PANIC! Braves 2016 Preview - Infield

I'd been planning on doing a series for the upcoming season focusing on position battles and such. 

Then I checked twitter after work yesterday and probably looked alot like this guy when I read the following tweet:

Our fearless leader and only real threat in the lineup looks like he'll be on and off the shelf again this season. He had looked good thus far in Spring too, homering twice to go with a few doubles and a bunch of walks. If the injury is bad it leaves a huge hole in our lineup as well as at first base. Let's take a look at the potential replacements...

My best guess to take the job full time if Freeman were to miss significant time would be Nick Swisher.  He's getting paid alot and I doubt they find anyone to dump him on without eating around $10m.  The guy used to be good, let's take a quick glance at his 2015 stats...

Year	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS+	BB	SO	SB	CS
2014	97	360	33	75	8	42	.208	.278	.331	70	36	111	0	0
2015	76	219	14	43	6	25	.196	.312	.320	75	35	54	0	0

Ok please don't do that to me Braves. 

Another guy who actually hit last year who should be too busy platooning all over the place is Kelly Johnson. While he could play some first, I see him platooning in left and at third. 

Maybe A.J. tries to extend his career even further by picking up a first base glove. I like those 2 options better than Swish. Hopefully Freeman is ok and this post is a overreaction later today. 

Moving onto 2nd base Jace Peterson is the heir apparent and doesn't really have any competition (yet) so he should get the nod, Guy hits righties good enough but probably isn't an everyday player. The Braves have been playing him all over the diamond this Spring however preparing him for his inevitable utility role. I've seen him at second, short, third and in left field so far. 

One of the platoon options brought in was local boy and former top prospect/rookie of the year Gordon Beckham. He will probably make the club and start at second against lefties. I expect nothing crazy but you never know, if I had to guess I'd say 50ish games with a .235 average and a solid glove. 

Maybe I shouldn't give my opinion on Bonifacio, that look is kinda scary. Whatever, I think Emilio might be the odd man out despite inking a major league deal with the club. But then again Fredi Gonzalez loves players like Boni so I'll probably be wrong. He pretty much epitomizes the "Jack of all trades, Master of none" saying from a baseball standpoint.

Aybar should get most of the starts at short this year while Dansby and Ozzie Albies season in the minors. That is unless the Cardinals wanna overpay for him and then it would probably be a combination of the 2nd base candidates along with AAAA type player Daniel Castro at short. If Aybar does stay I could see him having a decent season until he's flipped in July for a mid level pitching prospect.

Adonis Garcia is pretty much locked in at third base by default since Olivera has been moved to left. The guy showed flashes of power hitting 10 homers in less than 200 plate appearances.

If he struggles I could see Hector coming back in to play third and the team calling Mallex Smith up to play left. This could just be this fans wishful thinking though as the team seems set on Olivera in left where he's hitting really well so far in Spring.

Hopefully though Freeman is ok and plays 150+ games while hitting .320 with 25 dingers and 100 RBI, he's gonna be a Dad after all needs to make that boy proud!

Thanks for reading my ramblings,  Go Braves! 

Spring Training - Ed Smith Stadium with a Hall of Fame Surprise Auto

Ah the joys of living in Florida. I was in Sarasota today so naturally I figured I'd try and catch the Braves BP at Ed Smith Stadium. 

Mission Accomplished,  Spring has sprung folks.  That's Rio Ruiz and Daniel Castro talking ground balls in the Florida sun.

Here's Mallex Smith talking some hacks, he was putting a charge into several balls and impressed me with his power since he's known as a speedster.

He came over and signed my card I brought with me. I told him I was looking forward to seeing him make his MLB debut this year to which he replied "Me too!" He then proceeded to go 4 for 6 with 2 triples in the first inning alone along with a home run to center field. Take that low power grade! 

Here's a (poor) shot of Ruiz, Dansby Swanson & Ozzie Albie heading out for warm up tosses.

Albies also signed a card for me and homered as well.  More Braves should of signed the cards I brought! 

Right before I had to run I noticed a large group of people gathering on the opposite side of the dugout from where I was standing.  I noticed who it was and was able to buy this ball off a guy for 14 dollars.

It was none other that Hall of Famer Bobby Cox!  My day/season/life was made. What a nice guy he signed for quite a while. 

Inscribed it with HOF '14 and everything. This is one of the prizes of my collection now I definitely was not expecting to see the Braves legend there.

Just as I was leaving in disbelief that I had gotten Bobby Cox's autograph I saw Kelly Johnson signing for a few people and got this card signed before (reluctantly) leaving. 

Let's Make A Deal III

Well I started to write a series on the Braves rash of trades over the last 12+ months back in December but didn't follow thru with it only getting to the Andrelton Simmons/Sean Newcomb Deal and the Shelby Miller/Dansby deal.


Well I'm back, continuing on backwards from the Newcomb deal. On August 7th in a rare move they traded one overpaid old dude...

For TWO overpaid old dudes! YES!

Well at least I get to show off this super patriotic Michael Bourn card from his original stay in Atlanta.

OK so the whole point of this thing is to cover the Braves rebuild and what good would that be without some prospect action? On July 30th I was in a movie and felt my phone vibrate a bunch of times, I have my phone set to only vibrate when I receive a Twitter notification so I got nervous/excited but waited until after the movie was over like a good boy to check it. Well I'm glad I did because the news that broke during the movie ruined my night..

The Braves traded their 2nd best starter Alex Wood and their Number one prospect at the time Jose Peraza to the Dodgers for a 30 year old prospect named Hector Olivera and others....

It was a pretty complicated 3 team deal with lots of parts moving around but that was the gist of it, here I'll let Baseball Reference explain it better -

As part of a 3-team trade, traded Bronson Arroyo, Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson, Jose Peraza and Alex Wood to the Los Angeles Dodgers. ReceivedZachary Bird (minors), Hector Olivera and Paco Rodriguez from the Los Angeles Dodgers and 2016 competitive balance round A pick from the Miami Marlins. In addition, the Los Angeles Dodgers sent Victor Araujo (minors), Jeff Brigham (minors) and Kevin Guzman (minors) to the Miami Marlins; and the Miami Marlins sent Mat Latos and Mike Morse to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
-BBref Link

The man who "played" for 3 teams in 2015 yet suited up for none.

This Zach Bird kid looks like he could have some upside (plus a cool signature, check the birds) but I don't know if I'll ever understand sending a number 2 or 3 starter and a top prospect for a 30 year old project.

In a shocking development Paco had to have Tommy John surgery not long after the deal. Should be a decent lefty reliever when he makes it back though. 

 Good luck in LA Alex. Oh well, I'll continue to follow the team and churn out these trade recaps. Thanks for reading.