Tom Seaver received 98.84% of yes votes while in ’53 Al Simmons was inducted with 75.38% votes.

I know I’m not the first to propose changes to these strict guidelines but I sure would like to see more players making it rather than one, two or none each year.

Atlanta releases Invitee List

Released from Atlanta's home page is a list of this year's Spring Training invitees. Here's how it goes down.

Pitchers:
Kevin Barry, Wes Obermueller, Chad Paronto, Travis Smith, Sean White

Catchers:
Eddie Perez, Steve Pyzik, Jarod Saltalamacchia, Clint Sammons

IF:
Cesar Crespo, Jonathon Schuerholz

OF:
Brian Jordan, Dave Kelton, Michael Ryan

All of these players are non-roster invitees. Currently the Braves hold 38 roster players and currently will have a total of 52 players at Spring Training. Spring Training starts at the begining of March.

Smoltz drops out of WBC

John Smoltz is removing himself from the World Baseball Classic but, don't worry Braves fans. Smoltz which suffered some imflammation from his shoulder after the season will use the extra rest before the start of the 2006 season.

As much as I would have liked him on the mound for Team USA, I think this is a good idea for John. Last year he proved the doubters wrong by pitching a full season without major injury.

Braves reach deals w/Reitsma, Jordan, Perez

The financial terms were met today as the Atlanta Braves agreed to on a one year deal with Chris Reitsma. Reitsma raked in 1.65M and this year will reach 2.75M with 2/25,000K vesting options depending on a certain number of games finished(40 & 45). Atlanta also resigned Brian Jordan and Eddie Perez to minor league deals w/invites to Spring Training. This kind of puzzles me; maybe it's a customary token of appreciation to the club before these guys hang it up.

Atlanta releases Spring Training Schedule

Not much going on today. Atlanta releases its Spring Training schedule to accompany it's regular season schedule which was released over a month ago. You may find it at the link below.

Spring Training '06

Speaking of Spring Training here's an interesting article from ACTA Sports that was posted last year documenting if ST performance is a good predictor for the regular season. Enjoy.

ACTA

Pittsburgh Pirates: A work in progress....Again.

I'm gonna go off topic a bit and talk about the Pittsburgh Pirates. The last time the Pirates made the playoffs and had a winning season all happened at the same instance. The year was 1992. Braves fans will remember the battles between the Braves and Pirates. This was a big rivalry for it's time.
Alot has changed since then, and some might go as far as saying Pittsburgh has been under the curse of Barry Bonds. '92 was his last voyage on the pirate ship. Every year I look at Pittsburgh's roster and see the unrecognizable names. There a team that is in a constant rebuild mode. Take a look at the Pirate outfield this century. Before being traded to San Diego Brian Giles was the only staple in LF while the other spots were leased out for a year. That role has now been taken over by another LF Jason Bay who has played 2 consecutive years. It's a makeshift team year in year out. Do they give up too easy? Quite possibly so. There in the NL Central competing with Cubs, Cards, Brewers, Astros but c'mon you can't give up on your team so easily.
This offseason I've been impressed with their aggressive dealing. The Pirates have acquired Damaso Marte, Joe Randa, Sean Casey, Roberto Hernandez, and maybe Jeromy Burnitz. Here's a mock lineup card: CF Duffy, 3B Randa, 1B Casey, LF Bay, RF Burnitz, C Doumit, 2b Castillo, SS J. Wilson. It's not a bad team, but still not quite a divisional champion.
On the mound this team needs to ride the waves of Oliver Perez and Zach Duke. These two are the future of Pirate pitching. Fogg and Wells were brought over from the White Sox back in 2002; the Pirates actually got the better end of the deal. Wells is supposedly the #1 ace but like the rest of the team has struggled. In the end, this team may come close to or at .500 like this year's Brew Crew but there gonna have to gel together much sooner than later.

New Year's Post

Happy New Year to all! No major news in the MLB today. Over in the NL, the Marlins signed ex-Brave Wes Helms and C Miguel Olivo. These accompany the Joe Borowski and Pokey Reese deals made earlier in the week. Geez.. how bad does this team want to get out of Florida? Until next time...