ESPN's Keith Law covers a few topics related to the Braves in his latest chat:
Luis (Guatemala): Hola Sr. Law, solamente para saludarlo y comentar acerca de J. Smoltz. Did the BoSox got a "bargain" by signing him or U think the risks are too big to put it as a bargain?
Keith Law: I don't think it's a bargain at that price; if you consider the probability that he pitches, how much he could pitch, and how well he might pitch, $5MM is going to be a fair price or even slightly high. But the Red Sox have the money to overpay slightly, and it's possible that his marginal value to them is high enough to justify the cost. Given how tough the AL East looks, the value of a marginal win to Boston, the Yanks, or Tampa is probably quite high right now.
JW(nh): Wanted to ask in respect to your post - Tommy Hanson now starts the year in MiLB or as a 5th starter/swingman/reliever?
jsm (dallas): Looks like the Rangers have committed to Elvis Andrus in 2009. What can we expect from him? +15 runs in the field with a 650 OPS seems likely to me.
Dave Parker(Pitt, PA): If Jim Rice is in I'm next, right? After all what inspires more fear than someone nicknamed "The Cobra?"
mymrbig (New Orleans): Freddie Freeman is 2 years younger than Logan Morrison, is only 1 level behind, and had better numbers than Morrison had at loA or A. Why isn't he mentioned in the same class of 1B prospects as Morrison, Smoak, Anderson, etc.?
Michael (CT): Best pitching prospect not named David Price? Feliz? Hanson? Bumgarner?
He seems to not think as much of Hanson as other people do. I'm not going to hold that against him as Hanson really only emerged as a top-5 guy this year. Same with not being bullish on Freeman.
I like his thinking about Murphy. If you read the chat he has some other really good things to say about the Hall of Fame voting.
0 recs | 54 comments
I thought Feliz profiled as a reliever?
TradeAndruw - January 15, 2009
Definitely a starter.
mattdiaz4life - January 15, 2009
I wouldn’t say definitely…he still has alot of work to do on his secondary pitches and his control. I still think he is going to be a closer, as he reminds me of Joel Zumaya.
bwellnjonesco - January 16, 2009
I think Law is spot-on with everything here, including Hanson – but I would probably say Bumgarner is a better prospect than Feliz. I Am Not A Scout, however.
Why does he use BaBIP?
mattdiaz4life - January 15, 2009
I think his point was...
that right now, Andrus would need a flukey BABIP to hit for high average.
BraveBronco0121 - January 15, 2009
I was inquiring about the lower-case “a.”
mattdiaz4life - January 15, 2009
oh. No clue.
BraveBronco0121 - January 15, 2009
BaBIP is the average of the balls that are in play that are hits. Some players get lucky and alot of bad hit balls get through the defense and results in a hit rather than an out (good defenses prevent this). He described him as a slab hitter, so he has a higher possibility of hitting the ball hard at someone/him getting a good running start down the baseline and the defender screwing up, resulting with him getting an infield hit.
An example of BaBIP effect on BA is Nick Swisher, he had a horrible BaBIP (meaning he could of had alot of hits, resulting in a higher BA, but the defenders got to them and he was recorded out), which resulted in him having a terrible BA.
bwellnjonesco - January 16, 2009
we all know this
mattdiaz4life is wondering why KLaw uses “BaBIP” instead of “BABIP”
justincredubil02 - January 16, 2009
I don't think he does...
Everyone knows that Law saying BaBIP is the same as him saying BABIP…everyone doesn’t know exactly what BABIP is…I believe mattdiaz4life is asking why does he use BABIP over other stats such as BA.
bwellnjonesco - January 16, 2009
No, if you look up a few posts, he explicitly said he was asking about the lower case ‘a’.
cbwilk - January 16, 2009
LOL
I don’t LOL often, but this exchange definitely evoked one.
mattdiaz4life - January 16, 2009
and this is a perfect example
of how you guys can seriously over-analyze things.
justincredubil02 - January 18, 2009
Maybe you’re just under-analyzing things.
Think about it.
Smoltz's Beard - January 18, 2009
i see what you did there
hahaa…well played, sir. well played.
justincredubil02 - January 19, 2009
Thanks Frank Wretard
For ditching Feliz. Dumbass.
jjcollins - January 15, 2009
Another constructive comment…thanks for stopping by.
Smoltz's Beard - January 15, 2009
he didnt js did
Brandonba - January 15, 2009
The details aren’t important to him, he just wants to complain.
Smoltz's Beard - January 15, 2009
Shut up nig go shave your jizz beard you cum guzzler
jjcollins - January 15, 2009
wow.
you are uncalled for.
justincredubil02 - January 16, 2009
ahaha
look at this guy.
over under on the age…. 12?
get swoll yunel - January 16, 2009
i'd say over
but under 17
justincredubil02 - January 16, 2009
i gotta go over
Swo12bv - January 16, 2009
Banned
I’ve banned jjcollins. Matt and I both gave him a warning, but he continued to post ridiculous stuff like this… that will get you banned every time.
gondeee - January 16, 2009
good call
justincredubil02 - January 16, 2009
+1
VegasAces - January 16, 2009
finally
bigjoe - January 16, 2009
Its bigfagjoe’s boyfriend!!
jjcollins - January 15, 2009
jjcolins
your a damn idiot. Everytime i see a comment from you your sayin stupid crap about Wren no matter what it is. He isn’t the one that traded Feliz. He is NOT a bad GM. I dont think i have seen one comment from you sayin somethin good. Were you even here when we signed Lowe, or Kawakami? If so you prolly bashed Wren then. Why does idiots like you gotta even come on here? You have every right to be here but people like you try to make this site bad. Plain and simple it would be a much better sight if fools like you wasn’t here.
rockybull - January 15, 2009
Is it really fair to dismiss Freeman’s numbers the way he does, when he seems to accept that Smoak is already a sure thing?
Smoltz's Beard - January 15, 2009
KLAW
Is good at contradicting himself in statements like that. It’s better to just nod your head and pretend he’s not as smart as he thinks he is, or would like you to think he is.
Hizilla - January 16, 2009
Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t crazy.
Smoltz's Beard - January 16, 2009
lol, klaw
I knew there was a comic character named similarly:
royhobbs - January 16, 2009
That is NOT a claw on his hand.
Seriously, what the heck is that?
soup du jour - January 16, 2009
DUH
A sonic wave cannon.
royhobbs - January 16, 2009
geez the guy has a cartoon for an avatar and hes an idiot
/partially sarcastic (only about the idiot)
Swo12bv - January 16, 2009
Off-topic
There’s a video of Frank Wren on MLB.com earlier today. He’s asked the same questions we’ve all heard so nothing really new. Here’s the link.
I’m not gay or anything, but Wren’s a pretty good looking guy. If he has anything going for him, I’d say he’s one of the better looking general managers – certainly easier on the eyes than Colletti in Los Angeles. He sounds a little like George Bush.
beeniez - January 16, 2009
The topic of favorite “Rickey stories” came up in Keith Law’s chat a couple of times. I pulled up another site that had a top 25 list of stories and for anyone who hasn’t read them, they are funny and you should check them out. Follow the link at the bottom of the post.
Here’s my favorite. It came in at #3 on the list:
In the early 1980s, the Oakland A’s accounting department was freaking out. The books were off $1 million. After an investigation, it was determined Rickey was the reason why. The GM asked him about a $1 million bonus he had received and Rickey said instead of cashing it, he framed it and hung it on a wall at his house.
http://www.faniq.com/blog/The-25-Best-Rickey-Henderson-Stories-Of-All-Time-Blog-15243
jeg - January 16, 2009
and from john manuel's chat on espn
now they are just rubbing it my face. i know all the arguments for the trade, the braves being close to the playoffs at the time, the fact that less was known about these guys at the time (except, apparently by the rangers). but damn, it would be fun to have feliz, hanson, and andrus in the this system.
son.of.sourman - January 16, 2009
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not really worth debating about at this point…
For example, if we had Andrus in the system, maybe we would’ve been quicker to pull the trigger on the Peavey trade awhile back…. and who knows what sort of roster we would’ve ended up with at that point?
It just really isn’t constructive to sit here and dwell on the “what might’ve been” at this point. And plenty of people here (Smoltz’s Beard in particular) have pointed out plenty of times already why that trade wasn’t a complete disaster.
get swoll yunel - January 16, 2009
Agreed.
If the Teixeira deal hadn’t been made, another, perhaps similar combination would have been put together to make a different deal. It’s not like we’d have all these guys right now.
hoboken_wood - January 16, 2009
What the hell has either of them done?
Smoltz's Beard - January 16, 2009
Let me clarify that I’m not trying to start up this argument again with son.of.sourman, I’m just baffled at why John Manuel brought them up specifically to try and paint the Braves in a negative light.
Smoltz's Beard - January 16, 2009
NOT BEAU JONES!!!!
bigjoe - January 16, 2009
I believe that is what Beau Jones has done.
royhobbs - January 16, 2009
She must be into the kinky stuff, cause Beau is a weird dude…
cbwilk - January 16, 2009
ur like a friggin player’s wife finder savant
Swo12bv - January 16, 2009
Law thinks Hanson is an Ace
He just thinks Feliz is better. There is no harm in that. To be honest, most every guy who covers the minors is in love with Feliz’ potential. But anyway, Law does think Hanson is a future Ace.
And yes, that trade might go down as the worst ever in Atlanta history
NEBravesFan33 - January 16, 2009
I will never think of it as a terrible trade, actually I think it was a great trade. Sure we lost some valuable prospects, but at the time we got one of the best first basemen in the league. You have to do those things to win championships…we didn’t win, of course, but we tried. And, none of the prospects we trade have proven anything yet…they could all be BUSTS as far as we know right now.
Matt Harrison – Similar to JoJo Reyes, but Reyes has way better stuff…
Beau Jones – Organizational bullpen arm…nothing special, we have a ton of similar guys
Jarrod Saltalamacchia – As with Tyler Flowers, we have no where for him to play. He hasn’t played as well as expected in Texas and is being mentioned in trade talks.
Elvis Andrus – Comparable to Edgar Renteria, while valuable, we were comfortable with Yunel ahead of him. Again he is still just a prospect, he might not ever play 160 MLB games.
then everyones heartcrush…Neftali Feliz – I’ll admit that I was surprised when the “other low level pitcher” was identified as Neftali Feliz. I thought we had already given them enough, however, it takes special prospects to get top of the line proven MLB players…Feliz could become a dominant Ace/closer or nothing, at the time we traded him, he was just extremely raw potential.
So we gave up 3 guys that COULD become All Star caliber…we received 2 years of Mark Teixeira and LHP Ron Mahay, who was having a very nice season as an experienced relief pitcher (had alot of value himself, maybe the reason we included Feliz in the deal???)
We turn those two guys into 3 years of a valuable 1st baseman, Casey Kotchman, who is an excellent defender and completely acceptable with the bat. We also got Stephen Marek, who may become our next closer. He had a good year at AA level, and a great AFL. From Mahay leaving, we picked up Brett DeVall, from one of the BEST drafts by the Braves. DeVall was labeled as one of the top high school pitchers, and top lefty HSP.
Of course, I would love to have Feliz back, but at the time, I was absolutely crazy about Tex…
bwellnjonesco - January 16, 2009
I can sum up my feelings thusly: It turned out to be a poor trade, but its still one that I would make every time, at the time.
soup du jour - January 16, 2009
i think that sums it up….. when looking at it with today’s knowledge the trade was a loss for us. for two reasons, Feliz and Andrus look pretty decent and potentially great… and our goal (making the playoffs)was not achieved. However…. I would make this trade 10 out of 10 times, because it was the right trade at the time.
Swo12bv - January 16, 2009
…and Ron Mahay!
mattdiaz4life - January 16, 2009
Sounds like a great name for a band.
cbwilk - January 16, 2009
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