Hitters trying to hit it reminded me of the old Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs was a pitcher and yhe batters swung 3 times striking out before the ball ever got to the plate.
Most of the second half of the run was down to the Mets and Phillies being run incompetently while AOL/TW slowly drained the Braves' ability to compete with top teams. Point still stands, though.
This guy seems to agree. And I think this guy does too, although he made a slideshow and I'm too lazy to click through, so maybe not. But then the title would be misleading. 78% sure. I think there's 4 or 5 that all have reasons to claim it.
Represent. From memory, SetVol(#? 13?) is. The Braves thread is buried now, but it could stand to see some more activity this summer. Should be a fun year.
There are three, and he nailed all three of them. The Braves are in the second tier until B.J. Upton proves he is anything better than mediocre. Hell, the Dodgers, Angels and Cards all have two legit stars in their outfields, the Braves maybe have an argument for one in Justin Upton. Heyward is good, but he is by no means great.
Crawford or Ethier for the Dodgers? I would take Heyward over either for this season, salaries equal. I'd say Hamilton and Beltran are the two most injury prone OFs in the discussion (actually, maybe Ethier could go here too). I think taking the Braves from that list is relying a good degree on potential. I think defensively they should be as good as anyone, and offensive does depend on BJ contributing positively. Think I'd be tempted to take the Angels, though. Just noticed that this is the Cardinals thread and I triple-posted Braves stuff. Oops.
With the exception of a few advanced scouts, the whole organization was eat up with the dumbass with Francoeur.
Right now i am mostly concerned with locking up waino long term. But with what the market is for pitching, I'm afraid its going to be costly.
He could throw over 90 but he knew he was more effective sitting 88-90 with movement. He just cruised along. He had some more velo in the tank. The movement on his cutter was sick. that and the fact that his control was so good he could hit a gnat in the ass with it.
The problem with the cardinals OF is that Holliday is a liability defensively. That and the fact that he's paid around $18 mil per year and can't come up with clutch RBI's. Wish they would trade him off. I think the Angels have the best OF coming into the season.
I agree. We need to lock him up. If we can unload Holliday it would help. Especially if Taveras is all that he seems to be. Wainright, Garcia, Miller, Rosenthal and Lynn in the rotation for at least 5 more years would be great. but we are missing that dominating closer. You shouldn't have any negative feelings when your closer comes in and I know I do at times.
Well they drafted him on tools and he had that. He arguably had 5 tools. I saw him a good bit in AA. His downfall was pitch selection. He could not lay off breaking balls in the dirt for anything. Very much a free swinger. didnt take long to get a good scouting report on him. After he went through the teams one round his numbers dropped.
Last year all 3 Cardinals regular OF (including Jon Jay) had a higher WAR than either Upton. Holliday's was barely less than both Uptons added together. Granted that's just last year.
Oh I'm not complaining about the Cardinals OF overall. I like our OF. I've just been frustrated with Holliday. The way he approaches the game defensively. I don't feel like he's been worth what we've paid him. The Uptons have never really lived up to their expectations but Justin is still just 25 and all three of their OF's have a huge upside but it's never clicked and all came together. The cardinals need to secure up something solid at SS. I know we have Furcal but what if he gets hurt and what about the future? Kozma was way to shaky defensively.
I have always felt the "not clutch" stuff against Holliday was kind of silly, but yeah, he is what he is defensively. My gut is that the Cardinals are going to try to get by 1 year with Furcal/Cedeno playing short, and then address that next season. I wouldn't be stunned if they pulled a trade though. Each passing year makes it harder to doubt Cards management.
Carpenter still feeling numbness in his shoulder/arm when he throws. They've all but said the word "retired". ****.
