Braves Pave Way for Freddie Freeman

I don't think Much of Wren either so we won't disagree there. I look forward to reading the next one. I blog over at MLB's blogs now but not getting much traffic there. You might like to take a peek at them. http://redwhiteandbraves.mlblogs.com/

Of course comments are welcome :-) Have a good holiday season

Merlin, I did mention the cost of dumping prospects for Lee (and Farnsworth and Ankiel) right at the bottom of the post. Where I disagree with you is in putting the Lee move under the column of Glaus' cost. That's your opinion and that's fine, I put that squarely on the shoulders of Frank Wren, I'm not going to belittle Glaus when I felt for his bill of health and having been asked to change positions he produced at well above his pay-grade last year. That's splitting hairs at this point though. And this isn't my first ever blog post. I'm actually the Lead Writer over at another blog on our network (covering the NFL). It was however my first baseball post and I must say the level of knowledge out of the commenters on baseball blogs is much higher than those on the football ones. I really don't take it personally, I just didn't really expect to have someone tell me how wrong I was on what was essentially just a news piece with (what I thought were) mild opinions added intermittently throughout. When I write a piece in a couple days about how much I dislike Frank Wren, I would expect to have some people disagree and say I'm wrong. This one just surprised me. But yes, I can tell you blog because you write at that kind of level. And I appreciate your discourse. Please keep reading and also, I am not the lead writer here, Bob Horton is. I just came in to help out as we try to turn this blog around. Thanks for you comments, sorry if that caught me off guard.

I did not actually insult you, call you lazy or in any way attack you personally. I am sorry if you took it that way but those are your interpretations of what I said, not mine. I might have have been less sarcastic had I known it was your first ever blog post. I merely meant to point out what I saw as inaccuracies. Pointing out that the numbers didn't support your position in my last reply wasn't a lesson in sabermetrics, it was support for my position. Had I thought it worth doing the same to show Huff's total cost was lower than what the Braves paid - and lost in prospects - by hiring Glaus.
To calculate the true cost of hiring Troy you have to consider what he was hired to do; play first base. The cost to the Braves of the first base position includes not only Troy's salary and bonuses - which according to Cot's Baseball Contracts was 1.75 million - but the salary of the man we traded for because he could not do the job, Derrek Lee. The Braves paid $1.7 million of Lee's salary for the year and lost 3 minor league prospects - Jeffrey Lorick, Robinson Lopez and Tyrelle Harris to the the Cubs. Lopez was a highly rated prospect and will not easily be replaced. Using that data, first base this season cost the Braves $3.45 million (Glaus 1.75 + Lee 1.7) and three minor league prospects. That's objectively more than Huff cost the Giants.
I do some blogging as well and can confirm that blogging invites comments. Some will be supportive and agree while others will disagree. I suggest that you don't let the disagreements get under your skin, challenge disagreements with facts when they are incorrect when you choose, acknowledge errors when you make them and never read personal animus into a comment. I've found it wise to ignore those who choose to make personal attacks, call you names or throw insults. They have no real argument to make, they just don't like what you said and want you to know it.
Have a good holiday season and good luck with your blog.

Thanks for the lesson on sabermetrics and telling me how un-empirical my opinions are. Of course I noticed you backed off of your non-factual point earlier that Huff would have come cheaper than Glaus in favor of criticizing my semantics (I apologize I was "too lazy," especially considering I took the time to write the post at all). And I fail to see where my opinions weren't supportable by fact, you don't think 17 homers and 71 RBI's at a price of 1.5 mil is a bargain, I do. No facts there. Thanks for stopping by to insult me though. I really appreciate it.

It isn't nit picking. I simply pointed out areas where your position wasn't supported by facts. The numbers say Troy was a mediocre player and while 1.5 million isn't a lot of money we could have gotten the same production out of a AAA replacement or a rookie like Ike Davis. The numbers back that up.
Troy had a WAR of 0.6 and an Rtot of -3. Those say that he was responsible for winning 1/2 a game more than a AAA replacement and that his defense let in 3 more runs than that replacement. By Comparison Huff had a WAR of +5.9 (9 times better)and an Rtot of +4 (7 runs better). This means he won far more games for the Giants than Troy did for us. His RBI and homers came in more important spots and won more games than Trot's did. Huff just got a two year $12 million contract. Troy won't get that.
The platooning thing wasn't a misnomer it was just incorrect. Saying "well I can;t think of the right term" simply tells your reader you can't be bothered to figure out the right thing to say. In this case all you had to say was they traded for Lee and sent Troy down. No misnomer there.
Chipper said in an August 2010 interview with the AJC - not an old one - that he was not interested in moving across the diamond. He'll play third or retire.
The point is not to pick on you or anyone. The point is that opinions should be based on fact. When they aren't and you publish them someone will point out the inaccuracies. Since we _-theoretically anyway - blog to share our opinions with others the others will judge the value of those opinions by their validity. Being accurate will get readers to take more seriously what your opine. If they are not supportable by fact people will stop reading.
Good luck with your blog.

What was it, a slow news day? Nothing in this is news. Anyone following the Braves - and who else reads these - would know Freddie was the man already and the non-tender information was released informally and confirmed long ago. Glaus and Lee were never coming back. That's never been an option. Freddie was always going to be given the job. Now a few areas of inaccuracy and disagreement.
1) Troy Glaus. Glaus was not a bargain, he was a disaster. Folks say he carried us in May and June but the numbers say he had a good May and a week or so in June out of 26 weeks. Basically he had a good 1/4 season before the scouts found the huge holes in his swing and his legs collapsed as they were always going to. Removing May when he hit 330 and Sep/Oct when he had only 17 plate appearances, Troy hit 205 with 10 homers and 42 RBI. In that same period rookie Ike Davis playing for the hapless Mets hit 11 homers with 43 RBI and hit 258. Glaus was no bargain by any unemotional measure. Options Wren ignored in favor of his "hire a cripple and hope he can play" program had better seasons and cost less; Aubrey Huff for example.
2) Glaus and Lee NEVER platooned at first, when Lee was signed Glaus was disabled and sent to Gwinette. He played 1 game at first after returning, displayed his lack of mobility and concrete hands for all to see and never played there again. When Lee was rested it was Freeman who replaced him.
3) Chipper at first? Never going to happen. He made it clear to management after the left field debacle and in interviews over the last year that he's the third baseman until he retires. In case you were asleep we grabbed Joe Mather who plays first, 3rd and the outfield off waivers to back up Freddie. If Freddie collapses completely ala Jordan Schafer, Prado will move there while we look for something off the wire or via trade to fill the gap either in left or at first.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!