Yankees Interested In Mahay, Linebrink

You can't buy a bullpen. You can't buy a bullpen. You can't buy a bullpen. You can't buy a bullpen. You can't buy a bullpen. You can't buy a bullpen. You can't buy a bullpen ...

Don't do it Ron, don't go to the evil empire for a little bit more money. Come back to the Braves, you liked it there and they are going to have a very good team next year. All those ex Braves pitchers who sold out to the dark side (the Yankees) never found the same success, their careers were never the same same again. Just ask Jared Wright, Denny Neagle, Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Stanton, and a few others. The Braves will make you a fair offer of lets say 6million for two years and they wil have a good rotation and bullpen to go along with another solid lineup. Heres my projected rotation and bullpen with Mahay
Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, Hampton, C James/Jurrjens

Soriano, Moylan, Mahay, Devine, Acosta, Ring, Bennett, Gonzalez at some point

Lineup: Anderson, Escobar, CJones, Texiera, Mccann, Francouer, KJohnson, MDiaz

"Mike Stanton"

Might want to re-think that one.

I wonder if you can buy a bullpen???

Honestly Mike, without an upgrade over anderson and a better pen, That team doesn't look like much more than a 3rd place team. You can't cout on Hampton or Gonzalez for anything...Remember pedro and sanchez for the mets. Chipper only counts for 100 games as well.

I agree that the Braves success in 08 depends on if Mike Hampton can comeback and if Chipper can stay healthy but I like the bullpen, a lot of young power arms and Soriano and Moylan were outstanding last year. I don't know anything about Anderson but the Braves were 3rd in runs in the league last year without any production from cf so how big a difference could that make if Anderson doesnt hit?

No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no No no no no no !

Someone, anyone, please get a copy of this to Brian Cashman:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/tom_verducci/11/13/padres.relief/index.html

Mike, 25 HR and 90+ RBI is far from typical Andruw, but I think it would be ridiculous to expect josh anderson to come anywhere near those numbers. That's also alot of young guys to expect to replicate their performance from their first season as a regular.

Reds HAVE to at least have some interest in both. Lets face it, the Reds need relievers to contend.

Actually, the Braves didn't have any production from CF *AND* from 1B for most for the season. Having Tex all season and ANYONE who can hit over .220 in CF is already a huge improvement.

That lineup looks as good as any in the NL, and the pitching looks pretty damn good too. And I'm not counting Hampton when I say that--every Braves fan knows anything we get from him is a bonus.

Anderson sucks; if he is a regular in the Braves lineup, a lot of other spots (in the lineup, rotation, bullpen) are going to have to account for the lack of production out of CF. And he certainly shouldn't be atop any lineup of a team hoping to contend.

"lineup: Anderson, Escobar, CJones, Texiera, Mccann, Francouer, KJohnson, MDiaz"

Why in the world would you put the two hitters least likely to produce in the top two spots of the lineup – and therefore slot them the first- and second-most at-bats for the offense? Kelly Johnson is easily the third best hitter on the Braves – after Chipper and Teixeira, and just ahead of McCann – and absolutely must hit first or second for the Atlanta offense to be productive.

I still think the bullpen needs work, and a signing of Mahay would definitely help address that weakness; if the bullpen is fortified, the rotation should be adequate for Atlanta's offense – provided James and Jurrjens comprise the final two spots, and pitch up to the ~110 and ~100 ERA+ levels of which they are capable, respectively. But, to mitigate the risks inherent to the rotation Wren has collected, he really needs to further address the bullpen and center-field: Josh Anderson is little more than a marginal upgrade over a normal Willie Harris, and the relief corps is a little short on LHPs and depth.

Haha, I read this and thought the White Sox might be trading Linebrink already, haha ruined.