Andruw Jones No Longer a Braves Player

Jones is still young and has many years of lazy hitting and effort left in him. Look, there's no bigger Braves fan than me but he's always been lazy and could have been a much better player than he has been or will ever be.

If he can get some team to pay him $20 mil+ for 8 years then more power to him and Boras but the Braves need starting pitching. If I have to go through another season with them paying Hampton $10 mil to have another surgery and watching Chuck James give up homers, I'm going to puke. Smoltz only has so many innings left in that elbow....they need to win now or they'll be looking for even one more pitcher.

 

if he retires RIGHT NOW, he is in the HOF imo.

10 gold gloves and a good bat for good teams.

the writers love that.

not to mention, he won't retire now and will get 500-600 HRs

 

I don't think this will do it. Sherholtz was on the radio yesterday and said the Braves will continue to platoon Willie Harris and Matt Diaz because they are both corner fielders. They are going to bring in someone to play center because the starting pitching free agent market is so poor.

 

He's 132 shy of 500. If he plays another 10 years (til he's 40), he'll only have to average less than 14 per year to get there. He's hit more than that every full season of his career (he only hit 5 in 31 games his 1st year in the bigs).
His post season BA is only 13 points lower than his regular season, showing he doesn't choke there. 10 HR's in 75 postseason games puts him close to on pace (if he can get to the postseason enough) to catch Bernie Williams record of 22 in 121 games. Tack his 9 Gold Gloves to that, and I'd say he's HOF bound.

 

isn't that what I just said?

but seriously, regarding the offseason, here is my list of priorities:

1. Resign Tex, no matter what it takes.
2. Get a decent, #3-4 starter. No matter who he is. The Braves 1-4 starters were never the issue; the #5 guy was always the issue. I like the way JoJo Reyes pitched toward the end of the season, and I think he will be very serviceable. (If Renteria can be dealt to get a starter, do it, because Escobar is the same player, but younger.)
3. Get a veteran lefthander if Ron Mahay is a F/A. I don't know if he is or not, but he has to be replaced if he is.
4. Go after the big-name CFs (Hunter), once they go for more money, get a stop-gap like Kenny Lofton. Someone who can provide versatility (batting 7th, 1st, 8th, etc...). The reason why I want a veteran stop-gap, is because we have a big-time Francouer-like prospect who is about 2 years away, so there is no need to break the bank. (Can we maybe pry Crisp from Boston)

 

Yeah, just adding a little to it for ya. :thumb:

Crisp has 2 years left on his $15.5 million deal (with a team option for 2010). Depending on what Atlanta has to offer, and how ready Ellsbury is, Coco may be tradable. Ellsbury started out like a ball of fire his first couple of call ups, but cooled off a bit down the stretch. If management feels he's ready, they may be willing to part with Coco. What type pf 1B or 3B prospects do the Braves have in their farm system? Lowell is getting old, and depending on cost, may not be back next year. Which would mean either getting a new 3B or moving Youk to 3rd and finding another 1B.

 

The Braves have Tex for at least this coming year. He isn't a priority until the rotation is settled.

We need a 3. The Braves have a 4 in James and a 5 in Carlyle. They need a 3. James might develop, but I am not optimistic. Also Sherholtz said in that radio interview that the entire middle infield is an option if it means getting starting pitching.

Makes sense to me.

Are you talking about Brandon Jones? Sherholtz eyes him as the left fielder of the future. I wonder what that means for Harris and Diaz because he sees them as corner fielders.

 

next season or not, tie him down now.

this whole "let's wait, let's wait" thing is what lost atlanta Andruw.

We gave up Saltalamacchia for him, so tie him down for good.

edit: as far as the middle infield thing goes, i wouldn't mind getting rid of Kelly if it meant a starter in return, but I think to get anyone with value, it has to be Renteria, because he makes the most $ coming back to even out the deal.

And yes, I am talking about B. Jones.