Right-Handed Power Options For Atlanta

Nice post, Tim. I like it when you break down options for a team known to be seeking a particular commodity.

It's a good way to keep the wheels turning around here.

Delmon Young could probably be had for next to nothing, but then you run into the same problem you had with Franceour. I doubt the Braves would want to try another reclamation project.

Really? Why did Vernon Wells even warrant a mention? No GM would come within 1000 feet of that contract. If the Braves pick up Wells, even with money sent over from Toronto, Wren will have an angry mob with torches and pitchforks at his door the next day.

you can have vernon wells if you want...i would even through in someone like ricky romero too!!( im a jays fan :) )

D Lee - Cubs or C.Lee Stros.
Cost $$$. I would look at Brandon Phillips in a trade.

One option I was thinking of is this: trade for Dan Uggla and play him at 2B. Slide Prado over to 1B where he can play for a year or so until Freddie Freman is ready. At that time Prado move to 3B (where he is most suited) because Chipper will be retired by then. If the Braves can't get someone to take Lowe off of their hands as a salary dump then they will need to trade KK for a couple of young bullpen pitchers. Use that money saved to sign Dye for LF. If they don't/can't trade either KK or Lowe they can possibly try to trade for an older minor leaguer as was mentioned above. Matt Murton would be a good candidate too if he would be made available.

McLouth - CF
Prado - 1B
Chipper - 3B
Uggla - 2B
McCann - c
Dye - LF
Escobar - SS
Diaz/(until Heyward is ready) - RF

SP:
Vazquez
Jurrjens
Hanson
Hudson
Lowe/KK

Heyward is only 19 and has only been in the minors for less than two years. I know he has had good numbers but he isn't ready. Look at Jay Bruce. He had huge numbers in the Minors and was called up than has struggled for like a year and a half. And Bruce is 2 years older. Why would you want to bring up a kid and watch him struggle?

The Reds aren't going to trade Brandon Phillips. He one of the main cogs in the line up, He is affordable, He is one of the best 2nd baseman in baseball (if not the best), and most importantly he actually wants to stay in Cincinnati.

I got a nice laugh out of the Wells mention (which I believe was the point).

Another name to throw into the mix: Andruw Jones. Depends on how much of his "resurgence" you think is legit and how much is Arlington. But Jones' park adjusted stats are fairly decent, especially considering his defense is a huge plus. Obviously, don't give him a multi year deal, but on a cheap 1 year deal, why not?

Although I don't know if he burned any bridges with the Braves when he left.

I think either bringing back LaRoche or signing Nady to an incentive based deal should almost be a definite. Cheap source of decent power.

Avoid Byrd, his power is blatant "career year" and Arlington type stuff. And avoid DeRosa, as he'll be overrated by his "ability" to play 2B and 3B, and his bat isn't great in the OF.

Could Shin-Soo Choo from Cleveland be had in a trade? He is a perfectly good outfielder and Cleveland appears to be a team with needs. Is there anyone who could see the Braves matching up on a trade with them?

Shin-Soo Choo is a tough situation. He's from Korea and as part of South Korean law every Korean citizen must serve at least 2 years in the milltary before the age of 30 I think. So unless Choo permently defects for S.K. and leaves all his friends and family, he will have to go back to Korea soon. That's why you never hear trade talks involving Choo.

Plus, he's a lefty and the Braves don't need one.

I think a Vernon Wells for Lowe swap may work. Both big contracts. Wells is only 31 and I think he could benefit from a switch to the NL. Other than that, I like going after Dye. He hits 20 HRs every year.

Posted by: RaginCajun6 | October 09, 2009 at 11:23 AM

Please, don't ever talk about baseball again.

i will like to see the braves pursue michael cuddyer if he's available...

No way we give up Yunel for Cuddyer.

I like Taj's idea of Scott Hairston, the only problem is it doesn't solve first base. I like it as a backup plan with the first plan of seeing if Chipper would move to first and sign Uggla to play third. If Chipper can/will play first (he's been willing to do whatever they ask in the past) and they wanted to really go high risk, they could see what the price of Beltre will be. I don't necessarily like it, but with a limited budget, it might be an option.

I think it more likely that the Braves FW will leverage Derek Lowe in a contract swap, possibly with other minor pieces (i.e. Kelly Johnson)for Magglio Ordonez, Carlos Lee, or perhaps even Lance Berkman (if he can still play LF). Of course Drayton would have to be honest that the Astros need a large rebuilding, but that is another can of worms.

Milton Bradley nor Pat Burrell are Braves-type players and Sheffield is too old to play the field, regularly. Nelson Cruz is a pipedream. Why would the Rangers give him up or at least not for what the Braves would be willing to give.

Wren likely has a curveball up his sleeve. It should get interesting about 3 days after the conclusion of the WS.

Nice Run-down of the options.

Just a few comments on comments:
Brandon Phillips is not a power-bat outside of great American Smallpark, and as for being the best 2b in the league... That's not even a little bit true. Or have you never heard of Chase Utley, Ian Kinsler, or Dustin Pedroia?

Vernon Wells isn't worth considering.

I like Uggla, but any 2b acquisition would predicate a move for Chipper to 1b. I don't doubt Chipper would do it to win, but I don't think the Braves want to ask him to.

Thanks for nobody mentioning Milton Bradley. Not an option.

Whatever bat they do get, it should be with an eye toward long term success which means no trades for rentals.

There are a few possibilites I see out there. I do like the possibility signing of Nady, that would be wise and he's always been on the Braves radar. Also I would be curious to see what it would take to get Zobrist from Tampa Bay. You might have to take Burrell too, but I could see Lowe going back to Tampa and some youngsters and KJ. Here is an even more interesting thought, I heard rumors of the Mets possibly getting rid of some of their core players, what about a Beltran for Lowe and Shafer swap... Input folks...

To the guy who doesn't want to give up pitching for Corey Hart, we HAVE to trade one of our starters this year. There is too much money wrapped up in the rotation and not enough in position players. Saving $7 Million from Kawakamis contract would make it possible for Atlanta to get a decent OF bat and also keep Adam LaRoche.

How about Ryan Ludwick? I haven't heard his name mentioned

Im the guy who doesnt want to trade pitching for average to barely above average hitting. If a pitcher is to be traded I say you unload the odd man out, Lowe.

Bravesfan you found the guy that I have been searching for all afternoon, Ben Zobrist. This is the guy that the braves need to try and trade for. I even agree that Tampa may be willing to take Lowe off our hands. If they dont like his price perhaps we can try to unload some of guys like JoJo on them. Maybe they dont know how bad JoJo really is. haha

Well it wouldn't be a straight cuddyer for escobar swap but what else could the twins include to make this deal plausable?

Oh, Kinsler & Pedroia are in the AL.

Good breakdown.

Frank Wren has, at the very least, proven to be active when it comes to going after "needs." The Braves look a good deal better going into the 2010 season than they did going into 2009.

I'd love to see Cruz. Also, Milton Bradley's name has been floated around a time or two. There are a couple names on there who would have to sacrifice defense for power, but the Braves already did that with Garrett Anderson. The Braves do have the advantage of having arguably the best fourth outfielder in the game in Matt Diaz who can continue to platoon, come in as a defensive substitution, or man one of the corner spots himself.

The more intriguing question is who would the Braves have to give up to get a quality bat at the corner. You don't want to rob Peter to pay Paul, so the best options seem to come from dealing pitching depth.

"Shin-Soo Choo is a tough situation. He's from Korea and as part of South Korean law every Korean citizen must serve at least 2 years in the milltary before the age of 30 I think."

Didn't the 2006 Korean WBC team get a complete "bye" from military service from the South Korean Government? Maybe am wrong and they did not and not 100% certain Choo was even on that team, just "think" he was.

Ethanator, and I have seen Phillips play at parks that aren't Great American Smallpark... and when he does that his OPS drops to .746. And Utley has a better UZR than Phillips does. In other words, he plays better defense. I have seen him too, and my eyes confirm the stats. Your eyes must have decieved you. I never mentioned Orlando Hudson. I don't even like the Phillies, but there is no doubt at all that Utley is the best 2b in the NL.

Other folks:
Does anybody know the deal with Choo? I have been trying to figure out the full situation with his military service for months and nobody seems to know.

LoL at the Reds homer saying Brandon Phillips is better than Chase Utley.

Utley has been absolutely ridiculous since 2005, his lowest WAR being 6.8 (still superstar worthy) and as high as 8.1, which is insane. Not only that, but he has been one of the best 2Bs in the NL having UZR's of 17.1, 10.2, 21.0, 21.4 and most likely a fluke decline to 8.8 this season.

Phillips, on the other hand, has dropped immensly from the 2B who had a 5.1 WAR in 2007 with a line of .288/.331/.485. Since that season he has posted only WARs of 3.0 and 3.2. His defense has actually been worse than Utley as well since he started playing full time in 2006 having a -2.8 UZR/150, followed by a 2.0, 2.8 and an improvement to 4.0 this season.

Utley isn't just the best second baseman in the league. He is one of the best players in the the entire MLB.

I was looking at the wrong stats when looking at Phillips D, he's actually posted a -5.4, 16.6, 12.2 and then a 4.7. The point still stands.

Of course Utley is a better player than Phillips, anyone who thinks otherwise is delusional, and this is coming from a Braves fan.

That being said, I would love to add Phillips to our lineup. He would be an expensive trade, but I actually do think something could be worked out.

Some of you people are so dumb it's scary. There is absolutely no way the Braves would take on Vernon Wells, and there is no way they will look at Shelley Duncan. If they can move some money around, I don't think Jason Bay is out of the question.

I'm not denying the fact that I'm a Reds homer, but I just feel that Utley is vastly overated.

melonis rex,

Andruw? That's a joke, right?

After the All-Star Break, his line was .185/.310/.333. About like Francoeur before the Braves got rid of him.

The dude's done as an everyday player, as the Rangers also learned.

Carlos Quentin for Nate McLouth?

Of all those guys, you gotta choose Cruz. All star with power and some speed, what's not to like? He a significant upgrade over Church or Anderson or Diaz or whoever we throw out there next year.

"How are Heyward and Bruce even close to similar players? Heyward has a much more advanced approach at the plate and his minor league numbers are not aided by ridiculous .400+ BABIP's"

I didn't say they were similar players. I said they are both young and haven't spent a lot of in the Minors. Everyone knows that young players need to learn in the Minors and I just don't think Heyward has spent enough time down there.

I wonder if the Twins would do Kawakami and Kelly Johnson for Cuddyer. The braves maybe throw in a middle of the road prospect.

Posted by: D.Murphy/HOF | October 09, 2009 at 04:15 PM

I have to believe that the Twins would want Medlen included

What about Hawpe? Rockies have surplus of young OFs. Ground ball P like Lowe might be attractive in trade. Diaz in LF for .300 like clockwork.
Resign LaRoche. Prado at 2b for a year then 3b. ???

I don't see any of those options happening, but thanks for the attention to the issue anyways. With Heyward coming up and the team heading in the direction it is going, it will probably be go big or go home in this search. Every quote I've heard from FW has made of sound like he will get a BIG bat. But after watching him for two years, I'm sure it will be something completely unexpected.

hhgrizman,
Right-handed is the operative word.

MikeyBaseball,
Chase Utley is the best defensive 2B in the game.

"Brandon is from Stone Mountain, he wouldn't turn down a chance to come to the Braves. I say go after Brandon Phillips if we can pry him away from Cincy. Let Prado play super utilty and heir to 3b until Chipper is done."

He has already said he wants to say in Cincinnati. I don't he'll be traded But that doesn't mean anything to Walt Jocketty. I think Walt would take nothing less than Tommy Hanson or some other great pitching prospect. And don't say it would never work out, because he already got the Braves to trade Adam Wainwright for JD Drew.

Brandon Philips is the best second basemen in the NL easily and probably the best in baseball. Pedroia had a good year last year but came back to earth a little bit now and Utley is a butcher in the field. Philips can swipe a bag and play solid defense and this crap about his power is garbage his road/home splits were the same this year 10hrs at home and 10 on the road. Hard to believe that Cano is actually underrated but he should be in the conversation too. If Phillips is an option you better look into it.

Why all the hate for Vernon Wells his career numbers are comparable to Jason Bay's and he hit 20 homers in 108 games last year he just had a bad year this year, ever hear of buying low? Kind of like Vasquez, and don't tell me about the 5 years left on his contract because if anybody gets Wells the Jays are paying about 40 mil of that contract regardless, it's that or eat the whole 100 mil. Bay and Holliday will prolly get 5 year deals at 75 mil, I would take Wells 5 years 55 mil, hell yeah.

Nelson Cruz is good but will cost a boat load to get him and he kinda strikes me as a Ryan Ludwick type, ask Cards fans about him. Overrated last year.

Jermaine Dye would be okay but has to come cheap reasonably. Derosa is real good so don't underrate him, his numbers last year and this year before the wrist injury were awesome and he's so versatile. I'm intrigued by Nady he had that weird kidney thing and now the elbow and has produced when healthy.

Laroche at first is a must, moving Chipper is NOT GOING TO HAPPEN so please never mention that again. Also, Uggla may have good power numbers but come on, he strikes out more than Jeff Francoeur, alot more.

All in all the Braves need to sign Javy and Huddy to extensions and move KK. You don't want to sell low on Lowe. Try to resign Sori, offer arb to Laroche and Gonzo and no matter what don't let either of them get out of town, 3 years for each. Bye Bye Norton, and GA try to sign Dye or Nady and leave Heyward in AAA for a season, look no further than Jeff Francouer and Chris Young in Arizona to see what happens when guys aren't ready. Also, leave Freeman alone for a while this guy struggled big time in spring training this year and after being called up to AA besides, Freeman was a third basemen in highschool so maybe he can succeed Chipper. Sign Billy Wagner. Sori in the second half was shaky and Gonzo should be a matchup guy and emergency closer ala Romero for the Phils last year. Lastly, if there is a trade for Brandon Phillips you should make it, maybe Prado, and Medlen? Only if you lock up Vasquez and Hudson.

Okay okay okay okay okay okay. I got it. Braves trade KK, Lowe, McLouth, Escobar, Bobby Cox, the Home Depot drill and hammer to the Yankees and Red Sox for Alex Rodriguez, 15 right field bleacher seats from the old Yankees stadium, Big Papi and 4 parque tiles from the Boston Garden.

I like Xavier Nady as an inexpensive OF. IMHO, if Wren can figure out a way to trade Lowe (even if we get nothing in return - just to dump salary), then we can spend on a FA OF. McLouth is decent in CF, and I trust Diaz in LF (until Heyward comes up), so if we could get one power-hitting RH OF, I think we'll be okay. Then resign LaRoche and Hudson, and try to move either Medlen or KK, letting whichever one remains take the 5th spot in the rotation.

Siskel god, you're dumb as a rock. Chase Utley is basically Jesus in baseball form, whereas Brandon Phillips is close to league average. Implying you would take Phillips over Utley marks you as baseball illiterate.