Braves News Bits
By Fred Owens
As the team tries to adjust to Colorado time and altitude after Freddie Freeman’s first game winning walk off hit yesterday I thought I’d post some news bits I’ve found around the web. Each bit has a link with more of the story and I encourage you to read those as well.
Julio Teheran
"“Probably one of the top five pitchers I’ve ever seen at 5/3 Field,” Griffin said. “He’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. On June 9, he beat us with a stat line of eight innings pitched, three hits, no walks and 11 strikeouts. He was filthy. We were lucky to get three hits off him”"
We know that Teheran (20) is going to be special for the Braves, the question is will it be this season as a bullpen arm down the stretch or a replacement when we trade Derek Lowe. Currently 9-1 with a 1.79 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 81 strikeouts in 95 2/3 IP with AAA Gwinette, Teheran impressed at the Futures game as did Arodys Vizcaino (20) 2-3 with a 3.86 ERA, 1.179 WHIP and 53 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings with AA Mississippi. Together with Randall Delgado (21) also currently with Mississippi and Mike Minor (23) at Gwinnett they look set to continue the tradition of Braves pitching superiority for years to come. They also cause Frank Wren’s cell phone to overheat as teams try to pry some of that pitching loose.
You have a chance to see the aforementioned Teheran in action as he is scheduled to start tonight against the Louisville Bats. Its also Bobby Cox night at Gwinnett and the first 3,000 fans at Coolray Field get a Bobby Cox figurine as celebrating Cox’s time with the organization. Game starts at 7:05 p.m and Bobby is scheduled to be there.
Colby Rasmus
St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said Sunday, July 17, that the team has no plans to trade Colby Rasmus. The controversial Rasmus has been the center of trade rumors for many teams including the Braves since his request or nonrequest to be traded last year because he and Tony LaRusa weren’t seeing eye-to-eye. In an story by Joe Strauss of the St Louis Post Dispatch you can tell Mozeliak is clearly tired of all the fuss.
"“I’ve said it five, six, seven, eight times now: No,” general manager John Mozeliak said last week about trading Rasmus. “How many times do I have to say it?”"
Probably until he’s traded or given a multi-year contract extension John. Frankly Rasmus smells like a diva. No matter how talented they are diva’s are concerned with themselves first and the team only as it help their personal image. By the time they learn that the team’s success precedes their own stardom it’s usually too late for them to be what they could have been.Ask Alex Rodriguez . . .just my opinion of course. I could be wrong. . . but I’m not.
Is it possible the Melky Cabrera we saw in Atlanta last year (overweight, fumbling and inconsistent) was suffering from his sudden jilting by the Yankees? Possibly. It could also be that finding Kansas City was the only team willing to give him a shot as a starter this year shook him back to reality. Cabrera who is having a stellar year at KC – .295/.333/.453, 11 homers and 52 RBI – is a hot news item on the trade market with the Phillies eying both the Melk-Man and former Brave favorite Jeff Francoeur – .266/.310/.451, 13 homers 58 RBI – as solutions for their shortage of right handed outfielders. Earlier the Royals indicated that they wanted to keep Cabrera but recently said they’d look at high quality pitching prospects in any deal for either player. Frenchy for his part likes Kansas City and wants to stay. Time will tell of course, the Royals DESPERATELY need pitching and that supersedes all other loyalties in the short term. I’d like to see Frenchy do well, Melky too. Just not with the Phillies or Mets.
That’s it for this morning, off to earn a crust so I can be in Atlanta on the 12th for Bobby’s induction and retirement of his number. Let me know what you’d like to read about and I’ll try to dig something up for you. Remember Cox night at Gwinnett and Derek Lowe takes on the Rockies Jason Hamel tonight at 8:40 EST. (Unless he’s traded by then of course…)