Atlanta Braves Below The Fold

The week’s news from the Braves camp was overshadowed by the huge trade on Wednesday but a few other items about current and past Braves popped up that you might have missed. That and other stuff I want to rant about follows.

They Once Were Braves

Steve Lerud – Not returning

On Tuesday Mark Zuckerman tweeted that Lerud – last year’s backstop at Gwinnett – had signed a minor league deal with the Nationals. When the Braves signed him last off season I wrote a bit about him.  He’s a career minor league player who could easily have been at least a major league backup but illness intervened and stopped that.

I watched him catch a few times and found him to be a solid defender with a occasional pop. Like most backups however his bat isn’t consistent enough to play everyday. His story put him on my list of guys to root for, that would be easier if he wasn’t a Nats farm hand.

Yunel Escobar – Traded Again

On Wednesday the former Braves shortstop was traded for the second time this off season. Last week he went to Oakland as part of the Ben Zobrist deal. This week the A’s flipped him to the Nationals for Tyler Clippard. Escobar is ostensibly there to play second but the rumor mill is rife with trade talk involving Ian Desmond.

Whatever happens there, Escobar hasn’t found a happy home since 2010 he’s been traded five times. His glove has always been good and his bat occasionally superb so there  must be a reason for his transient nature. The Braves didn’t like his attitude and he had that eye black incident in Toronto but he seemed to be happy under Joe Madden in Tampa. Time will tell whether he’s a positive or negative force for the Nationals. Adding him and trading Clippard seems an unnecessary risk to a team that was just coming together. Matt Williams is not as forgiving a manager as Madden and I could see his relationship with Escobar being. . . stormy.

Brandon Beachy – Not Returning

Fans hoping to see Beachy back in a Braves uniform next year are most likely out of luck. Chris Cotillo reported (on Twitter ) that while Beachy was considering offers from six teams the Braves were no longer on that list. Beachy’s back-to-back TJ surgeries do not enhance his chances of returning at a high level or having a long career. While I wish him the best, letting him walk was the right decision.

They’re Still Braves. . .  for now

Craig Kimbrel – Staying

On Thursday Mark Bowman wrote that Kimnbrel will not be traded. John Hart told Bowman ““We have never entertained trading (Kimbrel) and have had zero conversations with any clubs about Craig. I want him finishing out a World Series win.”  Me too John, how about adding a bat or two so that happens more quickly?

Tyler Pastornicky – Staying

Last week the Braves designated Rev for assignment to open a 40 man roster spot. I thought one of the teams needing infield help would pick him up for a PTBNL or equivalent.  Today we learned via a Mark Bowman tweet that he cleared waivers and will start the year at Gwinnett.  I always liked Rev and am glad to see him in stay in the system but it doesn’t say a lot for his future that teams needing infield help passed on a virtually free player. Good luck Rev.

You Gotta Be Kidding Me

On the heels of serious follies created to “improve” the game – the DH, an All Star Game that decides home field advantage for the World Series, interleague play every day – comes the pitch clock. This season the minor leagues will have a 20 second pitch clock used to speed up games. If it mirrors the trial used in the AZFL:

• Pitchers will have 12 seconds to throw with the bases empty and 20 seconds  with runners on
• Batters have to have one foot in the batter’s box at all times.

The AZFL experiment cut 10 minutes off of game times.

Really? That’s the best you got? Ten whole minutes and an absurd clock on the field in a game that has no clock. Pathetic.

In my humble opinion Selig announced this prior to his departure to on the 25th to take the immediate heat off of his heir Rob Manfred.  That’s a laugh in itself but the clock is just silly.

Last may Fox Sports using Stat LLC data posted the average game time at each ballpark from 2009 through 2013.  Using my advanced math skills (Excel) I’ve determined that as much as some think AL games are longer the difference in average time is just one minute.

The perception of AL games being longer is largely due to which games the networks shove at us in prime time.

Yankee stadium and Fenway host the longest games and when the teams who live there play each other the games are very long. Those games are the ones thrust at us by the networks because of their need to feed the ratings monster.

Coors field is at three hours largely because it’s like home run derby every night. I have no idea why Miller Park is at three hours as well unless they ask Bob Uecker to say a few words during the seventh inning stretch.  On the whole however the average major league game is under three hours.

Most pitchers are way down the list of reasons games are long – at least since Steve Trachsel retired. Empirically the foremost reason games are longer is the way bullpens are used. When you replace pitchers for each batter in an inning you automatically add about 10 minutes to a game.  If you want to shorten the game simply change the rule about how many batters a pitcher must face from 1 to 2. Most of the microscopic difference in advantage gained in such situations is mythical anyway. Don’t scream at me, I know this isn’t going to happen but if you’re serious about making the game shorter that would do it.

Another way would be to tell TV networks that they don’t get all that time when a pitching change occurs. The site of players and umpires standing around waiting for a guy in the stands to raise a green card is silly. Allow the networks to scroll their ads across the bottom of the screen like they do in soccer games.  That move alone saves the 10 minutes this stupid clock pretends to save.

Fortunately the experiment can’t be brought to the majors without the MLBPA and owners agreeing to it. I hope the MLBPA laughs them out of the room.

That’s a Wrap

That’s all the news I have so far and the only rant I had laying around. I’m sure I can do better later.

Next: The 2015 Braves Outfield