Atlanta Braves Must Address Weaknesses At First Base and Outfield
By thelandryhat
The Atlanta Braves game ample time to Jordan Schafer to see if he was the next up-and-coming star in the league. After his home run in the first series of the season against the Phillies, he produced very little from there and he was eventually dismissed back to the minors.
Now, the Braves are turning their attention to another young outfielder. His name is Jason Heyward and so far he’s been a stud in the minor leagues. He doesn’t hit a lot of homers, but he is a player who can do everything it seems.
This is what Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus says about Heyward:
"“The top position player prospect in the game, Heyward has a chance at opening 2010 in the big leagues, and even if that doesn’t work out, he’ll be in Atlanta well before he can legally drink to celebrate his accomplishment. A potential ‘face of the franchise’-level talent, Heyward hits for average, hits for power, draws walks and even runs a bit. He could be Dale Murphy, V2.”"
It is clearer each day that the Braves probably will go to Heyward for 2010 to fill a void in the outfield. Mark Bradley with AJC has an article up today about Heyward and Tommy Hanson, that goes into more detail about how much praise Heyward is getting.
Just below that, Jeff Schultz asks what exactly are the Braves going to do if the Mets get Jason Bay a day after the Phillies signed Roy Halladay?
He makes it clear that the Braves need to fill these holes to compete in 2010. I agree.