Atlanta Braves’ Ideal 25-Man Roster, Part 7 of 7
By Ryan Cothran
Who will be leaving the land of Mickey Mouse for the greener fields of Turner?
Atlanta Braves’ Ideal 25-man roster, part 7 of 7
Well, now we’ve come to it, the final stage! The Grand Finale! The Big Reveal! As all extreme Braves’ fans already know, the ideal roster has changed quite a bit with the injury news and a very big free agent signing. I stated there were 9 pitchers who had solidified their spots on the roster and need not be discussed….2 of those were Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen.
After doing the subtracting and adding, there are now 8 pitchers and 11 position players that need not be discussed. Here are those players:
Ervin Santana, Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, Alex Wood, Craig Kimbrel, Jordan Walden, David Carpenter, Luis Avilan, Evan Gattis, Gerald Laird, Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla, Andrelton Simmons, Chris Johnson, Justin Upton, B.J. Upton, Jordan Schafer, Jason Heyward, Ryan Doumit
If you’re new to the series, posts 1-6 can be found by following the links below.
Braves’ ideal roster, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6.
The postions availabe for the Ideal 25-man roster were 2 bench additions and 4 pitchers, either 3 bullpen and 1 starter or 4 in the bullpen, depending on how Alex Wood should be used on the ideal roster. The authors, writers, and editors came together, submitted one’s own ideal roster, and the percentages below reflects the group’s “yes” vote from the panel.
Percentages According to Tomahawk Take Staff: Bench Candidates (2 positions available)
Ramiro Pena-100%
Tyler Pastornicky– 14%
Tyler Greene– 14%
Joey Terdoslavich– 100%
Ernesto Mejia– 0%
Jose Constanza– 0%
Todd Cunningham– 0%
Tommy La Stella– 0%
Percentages According to Tomahawk Take Staff: Pitchers (4 positions available)
Anthony Varvaro– 71%
Holding something in, Freddy? Hopefully it’s just excitement for being a unanimous selection to the ideal 25-man roster!
Cory Gearrin– 71%
Ryan Buchter– 14%
Freddy Garcia– 100%
J.R. Graham– 0%
Gus Schlosser– 14%
David Hale– 57%
Juan Jaime– 0%
Luis Vasquez– 29%
Ian Thomas– 29%
Conclusion
Final Outcome tallying the votes(not the Opening Day roster, but the roster upon the return of Santana and Minor):
Lineup– 1. Heyward 2. J. Upton 3. Freeman 4. Gattis 5. C. Johnson 6. B. Upton 7. Uggla 8. Simmons
Bench– 1. Doumit 2. Schafer 3. Laird 4. Terdoslavich 5. Pena
Rotation– 1. Minor 2. Teheran 3. Santana 4. Wood 5. Garcia
Bullpen– 1. Kimbrel 2. Walden 3. Carpenter 4. Avilan 5. Hale 6. Varvaro 7. Gearrin
My Analysis
The lineup is fine with me as I don’t really get worked up by the whole lineup thing anymore. I would rather see a contact hitter in the 2-hole like Chris Johnson, but I’m ok with the consensus.
Bench– This, to me, is the ideal bench. The latest buzz is that Tyler Greene has the inside shot for the last bench spot which would squeeze out Terdoslavich. It is my opinion that the “need” for 2 middle infielders on the 25-man defeats the purpose behind moving the AAA affiliate to Gwinnett. My opinion would be to keep 1 middle infielder, 1 backup catcher, 1 backup outfielder, and 2 sticks off the bench, no matter the position.
Rotation– I’d rather have Hale as the 5th starter as I don’t see Garcia finding the success that he saw in a Braves’ uniform last year, but we’re really talking about a handful of starts so I’m not sure there’ll be that significant of a difference.
Bullpen– For me, I have 2 issues with this group. The lack of a 2nd lefty in the bullpen really disturbs me. The Braves have been adament about keeping at least 2 lefties and I don’t foresee that changing this year (nor do I want it to). For that to happen, one of Varvaro or Gearrin have to go. For my money, I feel Gearrin should stay as I feel he provides more value as a ROOGY than Varvaro. If he fails in his role, Schlosser would be ready to go in Gwinnett. For the 2nd lefty, I really like Ian Thomas. While Buchter’s K-rate is much more sexy, Thomas has the edge in control and his splits are quite minimal therefore he could be used against both righties and lefties.
Thanks to everyone for reading this series! Opening Day is just around the corner!