Sep 13th 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

Six games were postponed last night due to weather. The Cubs and the Astros, as you know, are postponed today and tomorrow due to Hurricane Ike. Another storm system, which stretched all the way from the east coast to Mid-America, caused the postponement of no less than five games. This sets up a scenario in which there are six doubleheaders that will be played today, and 20 games in total. Sunday doubleheaders used to be more commonplace in an era without win shares, maple bats, or Matt Stairs. But six in one day at this moment is enough to induce baseball coma. It’s like fastballs with trails of tryptophan, baby! So enjoy, and feel free to unbutton that top button.

Continue Reading

Sep 10th 2008 9:00AM by Will Brinson (author feed)
.

It took me roughly six hours to formulate any sort of attack plan for this column. And that would be embarrassing if the column wasn’t about the very thing that was really screwing my head around backwards: John Smoltz’s comments to Jay Busbee.
“I say this for the first time, without reservation, if I’m going to bust my butt and if I feel like I’m good enough and it doesn’t work out here, I will be pitching somewhere else … My dream scenario would be to pitch in the playoffs again, and that’s coming from a guy who’s been in 13 of them. (Smoltz missed the 2000 playoffs with Tommy John surgery.) To me, that’s what I’m about. So if the door gets closed here, it’ll have to be explored somewhere else.”
This is a terrifying statement for any fan of baseball and particularly for any lifelong Braves fan who places Smoltz as his favorite ballplayer ever. In fairness to Smoltz, of course, he didn’t know the interview was going in (not sure how that actually matters) and he did point out that the ideal situation was to finish his career with the Braves.Continue Reading

Sep 9th 2008 11:30AM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
When they first came together in the 1990s, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine gave the Atlanta Braves a starting rotation that was a huge factor in the team winning 14 straight division titles. Of course, as time passed, both Maddux and Glavine moved on to pitch in other places. Smoltz, on the other hand, was the constant of the Atlanta Braves pitching staff.

The only thing that ever changed for Smoltz was his role with the team, as he spent the three seasons from 2002-2004 as the team’s closer. That all could change next season, though, as Smoltz admits he may not be an Atlanta Brave when he returns from shoulder surgery next summer.”I say this for the first time, without reservation, if I’m going to bust my butt and if I feel like I’m good enough and it doesn’t work out here, I be pitching somewhere else … My dream scenario would be to pitch in the playoffs again, and that’s coming from a guy who’s been in 13 of them. (Smoltz missed the 2000 playoffs with Tommy John surgery.) To me, that’s what I’m about. So if the door gets closed here, it’ll have to be explored somewhere else.

“Make no mistake,” he said a few minutes later. “I am absolutely, 100 percent committed to playing the rest of my career for the Atlanta Braves. But this can’t be my only option … I may not be in the [Braves’] plans. It’s no given right, where I’ve spent 21 years here and [so] they owe me whatever I want.”Smoltz has an option for the 2009 season in his contract that would have kicked in had he hit 200 innings this year, but the shoulder surgery kept him well short of achieving that. Still, the Braves can pick up the option if they want to, but Frank Wren doesn’t plan on making any decisions about 2009 until the end of this season.

Sep 9th 2008 3:35PM by Matt Snyder (author feed)
Mike Hampton last pitched for the Colorado Rockies in 2002. They are still paying him.

It’s one of those things you knew, but had forgotten, since it had happened so long ago … but when I saw the headline, my memory was jogged and I started to remember. The Rockies have paid Hampton for the past six seasons so he could play for another team four of those years, and not play at all for two of them.

Remember?In their free-spending days, the Rockies gave Hampton an eight- year, $121-million contract in December 2000.Wow. You might notice that there should still be yet another year left on that contract, and the Rockies have already bought out the option for 2009.

I’m not a Rockies fan, so I don’t know what the proper reaction is to this. Anger? Sadness? Indifference? It could be anything. Just know that from an outsider it’s purely hilarious.

Of course, fans could and should take the view that this colossal gaffe led to a chain reaction that indirectly helped your team reach the World Series last year. I’ll let the GM explain:Continue Reading

Sep 2nd 2008 1:00AM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Yes, yes and more yes. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to hear John Smoltz talk to the announcers during the game, or appear in the booth of a baseball game, you know that he is a high quality, on-air type. And that he would be superb if he ever got a permanent job as an announcer.

Well, since he’s not retired (and I honestly think he’ll be back next year) getting to run color in the TBS announcing booth for the duration of the playoffs is about as good as it will get. And it will get good (via AA/SBD).
TBS is close to signing injured Braves P John Smoltz to be an on-air color analyst during MLB playoff games, sources confirmed. The two sides have been talking, and an agreement is said to be close. The plan is to have Smoltz work the booth at one of the games. It’s not known which play-by-play announcer he would be paired with. TBS is expected to announce its broadcasting teams during the playoffs in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, TBS’ studio show for the playoffs is expected to be the same as its All-Star selection show, with Ernie Johnson, Cal Ripken Jr., Harold Reynolds and Dennis Eckersley. Frank Thomas is not expected to return.
Quite the craziness that will be going on in the studio, eh? Smoltz is, as you can see above, not officially signed. But this should end up happening — it’s certainly a win for TBS and I would imagine that even Smoltz is tired of playing golf every day at this point.

Aug 30th 2008 8:20PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

If you’re a baseball fan who likes surprises, then the 2008 season has been a special treat. The Rays are the most notable team that has exceeded expectations, but the Twins, White Sox and Marlins are also surprise contenders.

Of course, those pleasant surprises have come at the expense of several clubs expected to be much better this season. Whether because of a big free-agent signing last winter, a deep October run last season or the (hint, hint) crushing burden of a massive payroll, the baseball landscape is littered with flops as August comes to a close.

The following is a countdown of the seven most disappointing teams this season.

7. Padres: Mired in last place in the abysmal NL West, it’s easy to forget that this team won 89 games last year and was a (phantom?) Matt Holliday slide away from a playoff spot. Even when they were winning division titles, the Padres operated on a thin margin. Injuries and underperformance are at the root of their strugles.

Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Kouzmanoff and Brian Giles are the only offensive regulars who have played more than 100 games. Ace Jake Peavy spent a month on the disabled list, while No. 2 starter Chris Young has made only 13 starts. Veteran closer Trevor Hoffman has also been extremely shaky.Continue Reading

Aug 28th 2008 5:50PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
It shouldn’t have been a surprise to see the Braves ship Mark Kotsay to the Red Sox for a low-level prospect — Kotsay will be a free agent this winter, the Braves are 17 games under .500 and haven’t been in the playoff race since, well, April.

But even if there’s nothing left to play for this year, at least Braves fans will get to watch some of their top prospects get a cup of coffee in September, right? Perhaps a sneak peek of Jordan Schafer, who could be the starting center fielder in 2009? Umm, not quite. From David O’Brien of the :
So will we see Schafer in September? No. In fact, Wren said we won’t see any of the Braves’ top young prospects in September, including the pitchers like Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen.

He said the reasoning was two-fold: 1. The Braves want to monitor innings on those guys, including Medlen, who’s starting on a regular basis for the first time since high school, and 2. “roster management.”

In other words, to add any of them, including Schafer, to the 40-man roster now would require the Braves take someone off and possibly lose them in the Rule 5 Draft.
I get the reasoning, but c’mon, throw the fans a bone. The Braves have three of their last 16 games — it’s going to take a little more than $1 Hot Dog Night and pretty girls wielding a t-shirt gun to convince anyone it’s worth buying a ticket the final month.

Aug 27th 2008 6:00PM by Will Brinson (author feed)

The Braves, buried deep inside a depressing NL East vault of mediocrity, today traded starting centerfielder Mark Kotsay to the Boston Red Sox for outfielder and prospect! Luis Sumoza. At least so sayeth my Braves.com email alert, not that no one saw this coming (quote from DOB at the AJC FYI).
The teams finalized the trade Wednesday morning after spending much of Tuesday negotiating details of the deal, which sent the 32-year-old center fielder to Boston in time to be eligible for their postseason roster.

“It’ll be a fun experience for the next 30 days, that’s for sure,” Kotsay said as he prepared to board a flight for Boston on this afternoon. “Just one of those deals, we’ll get through it.”

Despite the Braves’ disappointing season, Kotsay said this of his eight months with the organization: “Great experience, man.”
Yay! That was almost as optimistic as the Braves’ email which made little or no mention of Kotsay and pimped the hell out of Sumoza’s stats. Now, interestingly, Atlanta traded Joey Devine last year for Kotsay, making this a Devine for Sumoza trade.Continue Reading

Aug 26th 2008 9:35PM by Matt Watson (author feed)
This morning, Ken Rosenthal reported that Mark Kotsay had cleared waivers and was drawing trade interest from the Red Sox and Phillies. This evening, Kotsay was a late scratch from Atlanta’s lineup. Coincidence? Not according to David O’Brien of the :
Center fielder Mark Kotsay was a late scratch from the Braves’ lineup Tuesday, fueling speculation he would be traded before the end of the night to the Boston Red Sox.

A person familiar with the situation said the Braves were close enough to a trade that they didn’t want to risk Kotsay getting hurt playing on the rain-soaked surface at Turner Field.
The Red Sox have both a spot on their roster and in their lineup for the taking after finally putting J.D. Drew on the disabled list. Drew was recently diagnosed with a herniated disc in his back and hasn’t played since August 17th. Kotsay, ironically, missed five weeks earlier this season with a bulging disc himself, but he’s healthy right now, and considering he’ll be a free agent in just a few short months, that’s really all that matters.

Kotsay doesn’t have nearly as powerful a bat as Drew, but he’s certainly an improvement over Coco Crisp, the slap-hitting fourth outfielder pressed into duty by Drew’s injury. Since the All-Star break, Kotsay has posted a .820 OPS; Crisp, just .686.

Update: According to Y!’s Gordon Edes, the deal is done pending a physical.

Aug 24th 2008 3:45PM by Will Brinson (author feed)
Much of the first half of the MLB season was spent discussing Chipper Jones’ amazing “run” at .400. He was absolutely killing the ball for the first two months of the season, hitting .422 in April and .417 in May. He hit a very respectable .328 in June to finish with a super pre-ASB .376 average.

But in July he hit .270 and after the break he’s averaging only .290, allowing Albert Pujols to creep within .004 points of his NL-leading average. And Chipper himself knows he’s struggling.
“I’m scuffling bad,” said Jones, who had a .262 average and only three extra-base hits (one home run) in his past 25 games before Saturday, after batting .388 with 33 extra-base hits (18 homers) in his first 77 games. “I’ve got to get it back. I really struggling with my mechanics [hitting] left-handed,” said the switch-hitter. “Until I get that straightened out, I’m going to be scratching to get a hit.”
All of this isn’t to say that Chipper’s 2008 season hasn’t been a success; it has in terms of individual achievements (although he would probably argue how “success” actually plays into the Braves whiffing on the playoffs).

The point is that, even as much fun as theorizing early in the season is, people really, really need to understand the reality of hitting .400 over the course of an entire season versus two months.Continue Reading