Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop 12/30
By Jeff Schafer
Top Ten Remaining Free Agents
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: MLB Rumors ranks the top 10 free agents that are left for the 2015 season. There are four starting pitchers on this list and two of which the Atlanta Braves could go after here in the later part of the offseason. From the Braves beat writers, Scherzer and Shields have been all but eliminated from the Braves wish list. Vogelsong and Harang would probably be an upgrade from what the Braves currently have as their fifth starter, David Hale. The Braves should have about $20 million more that they could spend.
"1. Max Scherzer2. James Shields3. Colby Rasmus4. Asdrubal Cabrera5. Francisco Rodriguez6. Rafael Soriano7. Ryan Vogelsong8. Aaron Harang9. Nori Aoki10. Stephen Drew"
Hall of Fame case: John Smoltz should squeak in on
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Come July, we will find out who will be inducted into the baseball shrine in Cooperstown, New York. Many believe first-ballot pitchers Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez are lock ins as well as Craig Biggio. The odd ball is the final spot…hopefully that is Smoltz’s spot.
"Smoltz was the one constant in the Braves’ run of division titles and playoff appearances but he produced plenty of individual achievements – a Cy Young Award in 1996, eight All-Star selections and two NL strikeout titles.During his final season with the Braves, Smoltz became the 16th and most recent member of the 3,000-strikeout club. The only others with 3,000 who are eligible for election and not in the Hall are Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling.Not only do his 213 wins and 154 saves makes him the only pitcher with as many of both, but he and Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley are the only pitchers to have a 20-win season (Smoltz had 24 in 1996) and a 50-save season (Smoltz had 55 in 2002)."
Atlanta’s incoherent offseason
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: On MLB Network last night, Jon Heyman described the Braves as “rebuilding” but also stated that the Braves are a great organization and aren’t going to embarrass themselves on the ball field. He went on to say the Braves are looking forward to 2017 but will be mediocre until then. With the Phillies and Mets still rebuilding, the Marlins seeming like they are improving and the Nationals ahead of the gang…the Braves should fit nicely into that third spot in the NL East with about 75-85 wins this year.
"If there’s a plan here, perhaps this is it: There’s an argument to be made that with the Nationals appearing to be far and away the favorites in the NL East, the Braves need only to shoot for the 88 or so wins that getting into the wild-card game usually requires. As the Royals and Giants just proved, merely getting into the lottery that is the postseason could be enough. But then again, this Atlanta team wasn’t really close to getting there in 2014, and it’s almost indisputably further away in 2015.It’s not too late, of course. Gattis has been rumored to be on the trading block, and getting talent back in return would be a nice boost; while Gattis is older than you think (he turned 28 in August) and isn’t much of a catcher or a left fielder, teams have been paying high prices to satisfy the buzzword of “right-handed power,” which Gattis has in spades. Being without Gattis — or worse, letting him kick balls around in the outfield — would make a bad 2015 lineup look worse, but overall wouldn’t be the difference between making the playoffs or not. However, trading him for younger, controllable talent would not only help the future but would open up space for highly-regarded 23-year-old catcher Christian Betancourt. (Presumably, this is why Pierzysnki was imported.)"