Rotation and lineup taking shape

Well, the Braves traded Josh Anderson to the Tigers today for a minor league pitching prospect. This all but guarantees that Jordan Schafer, the hot shot prospect, will get the nod as the opening day center fielder. The projected Braves lineup now looks like this:

Kelly Johnson (2B)
Yunel Escobar (SS)
Chipper Jones (3B)
Brian McCann (C)
Jeff Francoeur (RF)
Garrett Anderson/Matt Diaz (LF)
Casey Kotchman (1B)
Jordan Schafer (CF)

The Anderson/Diaz platoon could easily bat in the seventh spot if Kotchman gets hot. Similarly, I wouldn't be surprised to see Schafer move up in the order as the year goes along, especially if he continues hitting as he has this spring. Obviously, the difference between the Braves being a good offensive team or a bad offensive team will hinge on whether Francoeur can bounce back in a big way from a truly terrible season last year. More on the Braves later.

Who are these guys and what have they done with my Braves?

For the first time since I can remember . . . seriously . . . since way back in 1986 when I was 2 years old . . . wait, I hadn't even turned 2 yet, John Smoltz is not in the Braves organization. However, while many Braves fans are annoyed that the front office didn't sign John for one last season, there's just no way the Braves should have plunked $5 million guaranteed plus $5-$6 million more in incentives on a guy who won't even be able to pitch until June. That money is better spent filling our many other needs, including finding pitchers to actually fill out a rotation that has been decimated by injuries the past two seasons. Frank Wren and company brought in a whole bunch of new faces to replace Smoltz and, quite frankly, the 2009 edition of the Braves is going to look far, far, far different from any Braves team in recent history.

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So who are the new Braves? Any Braves fan who has followed the team knows that starting pitching, once the key to the success of the 1991-2005 teams (wow, that was a long run of success, eh?) has become our Achilles Heel the past three seasons. The quality has been there, it's just been sitting on the sidelines for long portions of the season in the form of Mike Hampton. Last year, Hampton, Glavine, Smoltz AND Hudson (the baseball gods were cruel, last year) missed most of the season. Young guns Charlie Morton, Chuck James, and Jo-Jo Reyes have been unable to handle the load. While the Edgar Renteria for Jair Jurrjens trade was a coup and Jorge Campillo provided some stabiility to the back-end of the rotation last year, the Braves clearly lacked the arms (well, we lacked healthy arms, anyway) to compete. Barring yet another season of catastrophic injuries, that should not be a problem this year. The Braves signed free agent Derek Lowe, won the bidding war for Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, and capatilized on catching prospect Tyler Flower's excellent season in the minors by trading for Javier Vasquez. For those you hoping for Jake Peavy, you might be disappointed. Indeed, I am to an extent. Peavy may have put the Braves over the top. However, for the first time in a long time, the Braves won't be relying on an older Glavine, Smoltz, or chronically injured Hampton to complete the rotation. In fact, Jurrjens who finished the season as the number 1 starter will probably begin this season as the number 3 or 4 starter. There are certainly question marks for these guys. When will Derek Lowe start to show his age (he's 36)? Will Jurrjens suffer a sophomore slump or build on his success as a rookie? How will Kawakami adjust to the MLB's after years in Japan? Will Javier Vasquez finally break his habit of underperforming now that he's back in the NL? Will Glavine be able to provide quality starts in the five spot of the rotation or will Campillo or even number 1 prospect Tommy Hanson replace Glavine in the rotation? But, the entire staff with the exception of the five spot has been healthy for pretty much their entire careers. If Hudson were healthy, this would be one of the more formiddible formations. With Hudson out until August, I hope that these guys can eat enough innings and provide as many quality starts as possible so that our bullpen isn't pitched to death and so that we can actually develop our young pitchers delicately instead of throwing them into the fray and having their confidence shot.

I'll be honest, I'm not convinced that the Braves have enough to make the post-season right now, as their are too many question marks. But I am happy to see many healthy, veteran pitchers wearing the uniform going into this season. There are still too many "if's" attached to any prediction of success for this squad for my liking, but the phrase "IF Braves pitchers stay healthy" isn't one of them, at this point. (Come on, baseball gods, show a little mercy!)

So, word on the street is that Griffey really, really, really, really wants to be a Brave this season. I'm going to ignore everything this means for the Braves' chances of winning next year and just say this is super exciting simply because Griffey has always been one of my absolute favorite players. In his heyday, he combined offensive and defensive skill like only a few players in history could even dream of. It's a shame that injuries have prevented us calling him the HR king as there is perhaps no other more worthy candidate to supplant Aaron (wait, this just in . . . apparently some guy that I've never heard of named Bonds is the home run king? When did that happen?). Anyway, in light of the steroid scandals, it's fun just to remember how exciting Griffey was as a player back in the day.

Don't Let Curry Bring You Down . . . The NFL Ain't that Bad

Ok, so Curry is justifiably bitter about how the season ended for the Jets. And he's also right that the NFL certainly contains a lot of suckiness thanks to the ridiculous media machine that feeds us nothing but NFL for five months plus a whole month's worth of draft coverage. But, this is the first year in a long time that I've been very excited about the NFL. I mean, this season the Football Gods were particularly gracious. Righteousness has been restored to the sport.


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It started last year when the Giants somehow defeated the evil empire that was the 2007-2008 Patriots. This year, the Belicheat-led Pats were left out of the postseason despite an 11-5 record (yeah, I'm laughing). The mockery that has been the Brett Favre Show won't be polluting our TV's for at least the next six weeks (sorry, Curry). The Cowboys, who declared themselves the champions before the season began while putting a chokehold on all the bad-boy NFL talent, were drubbed by 40 on the final game of the season to fall short of the postseason. The playoffs are about as wide open as they've ever been. I mean, the 8-8 Chargers could easily go on a roll and win the Super Bowl.

Fan bases that have endured unrelenting suffering over the past few seasons have been given truly magical seasons. I mean, Miami not only made it to the playoffs after going 1-15 the season before, but they did so by beating the Favre in the last game of the season with the quarterback that was cast off when Favre decided to un-retire. The Falcons (yeah!) finally look like a legitimate NFL franchise. Even when Mike Vick was leading the team to the NFC Championship game in 2004 I was never convinced that the Falcons were really that good. I think our point differential was only +3 despite an 11-5 record. Well, this season Arthur Blank's money was put to good use as new GM Thomas Dimitroff, rookie coach Mike Smith, free agent running back Michael Turner, and, perhaps most surprisingly of all, 23 year-old quarter back Matt Ryan have come together to turn a team expected to win no more than 4 games by most pundits into a legit contender in the NFC. Needless to say, that makes us Falcons fans very happy.

And even the top teams aren't quite as unsavory as they usually are. Having recently relocated to Nashville, it has been fun to watch the Titans bruise their way to the AFC's top seed. I'm not a Steelers fan, but it's hard to hate their old-school style. The NFC is about as wide open as it gets. Even the Giants seemed to have some rather large chinks in their armor during the last few weeks.

So don't dispair. Yeah, the NFL has it's problems, but this might actually be one of the most exciting postseasons in years. Besides, I get to watch the Falcons and the Titans for (hopefully) a few more weeks, which will keep my mind off of the Braves' disasterous start to the offseason, which I may or may not feel like discussing at some point.

Hate to say I told you so

So, this blog has been dormant for far too long. I thought I would bring it back for that amazing Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final, which was the best tennis match I've ever seen. Then I thought I'd surely bring it back for the Olympics (for the Chinese gymnastics sham if for nothing else), but that didn't happen either. Then I figured I'd finally have to bring it back for the Red Bulls run to the MLS Cup Final, but that came and went while law school finals happened. Ironic, then, that I'm bringing it back for a post on the NFL, which is probably my least favorite sports league of the ones I follow. But there are a few Jets-related things on my mind that I have to get out there:

Before the season, I said that swapping Pennington for Favre was a mistake. I said Pennington would have a better season than Favre. I said that Favre would not throw more touchdowns than interceptions. Sadly, I was proven correct on all of those things.

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Sure, the grass is always greener on the other side, but the clamoring for "arm strength" by Jets fans was always idiotic (and that kind of mass fan stupidity is the kind of thing that makes me not want to bother with discussing the NFL anyone). With seven seconds to go in today's game with the Jets down by just one score, where was Favre with his vaunted arm strength? On the sidelines, with Eric Mangini preferring to put his faith in Brad Smith and some cockamamie 80 lateral design. Fat lot of good that arm strength did the Jets in the end. Pennington, meanwhile, did what he does, which is be extremely efficient, complete passes, keep the chains moving, and LEAD. The contrast between Favre's dumpy body language (see above) and Pennington's leadership throughout the season couldn't have been more stark.

And speaking of Mangini, I said the day that he was hired that he didn't have what it takes to be an NFL head coach, and he's proved me right time and time again. He makes mind boggling in-game decisions, like choosing to kick a field goal on the opening drive last week, apparently placing his faith in the Jets having a boatload of opportunities in that swirling snowstorm in Seattle. I don't think he has the slightest idea as to how to strategize. How do you entirely abandon the run in today's crucial game and instead let Favre and his useless arm throw at will, especially when you have the league's leading rusher? He just does not have the mind or demeanor to be an NFL head coach. It's as simple as that.

Will Mangini be fired? Probably not. That would be admitting a mistake in signing him, and it would feel like a defeat to the Patriots. Besides, the Jets did still go 9-7 this year, and it's difficult to fire a coach coming off of a winning season. This is conventional thinking, and it's the likely result, but that doesn't mean it's the right one. To go 1-4 down the stretch falls squarely on the coach's shoulders. The Jets might have had a winning record for the season, but they didn't when it counted. Between his overall game strategy and in-game decision making, it's not at all a stretch to argue that Mangini cost the Jets games this year, and you simply cannot keep a coach who does that.

What's next for the Jets? Who cares. The NFL sucks. I doubt I'll pay close attention to the playoffs, and I won't pay much attention to the Jets until next September, most likely. What about Favre and his yearly offseason drama? I'd like to say I want him gone, but he's better than the current alternative, which is pretty sad. Whatever. I don't care. Unless the Jets sack Mangini and do something about that defense, it won't matter who's at QB.

This is quite a lull in my sports life. We're too far away from the playoffs for me to be paying too much attention to the Devils, and this season and the next are of course already lost for the Knicks. Unfortunately Spurs don't look likely to break my sports doldrum in the near future, though hope springs eternal in the transfer window, I suppose. I'll be following with great interest the January USMNT camp, looking to see what fringe/new players get the call. This is an uncertain time for the national team. Players like Dempsey and Jozy are making strides while guys like Beasley and Adu seem to be regressing. We're going to have to start figuring out how to fire on all cylinders by the time the Confed Cup and our crazy draw in it roll around next summer. Also, there's plenty of hot stove Mets action. I think we'll do well in the remainder of free agency, as there aren't a whole lot of teams left willing to give multiyear deals to some of the remaining free agents, so it's a good market to buy. Lots of good options out there: Lowe, Perez, Garland; Orlando Hudson, Manny, Milton Bradley, Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn. Lots of good names out there. The Mets are on the edge of being a contender right now - if they add a couple of those names, I'd make them the favorites in the NL East. But that's enough for now, I suppose. I'm going to go not care about the NFL. See you guys later.

The 3,000

Respect is due.

3,000 K's baby!

Quick Braves Update

It took a four game winning streak, but the Braves are back to .500 sitting 3rd in the NL East. While there has been a little bit of doom and gloom around Atlanta at the disappointing start to the season, I for one am pretty optimistic for the rest of the season. The Braves have already completed their longest road trip of the season. That trip was a total nightmare. Soriano, Moylan, and Glavine, three of our most important pitchers, all went to the DL. Chipper did his annual "tweaking" of a muscle somewhere on his body, and we lost 7 out of the 9 games we played. Yet most of those losses were by a single run, games in which luck plays a huge factor. On top of that, the four game winning streak has featured wins by our 3,4, and 5 starters, headlined by Jurrjen's masterful performance against Los Dodgers last night. At this point, the Braves are a top 6 team both in hitting (going by OPS) and pitching (going by ERA) in all of baseball. We sport a run differential of +30, better than the Mets by a bit and far superior to the Phillies. Teixeira's bat is heating up. Gonzalez will soon return to fill Moylan's void. And Glavine will be back soon. Escobar has validated the faith the coaching staff put in him when they traded Renteria. The Braves offense is primed to score runs and, for once, we have the pitching depth (Bennett, James, Carlyle, and Reyes) to overcome the temporary loss of Glavine and the continued and indefinite absence of Hampton. Yes, a .500 winning percentage with a run differential of +30 over 18 games is frustrating because of all the games that slipped away. However, over the course of the season if we can remain on that trajectory, luck will give way to probability and the Braves will be just fine.