Random Ex-Brave: Freddy Garcia

His career with the Braves lasted just 27.1 regular season innings, but Freddy Garcia humorously became a part of Braves lore by uttering a simple statement. "I just make pitch." Yes, Freddy, that you do.

Stephen Dunn | Getty Images

Garcia originally arrived in the majors in 1999 for a Seattle pitching staff that was still looking for answers in the post-Randy Johnson world. Speaking of the Big Unit, that's how Garcia joined the Mariners after being an Astros prospect. In his rookie year, he threw his first of a dozen career complete games on August 7, but took the loss. 17 days later, he toyed with a Detroit team that would lose 92 games that year, shutting them down for his first of four career shutouts while striking out 12. He needed 139 pitches to do it and the game was a career best for him in terms of Game Score (89) and set what would be his career high for strikeouts in one game (matched three years later against the Rangers).

Limited to just 21 games in 2000, the 24 year-old Garcia had his finest single season the following year. He paced the American League in ERA and innings while picking up a trio of shutouts. He was even better in the second half, increasing his strikeout numbers while walking fewer as the Mariners won 116 games. Garcia was an All-Star that season and in 2002, though his numbers aren't nearly as good. With the Mariners slumping two years later, they sent the righty to the White Sox for a trio of players, including Mike Morse. He stuck with the White Sox for two more seasons and pitched his final 200 inning campaign in 2006 - the 7th time in 8 years he had accomplished the feat. His highlight in the South Side came on October 26, 2005. With the White Sox leading the Astros 3-0 in the World Series, Garcia faced Brandon Backe. Yeah, pitching wasn't all that good back then. Each pitcher went seven scoreless innings with seven K's before the Astros went with Brad Lidge in the 8th. Willie Harris hit for Garcia and singled. Two outs, another former Brave, Jermaine Dye drove him in with a single. When Bobby Jenks induced a groundout from Orlando Palmeiro, Garcia was credited with a win in his only World Series game - a deciding one at that.

It might be tempting to read ERAs like 4.51 in his final year with the M's and 4.53 with the White Sox in 2006 and think that Garcia wasn't a solid middle-of-the-rotation arm, but over six years where he logged 200 innings or more (2001-06), Garcia averaged 3.7 fWAR. He was a good performer - often underrated as a result of never being overpowering. He was a bit better than Russ Ortiz or essentially a pitcher that's good, but looks even better on a great team.

But Garcia would struggle badly in 2007-10. Dealt by the White Sox to the Phils for Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez (ouch) because his former GM, Pat Gillick, still liked him, Garcia couldn't stay healthy for the Phils in 2007. He finished the year with 58 innings over eleven starts. Despite pitching for a team that finished 16 games over .500, the Phillies were just 5-6 with Garcia on the mound. He reached free agency for the first time and nobody came calling to his liking. It wasn't until August 12 of 2009 that he finally got signed - by the Tigers. He made three starts in September and got beat around a little. After the year, he signed with the Mets, but failed to make their 2009 squad and was cut before the season.

A few months later, the White Sox brought him back and he would start nine games with them, showing improved control. That bought him a return trip in 2010 and he made 28 starts, though all of his numbers suffered and despite a nine-start run the previous year being worth 1.5 fWAR, he managed just 1.4 in three times as many starts in 2010.

Still, Garcia was now a guy who provided veteran "presents" and a team looking for depth could use that. Right before pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report to camp in 2011, the Yankees added Garcia. Along with Bartolo Colon, the two righties helped to stabilize the staff while youngins' Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes matured. Garcia posted the second lowest ERA of his career at 3.62 and appeared in his first game out of the pen since 2011. The Yankees resigned Garcia for the following year, but he couldn't stay in the rotation this time and suffered through a 5.20 ERA in a shade over a hundred innings.

2013 would be an interesting year for Garcia. He signed with the Padres, but couldn't earn a spot on a rotation that sported the likes of Eric Stults, Edinson Volquez, Jason Marquis and Clayton Richard. Instead, he was cut and picked up by the Orioles. It would be his first extended stint in the minors since 1998. Over 13 starts, he did his job to the tune of a 2.84 ERA. He also saw time with the major league club, though the results were ugly (5.77 ERA, 6.73 FIP, 2.7 HR/9). By late August, he was back in AAA and probably looking at a possible recall to the majors in September for blow-out game duty only, but luckily for him, the Braves were desperate.

Atlanta had seen Tim Hudson go down in a heap in Shea Stadium and Paul Maholm was working his way back from his own injury. Atlanta was looking for adding support in case Alex Wood, who was in his first full professional season, faltered. Enter Garcia, who started one game for Gwinnett after the Braves "purchased him" before joining the influx of players once rosters expanded for September. He appeared in three games out of the bullpen with his first outing lasting 4.2 scoreless in relief of Wood, who had surrendered seven runs to the Marlins. The Braves ultimately flip-flopped Wood and Garcia with the latter joining the staff for three starts between September 12-24. The Braves won two of them and Garcia pitched well enough to win the one that Atlanta lose (7 ING, 1 R to the Nats).

The Braves chose Garcia as the fourth starter over Maholm and prepared for the NLDS. Atlanta would split a pair of games at home before heading to LA and getting smacked around 13-6 in Game 3. With a win-or-go home game tabbed for Monday, October 7, the Braves saw the Dodgers go with Clayton Kershaw on short rest while Garcia took the ball for the Braves. Kershaw, who graduated high school the same year of Garcia's final 200 inning campaign, was a tough task even on short rest, but Garcia wasn't worried. He told David O'Brien, "I don't panic. I just make pitch." It was a stupid rallying cry, but it gave us hope. Maybe he could just pitch and get this series back to Atlanta.

His fifth pitch to Dodgers leadoff batter Carl Crawford was a homer. His sixth pitch to Crawford in the third was also a homer. But the Braves bounced back in the 4th. A single, an error, and a wild pitch set up Chris Johnson, who singled in a run. A groundout led to a game-tying run and Garcia was back even with the Dodgers' ace. He was pinch-hit for in the seventh with Elliot Johnson on third after a triple. Jose Constanza rocketed a 2-1 pitch up the middle for an RBI. Suddenly, Garcia was the pitcher of record. Just need nine more outs.

But had the Braves done that, we would have never seen dejected Craig Kimbrel with his arms crossed. So, I guess that's something. After Juan Uribe broke David Carpenter and the Braves lost, Atlanta was still impressed enough to bring back Garcia to compete for a starting spot. Injuries seemed to help his chances, but the signing of Ervin Santana and surprising pitching of David Hale led the Braves to cut Garcia. He would not pitch again until the winter leagues. He was a late spring pick-up by the Dodgers heading into 2015, but lasted a month before being cut from their AAA roster. Since June, he's pitched in the Mexican League.

Garcia has slightly more than 2,250 innings in the major leagues and been a part of some good teams. He rarely impressed so much that fans of other teams wanted him on their team, but - especially before 2007 - he often pitched well enough that his own team's fans were pretty confident they had a good chance to win after Garcia took the mound. Now 38, Garcia may try to stick around through next spring and hope he gets an opportunity to make a roster. Hey, if his old teammate Colon can still do it, why not Garcia?

More Random Ex-Braves
John Thomson
Kent Mercker
George Lombard

Jeff Schultz Doesn't Believe in the Process

I don't always agree with the AJC's Jeff Schultz on baseball. In fact, I rarely do. He's a blowhard who too often doesn't understand baseball while sticking to cliches. I've wrote on here before that Schultz and I didn't see eye-to-eye on letting Tim Hudson go and signing Gavin Floyd the offseason before the last. It was the smart decision. But Schultz, who is far more comfortable analyzing football, only really focuses on names over facts. Typically, I don't think much of it, but Nick on Twitter pointed out an awful column Schultz wrote and after a few tweets where I was amazed by his remarks, I figured I might as well review it in blog form.

The article, which carries the title, "Reflecting on Braves' deals: Were they worth it?," hit the AJC website Tuesday afternoon. The odd thing is that Schultz concedes that grading trades which were heavy in minor league talent is difficult a half-season after the trades, but yet, he does it. As if he had an article quota to fill or something.

His first target: Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins

Schultz doesn't miss an opportunity to stick to Wren, who - in Schultz's mind - "botched the previous Heyward negotiations and signed him for only two years." Now, none of us were in the room with Heyward and/or his agent, but I imagine Wren tried the same thing John Schuerholz once did with Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur - similar offers to both Heyward and Freddie Freeman. But the AJC cadre of shills never miss a chance to attack Wren. To suggest the problem was created by Wren not giving Heyward a long-term extension after the 2013 season is just revisionist history. Heyward is a tough guy to value. Sabermetrics love him considerably more than more traditional stats. Regardless, the idea that not giving Heyward a long-term deal and buying out his free agent years is just piling on. Anywho, Schultz gives a B grade to the deal, ignoring Jenkins (I don't) and the injured Walden. He suggests the deal is win-win and it might be this year. But a running theme in Schultz's rush to attach grades is that these deals weren't made for 2015.

His next target: Trading Justin Upton (now known as The Good Wife Upton) along with Aaron Northcraft for Jace Peterson, Max Fried, Dustin Peterson, and Mallex Smith

Here's how I know Schultz doesn't care one bit about looking at these deals with much context. He saves all of six words for Mallex - "Smith was just promoted to Triple-A." Not a word about his .340/.418/.413 slash with Mississippi before the promotion. Yes, when you relegate this deal to J-Up for Jace, it looks pretty bad. Schultz gives the deal a C+ grade, which is damn near impressive considering his next two grades. While it took me time to warm up to this deal, it was a very good collection of talent for the Braves and they brought in four young, talented players for a guy who would be gone by midseason. Not too shabby. Would J-Up have made this Braves team better? Yeah, but who plays second? And would two more wins really help?

3rd target: Evan Gattis and James Hoyt to the Astros for Michael Foltynewicz, Rio Ruiz, and Andrew Thurman.

Here is where Schultz begins to truly go off the deep end with his criticisms. He focuses on Gattis's homers and RBIs - because they are easy numbers for him to understand. He ignores Gattis's .268 OBP. Gattis has stepped up to the plate 340 times and made 255 outs. But you don't hear about that from Schultz. No, he focuses on Gattis's homers and RBIs because those numbers tell him more. He suggests that had Gattis been brought back, he would have played left and shared catching duties with A.J. Pierzynski considering Christian Bethancourt's struggles. This completely ignores that Gattis is kept off the field by the Astros because he can't really play either left field or catcher, but I digress. Gattis is a massively overrated player because of his story. The Astros are learning that. Of the 15 AL teams, only the A's are getting worse bWAR from their DH. Schultz gives this trade a D. Unless that D stood for DamnGoodTradeMr.Hart, Schultz is a boob.

Final target: Craig Kimbrel and Melvin Upton Jr. to the Padres for Cameron Maybin, Matt Wisler, and company

Let me start by saying that he grades this an A in economics and an F in baseball. His journey to that grade is pretty horrific. "The loss of Kimbrel destroy the bullpen because Hart had no time to prepare for the deal by acquiring other relief help." This is bad analysis even for Schultz. Before this trade, Hart had signed both Jason Grilli and Jim Johnson, took a flier on Josh Outman, and added other low-risk, high-reward guys. To suggest that trading Kimbrel wrecked the pen is a stretch. It made it moderately worse, but it was the poor performances by others that wrecked the pen - performances the Braves couldn't really foresee. Now, Schultz, in his haste to make a point, glosses over Maybin's first half ("a nice surprise, but he's not a long term answer"). Why not dive into Maybin's performance a little bit? For that matter, why not mention why he's not a long-term option or do you think guys in their age-28 years are preparing for retirement. For some reason, Schultz doesn't even touch on Wisler, who has a 3.10 ERA in five starts after entering the year ranked in the Top 40 by Baseball America. Not a single word in the trade analysis. His grade is cute and all, but ultimately lacking in context. Would Kimbrel have made the team better? Not even sure. At his best, he's a 2-to-3 win player. Maybin can be that and more. As can Wisler. The Braves used one trade to upgrade their CF and eventually, their rotation and all it cost was a luxury they didn't need (an expensive closer). Grilli filled in nicely before his untimely injury. Again, Kimbrel would have made the pen better and maybe, just maybe, the team. But it would have cost them offense. It would have cost them starting pitching. Those two are more important than a shutdown guy in the ninth. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face, Schultz. And getting rid of Melvin and not paying his salary? The only possible grade for this deal is A+. Unless you're Michael Scott and you grade it an A++.

I get that not every Braves fan is going to know all the in's and out's of the Braves' moves. From a simple stand point of giving up A for B, the Braves might look like losers. But Schultz knows better than to appeal to this fan. The goal of any good journalist, of which I am not, is to both inform and entertain. This article does nothing to inform because it neglects several key points that better explain the deals. Its entertainment factor? Ehh, he mentioned Jimmy Buffett. Way to stay with the times.

If he's not going to seriously approach baseball analysis, Schultz ought to steer clear of it.

Once a Brave, Always a Brave - AL Central

It's another Tuesday which means it's another look around the league at former Braves and how they are doing. The quirky thing about this week's article is twice I have had to edit because of a retirement of a player that was mentioned. I'm going to get this thing posted before more players from this cursed list retire. As usual, this list should not be considered exhaustive as I am sure I am missing players - both ex-farmhands and ex-major leaguers - so if you notice a guy that should be on here, feel free to drop a comment below telling me I'm stupid.

Chicago White Sox
P Jairo Asencio (AAA)...Remember when he was Luis Valdez? He looked like a possible 2010 option before VISA issues held him back. All in all, he pitched in nine forgettable games for the Braves in 2009 and 2010 and has since played for the Indians, Cubs, and O's and spent some time in Korea.

C Tyler Flowers...In 345 games in the majors, Flowers has a .662 OPS. There was a time where we worried about the Braves giving up a good catching prospect for Javier Vazquez.

1B Adam LaRoche...Old Sleepy's getting a lot of work as a DH considering the ChiSox have a pretty good first baseman. He's hit four homers and walked a lot so far. Doesn't seem like that long ago that LaRoche was a Brave, but this marks an half-dozen years.

OF Melky Cabrera...I rarely wish for a player to fail, but when Melky's OPSing .620, I am pretty pleased.

UT Emilio Bonifacio...Boner Face is hitting a robust .222/263/.222 with zero steals so far and the White Sox are paying him $4M. Hard to believe that there were people who wondered what the Braves were thinking letting him go.

Cleveland Indians
P Bruce Chen...Actually, Bruce Chen announced his retirement yesterday after two super ugly starts in Cleveland. Chen pitched in 400 games while playing in eleven different cities. He even pitched in Montreal.

P Gavin Floyd...So much potential for a good story in back-to-back errors derailed by one horrifying elbow injury and now surgery on the same elbow. He'll miss 2015 and it's questionable whether Floyd will ever play in the majors again.

OF Michael Bourn...For all of the crap we gave Melvin Upton Jr., Bourn sucked balls after leaving the Braves so at least we didn't have to watch him excel. In 269 games with the Indians, Bourn has slashed a miserable .257/.315/.354 with 35 steals (or seven fewer than his one full season in Atlanta).

Detroit Tigers
1B Mike Hessman (AAA)...He's now 37 years old and hasn't played in the majors since 2010, but he's still plugging along. He's belted four homers on the season, giving him 421 in his minor league career. He's 63 homers short of the overall minor league number, though he already set the International League record last season.

Kansas City Royals
P Kris Medlen (DL)...Though he hasn't yet thrown a pitch this season, Medlen looks on pace for a return to the mound for live action shortly. The 29 year-old will only add to what is already one of the AL's best teams.

P Benino Pruneda (AA)...There was a time where Pruneda was mentioned as maybe the next great reliever coming through the system after Craig Kimbrel arrived, but arm injuries derailed him. After saving 11 games with a 9.9 K/9 in Mississippi in 2011, Pruneda missed the next two seasons before appearing in 31 games with Lynchburg last year. He was part of the back-to-back no-hitters, but was released before this season and is now in AA after five more games in the Carolina League to begin the year.

C J.C. Boscan (AAA)...Boscan began his career in the Gulf Coast League for the Braves back in 1997. Thirteen years later, he made it to the majors for a game. He walked and scored. Over the next three years, he played in the majors for the Braves and Cubs for 16 more games. He went 7-for-28. He played last season with the Dodgers' AA team and is now with Omaha for the Royals. 19 years in the minors for Boscan.

1B Casey Kotchman (AAA)...It's not Kotchy's fault he was all the Braves could get for two months of Mark Teixeira. Once one of the best prospects in baseball, Kotchy never hit more than 14 homers in a season and last got serious action in the majors with the Indians in 2012.

2B Rafael Furcal (AA)...Furcal is 37 years-old which is making some of us that vividly recall him jumping from A-ball to the majors in the spring of 2000 feel pretty old. He was in the middle of a rehab assignment as he tried to get back to the majors, but decided today that he, like Chen, was ready to call it quits.

2B Omar Infante...A 2010 All-Star when he became the best super utility dude in baseball, Infante has slashed .277/.309/.394 since the Braves traded him for Dan Uggla. Good, but not the .321/.359/.416 numbers that made him an All-Star while playing five positions.

Minnesota Twins
P Blaine Boyer...Not only does he have a kitchen appliance name, he also has a second chance in the majors and so far, so good for Boyer. One of the Baby Braves, arm injuries and bad pitching ended his run in Atlanta early in 2009. He pitched for the Cards, D'Backs, and Mets to pretty poor results before coming back to the game in 2013 with a run in the minors for Omaha where he looked good. He parlayed that into a season with the Padres where he pitched 32 times in the majors. He's appeared in 18 early-season games with the Twins and though his K rate is ugly, he's done a solid job keeping the ball in the park and not walking batters.

P J.R. Graham...Though he depends on groundball outs, Graham has been hurt badly by the homer ball. Three long flies in 14.1 ING is unacceptable. He's been coddled and used largely in garbage time which has allowed him to finish nine of the 12 games he's been called upon to pitch in. So far, so ugly. But things could change.

OF Wilkin Ramirez (AAA)...The Braves picked him up from the Tigers in 2010 and he got a twenty-game look with the big league club in 2011.

OF Jordan Schafer...True story. Had a guy on Twitter last year tell me that the Braves would basically rue the day they let Schafer go. He had a nice little run down the stretch, but sucked before getting hurt this year.

Recently profiled in Once a Brave, Always a Brave...
AL East
Japan and Korea
Independent Leagues

Spring Training Preview: Starting Pitching

Though the season is 83 days away and the hyper-active Braves could possibly deal and/or sign a starter, which seems likely, I have to start the spring training previews some time so here we go.

While they lacked the star power of past rotations, the Braves had a nice and productive starting staff in 2014. When compared to the rest of the league, the Braves had the fifth best ERA, the sixth lowest FIP, and were tenth in xFIP. They even provided innings that took away some of the need of the bullpen by throwing the second most in baseball. They did it with eight pitchers and endured a massively disappointing season from one starter and an injury-shortened year from a guy who looked like he was coming into his own. Oh, and two other starters saw their 2014 end before it even started.

What will 2015 possibly bring? Let's dive in.

Before we start, let's say goodbye to...Brandon Beachy, Gavin Floyd, Aaron Harang, Kris Medlen, Ervin Santana...You read that right. The Braves lost an entire starting rotation this offseason, though they apparently still have some interest in the one who has yet to find work - Beachy, who along with Medlen, missed the season after yet another Tommy John surgery. Beachy wasn't counted on quite as much as Meds was for 2014, but both were loses for a rotation that was missing two starters even before the season started. That left Frank Wren to cobble together a competent rotation and to his credit, he did just that with Santana and Harang. The former posted a 2.8 fWAR over 196 innings with 8.2 K/9 and a solid 3.39 FIP. It took a bit of luck to get him to Atlanta. The market had to go to crap on him last offseason and the price tag on a one-year deal had to become prohibitive for other clubs, but he was ultimately a Godsend. It wasn't too much of a surprise, though, as Santana had been recently successful in the majors. Harang, on the other hand, was an ultimate find for Wren and his team. Cast off by the Indians before the season, the Braves signed him with no high expectations that he would even pitch more than a month for them. They had guys on the mend and simply needed a dependable placeholder for several weeks to open the year. What they got was 204.1 innings, a 2.5 fWAR, and one of the better under-reported stories in baseball. Recently, the Phillies signed Harang to a one-year deal, which was a bit surprising considering his success last year. Finally, Floyd was a nice bargain find for Wren and it looked like a masterstroke before Floyd's elbow sought to escape his body. He was showing glimpses of the good Floyd from his White Sox years. But...oh well.

What's left? Who's new? Is all hope lost?

At the top of the rotation is Julio Teheran and that's a damn good thing considering he's signed long term _and_ turns just 24 in two weeks. Teheran is a study on why you trust the process sometimes over the results. A lot of people grew skeptical of him after a 2012 season with Gwinnett where the K's fell, the homers sky-rocketed, and his FIP neared 6.00. But that's why prospects deserve time to tinker and try to better their overall game. It's not really known if that lost year truly helped Teheran, but after a 2.5 fWAR in 2013 and 3.2 fWAR last year, I think it's safe to say he's not any worse for wear. Teheran continues to try to improve a fourth pitch, a run-of-the-mill change-up and it appears if he does that this year to go along with his steady low-90's heat and plus breaking pitches, he'll take another step forward. Sure, people will write that the Braves lack a real ace. But we can't help that people are idiots.

Behind Teheran is Alex Wood...at least, in my book. At a certain point, we have to stop worrying and learn to love the delivery. Sure, it's quirky, but Wood did throw 171.2 ING last season and when you add his minor league seasons, 139.2 ING the previous year. The Braves can still try to limit innings when they can, but we are talking about a guy who has a 2.84 ERA in 212.1 ING as a starter over his career with 205 K's along with a 1.19 WHIP, 3.18 FIP, and 3.32 xFIP. Seriously, he's good and yes, the delivery still boggles the mind, but it doesn't mean he won't be very successful in the majors.

Shelby Miller takes up the third spot and splits the lefties in the staff. After a rather productive rookie season in 2013, Miller was the opposite of Teheran in 2014 as he simply got worse across the board. On the plus side, a late season switch toward throwing a high fastball more effectively to set up his curveball led to positive results. He walked two less per nine innings in the second half, saw a minor increase in K%, and cut his WHIP by 50 points. It still wasn't great as his 4.20 FIP suggests, but it was getting him moving in the right direction. Miller is limited in that he basically has just two pitches so keeping the batters from making a lot of contact is paramount to his success. He's not going to live on putting the ball in play considering deception's not his strong suit. Basically, he needs to change the batter's eye level to set up his plus-plus curve and get swinging strikes. He only got 7% of them last year. For him to get back to 2013 Miller, that number needs a good increase.

In the four spot is Mike Minor, who is a year removed from looking like a possible front-of-the-rotation fixture. After a 3.37 FIP and 3.5 fWAR campaign during the 2013 season, Minor struggled through injuries and just bad play, posting a 4.39 FIP. Unlike Miller, we can't look at anything in particular and say "hey, he was turning it around" except that maybe he was unlucky to a degree (3.90 xFIP wasn't that much worse than 3.64 the previous year). One thing that really stands out is hitters were making an exorbiant amount of contact on pitches outside the zone. In 2013, it was 63.6%, about three ticks below the league average. In 2014, it was about nine points higher. In addition, they connected on 91% of all swings in the strikezone, an increase of four percent. This screams to me that Minor's stuff was either mediocre, predictable, or both. If you watched him last year, he saw a return of 2011-12 Minor...the guy who nibbles and hopes for the best, not the 2013 guy who pitched with confidence. It's a make-of-break season for Minor. He can't survive in baseball getting just 7% of swinging strikes. Hitters will brutalize him.

The fifth spot...well, that's where things get more interesting than just discussing the question marks with Miller and Minor. By not re-signing Harang and with no veteran replacement in house, the Braves are left with a group that currently lacks a real leader. The way I'll preview each is in how I rank them right now, which might not match the Braves. So, take this with a massive grain of salt.

Our first contender is Manny Banuelos, who the Braves acquired on New Year's Day for a pair of relievers. Banuelos is only a couple of seasons removed from being a pretty good prospect. In 2011, he struck out over 8 K/9 while moving from AA to AAA, but his next season was cut short by Tommy John and it was a slow recovery process to get him back into the picture. He threw less than a hundred innings last year as the Yankees took a conservative approach with him and while the velocity was starting to return for the left-hander. As we can probably expect, his control, especially with his fastball, was suspect and he gave up an unusually high amount of homers, which I would guess was from elevating his fastball too often. Atlanta probably doesn't want him to open the season in the majors if they can help it, but right now, I'd label him their best option. For what it's worth, Banuelos has only one option left so sending him to the minors would use that up, but for a team that is unlikely to compete the next couple of seasons, they can certainly deal with that.

If the Braves don't go the veteran route and want to handle ManBan with kid gloves, David Hale would appear as the most likely option to handle the fifth spot. Hale spent all of 2014 in the majors, logging 87.1 ING and starting six of his 45 appearances. He posted a 3.30 ERA and 56% groundball rate. And I hate him. Actually, I don't. He's probably a great guy who is simply trying to make the most out of a limited skill set. I hate that many believe he's a capable major leaguer based on that 3.30 ERA despite a FIP that was a run higher. There is some evidence, though in a pretty short sample size, that Hale would make a better starter than a reliever (6 K/9, 1.30 WHIP, 3.65 FIP) but I would caution not to put too much value into that. Most of those starts came in the first month of the season before batters readjusted for him. The real thing to be concerned with is that Hale lacks a plus pitch.

Though he was unprotected in the Rule 5, Cody Martin would appear to have a good shot to get into the discussion for the fifth spot. Martin appears to have the minor league vet label even though he's only been around four years. He's put up fairly impressive stats at each stop, though he's never cracked a Top 20 prospects list. He's probably a tick worse than Hale and would struggle to hold down a job in the majors. But...I guess we'll never know if he never gets a shot.

James Russell started the season's final game and was a former starter. With his reverse splits from last year and Mark Bowman reporting that he might be stretched out early in spring training, plus the signing of Josh Outman, why not Russell? If he fails, he's a proven major league reliever and can fall back in that role. If it's between Hale and Russell, I'd give the latter the chance. If he surprises for a few months, you could easily turn him into a prospect at the deadline.

It's early, but why not Tyrell Jenkins? Yes, he only pitched, with the AFL included, 98.1 innings last year and yes, he has yet to appear in AA. But if he has a tremendous spring and impresses everyone while mowing down hitters...he'll still head to the minors. Who are we kidding? This is a rebuilding process and starting Jenkins' clock early doesn't help anyone. Same goes for Jason Hursh, the 2013 first rounder who logged 148.1 ING at AA and didn't really impress anyone. Why start his clock early when you need to find out what you have? Especially when we already have Chien-Ming Wang, who signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. That's an option, I guess. Funny story. Last year, at AAA, Wang struck out 73 batters. He walked 57. That rate shouldn't exist in 2014, but there it was. While we're at it, why not mention Daniel Winkler? Because he'll miss most of the season and this is a spring training preview, that's why.

The 2015 rotation could easily surprise some people and could easily be a dumpster fire. Of course, I could end nearly every preview article like that. There is promise and the youth is exciting, but it's easy to think the Braves rotation will be worse next year than it was in 2014. And it could be better. But probably worse.

Last Minute Gift Ideas

Christmas is just around the corner and if you're anything like me, you still have a few things to get.

The Braves are in a similar position as they have done some of their shopping and they are keeping their eye on some big purchases if the price is right, but they also need to look for some little things to complete their Christmas shopping. Maybe a stocking stuffer or ugly sweater. Or power bat. One of those things.

George Kottaras - Catcher

I am going to make a concession here because Kottaras has defensive issues even though his defensive WAR at fangraphs has always been at least average. His pitch-framing, which you can find here, has always been miserable. He doesn't throw out anyone. Nevertheless, the Braves need offense and Kottaras, despite his career .215 batting average, gives you offense (especially compared to his position). How's that? He's posted a career walk rate of 14.1% and a .197 ISO. Since 2008, among catchers who have received 800 plate appearances, he ranks third in both categories. Yet he bounces around while others with such marks get long term deals. Kottaras has never been a starter and like I said, he has his shortcomings on defense. If the Braves want to focus on defense only for backup catcher, let Christian Bethancourt back-up. But if they want a veteran who gets on base, hits for power, and tries to play catcher, add Kottaras.

Rafael Furcal - Second Base

Whoa...didn't that bridge get burned for good? And a bomb dropped on it? And a sign was put up that said "Not Safe for Humans?" Yeah, probably, but the Braves could use another option at second base. I mean, they just gave Alberto Callaspo a contract. Why not Furcal on a minor league deal? Fookie was limited by injuries last year and might not hold up for very long, but he's worth a look. Sure, he won't steal a bunch of bases for you anymore, but as a stopgap until our next Furcal, Jose Peraza, arrives, he could provide a little value. At worst, you cut him before the season.

Mike Morse - First Base/Outfield

A member of the 2014 champs, Morse is again a thoroughly limited player. His defense at first isn't terrible, but in the outfield, he's horrendous. But like Brad Pitt in Moneyball, I don't really care about that because Morse gets on base. He also hits for power as evidence by his career ISO of .193. If Atlanta trades Justin Upton and/or Evan Gattis, they are going to need a bit more power. Hell, they probably need it now. Sure, Morse might Doumit all over the field next year, but let's focus on the positives. Morse, a right-hand hitter, isn't vulnerable when it relates to LHP vs. RHP, which allows you to use him late in games. Morse might not fit this article's definition of a bargain depending on where his market value lands, but he's worth the Christmas club money.

Chris Capuano - Starting Pitcher

40 pitchers last season threw their fastball less than 50% of the time. Of that 40, over half of them used their cutter enough to be disqualified from this exercise. That leaves 14 pitchers. Well, 13 if you take out the Canadian knuckleballer. One of those baker's dozen is Capuano, who went to the trusty number one just 44% of the time. Capuano reminds me of Aaron Harang, though not because of his pitching style. Capuano, like Harang, is a flyball pitcher who simply needs to land into a spot that will suppress his tendency to give up homers. Atlanta can be that place. Capuano has kept his FIP under 4.00 the last three years and would fit nicely either as a starter or long guy.

Gavin Floyd - Starting Pitcher

Hey, I know that guy! You remember Floyd and his elbow that decided it wanted to live independently of his body? Well, he's supposed to be fully healthy by spring and ready to give it another try in 2015. He was actually fairly productive before the injury and he came to Atlanta for a reason. Why not stick around and see if he can give the Braves 30 starts next year? After all, who else is going to start? David Hale?

Mike Adams - Relief Pitcher

Though he has spent the last two seasons mostly on the shelf as he "stole money" from the Phillies, Adams was able to get back to the majors last September and is worth a look. Before his injuries in Philly, Adams had posted a five-year run where he averaged almost 60 games with a 2.67 FIP and a 0.99 WHIP. On a one-year contract with incentives, he could become a major cog getting the game to the ninth.

So, there we have it. Six veteran "presents" that are truly presents for John Hart. Feel free to parade my ideas around as your own when you take home Executive of the Year. You're welcome.

Why I Love and Hate the Heyward Trade: A Second Look

At first glance, most trades would appear to have something you love and hate, but the more I considered that idea, the more I felt you either love or hate most player exchanges. Or you come away indifferent. You rarely can find love and hate in the same trade, but Monday's blockbuster with the St. Louis Cardinals did bring out both emotions.

I love that the Braves got something for Jason Heyward. The Braves could have let Heyward play out his contract and picked up a sandwich compensation pick. Another first round pick sounds nice, but in the 25-35 range? In a shallow draft, that's flip-a-coin area. Instead, the Braves got a third year starting pitcher in Shelby Miller and another young pitcher coming off a solid Arizona Fall League run who immediately enters their top ten prospects in Tyrell Jenkins. Had they not made the trade, Heyward's gone and that reminds me...

I hate that the Braves considered Heyward gone. Look, it's clear that the Braves weren't all that interested in the idea of extending their still young right fielder. John Hart had said previously he considered the possibility of an extension highly unlikely, stating that players in their last year often want to at least test the free agent waters. This, as we know, is utter bullshit. Hart and the Braves hadn't even offered Heyward a long-term extension either in the final year or two of Frank Wren's regime or under Hart. Heyward publicly questioned why Braves fans were more interested in keeping Heyward around beyond 2015 while the Braves front office was ready to move on. But some of the pain of Heyward now in a dreaded Cardinals uniform is helped by looking at the top of the pitching staff since...

I love that the Braves staff is now considerably stronger. You can't win in baseball without a starting staff and while Atlanta's staff still won't begin to rival the Nationals' staff, picking up a player of Miller's caliber is hugely important. Before Miller was acquired, the Braves rotation looked like Julio Teheran, Alex Wood, a whole lot of hope, Mike Minor, and David Hale the Eff No. Adding Miller is that hope the Braves needed. Now, Miller is not without his questions. He wasn't that good in 2012 during his final run in the minors (sound like Teheran?) and struggled for the majority of last year. However, like I said, he finished strong and resembled the 2013 version of Miller that had 8.8 K/9, 3 BB/9, and a 3.67 FIP. Miller has 3 fWAR potential and could easily reach that next season. But...

I hate that the Braves are relying on Miller. Short of picking up another starter to plug behind Wood (and the Braves do like Jon Lester), Miller is their guy and that doesn't make me super excited. As much as I just talked him up, Miller had a worse fWAR than B.J. Upton last season. He was worse than Gavin Floyd and Floyd's elbow tried to vacate his body. Miller is a capable pitcher, but is he a guy you want starting playoff games for you? The jury is still out. I typically don't get excited about two-pitch starters, though. I looked at Ross Detwiler as a guy who, despite the Nationals hype machine, was destined to fall back to Earth simply based on being a two-pitch guy. That may not be a fair comparison for Miller and I'm more than happy to be wrong, but as I said a couple of days ago, there is a reason why Miller and four years of team control was made available. Still, it's worth noting that...

I love that the Braves added another young power arm. A lot of the success of this deal will depend less on if Heyward breaks out in 2015 or Miller recaptures his former glory, but if Jenkins develops into a major league pitcher who brings the Braves value. There is reason to believe the Braves will get just that. Jenkins brings it at 92-94 heat with a chance to bring it at 96 mph, plus a nice curve and a work-in-progress changeup. He either projects as a #3 or #4 starter who could move to the pen and become a solid asset there. If in three years, both Miller and Jenkins are making up 40% of the rotation, this deal has to be a win no matter what Heyward does. That said,..

I hate that the Braves didn't get a better prospect. But there are the questions on Jenkins. A first round choice in 2010, Jenkins has struggled to shine while dealing with numerous injuries. He has yet to pitch in AA, though he is ticketed to do that this season. His biggest moment so far came this fall when he played in the Arizona Fall League, though his numbers weren't that impressive (24.1 ING, 10 walks, 18 K's, 1.36 WHIP). Now, Jenkins projects well and that's why he was still a top ten prospect in the Cards and now Braves system, but there certainly is a lot of faith that he scratches the surface on what the projections are for him. Regardless, this deal had to be made and...

I love that the Braves made the move because Heyward's bat was declining rapidly. This appears to be semi controversial and as much as I loved Heyward's all-around capabilities, the Braves needed a bat and there were developing questions there. Over the last three years, Heyward's wOBA has gone from .351 to .344 to .329 last season. This is parallel to his fall in isolated power - .210 to .173 to .113. One can definitely argue batting leadoff forced Heyward did some of the harm, but I don't see it. While Heyward may have been miscast as a leadoff hitter, I doubt he would change his offensive approach to explain the disappearance of power. For instance, there isn't a significant change in his GB% or LD%. Now, he's still young and could still develop into a power hitter, but not with the Braves. That is why...

I hate that we won't see Heyward become the player we all believed he could be. Maybe this is similar to Andruw Jones. Though super productive as a Brave, Andruw was never the guy we expected after watching him pepper the Bronx with homeruns back in 1996. Heyward has suffered similar criticisms. We expected more after his rookie season and again after his 2012 year. But two straight seasons where his numbers were offensively challenged? We appreciated his well-rounded baseball ability, but he was paid to hit and his numbers hadn't reached the levels we expected. Yet. This could have been the year. This still could be the year. Unfortunately, there won't be a tomahawk on his chest for it.

As you can see, there is both good and bad with this trade. Many who have commented said they liked the trade for both teams. Clearly, the Cardinals are in a better position to contend and roll the dice with Heyward. The Braves are, or, based on this trade, they should be in at least a mini-rebuild. Getting something that can be retained for a guy who you didn't want to sign in the first place is just a smart business decision.

And that last bit is why you can both love and hate this trade. As a fan, I hate it. I remember watching Heyward play in Lynchburg with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. He homered and made a game-ending catch at the wall. I was immediately a fan of the already hyped young man and couldn't wait for him to arrive in the majors. To put it mildly, arrive he did. Homering in his first at-bat off Carlos Zambrano that had The Ted rocking like it was playoffs time. Sprinkle in his amazing defense (his catch in New York to save a game still defies logic), his base-running (watching him run first-to-home was baseball porn), and personality and you had all the makings of a fan favorite that you want to stick around for years.

But as a fan of the business side of baseball, I can't hate this trade. Logically, I look at four years of Miller + anything I get out of Jenkins as a win when all I gave up was a pending free agent and an increasingly expensive middle reliever who was often injured. Again, that's a no brainer. The Braves are almost certainly worse off in 2015 for it, but in 2016 and 2017? Long-term, this deal works well, especially if the Braves are truly going to rebuild. Suffice it to say, this is the kind of trade I would have made in OOTP with faceless fictional players.

Long story short...I both love and hate this trade. I will both love and hate it when the season begins. I will probably hate it more when the Braves visit St. Louis in late July or when the Cards come to Atlanta to finish the season. Conversely, I will probably love it more if/when Miller throws eight solid frames to help the Braves win. This trade isn't nearly as bad as it felt when it punched me in the throat on Monday, but it isn't as good as some want to make it. Still kind of sucked, though.

Notes: Medlen, Gattis

I don't want to get too bogged down with current news while I still have two posts to write about where the Braves stand with the left side of the infield and the outfield, but I felt these little snip-its were important enough to discuss.

First, DOB reports the Braves are at least kicking the tires on bringing back Kris Medlen for 2015. DOB says "it's believed" that a return for Medlen is an option, albeit at a decreased rate than what is likely in arbitration. It is not specified why that is believed, but regardless, let's investigate this as a possibility. With Ervin Santana as good as gone, Aaron Harang unlikely to return, and the Gavin Floyd Experience likely coming to an end, the Braves have a lot of innings to replace and that's not getting into the questions surrounding Mike Minor. While Medlen will probably need time at the beginning of the year to finish his recuperation, sometime before June 2015, he likely would be ready to join the staff. Is that a choice the Braves should make?

It all comes down to money. I've been saying since last spring after the injuries occurred that if their rehabs were going well, you could give either Medlen or Brandon Beachy an offer that was heavy on incentives to come back. Basically, a two-year deal where they a suppressed salary with incentives in the first year. The second year could be both a vesting clause and a mutual option. How would this contract look like in pure numbers? Let's say $3.5M in 2015 with $500K increases for 100, 125, 150, and 175 innings along with $250K increases for finishing with votes for the Cy Young, MVP, for being on a postseason roster, and postseason awards. In the second year, if he pitches 175 innings, he books $9M right away. If not, his salary starts at $6M and can climb based on innings. If he pitches 100 innings in 2015, he could earn $6.5M. Another half-million for 125 and another half-million for 150. Or he could decline the contract and hit free agency. Or the Braves could decline his return.

Seems complicated? It has to be for the Braves to both cover their own asses and attract the player's attention. What is more likely is that the Braves will offer a "make-good" contract for one season. For Medlen, it would be his final year of arbitration. Beachy has another year to go. The Braves will still need another starter even if they go this route with one of their injured hurlers. Their rotation depth is not where it needs to be.

----

Elsewhere, Joel Sherman tweets that the Braves are pushing Evan Gattis hard. First, oh my. Second, no team is ever pushing a good MLB player hard. They might let you know he's available, but the Braves wouldn't be pushing Gattis hard like they would with B.J. Upton. Third, we were already aware of this.

The Braves have precious little that will excite other teams for a trade that Atlanta is willing to get rid of. Gattis, though, fits the bill. He's cheap, has a big bat, and can even catch. For an American League team, that sets up for an intriguing situation, especially when they can DH Gattis at least half of the time.

There are two ways of going about this. One, use Gattis to improve a weakness. Some have speculated that a Gattis for Jeremy Hellickson trade (with other pieces likely) makes sense. After all, the Braves need starting pitching depth. However, this deal swings heavily in the Rays favor so another player (or even two) needs to be added. Hellickson is a back-of-the-rotation guy whose ERAs in 2011-12 masked how mediocre he is. Is there value for 170-180 innings of 4.30 FIP? Some. Not a lot, though, especially when the guy is arbitration-eligible.

Remember I said there are two ways? The other way is to package Gattis with a bad contract, like the aforementioned Upton or Chris Johnson, for what is almost certainly going to be the kind of deal you come away from saying "well, at least we don't have that guy anymore." This would be a sad way to lose a marketable piece like Gattis, but long-term, it would open up money for the Braves to use. Of course, that last part depends on how much the Braves will still have to cover.

Overall, I think Gattis is being shopped around and has a good shot of being traded. Sure, the Braves will have to replace his production, but you trade from strengths and right now, catcher is one of those for the Braves. It'll be interesting to see just how much they can get for an older player going into his third-year.

WOW's Offseason Look at: Starting Pitching

In Atlanta, starting pitching is kind of our thing. When we're good, its good. When we're bad, it's usually damn awful. When we're not good or bad, the starting pitching usually is what is keeping us from being bad. As was the case last season when the Braves starting pitching finished tied for sixth in K/9 and sixth in FIP while tossing the second most innings. Not that there weren't issues to speak of, but when everything was taken into consideration, the starting rotation was the biggest reason why the Braves even won 79 games last season. One thing is for certain, though. The rotation that ended the season will not be the rotation that starts 2015.

Who we got?... Julio Teheran, Alex Wood, and David Hale.

Who's getting Arby?... Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy, and Kris Medlen.

Who might be going?... Ervin Santana, Aaron Harang, Gavin Floyd.

Who might be coming?... Cody Martin, Aaron Northcraft, Jason Hursh, Williams Perez.

The only thing that we know right now is that when the Braves open the season in Miami on April 6th, Teheran will get the start (if healthy *knock on wood*). While "experts" were asking how far the Braves could go without an ace, Teheran took another step in becoming one. He ranked just 26th in fWAR, but he logged a ridiculous 221 innings and seemed to have that it factor when he took the ball. We knew something big could happen. Not too shabby for a guy in his second full season. He relied on his two-seam fastball and changeup more in 2014 and the more he tinkers with that change-up, the better he will become. Wood's innings were limited by a trip to the pen, but he once again surprised people who are stuck on his odd delivery over the results. In 249.1 ING in the majors, Wood has a 3.07 FIP and 8.9 K/9. He's pretty good and the Braves might take off the kid gloves and aim for 200 innings in 2015 provided his performance and health allow it. David Hale...sucks. It's not really that Hale is awful, though you can call him that. It's that his supporters were still saying he should start over Harang throughout the year. Not that Harang wasn't worrisome, but Hale's performance wasn't even good enough that he deserved to remain in the majors. I do like his groundball profile and as a long guy/emergency starter, he's not completely useless. He still sucks, though.

Minor started 2014 on the DL because of something to do with his manhood and shoulder (been there). He followed that up by crapping the bed in 2014. A 3.5 fWAR guy the previous season, Minor barely finished the year with a positive WAR as all of his numbers took a tumble. His changeup, a plus pitch in 2013, was abandoned in 2014. Without the change-of-pace and with a slider that didn't slide, Minor wasn't able to keep hitters off balance. He appeared to find his way in August, posting his best WHIP of the year, but fell apart in the final month. The Braves need Minor in 2015 because they might not even bother with Beachy and Medlen. After both were lost for the year in the matter of days last spring, the Braves were sent reeling. Amazingly, their disgraced former GM cobbled together a starting staff that kept the Braves in the playoff race, but Atlanta was counting on both Beachy and Medlen and neither were around. There is good reason to think neither will be around in 2015. Both would likely need time at the beginning of the year to build arm strength and with both arbitration-eligible, a team like the Braves that is watching its pennies might choose to devote money elsewhere. While Atlanta could theoretically try a non-tender approach while signing one to a more team-friendly deal, this blogger isn't optimistic to see either right-hander next year for the Braves. 

Which is a cause for concern because the free agents are probably as good as gone. Santana had his best K rate since his fourth year in the league, 2008, and was a quick fan favorite due to his twitter feed, unintentionally hilarious #loveshitting, and smile. He also posted his third season of at least a 2.6 fWAR in four years. He should receive a nice hefty contract this offseason and that will not come from the Braves, though Atlanta will give him a qualifying offer for draft pick compensation. Harang looked like he was headed towards forced retirement when the Indians dropped him right before the season. Instead, he reached 200 innings in a season for the first time since 2007. Some of his success was smoke-and-mirrors as his FIP (3.57) and xFIP (4.03) suggests, but a lot of it was quality pitching. While he probably won't get a long-term contract, someone will send a nice two-year deal his way and Atlanta shouldn't be that team. Last winter, I got into a twitter tift with Jeff Schultz after Floyd signed. It looked as if Floyd would prove me right before his elbow went all wonky in Washington last June. He finished the year with ratios resembling his last good season with the White Sox in 2011. He was expected to start pitching this offseason and should be ready for spring training. I wouldn't mind Hart bringing Floyd back for another go. While his last two seasons have been wrecked by two unrelated injuries, he was pretty good for 29-33 starts in the five years before that. Take a chance. It looked like it was going to work for Wren before the freak injury.

The farm system doesn't look it's going to provide much. Cody Martin has been a nice innings eater for Gwinnett since arriving to the highest minors affilate mid-way through 2013, but innings eaters in the minors rarely pan out in the majors. After all, innings eaters is just a nice way of saying "he's okay for a fifth starter" which is a diplomatic way of saying "he sucks." Northcraft was briefly in the bullpen last season for the Braves, but never got into a game. He struggled once he was finally promoted to Gwinnett last season and didn't garner much attention with a meh performance in Arizona after the season. He might be best suited for a bullpen role, though he's certainly not much of a prospect. Hursh had an okay season in Mississippi. The 2013 first rounder showed great control (2.6 BB/9) and a knack for inducing groundballs, but a 13.5 K% will hardly impress. Finally, Williams Perez is another groundball guy who, after three years in rookie ball, has been a quick mover since. He formed a nice duo at the top of the staff with Hursh in Mississippi and was actually more impressive (2.6 BB/9, 17 K%, 1.20 WHIP, 3.29 FIP). 

Depth Chart

1. Teheran

2. Wood

3. Minor

4. 

5. 

A lot of work remains for the starting staff. Medlen and/or Beachy could return. Floyd could be brought back. Hale could not suck. But none of these will bring much comfort without a more known commodity to squeeze between Wood and Minor. Unfortunately, the Braves don't have much money for that. Jason Hammel could be an option, though a thoroughly unsatisfying one. Justin Masterson on an one-year, make-good contract could be interesting. Jake Peavy has been a target before, but the cash might not be there. Maybe Ryan Vogelsong? 

What the Braves really need, though, is for Minor to play more like 2013 Minor and to catch some more lightening in the bottle. Roger McDowell proved to be a miracle worker last year. The Braves will need more of that if they're going to have a deep rotation in 2015. 

Guess who's back (back again)

Oddly, I keep coming back to the blogosphere as if it's something I am committed to. I think I just like the idea that my words have meaning. After all, here they are. On the internet and everything. So...yeah.

Been a busy month or so in Atlanta. First, after the Braves were rudely informed that the 2014 playoffs wasn't something they needed to worry themselves with, general manager Frank Wren was fired along with his brother, some jackass assistant GM, and anyone who didn't immediately answer "shitty" to the question, "what kind of person was Wren?"

This was followed by a "exhaustive search" led by John Schuerholz, Robert Joseph Cox, and John Hart. This weeks-long quest scoured the landscape for the right guy who believed in the "Braves Way" and that Fredi Gonzalez was really a idiot savant when it came to baseball. The search truly was a interesting one with rumors of the some of the youngest and brightest minds in the game taking over to lead us all to a new dynasty. Just kidding...as you might know because we at Walk-Off Walk do not break news...a member of the search committee, Hart, was named the President of Baseball Operations because general manager didn't sound important enough. Fast rising GM candidate John Coppolella remains with the organization as the "right-hand guy" because that's far more valuable than a GM. Seriously, why can't we just do things easy?

A slew of moves that brought back many of the scouts that Wren "chased away" preceded Hart being named President Baseball Op, including the return of former Head Scout Roy Clark. This gave the AJC ample opportunity to further bury Wren as the absolute worst human since Bin Laden, which will certainly assist Wren in efforts to find employment.

Not lost in this mess was the news that one of the contentions Wren had with the upper crust in Atlanta was that he wanted to fire Fredi. Like an overbearing mother sticking up for her brat of a son, Bobby Cox came to Fredi's rescue and convinced Schuerholz that Fredi was the right guy in Atlanta. Hard to expect your general manager to do his job effectively when he has no control over who manages the team he puts together. Hart won't concern himself with that, though. He's a Presidente after all, not a lowly general manager.

While the Royals stole our hearts and Fox gave us a broadcasting booth that included both Joe Buck and Harold Reynolds, the Braves settled on their coaching staff that would earn our scorn. They picked up former Royal Kevin Seitzer to be the team's hitting coach for 2015. Seitzer is the kind of guy Fredi wants. Seitzer preached gap-to-gap hitting while avoiding strikeouts. This is good and all except that kind of approach doesn't reflect the team that has been built. Recently, the Braves also hired Jose Castro as the assistant hitting coach. Castro has the kind of common name that OOTP players get very used to seeing in the low minor leagues. Apparently, he's been a hitting coach or minor league coordinator for 20 years or so and was the Cubs' quality assurance coach last season. Pretty sure that was Creed's job on The Office so in my head, Castro = Creed.

So, here we are...the Giants have celebrated (again). The irresponsibly early predictions have named the Nationals champs of next season (again). And the Braves have serious question marks. Ervin Santana is a free agent and will try again to secure a long-term deal. The Braves will place a qualifying offer on him, which might scare off some teams that don't have a safe first round pick. Aaron Harang was a hell of a find last season (Thanks Obama Wren), but the Braves probably will wish him the best on his future endeavors, successfully retiring a good number of hilarious memes involving him. Other free agents include Fredi lookalike Gerald Laird, all-around awful Brave Ryan Doumit, a broken (again) Gavin Floyd, and little jitterbug Emilio Bonifacio. Several arbitration cases remain, including Mike Minor, Jordan Walden, David Carpenter, and the trio of also broken (also again) pitchers Brandon Beachy, Kris Medlen, and Jonny Venters. And that doesn't even get into the $13M that Dan Uggla will get next season, along with a World Series ring for his play in San Fran that ultimately made them accept Joe Panik as their guy at second. You're welcome, Giants.

With all of the money already kinda dished out, trades and more trades seem to be the offseason strategy. Justin Upton and Jason Heyward are both entering the final year of their contracts while Evan Gattis seems to be without a position if Christian Bethancourt is the guy behind the plate next season. Oh...and yeah, there's the whole thing with B.J. Upton...can't forget that. On the plus side...

So, there certainly does remain a good deal to write about and I have several on-going series to wrap up and this offseason seems like a good time to do it. I'm back, kids. Time for the Braves to do some good because apparently, the Nationals are practically unbeatable.