i totally understand what you're saying. I'll just have to watch the first month-month and a half before I decide how I feel about this team.

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 11:49 AM. Reason : 3]

1/18/2007 11:49:13 AM

^^ I tend to agree. The Mets lineup is still loaded though, but their pitching is suspect. Overall the NL East will be fairly weak as will most of the NL.

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 11:50 AM. Reason : ^]

1/18/2007 11:50:27 AM

word

don't forget the braves always suck ass through the end of may

1/18/2007 11:50:41 AM

Quote :

"Overall the NL East will be fairly weak as will most of the NL."

???? I disagree about that. The NL East will definitely be the best NL division. The Marlins are a year more experienced though I think they MIGHT fall of a bit. Probably win about 75-77 games IMO. The Braves should be improved. I can see a 85-88 win season for them. The Phillies have also improved and they should also benefit from having Rollins focused completely coming in to the year on helping the team instead of himself. I can see 90-95 wins from them. The Mets are every bit as good as they were last year. The weakness against lefthanded pitching is less w/ Alou and IMO the rotation is improved as well (no more Trachsel and no more 5th starter comprised of Lima and Gonzalez)...

1/18/2007 2:55:57 PM

After last year's debacle, I'm hoping we can get back to contention. The good news is that with the total crash, the pressure is off, the streak is over. The players can just play their best.

1/18/2007 3:56:48 PM

Braves signed 1b/of Craig Wilson to a 1 year/ $2 mill deal. Should platoon nicely with Thorman at first.

http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/playernews.aspx?sport=MLB

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070118&content_id=1781951&vkey=pr_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 7:44 PM. Reason : link]

[Edited on January 18, 2007 at 7:46 PM. Reason : link]

1/18/2007 7:44:25 PM

Braves trade 1B Adam LaRoche to Pittsburgh for reliever Mike Gonzalez...

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070121&content_id=1783580&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl&partnered=rss_atl


Good trade if you ask me. This makes our bullpen one of the best in the country. You now have really really good setup men for Bob Wickman. With Gonzalez and Soriano (both who have potential to close), this will ensure that Wickman gets rest and Smoltz won't have to go any further than the 6th or 7th... Also, Hampton won't have to go long innings shortly after his surgery.


I love the move. The Braves have always been a pitching team. I would gladly trade the slow-ass-no-motivation-occasionally-hits-a-homer LaRoche for one more setup guy.


Plus, do you think we'll start to see Saltalamachia play some 1B in the minors?

[Edited on January 23, 2007 at 1:46 PM. Reason : .]

1/23/2007 1:44:46 PM

^ old, see page two.

The Braves will use Wilson and Thorman at 1B now that Roche is gone.

1/23/2007 2:32:13 PM

Quote :

"This makes our bullpen one of the best in the country."

1/23/2007 2:35:17 PM

for those not paying attention, braves journal (http://www.bravesbeat.com/bravesjournal) has been doing player profiles for the past few weeks

1/26/2007 11:49:41 AM

Quote :

""This makes our bullpen one of the best in the country.""

on paper


It is very hard in MLB to have consistent bullpens year to year

1/26/2007 2:14:13 PM

well, considering that our bullpen was completely overhauled from what was in place for the majority of last season...

1/26/2007 2:49:32 PM

if soriano and gonzalez can stay healthy you guys should be decent. It makes no sense having Gonzalez and wickman though, when you could have gotten like linebrink from the padres for laroche. o well

1/26/2007 4:42:02 PM

linebrink for laroche? i never heard of that deal -- the padres have adrian gonzalez, who is just as good, if not better, than laroche (and three years younger, too)

kevin towers isn't that dumb

1/27/2007 2:03:29 AM

this was when they were talking about moving him to RF

1/29/2007 8:36:08 PM

from what strange universe do you get your baseball rumors?

1/29/2007 9:50:02 PM

the same one you obv dont read

i read it all

1/29/2007 10:59:23 PM

The Braves could not have gotten Linebrink for LaRoche which is obviously why they didn't do the trade. They got a proven closer for the future as well as the sickest left arm in the majors. Also, the minor league the Braves got in the trade is the main reason they did it. Please don't say it doesn't make sense.

1/30/2007 12:55:46 AM

wtf are you talking about

the sickest left arm in the majors?

wtf i can think of 10-20 sicker

keep blowing that smoke up your own ass, lets see how many more seasons gonzalez manages to avoid elbow problems with his fucked up delivery.

I said it made no sense to sign wickman if they were gonna trade for gonzalez

[Edited on January 30, 2007 at 1:15 AM. Reason : ,]

1/30/2007 1:15:00 AM

if you're reading a site that mentions moving laroche to right field

you need to re-evaluate your sources

1/30/2007 12:02:57 PM

^ Agreed

^^ Please list 10 left arms that are sicker than Gonzalez was last year

1/30/2007 12:10:33 PM

Billy Wagner!

For real, I liked the Gonzalez pickup from the beginning. Who cares if you have more than one guy capable of closing? Gonzalez is quite a bit younger than Linebrink and under your control for another 2 years at the least (less than 4 yrs service time). I would trust Scheurholz more than most GMs in the game to make a judgment about how well he thinks Thorman can do as an everyday player. If him and Wilson can make up 75-80% of what LaRoche would have done (I think they can) then this is a great deal...

1/30/2007 12:15:42 PM

^^^ read what i said again

i said the pads were thinking about moving gonzalez to RF moron

2/1/2007 1:12:59 AM

liriano
santana
j. walker
C.C. Sabathia
Dennys Reyes
BJ Ryan
Billy wagner


and thats just off of the top of my head

2/1/2007 1:24:45 AM

24 hours later = off the top of your head?

2/1/2007 5:31:29 AM

^ Seriously

Billy Wagner? - maybe 3 years ago.

C C Sabathia? no way

I'll give you Liriano, Santana, and BJ Ryan. Only one of which is a reliever like Gonzalez.
Nice job listin 10-20

Soriano + Gonzalez + Wickman = best back of a bullpen in baseball

2/1/2007 1:23:10 PM

^ i don't know, as much as i'd like to agree, you have to go with the Angels and F-Rod/Shields.

2/1/2007 1:32:23 PM

sorry im not on tww reading this every fucking day dipshit

2/1/2007 2:50:02 PM

Wagner has been filthy the last 2 years. Yeah, he's older but his last two years he has a combined ERA under 2 still!

And Heilman, Sanchez, and Wagner >>>> Soriano, Gonzalez, Wickman still.

----

I would say the best 3 bullpens are the Angels, Mets, and Twins... I like Vargas as the long man but liked Dave Williams more before he got hurt.

[Edited on February 1, 2007 at 3:06 PM. Reason : mota too when he gets back..]

2/1/2007 2:57:30 PM

schedule's up

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=atl

come payday, i'll be ordering tickets for the cubs series in june

2/12/2007 7:06:39 PM

Time Warner sells Braves to Liberty Media Corp.

http://thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=461283

2/12/2007 8:30:27 PM

I wonder if liberty is going to beef up the spending, I sure hope so

2/12/2007 9:16:38 PM

this is horrible news

mlb needs to outlaw corporate ownership a la the nfl

you can say goodbye to andruw and probably smoltz for certain now

2/15/2007 1:09:18 PM

aaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahhaa


sorry I just read that "rumor" that LaRoche would be moved to RF







AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHAHAH


The dude can't run fast enough to tag the base to get a guy out on a routine grounder.

2/15/2007 1:11:29 PM

NOR CAN HE HUSTLE AROUND THIRD IN THE NLDS WHEN PLAYING THE ASTROS

i thought you quit tww, abonorio

2/15/2007 1:14:32 PM

I did.

2/15/2007 1:16:15 PM

Sell The Braves back to TED!!

2/15/2007 1:16:29 PM

I really wish Blank and his group had pushed harder to buy them.

2/15/2007 4:16:16 PM

^ Pushed harder? Did you even read anything about the sell of the Braves?

AOL refused to negotiate with anyone other than Liberty Media and there was no way Blank could come close to matching the money that the deal was worth to each side because of the tax breaks.

2/15/2007 4:56:48 PM

if arthur blank owned the braves we would still have dan kolb closing games

2/15/2007 5:46:59 PM

It's time to start wondering what life after Andruw will be like...
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/printedition/2007/02/21/sptbraves0221a.html

Quote :

"Jones' agent is hard-driving Scott Boras, who might seek a long-term contract worth more than $20 million annually. The Braves could probably do such a lucrative deal only if they increased their team payroll significantly from its current $80 million. Jones, who has 92 homers and 257 RBIs the past two seasons, said he would prefer to spend his entire career with the Braves, then become a coach in their organization. But he indicated the Braves shouldn't expect to keep him at a "hometown discount" and that he would veto any trade if they tried to move him before the end of the season. He said the Braves assured him they didn't try to trade him last year and have no intention of doing so this season. "

his attitude has changed recently, and i think our only hope of keeping him is if Liberty will shell the dough to increase payroll... so in essence, i'm not holding out much hope that he's a Brave beyond 2007...


[Edited on February 21, 2007 at 12:47 PM. Reason : ]

2/21/2007 12:45:07 PM

My favorite player on my favorite team.

Here's hoping for another great year from Andruw and maybe a front-office miracle

2/21/2007 1:33:34 PM

well we made a huge mistake not trading him last year. now we wont be able to re-sign him, (even though he did say he might take a little less to stay in atl), and we wont be able to trade him.

2/21/2007 1:54:51 PM

Scott Boras is a piece of shit. I've read that he already has a book the size of a dictionary listing Andruw's accomplishments and his place in history among CF that he will use during negotiations. The Braves will never give him $20 million a year, but I'm sure a team like the Orioles won't hesitant to throw that cash at him.

I love Andruw and all, but his body is bound to start breaking down from all those diving catches and I'd hate to see the Braves invest $80-100 million in a player who may become an injury risk.

2/21/2007 1:56:44 PM

you can't really blame andruw, just look at the contracts people are handing out to far inferior players

like he said, the market demands he get paid

we won't lose him before the season ends though so enjoy it while it lasts

2/21/2007 3:19:00 PM

andruw dropped 15 lbs in the offseason, and he hasnt been as acrobatic in the past 3 yrs or so. This is the lightest he has been since 99. We might see him boost his sb's up to 20 again. Either way andruw is the man!

2/21/2007 3:27:17 PM

jones was never acrobatic, he's just solid

and how can you say he's lost a step then propose he might steal 20+ bases

please never analyse baseball again

2/22/2007 11:47:16 AM

there is no way he steals 20 bags

2/22/2007 12:26:12 PM

he hasn't stolen 20 bases in the last four years combined

2/22/2007 12:33:58 PM

set em up -->

2/22/2007 1:42:37 PM