The Fall of our discontent continues as the fall of the 2010 Atlanta Braves worsens. The Atlanta Braves Fan Confidence Rating dropped for the fourth consecutive week, and with the way the team is continuing to play, it will likely continue to drop.
The Fan Confidence sits at 65 percent this week, down from 67 percent the previous week. Prior to that the confidence had enjoyed levels above 70 and even 80 percent, but those kinds of numbers seems like a distant memory.
The Braves will try to turn that number back Northward as they head North for the final -- and most critical -- road trip of the season. It will be a nine game trip that will start off in New York and end in Washington, with three uber-crucial games in Philadelphia sandwiched in between.
To say that the Braves need to win each series is stating the obvious. They must not only do that, but they must also try and beat Philadelphia every game. That series next Monday through Wednesday could be the point where we clinch or lose a postseason berth.
0 recs | 41 comments
What big free agents could we sign?
Lets not trade any talent please, keep the minor league guys we have and wait. But in the mean time for 2011 who is available? Crawford? That would be really sweet..l.
fizzbot - September 16, 2010
Crawford, Beltre, Werth, Pena, and Wigginton are probably the best bats on the market.
king of games - September 16, 2010
One possibility I have thought about if we are unable to land somebody of Crawford’s level is that possibly we could try to sign Adam Dunn if he could still play the outfield. That would give us a huge power lift. Just think of a lineup next year of:
1. Infante 2b
2. Prado 3b
3. Heyward RF
4. McCann C
5. Dunn LF
6. Matt Young CF
7. Freeman 1B
8. Alex Gonzalez SS
I think that lineup has a good mixture of Power, speed and average…The big key factor there being if Dunn can still hack it in the OF…not sure about that after being at 1b for a couple years.
I know that it’s very lefty heavy
michaelcooksey - September 16, 2010
Dunn would be a complete disaster in the outfield. I could cover more ground in LF than Dunn, and I’m a paraplegic.
Chopaholic - September 16, 2010
Matt Young won’t be in CF, Chipper is working on a comeback, and Dunn is not an OFer any more. We either need Crawford, Werth, or a trade.
king of games - September 16, 2010
we have no money to spend
I hate to say it but it’s disheartening to see all these posts assuming we can sign a big FA bat, or worse, that a 21 year old Freddie Freeman is going to step into the lineup and match or exceed the production we got this year (21 HR, 96 RBI)
DCP916 - September 16, 2010
We actually have quite a bit of money coming off the books for next season. With the money we save on guys like Wagner, Melky, and Ankiel we could sign at least one decent player while replacing the guys we’re losing with more affordable players in our system.
king of games - September 16, 2010
Losing Wags and Melky saves us about 10M off next year’s payroll (taking into account the arb raise Melky would have gotten), but we save virtually nothing by dumping Ankiel. KC sent cash considerations to cover most if not all of he and Farnsworthless’ salaries. Losing Glaus only adds another couple mil. I know we’ve got some arb eligibles, like Prado, Moylan, and Diaz if we bring him back, so if you want to add a guy like Werth and still be able to make budget on those guys raises, you HAVE to, at the very least, unload KK’s salary. Prefereably he and McLouth, but one way or another one of those guys has to go or there’s no way to get someone like Werth or Crawford and still hold onto all the arb guys.
J-Freak - September 17, 2010
I can almost guarantee one of Lowe or KK will be out of here by next season, if not both.
justincredubil02 - September 18, 2010
So basically at this point we have gone to hoping the Phillies are up four games going into the final series so we can play against their scrubs.
BeatTehMets - September 16, 2010
In terms of winning the division, the Braves are out of wiggle room. But in terms of the wild card they could go 1-2 against the Phillies and win 5 out of 6 in the other 2 series and still be in good shape. So strictly speaking they don’t have to sweep the Phillies to remain the wild card hunt, but they do to remain the division race.
Zontar - September 16, 2010
We don’t have to sweep the Phillies at all. We win 2/3 for both series, and 1 more game, and we are tied.
justincredubil02 - September 18, 2010
Ok
We are still in the lead for the Wild Card. It may be a half game lead, but we are still hanging in there despite our horrid play as of late.
The road looks rocky ahead because we are playing at New York and at Philly, but we can still do it. A series win in New York can really boost our confidence and get things going on the right track heading into Philly. IMO this upcoming series against the Mets is critical and will help determine if we are contenders or pretenders.
dragonhawk26 - September 16, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP8xff2X46A&feature=related
Hektor DiPaula - September 16, 2010
Bobby needs to get tossed during the next game.
The reason players love playing for Bobby is because he fights for them. This trying not to get thrown out this year is ridiculous and it might be the kick in the pants this team needs right now.
king of games - September 16, 2010
Confidense is shaken to say the least
If our pitchers can pitch to their capabilities, the team should be fine in the WC and at least give the Phillies a good chase. If the starting pitchers continue to struggle with 5+ERA’s, I doubt the offense can cover that with regularity, I really wish we could find a line up that we could stick with, it seems ridiculous to have to check DOB tweets for a line up in mid-September, we as a playoff contender should have 8 starters that we can count on to start nearly every game. That is what Wren and his new manager need to do this winter, dump the daily platoon and build a team.
bighop - September 16, 2010
if if if if.......
this is all that’s left….
Hektor DiPaula - September 16, 2010
win or stay home
Championship teams don’t lose 41 out of 72 road games. If the Braves can’t win 5 or 6 games on this trip, they don’t deserve to play in the playoffs anyway.
redwards95 - September 16, 2010
...
TonyAlmeyda - September 16, 2010
THIS TIMES A MILLION
BravesDawg16 - September 16, 2010
First of all, atleast we aren’t the sissy Yankees faking getting hurt by a hbp to get on base cause were so scared of losing. I’ve seen Esco do that before but fortunaetly his diva ass is gone. Maybe that’s good baseball to get on base but I’d rather have some “ballplayers” who wanna stay in there and grind it out. Even tho it would suck to miss the playoffs I am still content with the season because of all the comeback wins which have made it worth it to me to watch so many games. Let’s extend this metaphor of looking like the Braves will lose only to come back and win to the entire season. This means although we look done now we will still come back and win at the end to make it into the playoffs.
Jbraves352 - September 16, 2010 via mobile
I really hate when players do everything they can to win too.
justincredubil02 - September 18, 2010
I really hate when players do everything they can to win too.
justincredubil02 - September 18, 2010
Here's the problem as I see it
We have 6 games against the Phillies. We need to win those to have a shot at the division obviously. I think most people have abandoned hope that we can beat them given how we have both played in recent weeks.
On the other hand we still need to beat the Phillies to stay ahead in the WC race. The Rockies finish the year with a 4 game set against St. Louis. I can promise you that asshole LaRussa is going to roll over in that series. They’ve quit. There is no way we get any effort out of them on that final weekend.
It’s just not practical to concede the NL east to the Phils and worry about the WC. Either way we’re screwed.
DCP916 - September 16, 2010
The fact that we have 6 games against the Phillies...
is what makes it NOT hopeless. If we didn’t play them, that would be a problem.
sddbaker - September 16, 2010
Clearly, the confidence in on free fall
that happens when the only player who´s showing some kind of power is McLouth.
joshant - September 16, 2010
and your only pitcher who seems can pitch is Lowe
joshant - September 16, 2010
We have entered...
BullManUGA - September 16, 2010
Anybody that thinks these guys are going to the playoffs.....
are dumb enough to buy Game 7 World Series from a scalper on Ebay. Today. For $2000 a ticket.
Col.Angus - September 16, 2010
We are still in the lead for the wildcard. You would be dumb to completely discount this team knowing what they are capable of.
king of games - September 16, 2010
Oh yeah...
Your logic is perfect.
sddbaker - September 16, 2010
a 1.5 game lead in the WC, 3 back in the division with 6 games remaining against the Phillies…yeah, we are totally out of it.
justincredubil02 - September 18, 2010
is*. agreed, dumb.
ATLBRVS_19 - September 16, 2010
reply fail to Col. Angus
ATLBRVS_19 - September 16, 2010
I expect to see an increase next week.
The Braves are running the table here on out!!!!!
taney71 - September 16, 2010
Looking ahead.
Schedule:
@ Mets: The pitching favors us and honestly we should sweep (but at this point it could be the opposite)
@ Phillies: We should take 1 at least. We normally hit Roy Oswalt pretty well and we’ve done okay with Hamels this year, but 1 out of 3 would be okay.
@ Nationals: Honestly, we should sweep this one too. The pitching favors us again. But again, you never know.
vs Marlins: The Marlins are the thorn in our side. They seem to always play us tough. But we should take 2 of 3 at home.
vs Phillies: I think the Phils will have clinched at this point and they aren’t going to throw their top guns against us. We should take 2 of 3.
That will give us. 11 Wins and 4 losses in the last 2 weeks. That should give us enough to get in the playoffs…. BUT you never know what to expect from the Braves.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we take 2 of 3 from the Mets and Sweep the Phils and then get sweept by the Nats. It’s just the way this team rolls.
Prepare for a great rollercoaster ride for the next 2 weeks.
BravesFanScout - September 16, 2010
Everyone needs to calm down a bit.
A week ago Colorado was out of it completely and two weeks ago San Diego was the best team in the NL. Things change fast and there’s a lot of time left, let’s not commit mass suicide just yet.
king of games - September 16, 2010
That’s true to an extent. On the other hand, the one thing the Braves have been consistent about all year is sucking on the road. There’s not much reason to expect good things from this 9 game trip. I’ll be as happy as anybody if the Braves win 5+ games, but I’m not expecting it.
redwards95 - September 16, 2010
Morgan
good thing the bucs got swept by the mets and NOW Nyjer get his suspension for the phillies…… MLB sucks sometimes
traphicg - September 17, 2010
Lot of "shoulds" and "ifs" above.
This team has a way of surprising us (in good ways and bad) that I refuse to even try and predict what may happen over the next 2 weeks. But, I’ll be here and watching.
NCChopper - September 17, 2010
J-Freak - September 17, 2010
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