FREDI: "What do you want me to do? Hit the pitcher 4th?" Well. since you asked...

[PawPawMaxwell]

But you just wrote that Gattis is to fragile to play every day so by that argument you would be changing cleanup guys 2 times a week.

[PawPawMaxwell]

Because JUp has value. Who else could we trade

Well if we are to believe what Zito and BigHead espouse about Gattis then I suggest Wren starts touting him as the next Big Papi. How many AL teams would salivate over him as the DH?

[zitothebrave]

But you just wrote that Gattis is to fragile to play every day so by that argument you would be changing cleanup guys 2 times a week.

I'm fine with that. Throw Johnson there part time and maybe fulltime when he's hot. Ideally we bring up TLS and have 1 of Jason, Justin or Freddie at 4. But face it that's not happening anytime soon because the BRaves are kicking the tires on Pastornicky.

[zitothebrave]

Well if we are to believe what Zito and BigHead espouse about Gattis then I suggest Wren starts touting him as the next Big Papi. How many AL teams would salivate over him as the DH?

Some verywell may. But what good comes of us trading Gattis? More Laird? The all glove no bat Bethancourt? Trading any of our position players aside from Uggla doesn't make sense. Why would we trade productive hitters like Justin and Gattis? What sense does that make?

[nsacpi]

The one trade that might make sense is for a second baseman. But that has to come after we've given the internal options, including La Stella, opportunities to do the job.

We do need to get an extra lefty bat or two into the lineup when a righty with strong platoon splits is on the mound. Could be any combination of La Stella, Pena, Schafer, Doumit, Cunningham, Terdoslavich, Constanza.

[PawPawMaxwell]

Some verywell may. But what good comes of us trading Gattis? More Laird? The all glove no bat Bethancourt? Trading any of our position players aside from Uggla doesn't make sense. Why would we trade productive hitters like Justin and Gattis? What sense does that make?

But 50lbs says Gattis is not a ML catcher and you say he is too fragile. What good is he in the long term if those ideas are correct? Saltalamacchia was available and affordable this past winter. Was/is he a better option?

I wonder if Kelly Johnson could be had. He is a better option than the 3 (really 2 since Pena has a slot regardless) on the roster.

[zitothebrave]

Gattis will play 120 games or so which isn't terrible for a catcher. My bigger concern with him is long term.

I wanted to bring in KJ in the offseason to pair with Pena for super subs knowing the risk of Uggla sucking and the 0 depth we have at 3B. Braves for some reason don't like bringing back former starters to play the bench.

[PawPawMaxwell]

Jordan Shafer ring a bell?

[Hawk]

I want to reiterate my support/agreement for the 'cleansing of the bench' proposition -- cut Laird, Schafer, Doumit post-haste ... let that be the start before considering any further drastic internal changes, which I don't believe should ultimately be necessary.

[Julio3000]

via AJC:

“We haven’t hit anybody. You know who we’ll hit? We’ll hit the guy in the cage who flips the balls to (hitters during batting practice),” Gonzalez joked. “If one of those guys shows up, we’re going to crush that guy.”



Keep 'em laughing, boss.

[gilesfan]

Well if we are to believe what Zito and BigHead espouse about Gattis then I suggest Wren starts touting him as the next Big Papi. How many AL teams would salivate over him as the DH?

How many of them need a DH with a .272 OBP?

[drewdat]

How many of them need a DH with a .272 OBP?

Looks like about half.

[Tapate50]

Not to pick on anyhow in particular. But these lineup threads are chock full of arguments that are made without a shred of supporting evidence. Player X would hit better if he hit in a different spot in the lineup or if he had player Y hitting in front or behind him. Player Z would hit better without a faceguard or jockstrap. It is all grasping at straws.

There were two obvious moves that had to be made and Fredi has made them. Uggla has been benched. Gattis' playing time has been increased.

There is a third somewhat obvious third move that has not been made. That would be to play an extra lefty bat or two against righties with strong platoon splits. Guys like Lynn and Miller for example. For his career, Miller has given up an .862 OPS against lefties and .690 against righties. With Lynn it is .797 and .625. It would have made sense to have Pena and/or Schafer/Doumit play against those two guys. Now does that guarantee a win. Of course not. But it would raise our chances of success at the margins.

Well put.

[50PoundHead]

Well if we are to believe what Zito and BigHead espouse about Gattis then I suggest Wren starts touting him as the next Big Papi. How many AL teams would salivate over him as the DH?

To be fair, I think Gattis is a very good piece on the team. I just don't think he's an everyday big league catcher. One of those guys who should get 300 to 350 ABs playing C, LF, and PH (DH in AL parks). Problem we have is Fredi, Jr., is the other catcher on the team and while I think Fredi, Jr., was a decent big league back-up at one point in his career, but he appears to have hit a wall. Hard to believe he put up a .739 OPS last season. This leaves us with no option but to have Gattis as our #1 catcher.

[Tapate50]

To be fair, I think Gattis is a very good piece on the team. I just don't think he's an everyday big league catcher. One of those guys who should get 300 to 350 ABs playing C, LF, and PH (DH in AL parks). Problem we have is Fredi, Jr., is the other catcher on the team and while I think Fredi, Jr., was a decent big league back-up at one point in his career, but he appears to have hit a wall. Hard to believe he put up a .739 OPS last season. This leaves us with no option but to have Gattis as our #1 catcher.

Couldn't disagree more on Gattis. I think playing him at those other positions really makes his defensive deficiencies stand out. Heck at least at C he is serviceable.