MLB 2007 Season

[abrnfanatc 6]

Braves are 5-1, lead the East for the first time since 2005, and the next 8 are against the Natspos and Marlins.

Woohoo!

I would expect to see them checking in at 11-3 after those series'.

[Rev4AU07 0]

The bravos return to greatness this year!! Early spring indications say that the Powers That Be have put their money where the problems were last year. I expect a bolstered bullpen and a stronger starting 3 this year with the return of Hampton. Should he stay healthy (big "if") the Braves will dominate once again.

only to lose in round one to the Astros.

considering that he's now out 6-9 months for surgery, that proved to be too big of an "if" about Hampton.

[BigSammyK 171]

I think Mike enjoyed sitting out all last season while still getting paid so much last year that he just decided he'd do it again.

[RadioWryn 0]

The loss of Mike Hampton isn't huge for the Braves provided nothing else happens to the rotation. The Braves made their two biggest free-agent signings in the last 3 years by acquiring Tanyon Sturtze (woohoo) and Mark Redman (woohoo) in the offseason. Now the rotation includes John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, Chuck James, and any two of Kyle Davies/Redman/Sturtze/Lance Cormier.

Kyle Davies pitched well in his opener, single-handedly keeping the Braves in it versus the Mets. He has a new delivery, one he has used his entire life, which is helping him tremendously (His minor league coaches had him switch deliveries to get a little more zip on his fastball in A-ball). A Stockbridge, Ga. native, Davies had a 0.77 ERA through his first four starts in the big leagues, including 6 shutout innings against the Red Sox. A groin injury cost him most of the 2006 season and Davies was awful when he came back. If Davies (by far the best of these four pitchers) can be anywhere near his potential, the Braves are in great shape.

Mark Redman didn't pitch all that great versus the Mets on Friday. Redman is a guy who will give you 5 or 6 innings and give up between 2 and 4 runs every time. He won't give up 7 in the second inning or something, and that's about the only positive I can find about him.

Lance Cormier is really short, which might have to do something with the inferiority complex he has when he played baseball at Alabama. ESPN.com has Cormier listed at 6'1". I've seen him in person and would buy 5'8" or 5'9". Anyway, Cormier was very solid in spring training (1.77 ERA or thereabouts), but is currently on the DL with a strained tricep muscle. Not sure when he's officially coming back, as Braves officials want to have him back at 100% and no less, but it should be by mid-May one would think.

Tanyon Sturtze was signed by the Braves in the offseason for no particular reason except John Schuerholz wanted a pitcher on the team to be as bad as fellow FA signee Chris Woodward. Sturtze, 36, is coming off a 2006 campaign that ended in may due to a torn rotator cuff. Sturtze has only had two seasons in his career with less than a 4.42 ERA, and those were in very small sample sizes of 4 innings and 52 innings apiece.

Chance of Davies staying in the rotation the entire season, barring injury: 95%.

Chance of Redman staying in the rotation the entire season, barring injury: 40%.

Chance of Cormier staying in the rotation the entire season, barring injury:

60%.

Chance of Sturtze staying in the rotation the entire season, barring injury:

5%.

Feel free to post questions on here you want me to comment on - along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball the most.

[AUJarhead 70]

along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball The Braves the most.

Fixed that for you. Not sure you'll find bigger Cubbie fans that WE!!! and atc.

What are the odds of the Braves rotation staying healthy? I know nothing of the Braves rotation, except for Smoltz and Hudson. What happened last year to Hudson? Why the jump in ERA?

Is this Andruw Jones' walk year? If it is, will they resign him or will he be gone by the trade deadline?

[RadioWryn 0]

along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball The Braves the most.

Fixed that for you. Not sure you'll find bigger Cubbie fans that WE!!! and atc.

What are the odds of the Braves rotation staying healthy? I know nothing of the Braves rotation, except for Smoltz and Hudson. What happened last year to Hudson? Why the jump in ERA?

Is this Andruw Jones' walk year? If it is, will they resign him or will he be gone by the trade deadline?

The Braves rotation seems pretty good health-wise, but who really knows..

Smoltz is solid but has had arm issues in the past (such as the Tommy John's). Smoltz is in a contract year and turns 40 next month, but seems a fairly good pick to make 200 innings.

Chuck James, the #3 guy, once broke both of his arms in high school, but still made it to the bigs. He really hasn't had any injury issues (knock on wood) since he's been in the minors or beyond and seems fairly safe unless some freak thing happens.

Hudson is a different case. For the last several years, many have wondered if Hudson is truly healthy or if he has some nagging side/oblique injury. In the offseason, Hudson put on some weight and gained a lot more strength. He claims he feels as good as any time he's been in Atlanta, and we'll see that again as Hudson opposes some Nats pitcher named Matt Chico tonight. As Hudson goes, truly, so go the Braves.

Andruw Jones is also a free agent at the end of the season. I think the Braves will be in contention at the deadline, so I don't see them trading away their stud outfielder. I also don't see the Braves being able to sign Andruw to a long-term deal (a la Vernon Wells 7-yr/$126 million contract or Alfonso Soriano's 8-yr/$136 million). I think Andruw is far superior to those two, and I don't see him around for 2008.

Look for the Braves to use extra funds this offseason to bring back Smoltz and to start looking at ways to sign Francoeur long-term..

[abrnfanatc 6]

Feel free to post questions on here you want me to comment on - along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball the most.

Any idea if and/or when Felix Pie will be called up?

[RadioWryn 0]

Feel free to post questions on here you want me to comment on - along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball the most.

Any idea if and/or when Felix Pie will be called up?

I would say late this year with him being full-time by 2007, but I really don't know much about the Cubs situation. Pie isn't going to set the world on fire right away. Give him a learning curve, but expect more by the time he gets 25 and 26.

[abrnfanatc 6]

Feel free to post questions on here you want me to comment on - along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball the most.

Any idea if and/or when Felix Pie will be called up?

I would say late this year with him being full-time by 2007, but I really don't know much about the Cubs situation. Pie isn't going to set the world on fire right away. Give him a learning curve, but expect more by the time he gets 25 and 26.

Impressive for a Bravos fan...

[AUJarhead 70]

Article listed on stltoday.com this morning lists the top 5 living players for each of the 30 teams.

Post Dispatch's take here.

For the Braves:

OF Henry Aaron

LHP Tom Glavine

RHP Greg Maddux

OF Dale Murphy

RHP John Smoltz

Cubs:

SS-1B Ernie Banks

RHP Ferguson Jenkins

2B Ryne Sandberg

OF Sammy Sosa

OF Billy Williams

Cards:

OF Lou Brock

RHP Bob Gibson

OF/1B Stan Musial

1B Albert Pujols

SS Ozzie Smith

And for Ranger, here are the RedSox

3B Wade Boggs

RHP Roger Clemens

C Carlton Fisk

OF Jim Rice

OF Carl Yastrzemski

I agree with the Braves. For the Cards, I'd put Gibby 1st, with Stan the Man 2nd, and then Lou 3rd, with Pujols 4th, and Ozzie 5th. With Boston, I think I'd have Roger 1st, but agree with the others.

[WAR EAGLE!!! 0]

Feel free to post questions on here you want me to comment on - along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball the most.

Any idea if and/or when Felix Pie will be called up?

I would say late this year with him being full-time by 2007, but I really don't know much about the Cubs situation. Pie isn't going to set the world on fire right away. Give him a learning curve, but expect more by the time he gets 25 and 26.

Impressive for a Bravos fan...

Impressive, but you can find that on any news article about Pie written in Spring. The problem is now the Cubs have Soriano playing center. With Murton, Floyd and Jones all outfielders on the roster, it makes it hard to bring up another outfielded, especially one with little or no experience in the bigs. It is already going to be hard to find playing time for both Floyd AND Murton in right. Murton is a pretty good talent but I don't think he will be AS successful playing in only half the games. However, Floyd is a lefty so Lou is trying to balance the line-up some with him in there. Ultimately, I would like to see Murton try and become the regular starter and bat 2nd. We could use his career .300 BA to get on before Lee and Rameriz, who are on fire right now. When Murton is not playing, Lou has Izturis or Jones batting in the 2 spot and I personally don't think they get on base enough. ah well...it's a long season...but i am going to be PISSED if we get swept by the Stros. I will be eager to see if Hill keeps it going though. He had a great spring and dominant first game...his control has been fantastic. If he continues to control that awesome breaking ball is going to have a hell of a year! Anyway...i digress...I could talkk about the Cubs all day...

[WAR EAGLE!!! 0]

Article listed on stltoday.com this morning lists the top 5 living players for each of the 30 teams.

Post Dispatch's take here.

I agree with the Braves. For the Cards, I'd put Gibby 1st, with Stan the Man 2nd, and then Lou 3rd, with Pujols 4th, and Ozzie 5th. With Boston, I think I'd have Roger 1st, but agree with the others.

Pujols will be #1 on that list by the time it is all said and done.

[RadioWryn 0]

Feel free to post questions on here you want me to comment on - along with BG, I think we follow pro baseball the most.

Any idea if and/or when Felix Pie will be called up?

I would say late this year with him being full-time by 2007, but I really don't know much about the Cubs situation. Pie isn't going to set the world on fire right away. Give him a learning curve, but expect more by the time he gets 25 and 26.

Impressive for a Bravos fan...

Impressive, but you can find that on any news article about Pie written in Spring. The problem is now the Cubs have Soriano playing center. With Murton, Floyd and Jones all outfielders on the roster, it makes it hard to bring up another outfielded, especially one with little or no experience in the bigs. It is already going to be hard to find playing time for both Floyd AND Murton in right. Murton is a pretty good talent but I don't think he will be AS successful playing in only half the games. However, Floyd is a lefty so Lou is trying to balance the line-up some with him in there. Ultimately, I would like to see Murton try and become the regular starter and bat 2nd. We could use his career .300 BA to get on before Lee and Rameriz, who are on fire right now. When Murton is not playing, Lou has Izturis or Jones batting in the 2 spot and I personally don't think they get on base enough. ah well...it's a long season...but i am going to be PISSED if we get swept by the Stros. I will be eager to see if Hill keeps it going though. He had a great spring and dominant first game...his control has been fantastic. If he continues to control that awesome breaking ball is going to have a hell of a year! Anyway...i digress...I could talkk about the Cubs all day...

I'm not an NL central guy - I don't follow that division as closely as I used to, but I feel certain when I say that the Cubs are one overrated ballclub. You have relatively weak defense up the middle with DeRosa/Izturis at second and short and an out-of-position Soriano at center.

Yes, the Cubs spent a ton of money in the offseason, but was it really a good investment?

Take Jason Marquis (3-yr, $21 million). Marquis has a career record of 56-52, a 4.55 ERA. So he's an average at best pitcher, with no seasons ever over 15 wins.

The Braves signed Mark Redman this spring training to a minor league deal, and purchased his contract (pretty small) from Richmond a few weeks ago. Redman has a career record of 59-71, but a 4.52 ERA. Redman, who is four years older than Marquis, is essentially the same pitcher from the numbers, it's just that Marquis has played for some good teams (Braves/Cardinals) while Redman's played for a bunch of scrubs (Tigers/Marlins/Royals/Pirates).

Am I endorsing every move the Braves make? No. But I think that Jim Hendry made some stupid stupid moves - however, his faults can be masked in the large-budget the Cubs can play around with. The Cubbies are a sleeping giant and can quickly take the NL Central with intelligent moves and a rising payroll if they follow the lead of a large-market team like the Mets.

[WAR EAGLE!!! 0]

1) How are you over rated when you aren't rated. I haven't seen the Cubs picked once to win the division. Everyone seems to think that the Central is a tight conference from top to bottom with no one a clear favorite. Is that your idea of over rated or should they say the central is solid except for the Cubs, because Radio thinks they made stupid moves?

2) Izturis was brought in for his defense. He is a decent fielder. He has around a career .975 fielding percentage which isn't bad for a short stop. The jury is still out on whether or not Soriano can fill in and do a good job defensively in CF, but he has been in the All-Star game for the past 5 or 6 years in a row so I guess we are "taking a chance there"...

3) I thought we were talking about Pie?

4) I agree about Maquis. Still not sure why the Cubs signed him and for $7 million a year I will never know. I do know this though. This is the first time that the cubs have experience up and down the pitching starting line-up, WITHOUT counting on Prior OR wood. We needed decent starting pitching who was at the very least dependable for 30 starts this year. Last year, the Cubs started a rookie pitcher something ridiculous like 30 or more times. We needed the starting pitching to be at least dependable to eat up some innings.

[abrnfanatc 6]

I'm not an NL central guy - I don't follow that division as closely as I used to, but I feel certain when I say that the Cubs are one overrated ballclub. You have relatively weak defense up the middle with DeRosa/Izturis at second and short and an out-of-position Soriano at center.

WAREAGLE beat me to the punch, but Izturis is the second best defensive shortstop in the NL. I will admit that DeRosa isn't the best fielding 2nd baseman around, but his bat should make up for that.

Soriano will take a little time to break in at CF, but he will be just fine in that spot. Once the weather heats up, his bat will more than make up for any misplayed balls in center.

Pie will most likely be a September call up this year barring injury. He has the raw talent to be a superstar, but needs the daily playing time that he will get in AAA.

I agree WE that Murton would be a perfect fit at the #2 spot, but so would DeRosa IMO. If Soriano gets hot and someone, anyone can get consistent at the 2 spot, the Cubs will score some serious runs this year.

Lilly and Hill have been pleasant surprises this year in the rotation, and Marquis will give them some innings. Once Big Z gets into midseason form, I would look for the Cubs to make a serious run at the Central this year.

[BigSammyK 171]

I loved DeRosa when he was on the Braves. I've always thought that as an everyday player he'd end up being a really good ballplayer.

[RadioWryn 0]

Izturis did have 3 errors last night if anyone cares.. yes it's an aberration, but still.

[AUJarhead 70]

Sweep today by the Cards!

Offense still in the toilet though... But a win's a win!

[WAR EAGLE!!! 0]

Izturis did have 3 errors last night if anyone cares.. yes it's an aberration, but still.

Yes, he did have 3 errors yesterday, not last night since all you did was look at the box score, but yesterday. I am aware of this because this was one of the main reasons the cubs lost. Thanks for your concern about the Cubs middle infielding though.

[RadioWryn 0]

I will now be a supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals on this forum as well as the Braves. Thanks for your concern.

[AUJarhead 70]

Anyone know off hand when are they going to make up the Houston/Chicago game?

And who's next for the Cubs? Cards have a set against the Brewers. I've got tickets for Sunday's game, but the school I'm working at turns on their new registration system Sunday at 11:59 pm, so I have to work.

[abrnfanatc 6]

Anyone know off hand when are they going to make up the Houston/Chicago game?

And who's next for the Cubs? Cards have a set against the Brewers. I've got tickets for Sunday's game, but the school I'm working at turns on their new registration system Sunday at 11:59 pm, so I have to work.

July 12 for the makeup game. 3 game set at Wrigley against the Reds is next up, starting tomorrow. Maybe no more snow outs...

How many users are you expecting to be on line at go-live???

[AUJarhead 70]

How many users are you expecting to be on line at go-live???

I would tell you I'd rather play the Astros later, since I think they're slumping somewhat, but the Cubs haven't played well the last week either (at least against the Stros anyway). I hope you guys stick it to the Reds.

It's student registration. School I'm at has 12k students. Expecting the system to crash at 12:01am.

And let's keep our fingers crossed for no more snow outs. It's April, we should be wearing shorts.

[abrnfanatc 6]

It's student registration. School I'm at has 12k students. Expecting the system to crash at 12:01am.

Good to know you are confident...

We have our own challenge on July 2 with SAP Financials...The mushroom cloud you will see in the southern sky that morning will be from Birmingham.

[Ranger12 46]

All this NL talk makes me want to .

Actually, the Cards are my second favorite MLB team behind my Red Sox. However, I can't stand the Braves. It would not be so bad probably if I did not live in an area where the majority of MLB fans are Braves fans. At least I get to laugh at them every year when Bobby Cox once again shows why he is a pitiful post-season manager.

If Tony LaRussa would have had all the talent that Bobby Cox had during the years of the Braves' division championship streak, the Braves would have one at least half a dozen World Series, not a pathetic one WS championship during that streak.